I'm running my first half marathon in...

2 hours.  I’ve been training for my first half marathon for the past few weeks.  And by training I simply mean doing my normal running (4-5 miles daily, 6 times a week) with a longer run of 6-9 miles on the weekends.  I’ve wanted to do a half for a long time now but just kept putting it off for no good reason.   So when I saw the Hilton Head Half Marathon was coming up I figured why not do it?  I grew up going to HH every summer with my family for vacation since I was about 12 so this seemed like the right place to do it.  I know the area pretty well and I’ll be able to reminisce a bit about our family vacations while I’m on the course which will be good.  It will keep my mind off the miles and on the memories.  

I’ll be running with my brother, my cousin Allison and our friend Tim.  I thought about following a training plan but decided against it because they were all pretty long (the shortest one was about 10 weeks) and my brother and I only officially signed up about a month ago.  Plus, all the training plans incorporated at least 3 days off from running weekly, which stresses me out to even think about.  I cannot NOT run daily.  One thing that all of the training plans included was a weekly long run, so that’s all I changed about my personal running regime.  I did take it easy this final week, only running Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and decreasing the miles for my last two runs.  And it was miserable.  I felt slightly like a couch potato.  But I knew that the last few days leading up to the half would be crucial as far as getting enough rest and storing energy so I tried to take it easy.  

People are asking me if I have a goal finishing time and the answer is yes and no.  I have a basic one in my mind but I am a bit hesitant to talk about it in case I jinx it.  Stupid, right? Anyway, my cool Garmin watch has a virtual pacer I can set that will notify me throughout the race how well I am sticking to my goal pace.  It's pretty awesome.  

Now let's talk about the weather conditions.  As of now, here is what today's sky is planning on dishing out during our run...

8 am

45^°

Rain

FEELS LIKE: 39°

 HUMIDITY:

  89%

 PRECIP:

  80%

 WIND:

  N at 12 mph

UGH.  I am definitely not a cold weather lover and I'd never trained in the rain before.  I think the water could certainly make the miles tougher and slower.  Luckily, I have a tight rain windbreaker with a hood that's pretty easy to run in.  I also bought an awesome orange (my favorite color) Brooks running hat (an impulse buy) at the packet pick-up a few hours ago.  So needless to say, the weather forecast is more than a little disappointing and possibly a bit daunting, but what can you do?  I'm signed up and I'm here.. so let's do it. 

I'll post the course map on here tomorrow (or as soon as this shoddy hotel wi-fi decides to function).  But it's up and over a bridge...twice, once around mile 5 and then again at mile 9.  YIKES.  

Ok, stay posted for the half marathon aftermath.