I first want to review the actual race itself and then I’ll go into my actual race. This race was amazing. The price was amazing considering the swag you received and the experience. You all know my anxiety about parking and this was not an issue. The race start took place at the casino which as you can imagine, has a large parking lot. I had race day pick up since I live a little over an hour from Cape and it was seamless. The pick up was in one of the event rooms and the bathroom situation was perfect. Clean and abundant stalls just a few steps from the starting line. Closer to the start you had to wait a little bit, but less than 3 minutes or so. So all of these things eased the majority of my race anxieties.
I thought all the volunteers were super helpful and full of energy. I knew with this being a smaller race, you wouldn’t have tons of spectators and energy along the way, but there was more than I thought. You really felt hyped up at each location. They even went above and beyond by filling up my handheld for me!
The finish line was at a separate location than the start, but not terribly far away. My husband had actually moved the car because he went to get some breakfast while I ran. He was actually able to spot me along the course and get a nice parking spot near the finish, which I later appreciated when I felt like jello.
Results were up promptly and within the next day there was a finish line video and also amazing race photos from along the course.
If you want a mostly flat course, with some challenging hills near the end, then this is your race.
My race experience
If you have been following along my training, it has been about 2-3 days a week of running with the last couple of weeks a bit rough. I already knew about mid training block that my initial goal to PR my half marathon (which was my very first one in 2010, mind you) was out the window. I had imagined I could do about 8:30 pace for the whole race. In fact I told Zach, my husband that I would love to see sub 1:50 and if I am over 2 hours, something went terribly wrong.
I thought I was being smart by slightly opening all my gels and having them in my handheld bottles zipper pocket, until they started leaking and sticky was everywhere.
The first 2 miles it smelt like someone pooped their pants, but other than that it was pretty smooth sailing.
I took my second gel at mile 3 and yes, sticky mess. While running the past 3 miles I had the “charge me” reminder going off in my headphones and I already knew they would be dead around mile 5 (remember my 10k race where this exact thing happened?) I charged them fully the night before, so I was quite irritated. Already thinking this was going to be a disaster.
Mile 5 indeed arrives and my headphones die. I make it until mile 6 before I realize that I will have a more successful race if I just stop to take my gel and turn on my music. I decide it’s worth being the annoying person with their music playing out of their phone in order to make it to the end of the race.
Then from mile 7 to 9, I really had no idea where we were in terms of mileage. I was avoiding looking at my watch and was focusing on just running. I hit the mile 9 fueling station and if I was smarter, I would have had my handheld filled up while I took my gel. Instead I had pulled off to take my gel and then realized I wanted more water to get me to the end. So this was quite a difference in time.
I don’t regret stopping and getting my water refilled because the next 3 miles were challenging. You had some steep uphills which meant my knees were killing on the downhill. At this point I honestly didn’t even think I would finish sub 2 hours. I was checking my watch now and calculating my splits and just thought it wasn’t going to happen and if it did, it would be really close.
Although my body hated the downhill finish, I was so thankful for it because I saw the time clock and how close I was to sub 2 and I just kicked it into gear giving anything I had.
The moment I crossed the finish line I yelled some inappropriate words and swore off the half marathon distance. My quads hurt so bad. We walked to the car and I attempted to stretch and change my clothes while refueling.
To be honest, I couldn’t even enjoy my post race Andy’s because I was in so much pain. Then I was getting motion sickness, so I had to lay back in the chair in the car and attempt to stretch out my quads some more.
I think the amount of pain I was in was really the indicator of not wanting to do another half marathon again. The race itself didn’t really make me feel that way.
All in all, towards the end of the night after wearing my OOFOS (affiliate link) all day, I started thinking about the half marathon in October that I had been thinking of signing up for. Then the morning rolls around and I’m feeling even more improved and thinking about all the things that didn’t go right and maybe I should sign up for the half. I walked into the house after grocery shopping and told Zach that he was right. He knew I was bluffing and that I would be signing up for another. However, I decided to see how my training goes throughout the summer and if I am feeling race ready, I will sign up when it is closer. Then I don’t have to feel pressure or obligation and it won’t take away the joy from running that I have.
I tend to put so much pressure on myself that I think causes my anxiety during running and also takes away the joy from it. So if I can just train without the pressure of a race, then I may be more successful. Which basically means, I will act like I have a half marathon in October, but won’t make myself feel bad if I don’t do XYZ during the training.
I hope you enjoyed my race recap and all the thoughts that go through my head when I gave all I had and am in the most vulnerable of running conditions.
I do have a 5k next weekend that I am excited about. It is one I do every year – Make Tracks Through the Zoo in the STL Zoo. It is a new course this year which will be interesting to feel. Until then!
Also, shout out to Coleson Photography who took AMAZING race photos that were FREE!
