JENerally Speaking: Wilmington Half Marathon Weekend Recap

We ran a half marathon! We won!

Okay yeah no, we didn't actually win the race, but we're calling it a win. We got on a start line not injured, not sick, and in somewhat good shape.

This past weekend, Elle and I ran the Wilmington Half Marathon. It was our longest race since 2019, when both of our attempts at the 2:45 OTQ standard were derailed by injury. Then Covid. And more injuries. And a lot of "why are we even doing this??" moments. We've done relays and some shorter stuff, but yeah, this was like...a real race.

In January, we ran the Frosty 50K relay with fellow Winosaurs, Liz & Michelle. I wasn't really expecting much other than to have fun and drink bourbon with Des Linden afterwards (<-- both of which were successful), but I actually felt good on my leg. Elle was already registered for the half, and she then convinced me to race it too. I threw in some speed work for the following five weeks, and boom, off we went.

Twenty minutes into the drive to Wilmington, we figured we should probably eat a healthy, light lunch to really power us up for the next morning (lies). We spent the rest of the drive live-stream listening to the Alex Murdaugh trial (that is some messed up shit!). When we finally arrived, we checked out the finish line, gave the race director* some shit for rerouting the finish line around construction, thus making it slightly longer, and then headed off for a healthy, alcohol-free, full of hydration-only dinner.

*he's a friend, so I'm allowed to say this.

Chipotle mmmm lunch

Mellow Mushroom mmmm dinner

We then headed back to the hotel to chill and ~~have a photoshoot~~ lay everything out for the next morning. Our 3:45am wake-up was going to come very quickly!

I woke up at 2:45am because, ya know, that internal alarm thing. I prepped my 8-creamer coffee (not an exaggeration, this is my M-O), we poked holes in garbage bags to prepare for standing around in the rain before the start, and then my nerves set in. What the hell. I haven't felt nerves like this in, hmm, I dunno. I guess it was just because I was actually doing a race that I cared about again. It was kind of funny. The number of times I went to the bathroom was not.

We shuttled to the start, found an alcove to stay out of the rain that was also near porta-pots because ya know, nerves, and then just waited. I tried force feeding myself a clif bar, but ick. I swear, I felt so nervous that even my teeth hurt. So dumb.

Once the race got rolling, I'm not gonna lie, I felt pretty dang flat. My runs since that 50K relay had felt great, but I just felt depleted this morning. ...silly rookie feeling of the nerves having gotten the best of me. That's okay though. The temps were great, the rain was a non-issue, and the elite and sub-elite fields were STACKED, so it was pretty dang exciting to be back in it. After a 6:24 cozy first mile, I clicked off between 6:14 and 6:18 through mile 9. This is exactly where I wanted to be... a 6:15-16:18 average pace would land me a 1:22 finish. Elle was about 15-20 seconds ahead of me here, and she continued on to maintain the pace beautifully. Me? Not so much. Bye bye, Elle.

Mile 10 ...probably dreaming of doritos

There were some rolling hills/grinders in the final four miles, and I could feel my need for more endurance here. And/or maybe hill work. Aww hell, maybe just a big snack? I dunno. These miles clicked between 6:23 and 6:33. Just after mile 12, where the half marathon split from the marathon by turning right, a volunteer started yelling at me to turn way before the actual turn. And then she yelled again to "turn now!" So, I said, "now?" And she said, "now!" So, yeah, my dumb ass turned into a parking garage. I realized the mistake quickly but was kinda pissed so then yelled at her, "what the F!" But the F was followed by some other letters. Y'all, I swore at the sweet volunteer!! I spent the next quarter mile feeling like a total shit.

One minute and thirty seconds later, I was over it when I heard a spectator yell, "Go Mommy!" My kids were not in Wilmington with me, so I knew it was a fellow #motherrunner closing in on me, and my first thought was, "She has kids. She could be a master." If you aren't familiar with masters, this is a nice way of saying "old hags". Also, age 40+. Anywho, monetary prizes were being given to the top three overall and top three masters for men and women, so I used this as a carrot to kick and hold her off, which I did. Go me. I finished as second place old hag. Bam. 1:23:58. Meh.

If you've never run this race, do it. Wilmington is one of my favorite towns in NC. Good food, breweries, and of course, the beach. The race course has some longer flat stretches but also some hills, which keeps it honest and interesting. Some elevation change is good in endurance races; it changes up the muscles and can lead to faster times. The construction reroute will also be gone next year, so the finish will be shorter and without all the turns. Lots of free beer and excitement at the finish line.

Post-race, we had dinner with some of the race crew and also "the Queen" ...Ann Marie Pierce finished the marathon in 2:36, qualifying her for the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials. Watching her finish brought me to tears, mostly of joy for her, but if I'm being totally honest, also a weird mix of emotions of both envy and relief from when I tried, but failed, to OTQ in 2020.

We then went out after dinner, but what happens in Wilmington stays in Wilmington. 😏 ...which basically just means we drove to a bar while blasting 90s music and then judged what all the 20-somethings were wearing while we drank High Noons in a corner and tried to act cool (fail).

So, yeah, Elle (who finished in 1:21:56 and won her age group), and I are excited to keep grinding towards faster times. Not sure what will be next, but perhaps I should handle this shit first. Looks like my other foot is now jumping on the arthritic train too, or maybe this is just a normal "48-hours post-race old hag normal occurrence?" I dunno. Not enough to stop me though. :)