CDA Half Marathon Takeaways — Karen Poole Fitness

Disclaimer: I received a free entry to review the Coeur d'Alene Half Marathon race as part of being a BibRave Ambassador. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Ambassador, and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

First 13.1 Race Since Baby #2

I was so apprehensive for this race. While I had full intentions to train appropriately, life and kids had other ideas. The farthest I ran in a training run before this race was 5 miles! Needless to say, I had no idea how I would fare in the actual race. I was just praying to come out injury free and honestly hoping for somewhere under 2:30. The race actually surprised me in the best ways!

Packet Pick-Up

I picked mine and my friends packets up on Saturday. Packet pick-up was convenient and right near where the race would start on Sunday. It was super fast, I had my packet in less than 5 minutes of getting there, it was not crowded at all. Due to COVID-19 guidelines, we received our medal before the race in our packet. While this was not my favorite, I like to see it at the finish, I understand why they did it for this race.

Race Day

Start times were staggered due to COVID precautions, so my race start time for the half marathon was 8:30AM. I actually really loved getting to choose my own start time. It let me choose a time that coordinated with Livy’s feeding/nursing times and nap times. I didn’t have to worry too much during the race about whether she was hungry or tired and I’m told she had the best time with her grandparents enjoying the pool at the hotel.

My husband dropped me off at the start-line and I was immediately off and running! You could just begin your race when you arrived, so that was pretty convenient. I applied my sunblock, started GPS and was off!

The Race

The race course itself was gorgeous. It started off through some housing for the first 3 miles and then looped back through McEuen Park and along the trail by the water. It was an out and back course, but it didn’t really feel like that because you always had something beautiful to look at.

My lack of training was starting to show around mile 7. Luckily (or maybe due to my prayers) another man was running by and mentioned to another runner that he hadn’t run more than 5 miles in training before today. He had originally signed up for the 10k, but it was such a nice day he just decided to run the half. I quickly piped up that I had also only trained for 5 miles before today. This launched us into a conversation that lasted from mile 7-12. This constant conversation definitely kept me from thinking about my tired legs. Fun fact, he was 69 years old and his parents founded the race before selling it to Negative Split. How cool is that?

The Finish

I lost my new friend around mile 12 where I started pushing for the finish. I finished the race in 2:08:57 and am actually happy with my time! It was so fun because Logan was able to run up to me and give me my medal since we received them before the race in our packet pick-up bag. My heart!

The finish party was pretty great. There were lots of snacks, sandwiches and drinks at the finish (Logan assumed they were for him), as well as some great booths to look at. We were rushed to the playground though since Logan had been waiting at the finish for me before he went to play.

My Rating

10/10. MUST DO! I absolutely loved this race. I really hope I can do it again in the next few years. You absolutely should add this to your racing calendar in 2022.