Gulf Coast half marathon recap

Hi y'all! Sorry I'm posting a day late! We got back to Arkansas late Sunday night.  And in true Arkansas fashion we had to dodge tornadoes to make it home. I spent all Monday trying to get caught up on everything! I ran half marathon #4 of 2014 Sunday so I thought I would recap the race for y'all today!

I had always wanted to one of the races in the Gulf Coast series! I was so excited that we would be at Pensacola Beach during the one there! I mean the course is along the beach so I was in. :) The race started at 7 in the morning which was the earliest I had started all year.  It was rough getting up that early but I need to get used to it since my next races start just as early!

David was so excited when I bought this shirt to run in! 

So I finally managed to drag myself out of bed Sunday morning and drove the mile to the start of the race.  It was so nice to be so close to the starting line! There wasn't a big crowd at all when I got there so I just sat in my car for a while and made sure to eat an apple.  I didn't have my normal pre-race breakfast of tortillas and cheese because we didn't have any and I definitely paid for it later.  I was hungry by mile 5!

I took this picture right before I lined up to start. Not a bad view!

So blogger fail...I forgot to take a picture of the starting line but here is one from the race's website!

I lined up towards the back and we were off.  As usual the first 2-3 miles are not my favorite.  I just can never find my groove that early on in a race. The first couple of miles we literally ran right by the ocean.  I made sure to not even have my headphones in just so I could hear the waves.  It was great! I really started feeling good around mile 4.  I couldn't believe that I was feeling so great especially considering all the things I had done wrong the week leading up to the race! Around mile 5 we headed out on a road that doesn't have any condos or houses and it was so peaceful.  I had been running on this stretch for the entire month and it was awesome.  There were great views and you could hear the waves.  It was definitely my favorite part of the course.  Just imagine that there are some really great pictures of the ocean here because I of course forgot to take any! :)

I started to feel a little tired and very hungry after mile 9.  My apple had worn off a long time ago but thank goodness I had my magic gummy bears! Those things keep me going! I just kept telling myself to keep running because I knew after mile 10 we would be turning on our street and David and Colton were waiting at our house! David had send me a text asking if I needed any water and when I rounded the corner and saw my boys I was so excited. I could tell the exact moment when Colton recognized me because he started pointing and jumping up and down.  It was so cute! I ran up to them and David wins the best husband of the week award because he had a cold washcloth for me! The temperature was around 80 so it was pretty hot. The washcloth was the best thing in the world.  I left the house and felt great and ready to finish strong.  

The next 3 miles were pretty uneventful.  We ran by the bay for a while and eventually made our way back to the main road and the finish line.  I crossed the finish and got a really cool medal and a glass with the race logo on it! I love the glass! (I would post a picture but it's buried in a random suitcase right now and I can't find it!) For a cheaper race the finish line swag was awesome.  There was a big party at the restaurant next door but I skipped it. I knew I needed to get home so I could shower and we could get on the road to Arkansas! My only goal was to have fun and finish so I was happy with that!

I looked at the data in my car real quick and I saw this: 

I was pretty excited about it being such a strong race for me!

I love my medal! Both races that I did while we were in Florida had a bottle opener on the medal.  Is this a thing in Florida? It's not a bad idea!

Random side note: I have never seen so much cheating in a race as I did on Sunday! I have no idea what was going on but I can remember at least 5 different people that I saw cut the course short.  I just don't get it! You are only cheating yourself.  Two women cut across a sidewalk and jumped ahead two streets and cut off about a mile and a half early on during the course.  And then several times when we were on the out and back portion there were people who switched sides and just kept going like it was no big deal.  I guess I can maybe understand if you are injured but they kept running and never missed a beat. It's just strange to me. Why even start if you don't want to finish the entire 13.1 miles?

After I finished and we were on our way home I started thinking about how different this Florida trip was then the time we went to Gulf Shores about 4 years ago.  The last thing I would have ever done back then was run 2 half marathons while on vacation! It's crazy to think how different I am now.  4 years ago I was ridiculously uncomfortable, tried to hide my body in anything I could find, and thought people who ran at the beach were crazy.  Fast forward to now and I was confident enough to wear a bikini and run almost every day! It's those moments that make all the hard work worth it!

I would definitely recommend the Gulf Coast half marathon! The course was great and I loved all the stuff I got at the finish line! I've got the Oklahoma City Memorial half marathon coming up in two weeks and I'm going to try to be really hardcore in preparing for that one.  I would love to get another sub 3 finish but I know I've got to fuel my body better than I have been if I want that to happen! This is one of my favorite races so I can't wait!

Did any of y'all have a great race or training run this weekend?