The inaugural Puerto Rico Half Marathon and of course the Whitleys had to be a part of it! This was one of the hardest races I've ever done...I've got plenty of excuses to throw out there-hot, humid, hilly, I was on vacation, walked about 10 miles the day before, etc... We had already planned to not set a time goal (I thought for sure we would break 2:00 regardless), take pics along the way & just enjoy the race! WELL....please follow along as the race unfolds.
Wake up call @ 3:00 a.m., race started at 5:00 & now I know why now!!!
Look at the view from the hotel.
We walked about a mile to the Start line...please check out me already glistening from the walk over. The race started at the convention center.
Here we are in the corral for 9:00 minute milers...we are packed in like sardines and I'm dripping sweat and I know then this is not going to be good:-(. And we are off!!!!
It is SO DARK out and people are yelling "hoya" and I'm thinking that these people are so nice greeting everyone...then Trey informs me that hoya means hole & I thought they were saying hola...LOL! That helped the first mile pass by-9:20-uh oh, I sure thought we were moving faster than that. By mile 2 I'm drenched & hoping I even make it to the finish line!
Miles 3-4 ran up the main drag in front of our hotel...it was crazy because people were still in the bars partying...by this time many runners had started walking. Oh, did I mention this course was HILLY!!! I took a potty break at mile 6 to try to regroup and cool down a little. Look at this red face.
That 2 minute stop helped so much. I poured water down the back of my neck and headed out again. Feeling much better around mile 7...everyone on the course was super nice and complaining about the heat as well, so that made me feel a little less like a wimp. One runner from Puerto Rico thanked us for coming as he ran by...there were so many spectators along the course, more than I've ever seen at a race.
Around mile 10 we stopped and took this pic with this awesome view behind us...it was BEAUTIFUL!
It seems like we were out there forever! Poor Trey hung in there with me the whole time. He even said it was a hard run. With about 1/2 mile to go we ran up on a girl that looked like she was struggling as well and started talking to her. It turns out she lives in Madison, MS (where Trey's mom lives). She said this was her worst half ever...such a small world. Well 2:07 minutes later we made it!!!
First time doing a race with this at the Finish Line!!
And then on to pig out at breakfast with another beautiful view!
Even though this one was a struggle for me...it's always a good time!!! I would DEFINITELY do it again because it's the perfect excuse to go back to Puerto Rico:)
