The Day I Killed 13.1

Wow....wow....wow

I still can't believe I did it.

I still can't believe it happened.

I finally accomplished this crazy dream of mine.

I ran a half-marathon! thirteenpointfuckingone! 13.1 miles!

I freaking did it!

13.1 miles in 2hrs 35mins 

{according to my running app, I ran 13.5 miles in 2:35:55}

What I learned from my first half marathon:

Make sure you test out your gear and your food intake the days of your training runs.

Go to the bathroom as often as you can, before.

Do NOT overindulge on energy gel/Gu...you will feel it later!

Hydrate yourself as much as possible throughout your workout.

Start training slow and allow your goal to be finishing the half alive!

This was a breakdown of race day:

3:45am alarm goes off
4:20am packed my (cheering squad) hubby, sister, and bro-in-law in the car
4:45am met my friends (runners and their respective cheerleaders) at the rail station
5:15am arrive at race location and frantically search for available bathrooms. The port-a-potties line was neverending! Make a mad dash to find the bathrooms at Bayside Marketplace.
5:45am picture time between the runners and the cheersquad
6:00am start whistle blows. Do some quick stretches and say my goodbyes to my cheersquad.
6:10am quickly run to my carril alongside the rest of the boys (I snuck from "I" to "C" and "E")
6:15am make a last fix of my outfit and tie my shoes. Set my iPhone to record...and offfffff I go!!!!!
6:45am make fun of the Korean group that kept stopping to take pictures of themselves. I thought it was awesome and hilarious all together!

The rest of the run was pretty fun! I saw the beautiful sunrise while running through the MacArthur Causeway to ward Miami Beach. Waved goodbye to the cruiseships and the folks out on Star Island. And the rest I remember only because I tried to text dear hubby along the way.

7:19am arrived to 5th and Ocean Drive.
7:45am passed the Miami Beach Golf Course and tried waving hello to my other bro-in-law's building, the two times we passed by it!
8:00am stopped at a port-a-potty for another bathroom stop. By this time, I had already taken advantage of most my water stops! Finally on our way through the Venetian Causeway back to the Mainland.
8:30am arriving back to downtown Miami! Near the Omni Mall.
9:15am finally finished!!! Unfortunately, there were so many people at the finish line (family, friends, runners) that the network was overcapacity. I couldn't communicate with anyone!

Oh yeah, and I may have had one to many "Gu" energy packets throughout the race! Reminder to use less or just pick one flavor/brand for the run. My tummy was extremely angry all day!