Up next: North Carolina

Well, after a tough weekend in South Carolina I'm really looking forward to next month and some nice weather on the Outer Banks in North Carolina.  I'll be heading there weekend of April 13 for the Flying Pirate Half Marathon.

I'll be leaving early Saturday (April 13) to arrive and enjoy the beaches before check in at the hotel.  I'll only be staying the one night Saturday and running Sunday morning.

I've booked a room at the Oasis Suites which is right off the beach and not far from the start line.  It looks great here:  http://www.oasissuites.com/

South Carolina race day

In my blog post Friday night I mentioned that allergies were starting to take their grip on me with constant sneezing, coughing, and headache.  I mean I didn't feel sick when I woke up Friday morning so that had to be it.   Well, I was wrong.

It wasn't until I woke up Saturday morning for the race that I felt this was a bit more than allergies.  I had the muscle aches.  Anyone who's had a flu knows that feeling.  Everything hurts.  My back, arms, shoulders, everything.  On top of that I continued to have the sneeze, cough and headache.  This wasn't allergies.  It was a full blown flu.

But, as I snoozed my alarm and debated whether or not to skip this Half, I realized I had driven eight hours to be here.  There was no way I was going to skip.  I got out of bed, put on my running gear, and did my best to rally.

I got to the race start and immediately my headache worsened.  But, I got it going and by mile five I actually felt I could push through it.  Then I hit mile 10.  When I say those last three miles felt like they lasted forever, I mean it.  I was sneezing and aching and didn't really know what else to do but just keep putting one foot in front of the other.  I did and finished in 1:54:32.

I'd say this may be among the most challenging races I've done to date because of this flu.  The course was nice.  A bit hilly but nothing out of this world.  But, to do one sick is definitely a new experience.

And now I look forward to North Carolina and Tennessee next month.

Runners gather at Shaver Recreation Complex for start

Sunrise over Seneca

Race start

No medals for this Half but a very cool coaster

South Carolina arrival

It was an early morning getting up at 4 am to get on the road by 4:45.  I figured it would be about an eight hour drive to Seneca.  It ended up being a little over, arriving at 1 pm. 

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take many pictures today as I had to head back to my hotel after I picked up my packet.  I'm not sure if I'm coming down with a bad cold or if it's allergies.  I'm constantly sneezing and have a pretty bad headache.  I met a nice lady at lunch who sat with me and told me people can get hit pretty hard with allergies in this area.  So that may be it. Either way, I'm not feeling well which will make running a half marathon quite interesting tomorrow.

I am hoping to get some snaps of the foothills after the race and before I get on the road.  Plenty of race day pics to come tomorrow.

34 degrees isn't fun when you're still half asleep.

The obligatory "Welcome to State" sign

68 degrees with sunny skies.  Much better.

Calendar update

I recently put in an entry that North Carolina in April was my next race.  Well, it appears I'm going to be able to squeeze one in this month in Seneca, South Carolina.  That's right.  I travel there the weekend of March 16.

Once completed, this will be half marathon #18 on this running challenge (not counting DC).  I'm still working on getting a map up that people can link to to see which states have been completed.  Until I get that up and running, I'll end every race day post with the number of races completed for an update.

Seneca looks to be a beautiful race course.  It'll be a fun weekend.