Gasparilla Half Marathon Race Recap

I did it!!!!   I completed my second half marathon!  

I had two goals for myself for this race:

• Beat my time from my last half marathon, which was 2:38:49
• Feel strong at the end of the race, since I didn't have Holly there to carry me across the finish line like last time :)

I am happy to report that I met both of my goals, but only barely...My chip finish time was 2:38:20.  So technically I beat my time, but I was really hoping for a finish time of around 2:30.  More importantly though, I felt strong at the end of the race, and I feel great about that. 

Here are my splits for the race:

• Mile 1: 12:34 (too many people, we had to stop and walk when the road narrowed at 0.6 miles)
• Mile 2: 12:02
• Mile 3: 11:44
• Mile 4: 11:48
• Mile 5: 11:38
• Mile 6: 11:51
• Mile 7: 11:58
• Mile 8: 11:46
• Mile 9: 11:48
• Mile 10: 12:49
• Mile 11: 11:57
• Mile 12: 12:23
• Mile 13: 11:01
• Remaining 0.28 miles(race course was long): 2:56
• Total: 2:38:22

Mile 13 was my fatest mile, and that feels great! 

Here is a quick chronological recap of the morning:

• 5:10am: exit of the interstate into downtown Tampa
• 5:45am: we sat in traffic for 30 minutes and moved about 0.2 miles that whole time!  Found parking about 3/4 mile from the start line and ran to the start line!
• 5:55am: I got out of the port-a-potty while the national anthem was playing
• 6am: race starts.  I made it to the start line, but never found the pace groups
• The first few miles were good, but I noticed early on that my right leg was really tight on the outside of my knee.  I experienced this during a few training runs early on, and it isn't painful, just annoying.  I suspect that the sprint to the start line is what caused this, but I really don't know.
• Somewhere around mile 5 I started stretching at almost every water station.  It helped my knee/leg to stretch, and then I could run a little easier. 
• I also stopped to walk a few times later in the race to try to try to stretch out my legs.

Overall, it was a good race, and although I wish my leg would not have been bothering me, I still I feel had a good race.

I had planned to take a few picutres at the car once we were parked, but due to the traffic and almost missing the start, that didn't happen.

I did take a few pictures in the car while we were stuck in traffic:

I was prepared for the cold weather with my big gray hoodie. 

My husband was looking ready for his first half marathon with no training!!!

There were a lot of professional cameras on the race course, so I am hoping that I can buy a few pictures of the actual race and finish since I didn't get any others.

The plan for the rest of the day is to lay around and be lazy and I am getting ready to order us some pizza.  We are hungry!!!