(copied from my blog review here: https://fiveleveninety.blogspot.com/2019/02/race-review-publix-florida-marathon-2019.html)

Another marathon is in the books, y'all! On Sunday I ran the Publix Florida Marathon in Melbourne, Florida and it was extra special for a couple reasons:

1. It was so close to where my parents currently live and both my Grammy and my sister were visiting so they were all there to cheer and be our support crew
2. It was my pal Cassie's very first marathon and I had the pleasure of running it with her!

If we're all being honest, my training for this marathon was pretty trash. I feel like I start every race review by saying this but I feel like it was especially true this time around. I had been travelling out of state almost every weekend since mid-December and we've been down two staff members at work this semester, so putting in miles was always at the bottom of my priority list. When Cassie and I linked up in Florida on Friday, she was feeling the same way about *her* training, so we started joking about how we just needed to show up and run and eventually we'd get across the finish line. JUST SHOW UP became our mantra for the entire weekend and it kept us laughing despite how unprepared we both felt.

We got in pretty late on Friday night (shout out to my dad and sister for picking us up at the airport!) so we went to bed pretty immediately after arriving to my parents' house, but we woke up bright and early on Saturday to enjoy breakfast and the warm weather outside with the whole fam! They surpised both of us with some pre-marathon goodie bags to get us pumped up for the race the next day. So sweet!

Inside the bags were:
-Signs with inspirational running quotes handpainted by my mom
-Grammy's homemade strawberry jam (so yummy!) to celebrate that the marathon theme was The Year of the Strawberry! 🍓
-Customized frames for race photos (mine was mermaid themed, Cassie's was strawberry themed)
-Hand knitted washcloths that were strawberry colored
-Matching Nike tank tops that we ended up wearing for the race!

Such an awesome gift to receive and it got us both so excited for the race the next day!

After relaxing, eating, and lots and lots of hydrating, we all packed up and headed over to the race expo to pick up our bibs and race packet! The expo was fairly small but there were a good handful of vendors there. I picked up my usual handful of gels and blocks for nutrition during the race, and was seriously considering buying a shirt from Wicked Skins (I loved their prints!) but decided to wait to order something from their website in the future.

After the expo my dad, Cassie, and I all went over to the beach because, I mean, you've got to see the ocean at least once every time you're in Florida, right? We also went over to one of the nearby canals where I guess manatees tend to congregate when it's colder outside, but alas we didn't see any. Seeing a manatee is still on my Florida bucket list so hopefully I'll be able to catch a glimpse of one sometime in the future! ☺️ On our way back to the house we picked up some Pub Subs for everyone for lunch (gotta rep the race sponsor!) and got ready for a night of relaxing. Cassie and I made sure we built our flat runners for ~the 'gram~ before settling in for the night.

We woke up super early for the 6AM marathon start and we were greeted with a lovely Florida downpour. We were nice and soggy before the race even began so we knew we were in for a fun day. 😂 We were all smiles and nerves, though, anticipating how well just showing up would go! Our support crew were all troopers in seeing us off so early in the morning and in such terrible weather. We're so lucky to have such supportive people in our lives!

6AM rolled around and we were off! Cassie and I opted for the 5min/1min run/walk method that I used during Richmond in November. We were definitely not going for time and honestly my main goal was making sure we got Cassie across the finish line, so we took it mile by mile! We picked up a friend who was also run/walking for a few of those first few miles and we learned that he was also doing the 50 states challenge. It was fun chatting with him and learning more about his running journey.

The course itself was a two-loop course for the marathoners which was fairly flat aside from two causeways you had to go over during each loop (a total of 4 hills over the course of 26.2 miles). Half marathoners ran the same route as the marathon, but only did the loop once. I will say that it was fairly disheartening to see the half marathoners peel off knowing that you had a whole second loop to run, but that's how it always is when there's a half and full running simultaneously. 😂 Unfortunately due to the weather, a lot of the planned entertainment on the course had to pull out, but there were still a handful of bands and tents who stuck out the rain and it was so awesome and motivating to see them as we passed. There was also quite a few neighbors who came out in the rain to cheer on runners which is always so awesome to see!

The amount of on-course support was amazing. There was a water stop about every 1.5 to 2 miles that was stocked with water and Gatorade, and quite a few had gels as well! There was also bathrooms at every aid station which I always think is a HUGE plus! Nothing's worse than running a marathon and having no clue where the next bathroom is. 😂 Overall I think if we had good weather it would have been a really amazing course experience with the combination of support and entertainment, but unfortunately we were unlucky with weather. (Honestly, I think having a rainy/overcast day was for the best because we probably both would have keeled over if it was hot and sunny 😂)

We were greeted by our support crew at the halfway mark which was so awesome! They came baring gifts of Cheez-Its, brownies, towels, dry socks, and overall great cheer! It's always so great to see familiar faces along the course of a marathon and it was such a great boost of energy. Of course when they came out to see us it was down pouring yet again, so we so appreciated them braving the rain just to come see us for a few minutes! Once we were all fueled up we were off again to tackle the second loop. We were approaching the furthest that Cassie had ever run before!

The second loop was, of course, much more challenging, but we fought tooth and nail to get through. When you're in those really challenging miles of a marathon - the miles where you're so far from the start but still so far from the finish (miles 16-22 are really the toughest, in my opinion), you really have to fight back those thoughts of how much your legs hurt and how much further you have left to go. Your mind really starts to tell you to stop and every single step can be excruciating. Our brains might think we can't do it but our bodies say otherwise! We kept reminding ourselves to just keep putting one foot in front of the other and eventually we'll get to the finish.

Like I mentioned earlier, the number one goal of the day was getting Cassie across the finish. It's been a few years since my first marathon but I remember every single thing that Cassie was experiencing. I wasn't going to let her give up so I made it my personal mission to make sure we crossed that finish line! We ran, walked, stopped & stretched, and I did my best to make her laugh through the pain of those later miles. Eventually we turned the corner of the final stretch before reaching the Melbourne Causeway. Going up that last hill was a daunting task but we took it one step at a time to get to the top. We were so close to the finish! It was perfect timing but we saw my mom and Grammy at the top of the causeway cheering us on. This gave us both a boost of energy and by the time we got to the top we were ready to run down the hill to the finish! I ran ahead of Cassie so I could ensure we were doing okay on time before the cut off (we were!) and I was greeted by my dad at the corner before the finish and by Lindsey right after the finish line, waiting with medals for both of us.

The coolest part was seeing Cassie run in and cross the finish right behind me! My mom, dad, and Grammy were all running her in and it was just such an amazing feeling to be able to witness her finish her very first marathon. I totally remember the feeling of crossing that finish line after your first 26.2 and it is a truly special feeling. Lindsey caught the moment perfectly after she got her medal and we gave each other a huge hug after a long day of running.

Unfortunately most of the post-race celebration was packed up before we got to the finish, but it didn't matter to us - we had finished the race and Cassie was officially a marathoner!!! We were so happy and didn't really need anything post-race, except for maybe a chair so we could sit down haha. Post-marathon is such a good feeling and I think our smiles in our post-race photo really say it all!