Seaside School Half Marathon Update

Well I did it! I completed my first half marathon and I did it with a respectable time. I finished with a chip time of 02:23:07 (10:55/mile pace).

Our trip started Friday. Dee K., Kristy B. and I drove down to Destin. Our boss was good enough to lend us his condo as long as we paid the cleaning fee. Unfortunately the weather was not great. It was cold and windy the entire time we were there. We grabbed some lunch and cocktails before doing a little shopping at the outlet mall that afternoon. We finished our day with dinner at The Back Porch in Destin.

Saturday, we took a nice walk on the beach before going to get our race packets. There were jelly fish every where. They actually made us a little nervous because you couldn't always see them. That afternoon we rode over to Seaside picked-up our race packets and grabbed a little lunch. Kristy's husband Steven met up with us in Seaside that afternoon. It was too cold to really enjoy walking around and seeing the town which is very quaint. A little bit a trivia about Seaside -- The movie The Truman Show was filmed there. We went back to the condo for a bit and then grabbed our last big meal before our run at the Outback.

Sunday morning came early...how early? 4AM early. It has been a long time since I've had to get up that early but it was well worth it. We all grabbed a little breakfast and then made our way over to Seaside. We had to park at a Publix and be shuttled over to the race start/finish line that was in town. About this time we were all wondering where the nice beach weather was. It was cold. Temps were around 50 degrees with 18 mph winds. Finally race time was upon us and we were off. There were so many people there and it took a good couple of minutes for us to actually get to the start/finish line. I ran a strong race for me. I managed to run the first 8 miles without having to walk. After mile 8 had to walk a little bit of each mile (except for mile 12 which I pushed through). I averaged a 10:55 pace over the 13.1 mile run. I felt like a rock start when I finished and for the rest of the day as far as that goes. Stephen B. had finished a few minutes ahead of me and I didn't feel like I had been resting very long when Dee K. walked over and met us. We went back to find Kristy B. and cheered her on as she finished strong. Even with the cold weather it was a great day!