My plan for today's race was to average a 7:45 pace. They had pace groups, so I lined up behind the 1:40 group. It was chilly (47) and I was in short sleeves, but I knew I would warmup once I started running. So, I just tried to stay warm for the 5 minutes until the start time. Then they announced that the race start was going to be delayed! The buses from the race start were still bringing people. They waited 15 minutes while we all stood in the corral, freezing! While we stood there, I realized that I needed to pee again. But the porta-potties were on the other side of the race site. No way to get there and back quickly (they guys were just jumping out of the corral and using the trees by the start).

Finally, the race started and we were off. I had to do a lot of weaving around slower runners at the start. I don't understand why people who know they are going to start slow feel the need to start at the front! There was a bit of a climb in the first mile of the race. I took it pretty easy because I wasn't warmed up yet. But I picked up the pace to make up for it on the downhill.

I had checked last years results. I knew I would need to run about a 1:35:00 race to place today. I also knew that wasn't going to happen. With my current fitness, the best I was hoping for was 1:40. So, I decided to just run today and not worry about my splits. I never even looked at my Garmin. I had no idea how fast or slow I was running at any point. I just ran at the pace I thought felt right and tried to keep the 1:40 pace group in site.

The water stops were every 2 miles. I was expecting the aid station to be on the right, so as we approached the 2 mile mark I moved to the right. But the aid station was on the left. It was still too crowded for me to get back to the other side. So, I missed that aid station. Luckily it was a cool morning, so I didn't think it would be a problem. I kept on running. I was feeling pretty good except my left IT band started to feel tight (which is weird because it is usually my right IT band that will hurt - if one of them does). I kept on running and eventually it loosened up and felt fine. When I saw that we were coming up on the 4 mile mark, I made my way to the left to make sure I got something to drink. They handed me a tiny cup that was only half full of water. So, I got about 2-3 ounces at that aid station. I ran through the aid stations, so I was only able to grab one cup at each. I think I ended up drinking a total of about 12 ounces during the race (about half water/ half sports drink). If it had been a warm day, I would have been more concerned. But this seemed to be fine today.

Most of the race was uneventful. I just kept on running. There was a man that was running next to me between mile 4-5 that was grunting and groaning like he was struggling. All I could think was that if he was struggling this badly already, he would never make the entire 13.1 miles. There was one out-and-back section in the race. That was a nice distraction. I got to see the race leaders pass by on my way to the turn around. Then I got to look for my friends to see how they were doing after I turned.

After I passed the 10 mile mark, I thought to myself that all I had left was a 5k. No problem. But it suddenly became a problem. With just 2 miles to go, my left hamstring started to bother me. I have never had a problem with my hamstrings before. I wasn't sure what was going on. I also felt like I was slowing down. I knew I was climbing a hill, so slowing was normal. But I felt like I was slowing down too much. It just felt way too hard. But I kept on pushing. I finally got to the 13 mile marker, turned the corner, saw the finish line and ran for it.

Looking at the splits on my Garmin later, I realized that I did miles 11-13 were about 7:30 pace. So, I was running some of my fastest splits up those hills. No wonder it felt so hard. :)

Overall, this was a great race. I averaged the pace that I wanted. And I got a 5 minute PR.

I think with a proper warmup, I could have run the first couple of miles faster. So, I may have been able to run a 1:40. But otherwise, I don't think I would of done anything differently.

Once I crossed the finish line and got out of the chute, I grabbed a banana and a water. Then I got my bag and went straight for the porta-potties (I still had to pee). I put on my sweats and went back to the finish line to wait for James to finish. Then I walked around with him while he ate and got his bag. Then we went back to the finish line to wait for Trish.

We had originally planned to wait for the marathon finishers too, to see those friends finish. But James and I were freezing, so about 10:00am we decided to go find the buses and head back to our cars. We had to walk almost a mile to get to the spot where the buses were picking us up. When we got there we found a very long line. We got into the line and hoped it would move quickly. It did not. It turned out that they only had 8 buses to transport about 4000 racers (plus spectators) back and forth to the parking lots. We stood in that line for over 2 hours waiting to get on a bus. There was no where to sit while we waited. No food or drink any where near (the race sit was too far away). It was miserable. It was 12:30pm by the time we got on a bus. I was starving and my legs and back hurt from standing so long. The race crew did finally decide it would be a good idea to distribute water. But we were already at the front of the line (and just waiting for the next bus) when they finally decided to do that.

James kept telling me what we would do differently next year to avoid this problem. I looked at him like he was crazy and told him there was no way I would be coming back next year. Not when Wrightsville Beach has a race on the same day without having to deal with this craziness!! I let James talk me into this race this year (since most of our tri team was doing this race). But I wanted to go back to Wrightsville Beach. My family lives there, so I would have had a cheering section there (and it is a flat course). :) Not to mention, the massages at Wrightsville Beach are free - they charged at this race.