Seaside Half Marathon

The Seaside Half is becoming a very popular race!  Every year it fills up quickly.  This year I registered in Oct to ensure I didn't have to beg for a slot and then pay through the nose like I did last year.   One of the big attractions of this race, aside from the location in beautiful Seaside, Fl., is the Vera Bradley bags they give away. My daughter loves the bag and thus the begging!

We spent the night in Santa Rosa Beach and were able to arrive early Sunday morning for the race.  Enjoyed meeting numerous Dailymile friends; Sang, Kevan, Kim, Jacques, and Lynne.  The weather was pretty nice for a long race.  Probably in the lower 50s.  Maybe even upper 40s.  It was a bit windy though.    Other then that, it was a good day for a race.

Here are some pictures with my DM friends.  

As many of you know, I have been struggling of late with a sore right knee.  I didn't do any running the week before the race, but I did do some power walking on the TM with some steep inclines.  How did that affect me you might ask.  Well...

I started off pretty good.  Was keeping a good pace around 8:25.  My intention was to keep that pace until around mile 9 and them try to pick it up a bit and maybe PR. Unfortunately, that didn't work out.  Around mile 5 my knee started to bother me.  I walked through the water stop to give it a short rest.  After I made the turn at just past mile 6, it started bothering me even more.  From that point on, I went into the Galloway mode.  I'd walk for a short bit and then I'd run until it started to bother me.  Basically, just like I did for the Double Bridge Run a month prior.  Fortunately, I was able to keep the pace pretty good while running and I soon realized I had a chance to at least beat last year's time.  

Around mile 8 I noticed this young lady that I would pass when running and then she would pass me while I was resting the knee.  We keep this up until around mile 11. That's when I decided to push her a bit. I noticed she was struggling and starting to slow way down.  I came up along side her and encouraged her to press on.  She did and her and I finished the race together.   Here is a great video of our finish.

Even though I didn't PR this race, I did manage to beat last year's time!  I was pretty happy with that.  The young lady and I finished strong.  A big thanks to my daughter's friend Megan who took the video.  It was a good after party and the finishers medal was awesome. 

Well, this isn't my best race report, but I'm just not feeling it today.  I should have donet this last week right after the race.  That said, as always my friends, remember, "Real athletes run, all others just play games"!