Seaside has come and gone

What a great time! The drive down was...interesting. Torrential downpours from Georgia into Alabama, finally cleared up about an hour north of the Florida border. It was beautiful once we got there though. A little windy but the temperature was just about perfect. We were lucky enough to have Saturday to play on the beach and drive around (no swimming in the Gulf, conditions were too windy).

Sunday morning dawned windy and cold! Temp was 38 with a windchill of 29, ON THE BEACH! IN FLORIDA! So we dressed warmly and piled into the suv to drive over to Seaside from our hotel in Destin. Actually had to park in Watercolor and take a shuttle over to the race starting point (2700 runners for both races plus spectators meant not enough parking in tiny Seaside). Finally got over to Seaside and waited on the side while the half-marathon runners got ready to start their race. That wind was coming right down the street, which meant we'd all be running into it for the first half of both races.

The half-marathon finally started about 7:10am, then those of us running the 5K got ready to start, finally getting going about 7:25am. That wind was COLD! Kept a pretty decent pace the first half, and when I made the turnaround I knew I could pick that pace up. And I did! Having the wind at your back really helps, so does running on an actual FLAT course. By the time I was back in Watercolor, I knew I was faster than my November time, just not by how much. Saw the finish line and glanced over at the time clock just as I crossed it. 38 minutes! Someone was blocking the seconds, but I didn't care! I did it in under 40 minutes, wooohoooooo! Final actual time (posted on the website yesterday) was 38:49:05! Yeah! Shaved 2 minutes and 45 seconds off my 11/22/08 time!

So what was my challenge to myself if I did post a time under 40 minutes? To sign up for a 10K on 3/15/09. So I did, that's less than 2 weeks away, yikes! I'm not worried about posting a fast time since this will be my first 10K, whatever happens, happens. I just want to get the first one out of the way so I can settle in and start preparing for the Peachtree Road Race in July.

Here we go, the next 2 races are:

3/15/09 Shamrock and Roll 10K - Atlanta
3/28/09 ING Publix 5K - Atlanta