Celebrating 13.1 Miles !! 👟

Date: Sunday 11/16/2025

Event: St Pete Run Fest Half Marathon

Guess who woke up at 5am to run her first ever half-marathon? I did!

I got up around 5am and got ready into my half-marathon fit (which I wish was cuter) but I wanted to be comfortable so I went with longer length black shorts, a pink Nike top, and my Nike Vomero 18's. My breakfast consisted of half a bagel with strawberry jam, Nuun electrolytes, & a banana (running a race is justified carb loading).

Headed out by 545am and the walk to the starting line was nerve wrecking! My heart was at like 100-120 and I wasn't even running yet (my whole run was in zone 4/5 for this reason lol). None of my friends really run so I went solo but luckily when walking I saw somebody behind me who was also solo, I struck up conversation with her. I believe her name was Linda and she was such a nice person who helped calm my nerves by chit chatting with me and helped me put on my bib while waiting to use the bathroom. I forgot to ask for her socials before the race started but I hope she knows she made my first half experience better <3

About 7 minutes before kick off, I joined the massive queue and was able to inch my way up to the 11 min pace when I really wanted to start off with the people going for a 10 min pace but it was tough weaving through people when you're 4'9 and they don't see that you want to move forward. While waiting in the queue I had an older woman take my photo for my mom and I got my playlist ready!

The song that kicked off my race was Lover Girl by Laufey and it felt like every other song I was just saying to myself "Wow this is a great song to keep me going"... like girl you made this playlist yourself with purposeful progression for motivation. Considering my lack of proper training due to my knee issues I had not that long ago, my only goal was to not DNF (did not finish). Once I started running though, it just felt like any other run just with a massive group of people and I had never felt better when running. I would catch myself laughing at the signs people made (my favorite was one that said "You run bettter than the government") and seeing so many people come out to support their friends and family also running the race was so heart warming that it kept me going as well.

It probably wasn't until like the 10th mile that I thought about how long I had actually been running. Although I still felt fantastic so I just kept going and bopped my head to my fantastic music choices. For the final .1 mile I managed to pull off a decent sprint and crossing the finish line was so satisfying knowing I performed and felt better than anticipated. It felt so good that I couldn't help but contemplate if I could do a full marathon... we'll see if that happens.

Overall I am very happy with my 2:13 time for my first half! It further confirmed that I genuinely love running and that I will continue to do so. I can't even remember why I was scared of running 13.1 miles and underestimated myself that I wouldn't be able to do it. Because in the end I was able to do it and couldn't be more proud of myself :)

Click here for the link: my first half-marathon playlist !!