we headed out early saturday morning for our 24 hour quickie trip to seaside
for the Vera Bradley Seaside Half Marathon.
( if you're a runner, this is a great half marathon to run.
loads of ladies groups, great gifts, cute tshirts & the runners
it had poured all night here in atlanta and we'd had tornado watches too.
the bad weather was with us for the entire drive
& the entire day saturday.
poured!!
while a rainy day at the beach is better than no day at the beach
i hated to lose an entire day of beach bliss to yuck weather.
we checked in to our adorable little place for the night, which as similar to last year
was less than 50 yards from the starting line!
when you stay in a seaside rental, you get a load of goodies
not the least of which is a bottle of wine & a seaside cooler tote.
we headed over to packet pick up
did a little shopping
( jumping over puddles & dodging the storms)
before heading to The Red Bar.
also known as "my favorite place to eat"
i carb loaded on a huge bowl of pasta
& the most ginormous shrimp i've ever seen.
true story.
we received cute texts while we were gone
with updates such as the following from my sister in law
(caroline living large getting a mani-pedi)
a group of friends of mine were in town for the race & we hung out with them for a little while before
heading back for what would be
terrible night of sleep #2.
sigh.
since we usually sleep with some white noise & we didn't have that option
i felt like i heard every tiny little sound. even my stomach growling woke me up.
it sounded like the rain continued long into the night.
i laid there & worried ( no surprise there)
how on earth i'd run in the rain with wet shoes.
but we woke up sunday morning to a glorious day
not a cloud in the sky.
despite a crummy night of sleep i woke fired up
excited & feeling great!
ate a quick breakfast & was out the door to meet up with my friends.
our group prayed before we took off
&
i'm telling you what
at the risk of sounding corny, i could tell the lord was giving me energy.
i haven't felt that good running in ages.
it was so encouraging to me to feel so good
because i felt ill prepared going in to it.
three of my good friends & i ran together the entire way.
big big difference than running solo.
hearing things like
"lets get this train rolling" when i wanted to stop & walk
& "i'm over it, let's just finish" during mile 12
&
funny jokes from two of my best girlfriends
gave me encouragement to finish
( & finish at the exact same time as last year!)
thank you jeff, kathy & linda!
ya'll are the best!!!!
moments after crossing the finish line,
sweet holly came up & introduced herself!
as did lisa!
( i snagged your photo from twitter, hope that was okay!)
not only is that humbling to meet someone for the first time mere moments after running
(without my lipgloss no less)
but it truly is so awesome to meet a sweet blog reader.
i feel like i should hug them & apologize for the posts where i ramble
& thank them profusely!!
are they cute or what?!
i think holly is in conneticut
& lisa in texas.
too fun!
one of my sweet local friends was there too
& checked that 13.1 off her bucket list!!
way to go heather!!
( yes i finally showered & applied lipgloss )
dan & i only had about an hour or two before we needed to hit the road.
we walked across the street & checked out our rental house
that we'll be back for in july with the girls.
which is a 60 second walk from one of my favorite little photo locations!
we sat there & listened to the waves
& talked about how we'd love to move there one day.
i have the sweetest hubby
who on a regular basis lays his life down for others
& usually the others are me
and the girls.
driving down for a quick trip to seaside isn't cheap
the half marathon wasn't cheap
nor were my shoes
the food
the accommodations
or the goodies he bought me while we were there.
he spent the weekend asking me where i wanted to eat
what i wanted to do
& how he could help me.
no lie...
i pray each of my girls marries a man just like him.
thank you sweet man
for everything you did to get me to seaside
& for cheering me along
just as you do every day.
i love you.
34 comments:
you go girl! Good for you!!!
Congrats! You are so right, running with others makes a HUGE difference!
Way to go Paige!
xo~Jill
Amazing... I am contemplating a 5K.... we will see....
All of your posts from Seaside have me so intrigued. I may have to take a trip!!
Congratulations!!! Im so proud of you!! I couldnt run that far if someone was chasing me...with a very big knife!!! xoxo
Congrats Paige! And a big hug for your sweet supportive hubby! My sister lives in the Grayton Beach area, and we LOVE the Red Bar. Love those Friday night Crab Cakes. And Modica's Market? The best muffalatta's this side of NOLA.
Congratulations! I am determined to run the Half in Seaside next year! Thinking of planning the vacay in Seaside this year vs SandDestin because of all your lovely pictures and post! I think I'm sold!
what fun! so glad to see you for 30 seconds before you headed out.
next time .. i'm catching you at the finish so we are both non showered and non lipsticked. ;)
xoxoxo
ah thank you! yes! SO cool to meet you at the finish! so sorry I caught you without lip gloss!! I'm so glad I saw you at the finish and had the courage to be a complete and total creeper and introduce myself! you and Dan are SO sweet to take the time and talk with and take pictures with weird stalker people such as myself!! And yay for 13.1!!!
You rock Miss Awesome.
I love that you have made this a tradition and that Sea Side has such a fond place in your family's hearts.
Congratulations friend.
Awesome!!! Way to go hon :)
Oh my goodness...what a fun time you had...Dan the man is AWESOME!!! I'm praying for one of those to come into my life :-)I love the 2 pics of you all...sooo stinkin' CUTE!!!
So proud of you & thankful you had some friends with you. I'm running a 5k in about 6 weeks...I've never done that before and I'm super thankful for my friends that will be running with me...thanks for the idea of praying ahead of time...there's now way I can do the running without Him. :-)
So proud for you!!! And yes the storms were fierce friday night!!! Glad that God blessed you with perfect half marathon running weather. Love how your man took care of you...must say I have one of those too and I have two boys so just as you hope your girls find a man like you have...I hope my boys become like the man I have!
And fyi....seaside is my all time favorite place to vacation!!! Cutest town evah! :)
He sounds like an amazing man Paige. Congratulations on your time and what an amazing accomplishment again this year! Seaside looks beautiful and I bet you are even more excited for July after missing out on a day on the beach thanks to the rain.
Good for you Paige! WOW! And you are so blessed! There is NOTHING like a GOOD MAN!
Woohoo! So proud of you and your friends!
And who's that -an IOWA fan in Seaside?!! Nice!! :)
Hope you're having a fab day and recovering from 13.1!
xoxo
janet
Whoo hoo! I'm so proud of you. How sweet of your Dan to take such good care of you :)
Seeing you and Mrs. Linda at the turn on Sunday was one of the highlights of my trip! Y'all are just too cute for words!
Your pictures of Seaside are amazing...I thought what a beautiful place that would be to visit! Then I looked it up on a map. I'm going to be in Destin, FL in 3 weeks (about 20 mins from Seaside). My in-laws have a condo down there, so we are headed there for spring break. We will definitely have to drive over to Seaside for dinner some night.
Congratulations on the race! That does look like such a fun one! I'll have to do some running this weekend while in Nashville...I have an 8K in 2 weeks. I'm guessing you might be taking a running break this week, otherwise you are welcome to join me :)
Oh that makes me miss Seaside! And you're right...it totally makes a difference to have your hubby as your biggest cheerleader. Awesome!
Good for you on the run. Yep, tht husband of yours is a keeper.
Aww, that last part that you wrote about your husband made my eyes all misty. That always happens when I hear a woman praising her man for who he is and how he loves her.
Congratulations Paige!!!! I just registered for my very first 1/2 ever and I cannot wait. Your posts about running are so encouraging!
I,too, happen to have an amazing husband and support system - and pray regularly that our son turns out just like his Daddy!
Paige...congrats on your run.....Wow!!! What beautiful place to run.....our family heads that way a couple times a year although we head a bit farther east to Cape San Blas. We visited Seaside last year and were smitten. I wonder if you might shoot me an email with a link to a good rental company and tips on where to stay...we are heading to the Cape in July, but thinking of heading to Seaside in the fall or around thanksgiving.....
thanks!!!! and Congrats again!
Andrea
AndeM1@hotmaill.com
Great job as always!!! Love your blog. Please share who you rent from or what cottage you rent so I can get some goodies too :)
Yay Paige!! How fun to have friends to run your half with this time! And I love your goodies :)
I'm not sur I will ever run another half - but it is nice to have it off my bucket list!
xo ellie
Congratulations! I would love to someday run a 1/2, I ran my first
5k on Mother's Day last year. Maybe someday! :)
Seaside looks absolutely breathtaking, I can see why you love it there and would someday want to call it home.
You and your hunny are such a great couple. :)
Congratulations! Way to go! :)
Way to GO!!!
xo,
Lulu
Me again.
Paige, I haven't heard anything about the art course. Was I supposed to contact someone.
Thanks. Sorry to bother you.
Hooray! So proud of
you. I'm a spinner, a
yogi and trying to conquer
the barre, but a runner
I am not ~ 5k is all that
I've ever run....So I truly
appreciate the GRIT it
must take to finish 13.1!!
xx Suzanne
i am so proud of you!! i actually saw you there, but it was so busy....and crowded! congratulations on your HALF MARATHON! what an accomplishment!!
I am just impressed to the ends of my toes. You inspire me to believe I'm not quite over the hill yet. Boy did I need that!
So proud of you!!!!! :)
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