Harborside Half Marathon - Newburyport, MA

I can finally knock half marathon off my bucket list. This past weekend, a number of friends and I ran the Harborside Half Marathon and 5k in Newburyport. It was a gorgeous November day, cold but not icy and sunny. The 13.1 mile loop took us from Newburyport through West Newbury and back into downtown. We ran past gorgeous old farms, reservoirs and nature preserves. 

Before Sunday, my personal record for running was 9.6 miles and that was about 6 years ago. I do run often now but usually go no more that 6-7 miles (the Mass Ave to Longfellow Bridge loop if you're a Bostonian). I was so proud of myself, my boyfriend, and my brother for sticking together the entire race and finishing in 1 hour and 51 minutes. We consistently hit 8 minute 30 second miles the entire way. 

Surprisingly, my body is not in as much pain as I had anticipated. I'm definitely not ready to sign up for another race quite yet but feel like there might be another in my future. I'd highly recommend the Loco Races group and would definitely say the Harborside Half is a great race to check out. 

This picture was taken just after the race. Looks like we hardly broke a sweat, right?