It was a Cold and Rainy Day...

One of my goals is to run a race every two months. On October 18th I ran my first half marathon. My next one is in January at Disney (a little over 2 months but who's counting.) Here is a brief recap.

It was a cold and rainy sunday morning when my uncle dropped my aunt Janet and I off at the Newport Visitors Center. By rainy, I mean straight out pouring sheets. The weather people were excited to report the first Nor'easter of the season. Janet and I were not as excited.

After getting dropped off we attempted to stay warm and dry by hiding out in the visitors center, but race officials would not let us go inside unless we were registering for the race. Considering we already had our numbers pinned to our rain jackets, we couldn't lie. Luckily the friendly staff at the Marriott were more accommodating and let us hang out in the hotel. Several bathroom trips and some stretching later, we were ready to run!

The race started out slowly, considering there were thousands of us racing. We tried to follow my uncle's advice to run in the middle of the road to avoid puddles, but by the time we got running, the entire road was one big puddle. Wet socks? check. Wet pants? check. Wet gloves? check. We were pretty much soaked by the end of the first mile.

We had some great volunteers cheering everyone on and working at the water tables, but IMO the water and porter potties were few and far between- especially the porter potties. Janet and I were both feeling good until we reached mile 8, where we both started cramping up, and my left knee began to throb. We started walking up every incline, and running the rest of the time. At mile 10 I started openign my stride up, simply to stretch my legs and try to uncramp them, and felt suprisingly better. I kept my stride up, and the last 3 miles went by pretty quickly. It was great to see my parents and Jamie at the finish line. Amy and Jackson had tried to wait for us but it was just too cold and disgusting out. I don't blame them- if I didn't have to be out in the rain, wind, and sleet, I would have been hiding out in a car too!

It felt great to finish, and I'm now really excited for the Disney half marathon- I have a goal to beat now, and the weather HAS to be better than it was for this race!