It was an early morning. I am not a morning person so this whole running thing is tough sometimes. But, I got up at 5:30 a.m. to get myself together. I had set out my stuff the night before which greatly reduces the amount of time one needs to get ready in the morning.
Even though it was dark out, I did remember the sunblock. I'm white as a ghost and I knew eventually there would be sun. We headed out about 6:00 a.m. to the start line. Our hotel was at 29th Street, the start was somewhere around 40th Street. Which was fine. I didn't mind the walk and there were all sorts of people out and about heading to the start.
We got there about 6:30 a.m. and hung out chatting. Somewhere around 6:45 a.m. Brian headed off to find a spot along the route to cheer me on and I headed to the corrals. It was a tad chilly in the predawn darkness, but I knew it would warm up. As I waited I realized I had to hit the little girl's room. But the lines...they were so long. So, I made the executive decision to wait until the first set of port-o-potties on the course. Being in the last corral, I had plenty of time to wait until we went off and low and behold it held me in good stead. I reached the next cross street and there were port-a-potties...with no line! Yea! I ducked into one and got back before the corral was sent off. :-) Genius! And this comes in handy later as I never had to make a bathroom stop on the course!
What I remember from the start are three things:
1. As we waited to be set free, the Black Eyed Peas song "This is gonna be a good night" was playing. I have good associations with this song - dancing with some good friends in Las Vegas and dancing in a club in Florence Italy with new good friends. This song is never a bad addition to any activity.
2. The song that played immediately afterwards which was what sent us off was Will Smith's "Summertime." I'm from the Philly area, Will Smith is from Philly. When I hear that song it makes me think of summer and all the fun times that summer brings. It was a great kick-off to the half marathon.
3. Though Brian wasn't sure where I would be, he found a spot along the course at the start and waited. And we saw each other! I was shocked! With all those people, I didn't think we would. He even got a photo of me starting. It's kinda blurry...
And then I wouldn't see him until Mile 13... It was all me and my Garmin from here on out. There won't be any more photos until the finish because I didn't take the camera this time around. I wish I had, but I thought with the temperatures being warm I had no jacket to put it in when my hand started to hurt. So, you'll just have to bear with me.
It was a bit crowded at the start. Lots of people being too far up and walking. I did quite a bit of moving, swerving, bopping. I passed many a person on the course, which felt kinda good. I never pass people. I was thrilled, but tried to keep my head about me. It's great to pass people at the beginning, it's another thing to pass them at the end.
When Garmin went off at half a mile, I ran another 5:55. Crazy! I was shocked, but happy. This stretch of the course (along with almost all of it in general) was flat. It was a highway-type road that went past many a neighborhood, which brought out the neighbors to cheer us on. Almost every side road had people at it cheering and encouraging us along.
When the highway-type road veered off towards the woods, there was a beer stop. Not officially sanctioned, but random people who decided to set up a tent and hand out beer to runners who might want or need it. I chose not to partake. Just kept trucking along.
Brian (who ran the marathon last year) said the wooded area was kinda boring. In a sense he was right. It was a road with trees on either side that made a very pretty arch overhead. But, what made it fun were the signs on the side of the road. This is where I really wish I had my camera because I can't remember all the jokes. The one I do remember is:
What happened when the leprechaun landed in the lake?
He got wet!
Yea, I know. Awful. But what's funny is this particular joke was after a ton of really punny ones and I really kept trying to figure out the catch. Then there wasn't one. I literally laughed out loud at this one. I'm sure I got a funny look or two. LOL!
Somewhere around 5 to 5.5 there was a DJ, which was nice because for some reason this race seemed really quiet. There wasn't a lot of chatter on the course. But, what bothered me about the DJ was she kept saying you're halfway there. Now, if we're talking the finish line she obviously can't do math. Which is exactly what I told the woman next to me as we passed the DJ. But, onward we went.
Shortly after the DJ we turned into the military base, which would be where the real turnaround point was located. I'll be honest, this part of the course was kinda boring. There weren't a lot of people out and about, there wasn't much to look at. I kept looking for the lighthouse, but it never loomed over the trees. The one thing I did like was a pretty little church on the base. I think it was St. Theresa's. Not sure though. It was set off from the road, tiny, and just cute.
The only part of the race that I had that "are we done yet" feeling was when I was running towards the 9ish mile water station. For some reason it just seemed to take forever. I was stopping at every other water stop for water and sports beans. I didn't feel like I needed either per se, but it just seemed forever before I got to it.
After hitting the turn around point, I felt pretty good. My goal had been to run the half somewhere between 3 hours and 5 minutes and 3 hours and 10 minutes. I was hoping to shave some time off my Philly Half Marathon time. Around mile 6, I felt I stood a chance of finishing under 3 hours. But, I said to myself not to get too excited over the possibility because when you come in over three hours, but ahead of Philly you don't want to be disappointed. Well, around mile 9 as I was drinking my water and chewing my beans, it seemed if I did the math correctly, I could really finish with a sub-3 hours half marathon. This time I let myself get a tad bit excited and entertain the notion that I really could finish in under 3 hours. So, low and behold at the 10 mile mark I was at 2 hours and 10 minutes with 3.1 miles to go. Now, at my very worst 5k race I finished in 45 minutes. This sub-3 hour half marathon was looking more and more probable. I was getting really excited and trying to calm myself down. When I hit mile 11 I knew there was no way, barring an injury that wouldn't let me walk the rest of the race that I wouldn't finish under 3 hours. I wanted to jump up and down with excitement, but I figured I'd get funny looks. LOL! Around the 12 mile mark there was a water stop, which was not in the plans to stop at, but I decided to do so. My throat was dry and I had time. :-)
When I made the turn onto the boardwalk, I passed people. Yes, at the last few hundreds of a mile, I passed people heading onto the boardwalk. Crazy! I came down the boardwalk and knew without a shadow of a doubt I was crossing that line in under 3 hours. As I got close to the finish line I saw Brian again. He yelled out did I know how fast I was going? Uhhh...yea!
I went past him onto the finish line. I crossed the line and stopped Garmie - 2:51:56. Wha?????? Holy moly! I just smashed my half marathon time!!! Not only did I beat my time from Philly, but I crushed it. Oh I was happy!! The official results were even better - 2:51:15. :-)
After my first two half marathons I had unfortunate physical side effects. After Princess, my back hurt. Badly. It started hurting at mile 10 and just didn't stop. I was not happy. In Philly, my back started hurting about mile 12 (which is an improvement over mile 10) and I was slightly miserable until the end. And then, my stomach hurt afterwards. I now realize what I did, but man, at the time I felt awful. But Shamrock? I felt amazing! No back pain. Barely any pain at all. Some hip pain around mile 6 that lasted til the end, but it was a mild discomfort rather than a nagging pain. After the race, no stomach pain...at all. I felt fine. I felt amazing. I felt like I could have run a few more miles (and no, this does not mean I'm ready to train for a marathon!). I just felt good.
After crossing the finish line, I received my medal, hat, and sweatshirt. Not too bad. Then I found Brian on the beach. We headed into the party tent for me to get my free adult beverages. I chose not to partake in the beef stew, but I did partake in the beer. Priorities.
We hung out on the beach for quite a while, then headed in and listened to the DJ and band. It was fun dancing around on the beach inside the tent to the music. How I ran 13.1 miles, then danced for an hour in the tent is beyond me, but it was fun!
On the way back to the room, I had my picture taken with the sand sculpture.
Oh and how's this for a cool medal? At the bottom is a bottle opener and hanging from the center is a removable charm. Nice job J&A Racing!
After a shower, we stopped at Starbucks for coffee and a yummy walnut banana bread slice. Then we wandered down the street to the stores. We also stopped at the arcade and played some skee ball. Because who doesn't play skee ball after a half marathon? ;-) It was fun!
Then I kinda crashed. I was very tired. We went back to the hotel and I took a nap. Hubby woke me up about 7:00 p.m. and we headed off to CP Shuckers. We ate there last year and it was yummy. And it was yummy this year. We shared Shuckers chips and enjoyed a delicious burger with fries. Then we shared a molten chocolate cake. :-) After dinner it was fairly late, so we headed back to the hotel.
It was an amazing day. I was proud of myself. I worked really hard the last several months training for this and for the first time I could see a marked improvement in my running. A 25:33 minute PR?? I've been somewhat been on a high ever since. LOL! I suppose that's acceptable...
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