Ok, so I knew I’d get my race report done . . . I just didn’t realize it’d be this late that I’d be posting it. Just to give you an idea of why its taken almost a week, Sunday evening was spent sitting in line for daycare followed by Heath getting violently ill which led to me then getting up at 5:30am Monday to go pay for said daycare to ensure my spot. My lovely husband barely recovered in time to go out of town for 4 days which left me fending for myself . . .those of you who know me know I don’t well with that. I don’t cook AND I’m pregnant, dangerous combo. Heath handed over a giftcard and money before he left hoping I could handle itJ. So, to make a long story short, that’s why this is just now being posted.
Myrtle Beach Half Marathon here I come! I was ready (mentally) and excited for the weekend away with friends and hubby. I cherish those weekends now more than I ever used to, kind of makes me feel half way normal again. Heath, Jeff, and I drove down Friday morning to avoid the traffic and Sarah hitched a ride later in the day. Thanks to Mitch we had a room at the convention center which was soooo convenient! I got to visit the expo multiple times and peruse all the fun shirts and products. When we got the expo we learned that the start had been moved to 7am which didn’t really bother me as I will take a later start that’s not as chilly any day. Something about snow, which I didn’t really believe. Dinner was nice especially since I had made reservations so we were sat immediately and avoided the long line.
We all get changed for bed and get our stuff ready for the next mornings race and begin to see all the postings saying to watch the news for race schedule updates. I could have gone to bed immediately which was approximately 9pm, but opted to stay up with the gang to see if the race was further delayed. 10pm as per the MB marathon website I tuned into the news and still found no update. It was 10:45 before they finally decided the darn race was canceled. At this point, all I could do was laugh. I have been in some pretty bad situations on race day and its NEVER been canceled. I did understand, this wasn’t a closed course and you can’t postpone it too long but jeez! This was my last long run until baby comes, this was like my last big hoorah for running. Everyone talked about going out drinking, unfortunately I was wiped from the drive and the expo so I opted for eating some food to drown my sorrows and then go to bed.
I got up the next morning around 7am feeling the taper, and the need to run. I went and checked the exercise room and was going to do the treadmill but they didn’t have a fan and at this stage in pregnancy I definitely would have overheated inside. I get back to the room and have decided I’m just going to run outside. Sarah had been awakened by me and offered to go with me. Luckily she didn’t ask how far before she got changed, when we’re getting ready to leave and she asked how far we were going I could see her drinks coming back up as I replied maybe 10 miles. I just grinned innocently hoping she’d feel bad for the pregnant lady and still join me. We stopped in the parking lot waiting for the garmin to locate and it was freezing, the wind just kept cutting into us as we stood there and entertained ourselves taking pictures. Once we got running the temp wasn’t so bad. Sarah ended up carrying the liquid since my fuel belts not quite fitting these days, and that was a huge help. I have to pee enough when I run but add a fuel belt that’s too tight on my bladder and I might as well be swimming. Sarah and I ran at an easy pace, and it was just an AWESOME experience. The 2nd mile we wanted to take a picture on the beach and wound up just running on the snow/sand and in awe of the sight. As we got back onto the course I was amazed at the amount of runners out there choosing to run even though it was canceled. Everyone was cheering and smiling, something you don’t typically see race day. We even had a few people offering sag support! We get to mile 5 to do a turnaround and I notice that my Garmin hasn’t registered in atleast a mile, so now I’m clueless as to where we are. Must have been the stop on the side of the road to do snow angels. On the way back to the hotel we see someone with a medal and stop to inquire about where to get one. Sarah and I decide the more than extra mileage is worth the medal at this point. Low on fuel and Sarah feeling the night before we trudged our way to the finish line and then back to hotel. We were so happy and proud of ourselves, and it was the most fun I’ve had at a running race yet! I estimate we completed our half marathon, but have no idea on time and could care less. Lucky for me and my group none of us had trained for the marathon so it was going to be a “fun” day to begin with. I do feel sorry for TNT and the groups that trained and raised money for charity, hopefully they braved the weather and ran anyways.
Oh, forgot one important thing . .. Jeff decided the bed was more comfortable then going to run with us however after seeing our medals and hearing we did the distance he was shamed into running his half marathon after lunch by himself. Priceless. Actually, I take that back, Regina with an umbrella singing “Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head” later on that evening is priceless. Susan, YOU HAVE TO POST THAT ON U TUBE! and I mean the one she decided to duplicate, not the one as a child. Happy 50th Regina, I hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed laughing at you:)!
