Recap of the Half Marathon, Part 2

First a quick update on today- I ran the second day of c25k with my friends tonight.  Tonight we went 2.1 miles in 25 minutes (last night it was 1.6, so we went even FASTER tonight!).  It feels really different to push myself to go the fastest I can- it's pretty neat!  Ok, on to part two of the half marathon recap...

Chapter Two: The Morning of the Race and the Moments Leading Up to It

Woke up the next morning without the assistance of an alarm clock (I was too excited!).  It was 5:45am when I woke up.  I hadn’t planned on showering before the run since I was going to get all gross anyway, but since I was up an hour before I needed to be I decided that I would just hop in there.  It felt good to get out of bed and be doing something instead of just sitting there and twiddling my thumbs.

On the way to breakfast I went to the Coke machine by my room to get my morning wake me up- a diet coke.  Well, they were out of diet cokes.  So I went to the next one.  Out.  Went to the next one.   Out.  Went to the next one- that one was a Pepsi machine!  Ahhh diet Pepsi is liquid ass.  So, I went back up a level and got a Coke Zero.  Sigh.  It would have to do.  Went  to breakfast and ate a waffle, some eggs, and some fruit.  Decided that an hour is far too long of time to eat by yourself.  I was done in 20 minutes and started to get bored fast.

Finally it was time to meet Gina and head down to the 8am ferry.   The race was to start at 11am, but I wanted to take the first ferry out there to get set.  I hate rushing at the last minute to do things.

The weather could NOT HAVE BEEN BETTER!  In the morning it was chilly- low 40’s- but by race time it would be in the low 50’s with a slight wind and really sunny.  That was crazy because in all of the rest of Michigan (I mean everything- upper and lower peninsula) it was rainy, windy, and cold.  The weather would hold out just long enough for us to finish the race and catch the ferry before it started raining- it was raining by the time we got to the mainland!  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Sunrise on the Morning of the Half, Waiting for the Ferry

Another of the Sunrise

Ships Seen from the Ferry as we were leaving Port

The Bridge as seen from the Ferry!

The ferry ride over was very quick, and soon we were on the island!  We walked over to the Mission Point Resort where the race was to start later that day and picked up our bib and fleeces.  The bib had our timing chips in it, which is pretty neat, but also meant we couldn’t bend the bibs, so I carefully pinned mine to my shorts since I would be taking on and off my outer shirt all day.  The fleeces are really nice- they are this pumpkin color and have zippered pockets and everything.  I have worn mine almost everyday since I’ve had it- and it will be GREAT for winter running!

We had a lot of time after this to walk around and check out the island, so we walked back into town and checked out the shops and other sites around the area.  We walked over to the fort, but it was closed to tours by this point in the year.

Just past Misson Point Resort- This is what we would run by in our first steps of the race

A house across the street from the fort- it looks crazy!

The fort- I have another picture of the fort as I ran behind it!

The church that was used by the fort members in the 19th century

After this we started to make our way back because we didn’t know what else to do.  It was about 10am at this point.  On the way back we spotted a church that had a museum in it’s basement so we checked it out.

Map from the 1800's

Pretty Loopy Writing

Bell from the Original church- 1600's I think

Something they Store Holy Water In

Something Pretty- I don't know what it is though...

Then we went upstairs and took some pictures of the church itself.

Windows on the right side of the church

The door into the Church

The Steeple

Sunlight coming in through the door- entryway window

Roof of the Church

The front of the church

Close up of the front

Now it was about 10:30 so we decided to hoof it back to the hotel.  When we got to the hotel, Nate, his mom, and his brother were there waiting for us.  Gina and I decided to go to the bathroom one last time, but when we saw the line she decided to just go up to her start line.  I had no choice in the matter, it was go now or pee my pants about 4 miles in.  Luckily I happened to find a bathroom in the hotel where the line was really short!  …turned out it was a guys bathroom.  A couple of girls besides me were in line too, and we just closed our eyes as we walked in.  The guys were really good about it too.   

By the time I was done with that, it was about 10 minutes to the start, and I still hadn’t found Stacey!  We were texting back and forth but couldn’t find each other’s location.  I decided just to get in line and maybe we would see each other on the course.  I dropped in on the conversation behind me- the ladies were talking about running the Disney marathon- and I made some new friends.   

I started up Pandora on my phone and CardioTrainer to record my workout…nothing started playing!  Oh god!  I was going to have the whole race without music!!  I couldn’t see the time clock or any officials from where I was- all of a sudden though, everyone started moving!  It took me about four minutes to make it up to the timing mat, and by that time, I was jogging, so it worked out well.

Next post-- the actual race!