Galveston (half) marathon

Note -- the race was on 2/5/12

Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon - the name alone sounds fun.

Doing it with Tonya, Dawn and a whole bunch of my Houston Fit buddies makes it even better!
Having a hotel room walking distance to the start & finish is the icing on the cake!

DAY BEFORE
Saturday was drizzling rain, but not bad.
After checking into our large room at Harbor House & picking up packets at Fit to Run (a great running store in Galveston owned by Galveston Fit coordinator Kimberly) we didn't have much time before meeting up with the Houston Fit crew at Mario's.
Great time with the group & loved that Mario's let us order off the kids menu when we explained why.
Quick trip by the store & back to bed & to stress over what the weather may bring....

RACE MORNING
Lots of last minute stressing over the weather and what to wear. This was a Team Beef race, so I was in my tank with arm warmers, gloves, shorts, compression shorts and a hat. For some reason, I didn't think I needed a rain jacket, so just wore a cheapo plastic poncho. Big stupid mistake....
It was raining, so we waited until close to race time to walk over to the start. Didn't seem very crowded & started, in the cold and drizzle, soon after we got there.
Was pleased to see they had pace leaders! I ran with the 5:30 pace leader for a while & she explained that a race is kind of like a mullet - all business in the front (the 3:00 paces) and party in the back (the 6:00 paces)!

RACE:
The beginning, going up to the Seawall, wasn't too bad. Not much rain & we were warming up as we were running.

But once we got to the Seawall, the WINDS hit us. Not too bad as they were at our side and back, but they were making it very chilly.

We went down & made a little loop before heading back -- with the wind in our faces. IN OUR FACE. At one point, I was having a hard time breathing, like an asthma attack almost, and I realized it was because the wind was SO strong. I had to turn my head to the side to breathe!

Was also having to hold on to my hat the entire time & there were hats flying past occasionally. I had thought of picking one up for Tonya, since she was worried hers would fly off. Later at the finish line we cracked up laughing when Collier noticed Tonya had 4 or 5 hats hanging off her SpiBelt! Yup, Tonya scooped up the wayward hats along the way!

The wind, the rain, the COLD. I never took off my freakin' $1 store poncho. For a while, I even had my arms inside the poncho for warmth.

The course seemed really nice, but honestly I didn't see much of it - my head was down almost all 13.1 miles.

OH THE RAIN
OH THE WIND
OH THE COLD

It was a tough, tough race due to the conditions.

Did learn something interesting: Luggies can really fly in the rain. Due to the cold, there were lots of them being hocked along the way.. Luckily no one was hit, that I saw anyway.

POST RACE:
Announcements of names were made as we came down the Strand to finish, with lots of spectators (and random tourists) along the sides. The medals are nice - love they're on beads.
Post race food was great -- fresh pizza from Mario's, breakfast Tacos from Taco Cabana, Coke products, Muscle Milks, Toll House cookies and I think there was beer.

Back to the hotel, where it took a LONG time to get warm. I couldn't even drink coffee because I was shaking too much! After a hot shower (decided there was no need for an ice bath as our bodies were already ice!) was warm enough for post-race drinkies!

CELEBRATE

Willie G's was across the sidewalk from our hotel.
Yes, please!!

Shots of Bailey's (in the pic), a bloody mary (oh yeah, baby!), free appetizer platter since we stayed at the Harbor House & shrimp from the kid's menu along with LOTS of laughs and story-telling with Tonya & Dawn made a PERFECT was to return to normal life after that race!

We were there for quite a while & had a blast! Our waitress was great and a friend of Dawn's who volunteered at the race came to meet us. GREAT end to the trip!


I definitely want to do this race again...and do the full BUT want to wait until Mardi Gras (based on Easter) is a couple of weeks later so MAYBE the weather will be better :)