Wow, is pretty much the only way to describe today. Anthony and I woke up at the butt crack of dawn and headed down to the city of Tacoma for the St. Patrick's Day Half Marathon. After making a much needed pit stop at Starbucks for breakfast we arrived in plenty of time to pick up our race packets and get ready for the run. This run was especially memorable because it was Anthony's very first half marathon!
Looking forward to this day all week I kept checking the weather report only to be met with dismay. 100% chance of rain. The weather report didn't let me down. It seemed as if we were met with more than 100% chance of rain and were out matched by the crazy wind!
We were all lined up and ready for the race to begin and we were already thoroughly wet and my feet soaked. The weather didn't seem to phase Anthony, thankfully! He faced the run without hesitation.
We started off with the 2:10 pace team. I was pretty excited about running with them but my excitement quickly faded once I realized they were WAY off pace. We managed to stay with them for about 3 miles before I had to stop running with them. They were over 4 minutes ahead of pace and I just couldn't stay with them any longer. I was planning on the 2:10 being my PR. Not under 2! But it turned out to be ok. We even PRed our 5k, 10k and 15k times!
We had a bit of a mishap on mile 8. Anthony landed a bit hard on his left foot which slowed us down dramatically but it didn't stop us! We hobbled along a bit until we met up with the 2:30 pacer at mile 11 and we finished strong! She was great and was extremely encouraging for Anthony and cheered him on through to the end!
The second major feat that Anthony over came was the wind, it wasn't overly strong until we hit mile 5, the wind started to pick up and then miles 8-11 it seemed as if the steps we were taking into the wind were only mere inches of progress in each step. We some how managed to push through!
We finished at the same time 2:30:17, not too shabby for a first half with a mild injury and horrendous weather! I'm extremely proud of Anthony for getting out there and trying something new and at least half crazy!
As far as the race support went, I give it an A. There was plenty of water, Nuun and energy gels along the course. The after race support was also great. Plenty of coconut water, water, bananas and even fruit chews! I am not entirely sure I've ever seen fruit chews at the race finish before. But I am so not complaining! I would highly recommend this race if you like views of water, trains and don't mind a small up hill finish.
Thank you for reading!
Keep on Running!
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