Bless Her Little Heart

Famous (or should I say infamous) last words in the South.  That's right folks - a southern half marathon, finally.  And why not?  Kim and I decided a while to go that we were gonna run the Diva Half Marathon in sunny Myrtle Beach, SC.  And here the story goes.

Friday night after getting off a wretched week of work, I drove down (6.5 hours) to Myrtle Beach where Kim and her parents were at.  I made pretty decent time arriving around midnight (mostly because I got lost, had to get some gas, and left Va kind of late...but that's a whole other story).

Got up Saturday morning, went and worked out (because who in their right mind take a vacation from the gym?), and then got the day underway.  Picked up race stuff at the Expo and headed to the beach for a bit.  Of course not too long because who wants to be sunburned in a race??

Come 5:30 Sunday morning we were up and on our way.  Now this is the first race we've done where we've actually stayed at the start/finish of the race meaning no 23,453 miles to walk to the start.  A few blocks down the road and we were off.  The race started at about 7:10 and it was already sweltering.  And the miles were long.

At mile 4, I was already counting down and I knew I was in for a real long haul.  But somehow, my mental game kicked it up a notch and I was able to finish it and with good time.  Some of the miles were really brutal - for instance the strip on the highway where there was no shade and the traffic was loud.  In fact, it was one of those races where many streets weren't really blocked off at all.  Some of the other miles run together.  But miles 10-13, well they were something else.  It was one of those experiences where you definitely enjoy the race (especially when it's over) but at the time all I could think about was making it to the next half mile, taking a sip of water, and then the next half mile.  Finally the end was in sight and it was over.  Except for maybe the marathon, I had never been so happy to see a finish line.

I blame it on the weather, the drive, the lack of sleep, and torturous work week but it definitely was not my favorite run.  At least it's over and I got a bangin' blingin' medal from a HOT firefighter.  Not to mention a little post race bubbly and viola - a happy ending.

How's that for #luckynumber13