I am a Key West Half Marathon Finisher!

My alarm woke me at 5 am to get up and get ready to go run the half marathon that I have been looking forward to for three years!  I could hardly believe that I was actually getting ready for the race.  It was 70 degrees!  YAY!  I ate my bagel, got dressed, and rode my bike to the race location.  I was behind a lady who was also biking to the race!  We parked and locked our bikes a block away since there were still plenty of open spaces on this bike rack. 

before the race

I checked my bag, used the restroom (a real restroom, not porta potty!) and joined in the crowd moving toward the start line.  When I got to the start line, it was solid people facing me; the line up was on the other side!  I got behind the starting line but was off to the side and decided that I was going to wait there and jump in after the gun.  There was a 5K that started 10 minutes later and most of those runners were along the side of the starting corral so there were a lot of people in a small area. 
As I got started, I soon realized that I wasn't used to running in 70s anymore.  I actually had to get used to it.  After a couple of miles I finally felt normal.  It went good; I was running in the area of 10:30 miles which is what I expected with my minimal training method.  The race started in town but finally got out along the ocean.  The race was marked in both miles and kilometers.  The course was changed this year due to construction on the home stretch of the loop around the island.  It was out and back this year so as I was running out, I could see the mile markers for the way back.  When you are at 4 miles into a race you really don't want to see a 10 mile marker!  Eventually, I was headed back and passing the larger number mile markers again when they were really my mileage!  Around mile 7 I began feeling really beat and it was difficult and I thought, "this is going to be a long, miserable run the rest of the way" but it didn't last and I was back up to speed again.  Things went well until the last mile.  The last mile was tough; I just wanted to be done.  As I came back into town, there were a lot of turns.  I kept thinking that I'd see the finish line around each corner.  Finally, I saw the finish line and crossed smiling with  my arms in the air!!  I found a place to sit down for a few minutes and then it hit me - it's over, after 3 years of planning, it's over.  I was a bit sad.  I drank a little water.  The water bottles were cold!  They had been in ice!  Nothing worse than a warm bottle of water after a race.  I got my bag from bag check; I had a towel in my bag.  I soaked the towel in no time wiping my sweat off!  I took this picture of myself soon after finishing.  (I put my phone in my bag; I usually don't do that but I wanted to be able to text/Facebook post/take pictures so I did this time.)  The middle of the medal turns around. 

soon after finishing

I went looking for the food!  There were orange wedges and I ate 3 or 4.  They tasted really good.  Then there was:

frozen, chocolate dipped slice of Key Lime pie!!! 

I took a picture of it and posted it to Facebook saying: "You know you are in a special place when the finish line food is chocolate dipped key lime pie!!"  It really tasted good!  After I ate it, my tummy wasn't quite sure about it which I expected but I wasn't super nauseous or anything.  
Someone asked me if I'd take their picture so then I asked him to take mine with my camera. 

Key West Half Marathon finisher

There was no official finish picture area like there is at most races.  I don't think there were any photographers on the course either, just the finish line. 
Eventually, I was able to see results and my official finish time was 2:23:50.  I was hoping to be under 2:20 but I'm ok with it; I didn't train like I should have and I'm still not back to my pre-college weight. 
Soooooo, the Key West Half Marathon of 2013 is in the books! 
I'm back in my hotel room, I've showered and dressed in my shorts and short sleeve shirt to go out and about in Key West in the sunny 72 degree weather!!!
I feel good! My feet do not hurt other than normal sore feet after a long run.  My heel is not hurting at all and never did during the race.  Now, I can honestly say that I am soooooooo glad that I took 2.5 months completely off from running back in the summer.  It was the right thing to do, it was the smart thing to do.  I am here and am able to say the first line of this paragraph because I did it!! 
Well, I'm hungry so I am heading off to Schooner Wharf restaurant because I have a 10% off coupon from my race packet!!  Yummy seafood awaits me!!  I just ran a half marathon!!  I'm wearing the shirt the rest of the day! 

Runner Nerd
Key West finisher