Naples Daily News Half Marathon 2015

On January 18, I ran the Naples Daily News Half Marathon in Florida with Lacy and Kristen, and the whole weekend was an absolute blast! I took the red eye from Salt Lake on Thursday night/Friday morning and met Lacy and Kristen at the airport in Florida Friday morning. We then proceeded to talk for the next 4 days straight, only pausing to sleep or shove food in our faces. Friday consisted of grocery shopping, setting up our rooms at the house (Lacy's in-laws have a home in Naples that they are kind enough to let us use when we go for this girls weekend), lots of chatting, and a wonderful dinner out at McCormick & Schmick's. 

Saturday morning we had intended to get up early and go for a run, but we got a little bit later of a start than we wanted, so it was a late morning run instead. We thought we were going to do between 3 and 4 miles, but ended up missing a turn because we were so engrossed in conversation that we ended up doing closer to 5 miles. Oops! Hard to tell that we were having any fun at all, right?

Saturday night we had planned an early dinner so we could all be tucked into bed at a reasonable hour, which meant that we had to get ready early, and didn't have time to go to the beach. We got all ready, swung by Naples on the Run to pick up our race packets, and headed into downtown Naples for dinner.

We went to a great restaurant called Campiello for a nice Italian dinner, and it was delicious! 

After dinner it was home to get all our gear laid out and ready for race morning. If you are about to run your first race, or thinking about it, this is a great tip for you. Lay out everything you need for race morning the night before. Shoes, socks, shirt, shorts, underthings, race bib, any food you are going to carry with you (like Gus or Cliff Shot Blocks), Body Glide, chap stick, everything. Then it is all in one place, and when you wake up with race morning jitters and haven't had your coffee yet, you will know exactly where everything is and can be confident that you haven't forgotten something. 

But I digress. Back to race weekend in Naples. We all slept well, woke up in enough time to eat our peanut butter bread and have a cup of coffee. Race start time was set for 7am, and to make sure we had plenty of time to park, walk to the finish, and use the honey buckets prior to start, we left for the start line around 5:45am to make the 25 minute drive. Once parked, we made sure our music was ready, Body Glide applied, shoes tied tight, bibs pinned to our shirts, and smiles on our faces. And before we knew it, it was go time! Here we are at the start line.

Lacy and I ran about the first four miles together, and then she left me in the dust when I walked through a water station. Luckily the way the course is laid out, there are a few out and backs along the course, so even though the three of us weren't running together, we still got to see each other and shout encouragement a few times. I felt really good and was running strong until about mile 9-10 and then my legs got tired. To be fair and honest, the furthest I ran in my training for this race was 7 miles. So I'm okay with tired at mile 10. And I finished, which was even better! 

I finished in 2:34, which was 4 minutes faster than my time at this same race last year. I thought about not sharing my time because it's 36 minutes slower than my PR, but I ran a half marathon, y'all! And that is awesome, no matter what amount of time it takes. I am super proud of all three of us for this half. This was Lacy's first half after the birth of her daughter in October 2014, and it was Kristen's first half marathon ever. Way to go, Kristen! And now the pictures that I just know you are waiting anxiously to see. The Finish Line. 

We went back to the house where Lacy's husband was waiting for us with fresh bagels (which I know saved my life). We ate, hung around for a while, showered, and then unfortunately Kristen had to go to the airport for her flight back home. Lacy and I went to The Pub to watch the Packers and Seahawks playoff game, and then to dinner at Seasons 52, which was phenomenal! In fact, the food was so beautiful that the only pictures I took that evening were of the food. What can I say? We were tired and hungry. 

That last evening was a pretty early night for us, and Monday we got up and headed to the beach after breakfast. We had to make at least one trip to sit by the ocean and soak up some Vitamin D. I had to leave for the airport around 1pm to make my journey back home, so even though I was there for part of the day, it definitely felt like I had to leave too soon. And we missed Kristen something fierce at our last dinner and the beach. 

Overall, this was another very successful girls weekend in Naples. And one that I am anxious to repeat again in 2016. Thank you for a wonderful weekend, ladies, and I can't wait until the next time I get to see you both!

Week 23 Update - 2,982 Miles

Another week down, and another 39 miles logged. We have crossed into New Mexico, and are still heading further south before we make the turn east to head to Texas. I'm feeling a sense of accomplishment this week because we are into the 'thousands' of miles now. We're really going to make it all the way across the country!

Week 22 Update - 2,982 Miles

This week we added 32 miles to our total, bringing us to 992 miles completed. We are officially one third of the way through this challenge, and about to bust through 1,000 miles run! 

Week 21 Update: 2,982 Miles

Week 21 is in the books, and we have logged 960 miles. This means we are almost 1/3 through this challenge. It's kind of crazy to think that we will be finished with this challenge in the not too distant future. Then what will our next challenge be? Guess it's time to start brainstorming that one! Great job this week ladies, and hope everyone has a great week of training ahead. 

Week 20 Update - 2,982 Miles

We are now 20 weeks into our challenge, and this was a big week for us - 79 miles! This brings our total to 923 miles logged, and we are approaching the 1/3 of the way mark of our journey. We blazed through Moab this week, and are almost to the Utah/Colorado border. One of these years, we're going to have to make it to Moab for a race. Such a beautiful place to visit. I mean, seriously... this is stunning.

Great job this week to all the Sweat Sisters, and keep up the good work!

Week 19 Update - 2,982 Miles

We have 19 weeks and 844 miles in the books! This week we added an additional 55 miles to the tally, and are approaching Moab. We'll be sure to share some Moab photos when we reach that milestone. Here's to another great week of miles!

Week 18 Update: 2,982 Miles

Last week we added 47 miles to the log book, for an 18 week total of 789 miles. We are now over a quarter of the way to our destination! That being said, we are just a few days past one third through the year in which we had hoped to finish this challenge. I'm not saying it can't be done (we are pretty hard core and determined, after all), just that we I in particular need to get my butt in gear and start logging some more miles to help out. Ha! 

At any rate, we are now south of Price, UT, and are about 23 miles away from making the turn onto I-70 to head east for a quick minute before we turn south and have Moab in our sights. Great job last week ladies, and happy running this week!