This was an originally planned long-run that turned into race report! The Naples Paradise Cost Half-Marathon wasn’t originally on our radar, but JMR had a half-marathon on his training schedule while we were on vacation in Florida and happened to find this one near my parent’s condo. Since I had just returned to activity at the beginning of March, I figured I would also sign up and just run it for fun. While my runs have been feeling ok, I had only worked up to two 8 mile runs, and I wasn’t sure how things would feel after 8 miles. My coach reassured me that I would be fine, so I went into the race with a positive mindset and the goal to stick to my planned pace (8:20) which seemed realistic but might require some deep digging the last few miles.

The race had a very early start at 6:30a, so I was up at 4:45a and we all headed out the door at 5:30a. We arrived around 5:50a with plenty of time to hit up the rec center bathrooms and for JMR to warm up. Around 6:15a we headed to the start line and also met up with my Aunt and Uncle who came to spectate too. Soon the national anthem was played, last minute pre-race instructions were mentioned, and we were off.

The race start included both the 5k and Half-Marathon, so even though there were only around 150 running the half, the start was pretty crowded. After a few minutes I was able to find some space and tried to settle into a pace, but the first few miles felt tougher than I would have liked them to have felt. Finally by mile 4 I was able to settle into a pace that felt more comfortable (even though it was a bit faster-I just take some time to warm up these days) and around this time I saw my family cheering in mini lawn chairs along the course shouting words of encouragement to me and other runners. Seeing them gave me a boost of energy as I prepared for the 2nd loop of the 3 loop course.

By Loop 2 I was feeling pretty good, and it was nice to be familiar with the course after having run the first loop, except the out-and-back portion which was only loops 2 & 3. As soon as I made the turn for the out-and-back I could feel some tailwind and knew the way back in might be a bit rough. I also saw JMR coming back and he looked focused, so just I got a very small wave from him, lol. When I hit the turn around sure enough there was some headwind but not terrible. As I made the right turn to finish the loop I felt relieved knowing I only had one more loop to go.

Starting loop 3 I saw my peppy-family still cheering strong, I could even hear them from afar cheering others on. Their cheers gave me another boost of energy and I picked up the pace a bit. However around mile 9 I started to feel the fatigue setting in and was just hoping my legs could keep up the pace. Mile 10 I had to really start focusing as the effort to hold an 8ish pace was really feeling tough, but my legs were able to stick with it.

As I neared the out-and-back I was officially beginning to run out of steam. Come on legs! When I hit the turn around I knew it was only a little over a mile and a half to go, but boy did that sound far at the time. My pace had started to slow a little, but I kept pushing and made the right turn to the final stretch and could hear the finish-line announcer. Once I saw the 13 mile marker I thought, almost there! I upped the pace a little and as I finally crossed the finish line I saw 1:47:xx and was pleasantly surprised. I had looked at my watch during the race, but was just looking at pace and not worrying about time, so I was happy that those splits got me under 1:50.

JMR met me at the finish, he had a good race also, finishing 8th overall (he said there were some course cutters and should have been 5th) and I finished 7th female, got to love super small races! We took photos with my parents, aunt and uncle, as well as finisher photos and then headed to breakfast.

Overall I’m glad I signed up to do this race and was pretty surprised that my body was able to hold the planned paces fairly consistently throughout the race. Even though the race was on the pricier side for a half, it was well organized and had several timing mats (although I think they should have included one more on the out-and-back as that’s where several people ahead of me cut the course), and had great shirts and medals. I was a little less than thrilled that there were zero porta-potties on course, but fortunately I didn’t need to use them. Next up is the Illinois half-marathon, but since it’s so close to this race I’m not expecting much of a time improvement but excited to line up at another start soon again!

While we were gone Charlie and Penelope got to play at day camp during boarding, here are some action shots of how the first day went….

After a lighter recovery-focused week last week, now it’s back to business as usual to keep building back my base and start gearing up for my first race of the season. Happy Monday!