Seawheeze 2016

That’s right Internet world, yet another Seawheeze Half Marathon race day recap.

Half marathon party foul#1: Bryce and I spent the Friday before the run out on Vancouver Island with my girlfriend Celeste. We caught the last ferry back to the mainland @930pm, by the time we reached port and caught the last city bus back down town to our hotel I was crawling into bed at 1am. But with pre race nerves I didn’t fall asleep closer to 2am😣. 530am came far to quickly.

After sleeping in as late as I could I quickly got dressed and walked the 5 blocks guzzling down my crappy hotel coffe and a banana to meet up with Rachel.

I checked my sweet new Lululemon Seawheeze mesh duffle bag that I filled with unessasary things. I say unessasary because I had know idea what to pack for my post race and there was nothing of use to me post race except my phone.Haha.

Rachel and I stepped outside to join everyone with our pre-race warm up. The energy was high and I probably had about 5 nervous pre race pees. Saje Natural Wellness was out in full force apply peppermint and pain relief essential oils to anyone who wanted them. We set up shop with the 2:30 pace beavers. Rachel learned (among other great things) at her super elite bloggers lunch that if you stay ahead of your goal pace beavers then you don’t get discouraged if you fall behind or feel like you are chasing them. Which totally makes sense right!!

Once we crossed the start line all the pre race nerves fell to the way side. I had set a good pace and was feeling alright. 

Half Marathon party foul #2: While on the island I was super stoked that I could buy a litre of kombucha in a glass bottle. I drank nearly the entire thing while sharing it with Bryce. As I’ve posted before it’s great for the digestive system and I was scared I’d end up on the side of the race course popping a sqaut.

Back to my recap. With the above said there was no need to worry as there were plenty of portal potties to use along with all the hydration stations. Thankfully I didn’t have to use one, but if I had to, I would have been A-okay!

The course was full of beautiful scenery, the day was hot and humid and my thighs schaffed a little, note to self next year spandex shorts are a must. At one point I saw runners pouring thier water from the hydration stations over thier heads to cool off, which I thought was brilliant. So I did it and immediately regretted my decision. My sweat started POURING down my face and began to burn my eyes and then the sweat from my hand burned my eyes even more as I tried to dry it up. Lol I straight up looked liked I was bawling my eyes out. Haha lesson learned. I lost Rachel at the bridge becuase the course narrowed and it was hard in some parts to pass. I kept my eye out for a blonde with braids and several times I thought I had finally caught up to her only to be mistaken. There was a lot of blondes with braids that day! Curse you Seawheeze and your pre race day braid party!! Haha I told Bryce about and he laughed because he said the same thing when he was watching the finish line for us. Anyways….

There were a lot of cheer stations along the way that always seemed to pop up just when I needed it and but a smile on your face. I didn’t take a lot of pictures while running, but I’m sure you’ve already seen them from the other post you’ve read. Rachel and I did stop at the run sign.

And I do regret not taking a picture while running along the seawall, this one section of the beach was covered with hundreds of inuksuks that ranged in size. It was beautiful.

I was pretty pumped when I looked down at my garmin and saw that I was 12.8 miles in my legs were tired but I dug in deep to use what I had left in my tank to finish strong and at 13.1 miles there was no sign of a finish line. I ended up running 13.36miles but you know what who freaking cares. It’s the farthest I’ve ever ran in my entire life and I’m pretty proud of myself. At the finish line we were given our finisher medals Saje Natural Wellness essential oils, KIND granola bars, and a nice Lululemon runners hat.

We skipped the long ass line for brunch and headed for the free massages and chiropractors and I don’t regret my decision at all. I finally found Bryce who thoughtfully brought apples and muffins for Rachel and I. He congratulated me and I cried a little. After my massage and adjustment Bryce and I went back to the hotel, I showered and immediately took a 3hr nap and then got ready for the sunset festival. If you’ve ever thought about running a half marathon I HIGHLY suggest making the Seawheeze your first. The registration fee might seem a bit steep, but you get a lot back from it. Lululemon treats you well. Here’s a picture of all the swag I got. Not to mention you get a free ticket to the kick ass Sunset Festival.

See you next year Seawheeze… hopefully….. registration sells out real quick. This what I legit looked like for the long ass drive back to Alberta.#likeaboss