I’ve written extensively about losing my mojo and speed, so I’m just going to spoil this recap by sharing that I finally feel like I’M BACK — well, I finally finished a sub-2 half again. It’s just one race, but this race definitely gave me the confidence to keep pushing. And believe me – I had to push for this finish! But, I’m getting ahead of myself…
So, the race. Yesterday I ran the Shark Bite Half Marathon — my 25th (!) half. It was the Inaugural year and they did a fantastic job!
The start was set for 7:30am. However, bad weather and tornado watches postponed it to 8 — and then to 9:30. The RD and the Shark Bite team wanted to ensure that everyone could arrive at the race safely (the storms passed by 7:30) and I greatly appreciated it!
I am all about running in any kind of weather, but I kind of draw the line at tornadoes (and lightning – which was also reported in the area). The race was in New Smyrna Beach, which is about an hour away from East Orlando. So this lady and I met up with our crew and headed over.
When we got there, I was a little stressed out about parking, but we easily found a spot and walked a quarter of a mile to the start. I used the porta potty within the first 5 minutes of being there (there were plenty and they were surprisingly very clean – always a bonus) and then we snapped some pre-race photos.
My work peeps!! Coworkers who run together… bore a lot of other coworkers who don’t care about running.
At the start, it looked like the weather had changed from cool (60’s), rainy, and cloudy – to warm (70) and sunny. Oh, how deceiving that was.
We started at exactly 9:30 and the RD thanked us for supporting their decision to delay the start. Some people were not able to run the half due to the later start – and they were very accommodating, either giving them the medal anyway (hopefully they still ran some kind of virtual race!) or switching them to the 5K. Gotta love a flexible race team!
Right at the start, I realized how crazy the wind was… when my hat almost flew off.
I wish I could say it let up, but it only got worse. I was about a half a mile in when I looked to the right and saw the storm clouds. Where the heck were those things hiding?? It started running about 5 minutes later. Not just a drizzle, but full on pelting rain.
Somehow I just kept going. The first two miles were hell, and I wanted to quit. I could not figure out why I was running this race in these conditions. WHY WAS I TORTURING MYSELF. Around mile 3 the rain stopped and something kicked in. I was really enjoying myself and those running endorphins. Mile 5 was extremely happy for some reason. Running is weird.
Did I mention there were bridges? AKA, Florida hills. There were 3 total — a medium-sized bridge at the start (between mile 1-2), an ASS kicker between miles 6-7, and a small one at mile 8. I actually did not mind any of the bridges, but on the ass-kicker bridge I had to hold both my hat and my bib because I thought they were going to be ripped off my body. 27 mph winds say WAH???
This is the side we ran down — taken as we were heading home.
I have to say though, nothing compared to the wind that hit us at miles 8-10. After the last, small bridge we turned onto a road and ran directly into the wind. At times, I swear I was running in place because the gusts were so intense. I kept hoping for the turn around and it took forever to arrive. I’m pretty sure I screamed more expletives during those miles than I have all month!!
Every day I’m shufflin’.
Thankfully, once we hit the turn around, the wind was at our backs for the rest of the race and I was able to pick up my pace again!
It wasn’t until Mile 12 that I realized I could sub-2 again. I had kind of given up hope between Mile 9 and 10 – even though I still kept chasing two of my friends who were about a minute in front of me. I think it helped that I really just wanted to be DONE. The wind was killing me and I felt so beat up. When I looked down and saw it was possible, I dug in deep and pushed it. It helped that Return of Mack popped up on my iPhone.
Please tell me you remember this song.
That’s right — this bitch is back!!
After a brief sprint uphill, I turned the corner and ended up crossing the finishing line at 1:59:21.
ACK!!! I was so happy!! It’s no where NEAR my PR (1:54:something), but I know I have it in me to push myself again. Confidence is HALF the battle.
My splits…
After the race I celebrated with some fantastic women and men.
With our bigass medals.
Three of my friends PRs, two receive 10% finisher hats, and the rest of us, while exhausted, all agreed that it was a great race.
It was the kind of race that makes me want to sign up for ALL the races — and I’m ready to sign up for next year!!
Up next is… undecided. I’d like to run a half in February, but I have yet to run one. Hmmm…
The biggest mystery of them all… why is that lady behind me wearing a jacket AND capris? It was in the high 70s.
So proud of that lady to me…
This means I slept maybe 8 hours in 2 days. I’m smart! So, it’s not surprising that I LITERALLY had to forced myself to get dressed and out the door to pick up Paula by 5am. Yay. Thankfully, race adrenaline kicked in (oh, and an iced coffee helped too!) and by the time we got to the race site, about 45 minutes away, I was wide awake. 
