Well I can happily say I completed the Inaugural Mystic Half Marathon today with the help of Diana and Kimberlee. Last night I put my gear together and mixed up a post race chocolate milk. I went to bed around 10:30 but was not able to fall asleep. I had my husband and kids tuck me in and then he put them to bed. I tried reading but my eyelids weren’t dropping as they usually do. Eventually I just put my kindle down and tried to fall asleep. I heard my husband come in and then I tossed and turned for most of the night. 

My alarm went off at 4:45 and I got right up. I was pleased that it was light out but that surprised me. I thought maybe it was the moonlight. But I went out to the kitchen and I was the sun rising. It was a pretty morning and the birds were really singing loud outside.  

 

I got ready and was on the road at 5:35. I was beginning to freak out because I estimated that I wouldn’t arrive until 6:45 which wouldn’t give me much time to park and get over to the start and if there was traffic then I’d really be in a pickle.  Thankfully I made good time and no one was on the highway.  I arrived in about  45 minutes. I parked at the Hilton and met Diana and Kim near the start line with a few minutes to spare and time for a pre race photo and a pep talk. Our plan was to survive. It was extremely humid and hot out. We had to be careful.  

 I’m glad I finally had the chance to run with Kim. She usually runs with her husband or does her own pace so it was fun to take it easy and run with friends. 

The course was pretty running along Mystic Seaport and into the middle of town. Then we ran along the waterfront and into town and through some neighborhoods.     

 I was starting to get worried around mile 3 because we were in a lot of sun and it was very hot at only 7:30 a.m. We had been hanging around the 2:45 pacers so we decided that it would be good to stick around them. That way we would still finish within the course limit yet not kill ourselves for a faster time. 

We stuck with the pace group up until mile 9 where there was a hill and we lost sight of them ahead. We had been maintaining a pace around 12 minute miles, which I thought was good considering the heat and the hills. The course was pretty hilly. It wasn’t like Middletown but it wasn’t as flat as Cheshire either. I had to make sure I took in some sugar because there were some out and backs on the course and many of them were hills and that was playing tricks with my head. 

After mile 10 we knew we had a big hill to climb before we had the downhill to where the finish was not far from. So at mile 12 we decided to walk most of the mile since even walking that last mile will bring us to a finish around 2:45. Well we weren’t far off. We crossed the line at 2:48.   

Not my best non-Disney race but my purpose was to use it as a training run, especially with my back giving me trouble this week. Thankfully my back felt great when I got up and I had no issues with it at all. I taped my ankle and leg with Rock tape and it did well. 

After the race we went to the finishers area and I had some post race chocolate milk and then ran into Bob and Mary and introduced them to Kim and her husband and Diana.   

It was great to see them again and we talked for a bit and then hit the roads to head home.  
I am happy now that I have 2 of the 3 races for the Triple Half Challenge completed. I have to count to see how many races I have done to date. I’m curious to know how many half marathons I have run since my first one in 2012.