OBX Half Marathon weekend!

This weekend was spent in the Outer Banks for the OBX Marathon weekend.  In short, I had a great time!  The OBX Half Marathon was one of the halves that made my initial "fitness bucket list".  I am proud to say that I can now mark another item off my list!

Friday:

We left Raleigh around 4:30 p.m.  We got to Nags Head and had a pretty good dinner at Mulligans.  I remember eating at this restaurant when the hubs and I were in Nags Head for our honeymoon and remembered it being good.  I knew going into the weekend that I was going to need to be careful about what I ate, etc.  I enjoyed the broiled shrimp, a few french fries, and some sauteed green beans.  After dinner, we got to our hotel and got settled.  We ended up just sitting around, talking, etc. until we were finally ready to head to bed.

Saturday:

From left:  me, Debbie, and Vanessa at the OBX Marathon expo

We all got up around 7 or so.  Vanessa was running the 8K and 1-mile fun run.  Debbie and I dropped Vanessa off close to the start line and headed to Stack 'Em High for breakfast.  It was delicious and hit the spot!  


After breakfast, we headed over to the Dare County Youth Center to park for the expo.  We headed over to cheer Vanessa on as she completed the 8K, then we all headed to the expo.

After the expo and the 1-mile Fun Run, we headed to meet the NCRC crew for lunch at Goombay's.  I didn't know anyone except one person (other than the 2 people I travelled with), but it was nice to get to meet several others from NCRC and hang out.  I had shrimp and veggie quesadilla with black beans and rice.  Of course, I also added a yummy Rogue Mocha Porter to my order.  It hit the spot!


After lunch, Debbie and I headed to the Tanger Outlets for a while.  We wandered from store to store trying to find good deals, etc.  I tried on several things at a few stores, but didn't find anything that I just had to have.  

Pink/Orange/Yellow striped tank, bright yellow UA HeatGear
hoodie, black/white polka dot headband (Thanks Mama!), my
favorite green SmartWool socks and my Mizunos.

On Saturday evening, we took a quick ride around town and tried to find the race parking and the start line.  After we were comfortable with locating the race-day parking and start line, we headed to Basnight's Lone Cedar Cafe.  Basnight's is owned by former Senator/Speaker Pro Tem Marc Basnight and the food never disappoints (in my opinion)!  I had the broiled shrimp, whipped sweet potatoes, and autumn vegetable medley.  


After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the half marathon and hit the hay pretty early.  After checking the weather several times via several different apps on our phones, we settled on our clothing for the race.  We spent a little while talking, reading magazines, etc., but I am certain that I was the first to go to bed (around 9:15 or so).


Sunday:
After a great night of sleep, the alarms started going off at 5:15 a.m.  I am very particular about eating my breakfast a certain amount of time before I have a long run/race.  I had my standard pre-run/race breakfast of a bagel thin and 1 tablespoon of peanut butter.  After eating my breakfast, I got dressed and we were out the door by 6:15 a.m. to head to the start line.

NCRC ladies before the race

From left:  Me, Beth, Vanessa, and Debbie

Debbie got her watch set and I got my RunKeeper app ready on my iPhone.  Before we knew it, we were off!  The course took us on US-158/Croatan Highway, through several neighborhoods, over the Baum (highrise) bridge, and all the way to historic Manteo.  It was a beautiful course!  

Our splits were awesome!

We finished the half in ~2:39:54, according to my watch.  The official time for the half is wrong on their website.  I think that my timing chip didn't register when I cross the start line.  I started with Debbie and finished about 20 seconds after her, but the official results show me finishing 11 minutes later.  I am sure glad I set the RunKeeper app.  It said I finished in 2:39:54 - that's my story and I am stickin' to it!  I completed my first half in 3:08:12.  So, yesterday was a full 29 minutes faster - so awesome!

Debbie and I after the half with our medals

Debbie and I with a local pirate

Post race food - shared a yummy BBQ sandwich with Debbie

"Roommates" after the race

After finding our way around the post-race party and visiting with some others, we caught the shuttle back to the start line.  We went back to our hotel to take quick showers before our 1 p.m. check out time.  I am so glad that our hotel offered late check out!  There was absolutely no way that I could have made it back to Raleigh without a shower.  After checking out, we went to Five Guys and had delicious burgers and fries before getting in the car for the ride back to Raleigh.  Our drive back was pretty uneventful, with the exception of a "detour" (I missed a turn somewhere) through downtown Williamston and downtown Everetts.  

We got home around 5:45 last night.  I was craving a big salad, so I went to Whole Foods to get J and I salads to go with our Maggiano's leftovers from Friday.  My salad was massive and I was still hungry - even after the leftovers!  I ended up crashing around 9 p.m. and slept like a rock!

It was a wonderful weekend!  The weather was beautiful.  The company was awesome.  AND, I got a half marathon PR!  I am looking forward to the next adventure.  I am going to take a few weeks off from long runs, but training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon will begin soon enough!