November 30, 2019
Michael signed me up for the Run the Beach Series for my birthday. I was supposed to run the series in 2017, but I was only able to complete one of the three half marathons due to my knee injury and surgery. The past two years I talked about signing up for the series again and finishing what I started.
In previous years the Kaiser Coastal Half was the final race in the series. However, this year they rearranged the order of the events making this half the first race, Big Beach in January the second race, and Sea Turtle in February the third and final race of the series. I like this arrangement better because there isn't a nine month wait between races.
Orange Beach is a little over a three hour drive from our hometown. We drove down after lunch on Thanksgiving Day. Michael wanted to go straight home after the race to make it back in time to watch the Iron Bowl game. The Iron Bowl is a big deal for Alabama and Auburn football fans. (Hence my race day attire 😉) Roll Tide!
Alabama weather is so unpredictable. I ordered some capris to wear for this race, but it ended up being too hot. It was 66 and sunny at the start of the race and nearly 80 degrees by the time I finished.
This race starts and ends at the Orange Beach Sports Complex. The course is mostly along the paved Back Country Trails. However, there is about a mile long stretch along Beach Road around the halfway point. There were close to 300 runners for the half marathon. There was a 5K race as well.
I ran into my friend Krystal at the start line. She was signed up for the Run the Beach series too.
I didn't have a specific time goal for this race, but I hoped to improve my time from the Iron Horse Half in September. I thought I had a good chance to better my time since this was a flat, fast course. I didn't take the heat and humidity into account.
Krystal and I ran together for most of this race. I planned to run the first few miles to get out of the crowd and start my run/walk intervals after the 5K point. Big Mistake! We started out entirely too fast and I was already worn down by the time I started my intervals.
Thank you StreetSafari for the free race photos! They captured this photo of me early in the race before the wheels fell off.
It warmed up quickly. There was little to no shade for most of the race. I'd say miles 5 to 10 were full sun. I was so glad that I decided against the capris.
I was really slowing down by the time we reached Beach Road near the halfway point. I extended my walk breaks into my run intervals. I was starting to clock 11 minute miles. I put all time goals aside at that point. I just wanted to finish.
Krystal was starting to pull away and I told her to go on without me. I didn't want to slow her down. Eventually Krystal was out of sight. I was happy for her.
With a little over a mile to go I saw Krystal stopping to stretch up ahead. I eventually caught up to her. Her lower legs and feet were starting to cramp up. I felt bad for her because she was running so strong up to that point. She asked the next aid station for some mustard, but they didn't have any. We stuck together for the remainder of the race. As we made the final turn to the finish line we agreed to run the rest of the way.
Photo credit: StreetSafari Photos
Photo credit: StreetSafari Photos
We finished in 2:21:25.
Mile 1- 8:47
Mile 2- 8:53
Mile 3- 9:29
Mile 4- 9:53
Mile 5- 11:05
Mile 6- 10:26
Mile 7- 11:32
Mile 8- 11:20
Mile 9- 11:03
Mile 10- 11:30
Mile 11- 11:55
Mile 12- 11:32
Mile 13- 11:56
0.21 Miles- 10:41
I was disappointed in my time. However, it was motivation to work hard to improve at Big Beach in January. I also hoped the weather would be cooler by then.
Besides the unseasonably hot temperatures, I really enjoyed this race. I would love to run it again one day. The post-race food looked good, but Michael and I didn't have time to stick around. I took a few post-race photos, said good-bye to Krystal, and we hit the road.
We stopped at a drive-thru for lunch and pulled in the drive way at home just in time for kick off at 2:30. Unfortunately Alabama lost by a field goal. The final score was 48-45.
