Asbury Park Half Marathon

Yesterday was an awesome day! I got to run a half marathon right on the ocean, in Asbury Park, New Jersey!

My sister lives 30 minutes from the Jersey Shore so we both decided to run the Runapalozza, a 5K and half marathon in Asbury Park.

It was chilly and rainy when we got there, about an hour before the race started. We hung out inside to stay warm. With about five minutes to go until it started, the sun came out, so I dashed back to the car to grab my sunglasses. I’m SO glad I went back for them, because the sun was out for the entire race!

My sister was running the 5K which started at the same time.

We ran the first two miles together, which was awesome!

The course went up and down parts of the boardwalk and down some of the side streets near the shore. It was so beautiful! I have never ran a race on the ocean, so I can check that off my list!

I surprised myself during the race when I felt strong and fast the whole time. The miles ticked by and my pace stayed just around a 9:30/mile average. I had a brief feeling that maybe I could finish under 2:04, but then during the last few miles the wind picked up and it was really tough to keep up the pace. Before I knew it, the finish line was upon us!

Half Marathon number 13 complete in 2:05:41. My Garmin time PR is 2:04:54, but my chip time for the the same race 2:05:59. So did I technically PR Saturday by 18 seconds!? What do you think?  If it wasn’t for the wind, I may have done it. The course was so flat and it was such a beautiful day, it was amazing nonetheless.

We both did awesome, though. I’m still proud of my time, and the fact that I ran a really strong race. I know if I trained harder I could beat the time, but at this moment in time, I know I did all I could do during this training cycle. Julie did great too, running her 5K in 31 minutes. 😀

Now, I just have to finish my half marathon at Bear Mountain next Sunday…