Sunday, March 02, 2008 [Done! 127 mins / ave pace 9:37]
WOW! I did it! I ran a half marathon!! Me! The girl that couldn’t run through a commercial at lunch! I thought back to when I told the first people I was going to do it and I could see this tremedous mountain ahead of me. The climb to the top was sooo gradual that I barely remember actually making it!
The run itself was fun. First of all, let me say that if any of you want to do a half, this is the place to be apparently. I heard soooo many people talking after the race talk about how much better this one was than ___ (fill in the blank). I specifically heard JACKSONVILLE, Disney and Memphis. (Though Disney got rave reviews, just that it was PACKED).
Matt needed coffee pre-race so he hung out at starbucks while I pottied, lined up, etc. Then he came out where I was waiting to start just to give me good luck kisses! He is such an angel. He departed to get down the road ahead of me to take pics. He was also a little ways out waiting to take pics on the way in. Such a great supporter :) I am such a lucky girl! Here's me blowing kisses at him when I pass on the way out!
I started talking to a girl in the bathroom before the race and we lined up at the same pace. we ran and talked for the first half of the race and I lost her at a water stop around mile 8 - the first time I thought about my ipod. She caught up with me a little ways down the road, around mile 10 I think, and we chatted again until around mile 12 where she stopped to walk. There were people (mostly kids) holding signs of encouragement by the road. I didn't pay a lot of attention to waterstops, as I had my fuel belt, but I think they were good. They had gel on the way back, maybe around mile 8? The run back was much longer than the run out it seemed. I was so excited to see my husband on the side of the road! I knew I was almost homefree!!!
My garmin said 13.28 when I crossed the finish line and 2:07:53..but my official race time was 2:10:??, so...I’m not sure what’s up with that! LOL. Either way, its around a 10 minute mile and that is A-OK with me on my first race! I ran the whole thing and that is all I was hoping for!
There were about 2000 people at Seaside, and it was organized so well. There wasn’t music everywhere on the course, but there were people intermittently all the way down and back with their music blaring for you. Lots of cheering going on and the course was AWESOME. The course was flat, mostly, with little hills which made it fun and broke up the monotony without being incredibly hard. I didn’t get all weepy or anything, no lifelong dream - just something I decided to do a couple months ago ;o). The after party was lots of fun with a DJ playing awesome music, FREE massages, free beer and BBQ...and I got a free Vera Bradley tote for finishing along with my metal.
I took a second to reflect on all of the support I've gotten from my friends at sparkpeople.com! I dont know that I would have made it through 13 miles of training without them holding my hand (so to speak!)
We only stayed at the after party a few minutes before heading back to our place for some breakfast...
The bed and breakfast that we stayed in was just so quaint! We had our own little room w/ bathroom, they had a little library and common area (which we didn’t have time to check out), and an excellent cafe that served the best oatmeal and frittata ever! And excellent coffee of course...It was such a wonderful weekend.
** Thanks for all of your support Jessica and John! I thought about you bunches during my run :)
Place Name Bib No Age Age Group Rnk Time Rnk Time Time
888 Chandra Claycomb 1345 33 F 30-34 935 1:04:22.05 888 1:05:38.54 2:10:00.59
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