Naples Daily News Half Marathon! WE DID IT!

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of participating in the Naples Daily News Half Marathon January 17th, 2021. Got to attend with the original DreamTEAM and it was a beautiful reunion and reset for we are all mothers and wives...sometimes we just need to get away and be girls!  So thank you to our supportive husbands so that we don't end up at the crazy house.

We are appreciative that this event still occurred even though this crazy COVID has put a lot of things on hold for all of us.   After speaking with friends and other racers, we were so appreciative of all the pre-cautions that they took and maybe through all this craziness we have learned how to improve the starting of races.  They did it in waves and when approaching the start they funneled you into single lines with cones so it avoided a lot of the hustle and bustle and moving around that we all are so familiar with when starting a race.  It is exhausting sometimes and adds steps and we don't need any extra when racing for 13.1 miles!

The environment was fabulous!  After living in Cape Coral for over 14 years, I have never journeyed or stayed in the Naples 5th avenue area.  Well, we were spoiled.  The restaurants, the shopping, the people watching was above par for sure.  We visited Hob Knob, Caffe Milano, and Bha Bha Persian Bistro.    We stayed at the Bayfront Bay hotel which definitely is in need of some upgrades(which we saw is about to happen in summer of 2021- so great for them) but you know what they say.....location, location, location.  The room was clean but the rooms are very small but you could consider it quaint.  It was about 1/2 mile away from the race and 5th avenue so we were able to walk everywhere.  Always a bonus to avoid the uber charges!

Awesome gear that was purchased for this event were my new Brook's Ghost kicks at the Run Shoppe.  They were absolutely amazing and kept my feet and legs comfortable for the entire race.  If you haven't been to see them and serious about your feet, please GO!   Also, GU, NUUM, and glide for her accompanied the list of things that helped me achieve a 2:10 finish time.

I know that running is the greatest but it has gotten me through some of the toughest times in my life.  Running carefully has allowed me to keep in great health, improve my mental endurance and strength, and really sticking to anything that is worth it in your life.  Running helps achieve all of that for me and I hope if you have it in you, sign up for local events to support the tourism in our beautiful home and state.

Here are the items I use when training and running...