Diva's Half-Marathon Recap

So I decided it is time to post this because all of the other bloggers have their race recaps up from last weekend, so I should finish mine from the 28th of April.

I ran the Diva's Half-Marathon in North Myrtle Beach.  I went up to Myrtle Beach on Saturday afternoon (the race was on Sunday).  Saturday I went to go get my packet at the expo.  The expo was mediocre.   It was well organized, but it was small.  I guess I am just spoiled by the Bridge Run expo in my hometown so other expos seem like a disappointment.  I got my packet, walked around for a few minutes, but then I left to go visit a couple of stores at the outlets and then go get some pasta.

So they had a bit of a shirt problem.  The shirts were supposed to be women's sizes, but they ended up being more like kids sizes.  I got a small because I was worried about how small the women's sizes would be, and it barely covers my belly button and it is quite tight.  Luckily, they had a system to get the shirts replaced and I should be getting mine in a few weeks.

My bib.

I woke up race morning late so we rushed to the start line (not a good way to start a race morning).  I did not have time to stretch so I felt that at mile 4.  The entire race was tight which I think was primarily because of me forgetting the night before, and then not having enough time race morning.  I learned that stretching during a race takes up a lot of valuable minutes.  No good.  I also woke up not feeling much better from the nasty cold I had been suffering all week.  I tried to keep a positive attitude on race morning, but between being late and sick, I wasn't expecting much out of the race.

Miles 1-6 were okay.  It was just running.  Nothing too exciting.  The course wasn't too exciting and I knew I had a long race ahead of me.

Miles 7-9 were where things got tough.  I really felt the effects of not properly stretching and I also had some nutrition issues.

Mile 10 was rough.  I was definitely starting to get sore.  That was not good.  I also became extremely unmotivated and was just searching for my parents just to get some sort of motivation.  I definitely started to feel the effects of being sick- I could barely breath through my nose and my energy was zapped.  I think I need to work on my nutrition strategy some too.  Any suggestions?

I don't really remember where that was, but I am pretty sure that was a fake smile.

Miles 11-13 felt sooooo long.  There was nothing I could seem to do to make them go by faster.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I finished in 2:18:56.  I was disappointed in my time after spending so much time and effort to prepare for it only to be sick on race day, but at the end of the day I am still proud that I finished my second half-marathon.  I have a lot of races ahead of me.  I am super excited about Kiawah.  

Overall, I would recommend this race to someone who lives close and just wants to do a run on a flat and fast course, but there wasn't really anything too exciting.  One thing that I loved about this race was the enthusiastic spectators.  There were a lot of people with really funny signs that made me laugh even through my mile 10 crash.  One thing that I didn't like so much is that the 5K runners and walkers shared the course for part of it, and at the time I was hitting the part of the course that we shared, there were a lot of 5K walkers and half-marathon runners in a relatively small area.

I better go to sleep so I can wake up to run a 5K tomorrow.  I don't really have any expectations for it.  It is mostly just a race to gauge where my current 5K time is to set a goal for the fall, but I do love races- big and small, long and short.  They are what keeps me running- even the ones that I didn't do well in give me motivation to do better in the next race.

Expo Recap!

So the Bridge Run was today (race report to follow).

The expo was open Thursday and Friday.  I opted to go on Thursday because it is much less busy.  I also decided to volunteer at the packet pickup later in the day.  I went early on Thursday because I was trying to find some running shoes, but the selection was not that great so I decided to keep looking.

I picked up my number, my dad's number, and my brother-in-law's number first.

my bib

I then went and picked up the rest of the packet.

drawstring bag, USB with race info, restaurant coupon, Aleve, bib, and towel

The towel is going in my workout room on my bib wall!

I then lolly-gagged around the expo.  I went to the TrySports booth, but they only had Newtons which I have heard are great and the whole midfoot-strike thing, but I don't know if I am ready to go that radical yet.  I then looked at another booth, but I think I just need to go to the running store and have time, and not have to worry about keeping up with packets, ect.  I went and got some samples from Bi-Lo (having a big grocery store as a sponsor is great).  They also had Front Porch Ice Cream Samples which were really good.

I then volunteered at the expo.  I handed out packets.  They were already pre-stuffed with the towel, coupon, USB, and Aleve.  The runners handed us their bib, we got their t-shirt, and put it all in the packet.  The process worked really well and I was glad to volunteer in a race and still be able to run in it.

a box full of packets

I was slightly disappointed in the selection of the expo, but I had a good time and it was fun to be around so many other runners to share experiences.