Andy really did not want to run another half marathon with me. He was also pretty adamant about not running one during July.

“Girl. Do you know how hot it is in the summer? Do you know what the average temperature is during July? Do you have any idea how crazy it sounds to run 13.1 miles for fun in July?”

I still haven’t figured it out, but somehow we managed to compromise (cough Andy decided to just be the supportive boyfriend he is cough) and we signed up to run a half marathon in Rhode Island on July 19 – Narragansett Bay Half Marathon. I had never been to Rhode Island so I was pretty excited (although I will admit that I was weirdly most excited about staying in a hotel haha). Six weeks before our half marathon Andy came up with a training plan.

It was a really great plan. The only issue was that I didn’t follow the plan at all. Sigh. Of course, I should get some credit for following the plan for the first three weeks – in June I was totally killing it. Then in July, well I think I ran twice…for a combined total of 11 miles. As you may imagine, I was pretty prepared for this half marathon (Hint: this is sarcasm).

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I took off a half day from work on Friday (July 17) so that Andy and I could make the long 8 hour drive up to Providence. We booked the hotel recommended by the half marathon website, the Wyndham Garden Providence. As the basically cheap post-college student adults that we are, we have pretty low expectations in life. So the king size bed and jacuzzi bath in our hotel room were top notch. What was not top notch was finding out that Rhode Island does not sell alcohol at gas stations OR grocery stores. How are we supposed to enjoy this jacuzzi (aka our make shift hot tub) without some beverages to sip on?!?! smh. Luckily, google maps came in handy and we were able to make it to a liquor store five minutes before closing.

I’m sure that serious runners out there are appalled that we would be drinking 36 hours before race time. This may be a good time for a disclaimer that we are not runners. I repeat: we are not runners. If you are looking for advice on running or preparing for races please find another blog (I recommend searching the words healthy, sober and fit).

Regardless, Andy and I spent the rest of our time in Providence enjoying ourselves. We spent a lot of time walking the streets of downtown, spending time on the water (our hotel was right next to India Point Park) and enjoying the weather.

We were surprised by the friendliness of everyone. People didn’t just ask how you were doing, they wanted to get into full conversations with you. On our first night there, a woman in her car stopped just to let me pull out in front of her on the road. Mostly, I was shocked because I had been about to cut her off, but she stopped and waved me on before I could even be rude to her. Andy and I had a hard time comprehending that.

We quickly learned that Providence just wasn’t that big. We had a map and by the end of our time there, I am pretty sure that even I (Queen of Geographical Impairment) could have found my way around the city. We also learned that so many of their tourist attractions (state capital, visitor center, etc.) were all closed on the weekend. We found this very strange. In some ways, Providence seemed like a small country town…even though it is the capitol of their state.

However, we were lucky enough to be in Providence at the same time that the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum was hosting an event called Design the Night. We were able to enter the museum for free and take a look at all their really neat exhibits. I am not a super artsy person, but I definitely would have liked to spend more time in this museum. As part of the event, they had a couple of hands on activities. I really wanted to help build a forest, but for some reason Andy did not find this to be as enthralling as me. Instead, we ended up participating in an activity where we made creations using only scissors and poster board. Each table had multiple layers of poster board all taped together in the middle. The first group of people would be responsible for creating something with their layer and each subsequent group would need to build on the creation.

Andy and I were the first group at our table and I feel as if our structure was pretty ballin. Not to toot my own horn or anything 🙂

The night before our race, Andy and I decided we would go to bed good and early (10PM) so that we could be ready for the 5:30AM wake-up call the next morning. I think the Gods might have been against us with the number of times we woke up in the middle of the night….

• Andy, who really never gets phone calls, received two phone calls back-to-back while we were sleeping and multiple text messages. No, he doesn’t keep his phone on silent if that wasn’t clear.
• The AC broke in the middle of the night (for some unknown reason) and we both woke up, unable to sleep and sweating profusely. Attractive right?
• Around midnight Andy and I both awoke to a rhythmic squeaking noise coming for our neighbors wall. It did not take long to determine that the couple in their mid-sixties sleeping next door were participating in sexual activities. I couldn’t decide what was worse: being woken up for a third time or realizing that the couple next door was having a more exciting Saturday night than me.

On the morning of the race (Sunday, July 19) we had a pretty anti-climatic morning. The race was about 1,500 people, it was a five minute drive from our hotel and there was ample parking. We got there with plenty of time to stretch, walk around and ponder why we thought this would be a good idea (this was mostly a me thing…Andy never thought this would be a good idea).

The race began pretty well – the first four miles were a breeze. Miles 5-10 were more challenging, but not horrible. At mile 10, I died. I could not go any further and I was ready for Andy to leave me so that I could walk the last three miles alone. Fortunately (or unfortunately…that is still to be determined), Andy would not leave me and after letting me walk about half a mile he told me that we would run to mile 12. Of course, I should have realized that once we got to mile 12 Andy was not going to let me walk the last mile. I fully admit that I was tricked by his tactics, but it was probably for the best. We finished just under 2 hours and 30 minutes (according to my phone we ran about a 10:45 mile pace).

Things I liked about the race: 

• Water stations: It was nice having a million water stations throughout the race. I wish that there had been more gatorade at the water stations, but the race organizers made up for this by providing room temperature water – not the freezing ice cold water I am used to.
• Scenery: The scenery on the second half of the race was outstanding.

  

• Low-key: The entire race was very low-key and it was nice to be able to park easily, not hit any traffic and not be forced to arrive hours earlier.

Things that I wish were different about the race:

• The Last Hill: WHO PUTS A HILL FROM MILE 11.5-12?!?! There has to be a better path because that hill was killer. If I had not already died at mile 10, then I definitely would have died there.
• Start of the race: The beginning of the race seemed a little disorganized. We even started the race about ten minutes late because we were waiting on people in the bathroom.
• Map of the race: I do not know if this existed, but it would have been nice to have a map of the race with placements where there were water stations/bathrooms. Andy and I both had to go to the bathroom by mile 2, but we decided we would hold it until mile 3. Of course. there was nothing at mile 3 and it felt like an eternity until the next port-a-potty.

Overall, I am very happy with our decision to run this race and to go to Rhode Island. We met a lot of really nice people and were able to visit a beautiful state that we had never been to before.