Gulf Coast Half Marathon in Mandeville!

Make sure to read all about packet pickup and the day before the race!

We must have been ready to run because Paige and I both woke up about 2 minutes before our alarm was supposed to go off! We got ready pretty fast! I just loved our outfits!

We left about an hour before race time. We had to be there a little early because the start line was in a park and they were closing the roads 45 minutes before the race. We made it there with plenty of time. It was so cold outside (52 degrees...yes that's cold to me) so Paige and I sat in the car a few minutes before we got out. Finally about 30 minutes before start time we ventured into the cold. The sun was just starting to rise.

We stood in line for the bathroom for a few minutes and then we headed towards the start line. This race isn't very big so there isn't any corrals. There are just suggested areas for each pace in the starting chute. We took a few pictures first of course!

Yes...we had beach towels wrapped around us! It was cold!!! But it made for some perfect running weather!

Me and Paige with our matching Spooky Halloween BAMR Bands! I LOVE BAMR Bands!!!

We got in the back of the starting chute. We knew with my hip issue and Paige's hip and foot issue that we were just going to take this race slow and easy. Before we knew it the gun went off and we were headed towards the start line!

The first few miles felt great! You could feel the excitement in the air from all the runners around you! We got several comments on our outfits which we loved hearing! There's just something about running with a bunch of people...love it!

There were even a few guys running in a tutu and pulling a tire behind them! I talked to this guy and asked him why he was doing that and he just said he was training. I can't imagine! That had to have been hard!

Before we knew it we had made it to mile 3! I was feeling great! I could feel the tightness in my hip but it wasn't hurting. I realized how much I had missed running!

We walked through the water stations and we stopped once for Paige to use the bathroom. Then we turned onto the lakefront. I always love this part of the course. It's so nice running by the water! And the houses here are gorgeous!

We reached the halfway point and Paige started telling me she needed to walk more. Her foot was really bothering her. But I was feeling great and just wanted to run. But I didn't want to leave Paige either. For some reason there didn't seem to be as many runners at this race this year. So there were times that it felt pretty lonely out there on the course. I didn't want to leave Paige alone. So I walked with her. But when I was walking my right knee started hurting. When we were running the knee didn't hurt. Weird!

Around mile 10 Paige told me to please go. She knows me well and knew I just wanted to take off. I finally did. And I felt great! I ran the rest of the race with zero walk breaks! I remember thinking, "This is what I was born to do!" I LOVE running!

Before I knew it I could see the finish line! I kicked it in gear and heard someone on the sidelines say my name as I crossed the finish line! I grabbed my medal and water and headed back to see who had said my name and to cheer on Paige. It was my dear friend Bart or @oldguyrunning as some of you may know him as on Instagram!!! We had talked about meeting up and getting a picture. The first time we met we didn't get a picture together. I was so happy to see him!

He had an amazing PR with this race! This was his third half marathon and he finished 1 hour and 3 minutes faster than his first half!!!! And in comparison to his 2nd half...he finished about 20 minutes faster! Incredible! This was his last half because he has a bucket list he is working on...3 half marathons (done), 3 full marathons, 3 50K's, and 3 100 milers! WOW! He is such an inspiration!

I had fun hanging out with him while I waited for Paige! I cheered her on as she finished and then she came around and I got to introduce her to Bart! He wanted a picture with both of us and we were happy to pose with him!

And he was kind enough to take a picture of the two of us!

We said goodbye to Bart and headed towards the after party. They had a band playing and several vendors set up.

Paige and I saw that the physical therapy tent was giving out free massages and there wasn't a line so we headed that way! We both wanted to ask about our hip. I showed the PT where my hip pain was and she asked if it was deep. I told her it was and she said it was probably a tight hip flexor. She stretched me out really well in that area. Paige took a few pictures and made me act like I was in pain lol! I really wasn't...the stretching just felt really good!

After the mini massage Paige and I took advantage of the foam rolling area. It hurt so good!!! ;-) Then we went on the search for food. There were several food vendors but the best one gave you a fourth of a hamburger. It was plain with nothing on it but it was the best burger I think I have ever had!!!

We hung out for a few minutes and then headed back to our hotel for a shower.

After we showered and dressed in our new $10 shorts we had gotten the day before and our race shirt we headed home. We decided to stop at one of the casinos and eat lunch at the buffet. It was super yummy!

Can you tell my body was craving some protein? Look at all that meat lol!

As the day went on my knee started hurting and aching more. It started out hurting on the inside. The next day it was hurting on the outside and there is a visible bruise. I think I remember hitting the outside part of my knee on something. I'm wondering if the running brought the bruise out? I'm not sure but I really hope it's not an injury. First my hip...now the knee. And it's on the same side. I feel like I'm falling apart lol! All I want to do is RUN!

So what was my official time for this race? 2:45:58....not my best but also not my worst. I know I would have rocked this race if I hadn't had the hip issue. I felt so great and the weather was perfect for a PR!

#17 is done! And I got an awesome medal and super cute shirt out of it!

QOTD: What is your favorite post race meal?

Allied Medal Display Review and GIVEAWAY!

Disclaimer: Allied Medal Displays custom made this medal for me free to review. I received no other compensation. All opinions in the post below are mine and mine alone!

What's one of the most important things to a runner other than their running shoes? Their running bling of course! You work so hard for those medals that you definitely need to display them proudly!

Since I've run 2 full marathons, 16 half marathons, and several 10K and 5K races I have quite a collection of bling! And I LOVE my bling! I own a medal hanger but that one filled up very quickly. I started hanging my precious medals on my dresser mirror...but you couldn't see each medal.

Luckily the awesome people at Allied Medal Displays offered to make a custom medal hanger for me with my blog name on it!!!

The custom process was really easy. First I decided on the font and size that I wanted. Then I decided on anything else I wanted added. I chose to add a female runner on each side of the words. I emailed my options to Joel at Allied Medal Displays and it took him less than 24 hours to get an image to me of my display! He said I could change anything I wanted but I LOVED it just as it was!

Joel shipped it out fairly quickly. It arrived on my doorstep about a week later! I was really impressed with the packaging. It was packaged very carefully so it wouldn't get damaged.

When I unwrapped it it was beautiful!!!! I absolutely love it!!! It also came with all the hardware needed for my hubby to mount it on the wall for me!

I highly recommend the custom displays! They did an amazing job with mine and it was better than I pictured it to be!

If you don't want something custom they have a variety of medal hangers to choose from. They have running ones, triathlon ones, motivational ones, and sports ones. And my favorite...magical designs! Yep those are inspired by Disney! There is one for everyone to choose from!

And once mine gets filled up I can purchase a hang bar so I can add more medals to it!

Just look at this beauty proudly displaying some of my medals!

The great news....Allied Medal Displays is offering a giveaway for one of their standard designs to one of my lucky readers!!!

Enter below for your chance to win (please follow all of the guidelines...I will be checking)! Good luck!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Gulf Coast Half Marathon Mandeville Day 2!

Make sure you read part 1 of my recap!

When I left off we had gone to bed. I slept really well which is unusual for me the night before a race in a hotel. I usually don't sleep very good. What's even better is we got around 7-8 hours of sleep! The alarm went off at 5 AM. I was ready! I felt well rested!

I got dressed in my race gear...hey it's all about the outfit right?! :-) I was excited about wearing my Sweat Pink Race tank!

After I was dressed it was time to fuel some. I usually eat a waffle or bagel with peanut butter on it. Then about 15 minutes before the start I eat a banana. I brought my peanut butter....but forgot my bagels and banana at home! Luckily I had stashed a Smores Luna Bar in my suitcase so that is what I ate. And I ate a pack of sports beans before the start. Little did I know that fueling different would affect me later in the race. (I know, I know...classic no no)

We had a plan to leave the hotel around 5:40....we didn't want to get on the wrong interstate and then get stuck in race day traffic like we did last year! We also were smart and drove to Fontainebleau Park where the race starts and finishes the day before so we knew exactly where we were going! We made it with plenty of time to spare...and headed straight to the porta potty lines! While waiting I got bit by about a dozen mosquitoes! If you've ever been to Louisiana then you know that the mosquitoes there look like they are on steroids...they are HUGE! And they were biting me straight though my socks!!! Not fun!

We made it through the porta potty line and then headed towards the start line to wait on our friend Donna who was staying at a different hotel than us. We of course took a few pictures!

Me and Paige! She bought a Sweat Pink Race tank so we matched!!!

Paige, me, Gina, and Angela at the start! Yes...we were aiming for all pink for Breast Cancer Awareness!

We found Donna and got one last picture before the start! And you can't really see in the pictures but the sunrise was breathtaking!!!

At the start line we met a lady named Mary. She was running the race by herself and seemed really nervous. It was the first time she had run a race in a year because she had an injury. We told her all about Sole2Soul Sisters. And she even joined us when we said a quick prayer before the race. She was super sweet. She ran a little of the race with Paige and Donna but then they got separated. But she was sweet enough to post this picture on our Facebook page so I had to include it! Hopefully she had a great race!

Finally the gun sounded and we were off! As I was running and trying to get through the crowd I heard, "Go Sweat Pink!" I looked up and saw Heather from Running With Sass and her hubby running! Heather had just gotten off a cruise the day before and said she was still feeling nauseous. I learned later that she ended up in Urgent Care later on that day but was ok...she is writing her recap today so make sure to go read it! A few seconds later I heard another hello and it was Gina from Noshing On Asphalt! We were supposed to meet up before the race but she ended up forgetting her Spibelt and had nothing to carry her phone in so we had no way to get in touch. It was a miracle she saw me in the crowd! I also got to see her around mile 7 and she was running strong! She ended up PRing this race so you will have to read her recap too!

The first few miles I felt pretty good. I was running with Angela and Gina and maintaining about an 11 minute mile pace. I kinda knew I was in trouble because I really needed to stay at an 11:30 pace but I was having fun running with them. Was my hip hurting...YES! But I was pushing through it. Around mile 5 we made it to the lakefront. It was gorgeous running by the water! They changed the course around a little this year so the sun was to our back instead of the other way around and that was nice!

We stopped for a quick picture by the water!

We only ran by the water for about a mile and then we turned into some neighborhoods. And the houses were GORGEOUS!!! This is also where the first of my problems began. All of a sudden my left calf started hurting! It felt super tight and was cramping up. This has never happened to me before! I stopped to stretch it and walked for a minute. Then I started running again and it was fine...and never bothered me again! Weird! All I can think of is maybe it cramped up because I didn't eat my normal banana at the beginning of the race?

We kept running and got to the Varsity Sports water stop around mile 8.5...and this is where my new (I've only had it about a month) iFitness hydration belt failed me. Well...I guess it didn't totally fail me but the elastic loop that holds the bottle in...broke!

The belt still worked but I was now afraid of my bottle bouncing out of it! Ugh!!! And yes...I've emailed iFitness about this...but I haven't heard back yet. Hopefully they will stand behind their product and fix this.

Around mile 9 we turned onto the paved trail. I remember this part of the race seeming like forever last year. This is also where I had to stop and take some walk breaks because my hip was really starting to bother me. I told Gina and Angela to run on without me. I would walk some and then I would start running and catch up to them...only to have to take another walk break. I was able to take a picture though of this pretty bridge we ran over on the trail!

I wasn't the only one taking walk breaks at this point. I talked to several people on my walk breaks and we all complained about how hot it was. The temps were in the high 70's and with the sun in full force it was getting brutal.

Finally we turned off the trail and were back inside the park. I knew mile 12 was close because we saw the sign when we were driving in to park that morning. I was definitely tired, my hip was sore, and I was ready to be done! I made it to 12 and then saw the curve in the road...which meant the finish line was near! Finally I could see it! I sprinted to the line and loved hearing them call my name out as I crossed! My official time was 2:37:18. Not my best but also not my worst. And better than my half two weeks ago! :-)

Here are some finish line photos!

We waited around and watched the awards ceremony. Donna's son place second in his age group...he's fast! Then we loaded up and headed back to our hotel. Another great plus to our hotel...they have a 1:00 late checkout! So all 4 of us were able to get showers! It's a blessing not having to ride home all sweaty and stinky lol!

We were starving by this time and ate at Zea Rotisserie and Grill right by our hotel. I ordered the cheeseburger with red beans and rice...heavenly after 13.1 miles!!!

On the way home we stopped at a Snow Ball stand...we were in luck because it was their last day of business until February! We almost missed snow ball season!

If you've never had a snow ball you are missing out! It's like a cup full of heaven! Unfortunately he was out of a lot of the flavors since it was their last day so I had to settle for just plain strawberry.

Man was it good!!! I told myself it was helping to rehydrate me!!! Hehe!

We made it home and I was soooo happy to see my family! I missed all my men in my life lol! Sawyer immediately asked to see my medal...he loves to wear them the day that I get them!

The medal is another unique thing about this race series...yes...it's a bottle opener! :-)

So there you have it! I did it! Number 11 is in the books! ;-)

QOTD: What is the most unique medal you've gotten? Or your most favorite medal?