OBX half marathon - beaches, beer, and Backstreet Boys

A conversation from June 2012...

Laura:  “Hey, want to run a marathon in the Outer Banks in November?”

Me: “Hell no.  I just did a half marathon.  There is no way I’m running twice that distance. I don’t even want to run another half.”

Laura:  “They have a half marathon, too.”

Me:  “Ok I'll do it.”

Based on my flip-flopping, I’ve clearly missed my calling in life as a politician. 

Anyway, that’s how a group of us found ourselves in North Carolina’s Outer Banks last weekend.  Laura’s marathon training involved never running more than 15 miles.  My training involved going to Alabama and Chile and some very sporadic running in between.  

But who cares?  We were at the beach!  The weather was absolutely perfect for running, we were one block away from the water, we had a hot tub, and the beach was nearly deserted.  

I ran the race, got a PR (beat my old time by over 2.5 minutes!  Training?  Bah, who needs it?), collected my free BBQ and beer (now THAT’s how to put on a race), and wandered with Chris around the adorableness of the town of Manteo where the race ended.  

But I had plans for the rest of the day.  And they were as follows:

1. Taco Bell (ok, that was Chris’s idea, but a brilliant one)
2. Go back to beach
3. Jump in freezing cold Atlantic Ocean
4. Run back to house
5. Grab a cupcake and beer
6. Jump in hot tub with cupcake and beer
7. NEVER GET OUT OF HOT TUB

Things don’t always go according to plan, though.  Here is what actually happened:

1. Taco Bell
2. Go back to beach
3. Dance wildly to the Backstreet Boys blasting from the house next to the beach access, much to the amusement of the people in said house’s hot tub
4. Jump in freezing cold Atlantic Ocean
5. Dance wildly to more music coming from house next to beach
6. Get invited to join party at house next to beach
7. Crash party in house next to beach
8. Drink our new friends’ beer in their hot tub
9. Feel super slow after realizing our new friends are super freakin’ fast runners
10. Get hungry, go back to house for dinner
11. Grab cupcake and beer
12. Jump in hot tub with cupcake and beer.

Ok, I ate the cupcake before ever making it to the hot tub.  Details.  Whatever.

I didn’t complain at all about the slight change in my plans for the day.  I ran a great race, stayed hydrated enough to have beer afterward, got to go to the beach, dance to terrible  boy band music, meet fun new people, and sit in multiple hot tubs.  Before the race, I swore up and down that this would be my last half marathon.  My knee was protesting, I’m not the most dedicated when it comes to training, and races can get expensive.  But after a race day like this, I might have to rethink all that.  Especially when beaches and hot tubs at the Outer Banks are involved.