On Sunday morning I ran the OBX Half Marathon for the third time. The first time I ran it was in 2008 and at the time it was my second half ever. On Sunday, it was my fifth half marathon. Here’s a little half marathon background before I get into the race recap.
I have never set a race time goal before. My first half was 2:05 and some change and every single half after that has been about 2:05, except Charlotte Thunder Road last year, where I thought I was going to die. Surprisingly, that one was 2:07.
Despite my marathon training plan’s instructions, I have not been focusing on speed work; I’ve been solely focused on building endurance. Yes, I know speed work helps with endurance, yadda yadda. But I just hate it.
So when I decided to break my long standing 2:05 time on Friday (!), yes Friday was when I made that decision, I was basing it solely on the fact that I should be more comfortable with 13 miles than I ever have been in the past, because I am currently up to 18 miles in my training plan.
I got up Sunday morning at 5 am feeling pretty good. I had woke up once in the middle of the night and had a little trouble going back to sleep. But overall, I felt well rested.
Before making the 40ish minute drive from the mainland over to Nags Head, the race start, I had a quick breakfast of two pieces of Ezekiel toast, PB, banana, coffee, and water. Then Brittney and I headed out to face the half.
As you can see, it was still pretty dark on the drive over. The hour before a race is always an interesting mix of butterflies and excitement for me. I knew I was definitely up for this.
It didn’t hurt that I had a handsome chauffeur. 🙂
Brittney and I both purchased Go Belts at the race expo and we fiddled with them as we walked to the race’s starting point. The pouch is made out of some kind of stretchy material to allow room for all kinds of things. But the bulkier it is, the more it bounces, so I didn’t want to attempt racing with more than a phone in my belt. I decided to hold my fuel (apple pie nuggets) in my hand.
It looked like the paparazzi was following us with Brad clicking away on my camera.
Since cutting my hair short, figuring out what to do with it is always an issue. I decided to braid my bangs to prevent fly-aways from hitting me in the face during the race.
Some people are really superstitious about not trying anything new on race day. I follow that for food, fuel, and shoes, but anything else is pretty much how I’m feeling that day. On a whim I ran with a new shirt, new belt, and tamed my hair differently.
We were in good spirits due to the corny 90’s dance music being played over the loud speaker.
We found ways to entertain ourselves while waiting in line for the porta johns.
..that is, until they put on Run Away by Real McCoy for the second time. I’m probably mumbling something here about serving the DJ’s head on a platter if I have to hear this song again.
By the way, what is going on with the girl/woman behind me? I she trying to smell my back? 😉
Soon, we bid farewell to Brad and we joined the 8:00-10:00 minute corral at the starting line.
I felt super fast at the beginning and a quick look at my watch confirmed that. I was running sub 8 minute miles. I slowed down a bit, but was still running in the 8-8:15 minute range. I know you’re supposed to pace yourself, but I felt good and I really wanted to beat my time…and maybe I wanted a sub two hour half also. In the back of my mind I knew the pace I had to average to make that happen, so I thought, what the heck, I feel good so I’m going to just keep going. This lasted for about three miles.
Since this was my third time running this race, I was very familiar with the route and anticipated each turn from the highway to the neighborhoods, then back again. As I went on, I slowed a little, but still maintained a pace under what I needed for a sub two hour half.
Around mile nine, I started to feel the effects of my speed in my legs. I faced the huge hill over the bridge that goes to Manteo, where the race ends, and slowed a bit as I crested. After the hill, I was pretty tired and didn’t gain a lot of speed on the decline. But my time showed that I was still on pace to meet my goal. The last three miles were a bit more slow: between 9-9:30 minute miles. Even though I had slowed way down at this point, a 9:30 pace is my average pace for most halves, so I still felt good that I was running this pace at the end of my race.
Finally, I was in downtown Manteo and could see the finish line. See me in the back with the purple shirt and yellow shorts? (In real life, not blog land, my shirt is actually blue)
I’m a multi-tasker. I can totally sprint and wave at the same time. 😉
And there I go.
I PR’d!!! My Garmin showed the exact same time as my chip time. I tried to run the tangents, but somehow ended up running one tenth of a mile more.
I told Brad to start looking for Brittney around 9:10 am and she showed up right on time. I should really pick lotto numbers.
And there she goes! (read her race recap here)
Brittney PR’d also with a 2:04:40 race time. Awesome! 🙂
We finally found each other in the crowd and headed to breakfast.
For the second year in a row, we had breakfast at the Full Moon Cafe, which is right around the corner from the finish line.
Wally and Joy treated us. How nice!
I ordered the Crabs Benedict and fruit, but sadly I forgot to say no hollandaise.
Soon after changing into dry clothes, I started to feel really yucky. I’m blaming it on my hair.
My stomach was in knots. I ate one of the Crabs Benedict and barely touched my fruit. I have never felt this way after a half and really wanted to get over it so I could celebrate mine and Britt’s PR and the beautiful day.
After breakfast and stopped into a local coffee shop. The Full Moon only carried half and half (which tastes greasy to me), so I held out for some better options.
The coffee shop was hopping and finally I got my cafe au lait with soy (that’s a misto for all you Starbuckers). After the small walk and a few sips of coffee, I perked right up.
I’m like a sea monkey. Add coffee and enjoy.
I love the threatening propaganda that businesses display about rowdy children. It reminds me of my only hand out candy at the end of the day strategy in my past life as a fifth grade teacher.
After our coffee fix, Brad, Brittney, and I headed back to the in-laws to shower and pack up.
We said goodbye to the Outer Banks, Wally, and Joy and headed to Chapel Hill to stay for the night with Wally’s delicious chicken salad sandwiches in tow.
It was the perfect day for a race and despite my stomach issues at breakfast, the race was awesome. I’m really proud of myself for breaking my long standing time and finishing under two hours. My third annual OBX half marathon was a success, but it was even better because I got to share it with a good friend and family.
