Galveston Half Marathon: I Finished!

I did it, y’all! I ran my first half marathon! I want to share my experience and how I prepared for race day.

I woke up at 5:45 that morning (the race started at 7:30 am). I wanted to give myself time to enjoy my coffee and breakfast, and be able to do those regular morning things (if you know what I mean). The day before I carb loaded with pancakes for a late breakfast, and tortellini for dinner. For breakfast on race day I made sure not to eat anything out of the ordinary. The last thing I wanted was an upset tummy! So I had my regular breakfast sandwich and a cup of coffee.

I wore some good old Nike running shorts and a Lululemon short sleeve top. As tempting as it was to wear my cutest pair of floral running shorts, I knew they weren’t the most practical choice. Luckily, I had not experienced any chafing during training, and I sure didn’t want it to happen during the race. The classic Nike running shorts, or “Norts” as we called them in college, are the perfect length to protect my thighs…cuz there’s no thigh gap here y’all. I wore a running belt so I could put my phone in it. I purchased mine for $5 in the Target dollar spot! I couldn’t find it online, so I’ve linked a similar one below. I found that on the long runs I like for my hands to be free, so I zip it into this waistband and control my music with my headphones. I used my Apple headphones. If I decide to run another race I’ll probably cave and buy myself some bluetooth headphones.

If I’m being 100% honest, I did not like the style of Brooks that I chose for my most recent purchase. I wore the Brooks PureFlow 7 (on the far left below), a slimmer style of running shoe with a harder sole. I wish I would have bought another pair of Brooks Launch 4 (the second and third shoe below). You live and you learn though!

The weather was supposed to be overcast and about 65, and ended up being extremely foggy during my entire run. So I essentially swam 13 miles that day. The worst part about the fog is that I could only see about 25 yards in front of me. I had no idea if I was getting close to any turn around or any landmarks I’m used to seeing on the island. Because of the moisture in the air, my ponytail turned into a huge knot! I don’t know why I didn’t braid my ponytail before the race (like I normally do).

I’m extremely proud to say that I ran the entire race. This took a lot of positive self-talk and finding other runners that were close to my pace that I could keep up with. That was my biggest goal going into this half marathon. I knew that if I trained consistently I could run the entire thing. Of course, I listened to my body the entire time and if I really needed to walk I would have. I did stop at mile three to loosen my running shoes. It’s important to give your feet room to swell while running (I’ve been buying them a half-size up for that reason).

I finished my run to Beyoncé’s who runs the world, and it felt pretty bad ass! A lot of friends have suggested I try a full marathon next. I’m only half crazy though!

Lemme vent real quick, and please comment if this is typical / if you feel the same way. I paid $27 freaking dollars for ONE digital copy of the photo above. What a stinking scam! Of course, I caved and bought it because otherwise I wouldn’t have any other photos of me running the race. But OMG, those athletic photography people are getting off like bandits.