First of all, this race was completely spontaneous. I had planned the trip to Bellingham, WA to visit one of my best friends, Jenni, but I had not planned on running a half marathon. Before the trip, I let Jenni know that I needed to get in a long bike ride (50 miles) and a long run (about 2 hours worth). So Jenni set me up with a bike for the ride and told me about that part before I left Houston. However, I did not find out about the race until I made it to Bellingham on Thursday night.
Me, Sarah and Jenni enjoying the views!
I should also add that spontaneity is not necessarily 'me'...according to those closest. But, I thought, this could be fun, live on the edge, something crazy and unplanned kind of fun! Fun, despite the fact that I have not trained for 13.1 miles. Fun, despite the fact that my longest run up to this point is only about 9 miles (and I walked the last 3 miles due to stomach issues). Fun, despite the fact that I did not bring nearly HALF of the what I consider 'supplies necessary to survive' a long-distance race. Fun, despite the fact that I am well aware that the term 'flat course' has a different meaning in Houston than it does in Bellingham, WA. I'm such a sucker for fun, though :-) So I signed up!!
Sunday arrived with a bit of a cool breeze in the air. A-hem, breeze = 25mph gusts! But, I was here to have fun, right. Okay, so I started to get a little nervous here, but nonetheless the race started and we were off. A little shuffle through downtown Bellingham and we were running around the sound (it looks a lot like a lake surrounded by mountains for all my southerners out there).
Bellingham is a charming little hippie-like town. There are a lot of free-thinking, artsy folk around that take a lot of pride in their environment. Trash pick up is only once a month, while recycling and composting bins are all over the place and easier to find than an actual trash can. The roads are all shared with bike lanes that are well-marked, observed and respected. Quaint coffee shops, book stores and little cafes are all over the place and the roads are marked with amazing views of the mountains in the distance, or the islands out in the sound, and awesome little parks great for walking with your favorite furry friends.
My favorite part was not the run around the marina, which though beautiful, the winds were CRAZY there and I was nearly knocked off my feet on a particularly steep climb up and over a bridge.
The Marina. Notice the wind? I did!
Around mile 9 we hit my actual favorite part, the park that led to the boardwalk along the water. The beginning of the run through the park was along a trail where the path literally looked like it was carved out of the trees that shaded the way. Then we headed around a wide curve, through a grassy play area, behind a coffee shop, and onto the boardwalk. The boardwalk is probably only about 200 meters of the run, but at mile 10, I felt this would be a good time to start my planned walk to the finish. This way I could enjoy the views of the islands and sailboats in the distance. At the end of the boardwalk was a huge ascent back up to the main road to downtown. It is a very steep grade that is tough even if you're not running a half-marathon and have reached mile 11-ish. OUCH! The great thing was that at the top of that hill was an even more amazing view and lots of cheering locals.
Heading up from the boardwalk.
The view from above the boardwalk. It was so beautiful!
I walked until about the last half a mile of the course, then began a slow jog to the finish. As I neared the finish chute a fellow half-marathoner grabbed me and convinced me to sprint across the finish line with her. She was a lot of fun and we smiled and laughed all the way across the line - looking like we won the race, I'm sure :-)
I got my cool new hardware (a medal) with the Indian Orca whale symbol on it. Very cool looking! In fact, probably the best looking medal I have at this time. Check it out:
My time was just over 2:30:00...I'm not really sure, to tell you the truth, because I wasn't racing this one so I didn't really keep track. It was all in good fun and in an effort to get that 2 hour run in as part of the half Ironman training. For the record, my best half marathon time is 2:00:52. You can see I was definitely relaxing and enjoying myself in Bellingham. In fact, I think that was the best part of it all. I got the opportunity to just run with a big group of people, cheering crowds, amazing views and earn a medal just for the sake of enjoying it!
Thanks Jenni and Bellingham for a great time!!
