half marathon recap

Some friends and I went to Myrtle Beach this weekend to run the Divas Half Marathon. We left on Friday and spent a couple of days on the beach and getting ready for the race Sunday. We picked up our packets and were shuttled to the expo by men in golf charts.... felt like a total diva...

We dressed in tutus and took goofy pictures...

We fixed a delicious spaghetti dinner for our pre-race meal Saturday night...

We left the condo before sunrise on Sunday morning...

We got to the starting line and took a quick picture...

We headed to our corral and had our picture taken by a drone flying overhead. Then the gun went off and we took off. We had to weave in and out of crowds for at least the first 3 miles. Even the 4th mile was too crowded.

I ran with Kristine and Jessica for the first 3 miles. Jessica pulled away from Kristine and I first and then I caught back up with Jessica later when Kristine stopped to walk through the 4 mile water stop.

I stayed with Jessica in my line of vision until about mile 10 or 11. She pulled way ahead of me then and finished 5 minutes ahead of me.

I walked a lot for the last 5k but mostly during miles 12 and 13. I figured Kristine, Laura, Sherri, or Rachel would come running up on me during one of my walk breaks but I never saw them.

I kept asking myself, "Who walks during the last mile of a half marathon?" and would make myself only walk three or four steps before running again. Still. The last two miles cost me my goal time of 2:20. I finished in 2:22:02

I had three goals: 2:20, 2:28, and 2:30. Despite not making the first one, I am pleased. It's a new PR for me and I realized that I haven't run a flat course besides the Richmond Full Marathon in over two years. It was a beautiful race, but too crowded for my liking and too many newbies that didn't know basic race etiquette like when you walk get over to the right or don't run three people across.

It was a great weekend that we finished off by sitting on the beach and hanging out at Ocean Annie's.

Next race in less than 3 weeks and looking at the elevation map I can tell you right now that my time won't be nearly as good. Even so, I can guarantee that it will be full of fun!