Here's my detailed recap. Enjoy!
I was so nervous on the way to the starting line. Jay was dropping me off and then heading back to the hotel because the hotel was around mile 4.5 as well as the exchange area for those doing the relay and near the finish line. I didn't need him to be at the starting line because I knew my BGR sisters in running would be there. Anyway, yes I was soooo nervous. I could barely talk without stuttering. He dropped me off as close to the starting line as possible and as soon as I got near the starting line I saw my BGR sisters and my nerves started going away. It felt good to see more familiar faces and at that point I knew I'd be fine. We took a few pictures and then we all went into our corrals.
I got between the 2:00 and 2:15 pacer groups.
The race started right on time and I felt good. I told myself to keep the 2:00 pacers within eyesight. I ran the first mile. It was easy and quickly turned hard when we went into a TUNNEL! It was great going down. Everyone (us runners) were cheering and full of energy but then we had to go back up the tunnel. Oh MY GAWD! It was insane. As soon as we came out we hit mile 1. My garmin lost signal but I don't think it was off by much. The mile 1 marker time was about 9:05 so I was pushing it!
I kept running until about mile 1.5 and then started my intervals. My intervals are not specifically timed. I go by my songs. So after every song, I take a 20-30 sec walk break. This is fun for me. Anyway started my walk breaks and then we hit yet another hill! I wasn't expecting these hills! I knew there was a huge one coming up though before mile 5 near my hotel and I wasn't excited about it. After this hill we hit Mile 2.
I'm feeling pretty okay here. Texting Jay at every mile so he knows when to expect me. Mile 3 was okay and so was Mile 4 though my ankle started acting up so when I reached mile 4 I stopped and did some ankle circles to stretch my ankle a bit especially since at mile 4 I was staring at this humungous hill that I was going to tackle soon. I didn't take a pic. Bad blogger. But trust me when I say HUMUNGOUS!
The hill was killer. That's the only way to describe it. I wanted to stop and walk so bad but I didn't. I pushed myself to the top because I knew as soon as I went down I'd be seeing Jay and my friends as well as my BGR sisters soon. Jay took a video of me running by looking like this is easy. But I was tired. I'll post the video soon!
After passing them my tiredness was starting to keep in a bit as you will see in my splits. I hit mile 5 and then started eating some more sports jelly beans (I ate half a pack before the race too). This is when the scenary got beautiful. We were running next to the beach. Such a beautiful scenery. I love it and it kept me going.
Mile 6, 7, and 8 were pretty much the same. I started feeling good and was really pushing myself during mile 7. I guess the jelly beans were kicking in. You'll see the jump in my splits! I passed one of my BGR sisters that was ahead of me in the beginning. I knew then I was doing good on time and also because I never saw the 2:15 pacer group. The turnaround around was about mile 8.5. I was so happy to get there. I knew that meant I was more than halfway done and I could do this!
Mile 9 and 10 were good as well. Though I started losing my newfound energy during mile 9. A little after mile 10 I was able to start seeing the beach again and that was great. I love being near water. I opened my next pack of sports beans and began taking them. I text Jay and my booski's (Cam & Hermie) at mile 10 to let them know where I was. They sent me encouraging words and I so appreciate them.
Mile 11 wasn't too bad but I started feeling tired. I stopped for a little and took this pic of the ocean.
Mile 12 was difficult. My thighs were started to hurt and felt like they wanted to cramp up charlie horse style. No bueno. I kept pushing through though. Coming up on mile 13 I heard cheering from my BGR sisters and that made me smile and I pushed myself. No stopping now. I'm almost there. That last .1 of mile is always the longest LOL. When I saw the finish line I felt so good inside but still was scared my thighs were going to give out but I focused on looking for my besties and BF. I saw them and got so happy. So happy that I didn't even pay attention to the clock so that I would speed up. I looked up right before I crossed and it was a little after 2:10. I smiled and crossed the finish line!
Cammy took this pic of me going across the finish line!
About 10 mins after they found me I needed to go back to the hotel because *whispers* I had to go to the bathroom. My runners know what I mean. So we went back to the room. Hermie had to leave and Cam went to her car. Jay and I went to the room. After I went to the bathroom, he surprised me with a beautiful trophy. Yes I cried because I'm a punk. Then Cam came back and she had beautiful flowers for me. I am so appreciative of my support team. While in the room, I foam rolled a little bit and then changed out of my shirt and put on some comfy flip flops. Cam and I headed back to the beach party so I could take pics with my BGR sisters and get more goodies while Jay went to get us a table at the breakfast restaurant in the hotel (we would soon return to eat!).
My official time!! 2:09:49!
Overall I think I had a good first half marathon. I'd had almost a week to really think about it and it was really good. Loved the scenery and having an amazing support group. Though my body still feels as though it's recovering LOL. I'm always tired this week which is also probably why this post is just getting done!
xoxo, Preshii
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