Let's get it out of the way: Bayshore Half Marathon 2017 didn't go as planned. This was the race I'd been training for since January. My goal Sub2 race with my #sub2crew.  However, due to the illness and injury, that goal wasn't in the cards. I probably shouldn't have even run, but stubbornness won out and I did it anyway. I finished in 2:08:12  - - I thought it was a PR until I looked at last year's time and realized it was 2:08:05.... close enough to count as a tie! I figure if I ran it that fast while I was in horrible pain for most of the race and walked more than I ever have, I'm confident I can make my goal when I'm healthy. Onwards and Upwards as they say.

Basic race recap:

Traverse City Bayshore Half Marathon.

Location: Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City, Michigan.
Date: May 27, 2017
Sign up: Sign up is Dec 1 of each year. It fills up within minutes. Literally. I think last year in less than 10 minutes. You have to be hitting refresh like a crazyperson waiting for it to open! It's a bit nerve-wracking!

Clothing: Gym Girl Skirt, Wonder Girl Tank and Visor (Skirt Sports), ProCompression socks, Saucony Kinvaras.

Drove to Traverse City Friday afternoon for packet pickup at the Traverse City Central high school. Traffic and people weren't too bad, I walked right up and got my packet. There isn't really an Expo at this race, just Playmakers selling some clothing and accessories, and a few local sponsors with tables. I checked out the merchandise for sale but didn't see anything I wanted. Did enjoy some free cherry juice one of the sponsors was handing out.

There is a spaghetti dinner you can buy a ticket for, but I've never done that, choosing to eat my own pre-race meal.

Since we were staying with relatives who lived a couple blocks from the high school, I was able to walk both to the packet pick up and to the race and not deal with traffic or parking. The race does offer free shuttles from the local hotels and the state park on race morning though, which is a nice perk since there isn't a whole lot of parking at the high school.

Race morning arrived and I walked to the high school to board the buses at the high school by 5:30 a.m. to take us to the start of the half marathon. (The 10K and the marathon start and end at the high school by completing an out and back loop, but the half marathon starts halfway up the peninsula and runs across and down, ending at the high school.)

The race didn't start till 7:30a.m. but it takes a while to get there, plus have time to warm up, stretch, eat and use the porta-potties a couple times. (For some reason, the lines were extra long this year, and I heard later that some people missed the start of the race as they were still in line.) Weather was perfect, low 60s and partly cloudy.

The half-marathon holding area is in a huge open field in the middle of the peninsula. I learned to take an extra garbage bag or towel to sit on as the grass is usually really wet and you have to wait there for a long time. They do have a tent with water, kleenex and some other stuff you might need while you wait.

This is by far my least favorite starting line. You're standing in a road staring up at a hill...not a little hill, but a half-mile long hill that just goes up and up. It's daunting from the get-go.

The worst part though, is you never even know when the race is starting. Despite blasting music all morning, when it's time for the race to start there's no sound...no "Racers are you ready" no "countdown", no sound of any kind. The only way you know the race has begun is when the pack in front of you starts to move. So bizarre.

I knew immediately it was going to be a long race...even just the first few steps were painful, my knee twinged and sent pain up my thigh. Oh well, keep on moving. Up the hill, down the road, up and down the rollers as we crossed the peninsula and headed for the flat road along the lake shore. Again, not a fan of the hills at the beginning...not that I'd really want them later in the race, but early on means you don't get into a good rhythm until mile 3 or so.

I was running with four others and by mile 4, all but one of us was dragging. That perfect weather I mentioned? That didn't last long. The humidity crept in, the clouds burned off, and it was soon 75 degrees with 80% humidity....add in lots of pollen and it made it tough to breathe. We slowed down a bit, walked through the water stations, stretched and kept on moving. We'd pick up the pace now and then, but kept finding ourselves slowing down. If I stopped for too long my ITB/knee seized up and that was worse, so it was better if I kept moving, even slowly. I was also having a hard time with my energy and liquid intake. My gels weren't going down and the water was sloshing.

The rest of the race went similarly...I was struggling with my knee and one friend was struggling with his hip and we knew our sub2 goal was gone. But we trudged on. I wanted to quit about half a dozen times (who am I kidding, it was about every step!) but my buddy wouldn't let me. Even when it was obvious he could run much faster and finish ahead of me, he stuck by, encouraging me all the way to the finish line.

The entire course is lined with spectators who live in the houses along the road. Since the road is closed, they all just sit or stand in their driveways with signs and music, cheering you on. Some have water or oranges, or beer, or other stuff to hand out, some just cheer. Either way, it's super great to have so many people along the course.

The water stations have both water and gatorade at them, and the volunteers are good about yelling which is which.

The start line might be the worst, but the finish is one of the best. You finish on the high school track. There are awesome finisher medals and Moomers Ice Cream! Moomers is a local Traverse City dairy. So delicious and just what I needed. They also had a tent full of other post-race snacks, but food didn't sound good, so I didn't take any this year. But I saw bagels, bananas, subs, cookies, chips.

All in all...it wasn't the race I wanted, but it was a good race. Probably my worst one in terms of how I felt, which is funny considering I tied my PR time. So I can't call it a bad race. It was a good race in its own right.

Will I do it again? I don't know. It's a nice course, the spectators are awesome, but after a couple years it might be time for something new and a chance to do something different Memorial Day weekend. We'll see. Registration opens Dec 1. :-)