Atlantic City Half Marathon RECAP

After 12 weeks of training, family and friends hearing about it, and driving myself insane with about it, the Atlantic City Half Marathon has finally come and gone.  I spent 85% (my husband thinks this percentage is too low) of last week obsessing and worrying about the race. I was even driving myself a little crazy with the cyclical race talk/thoughts/self-doubt/excitement.   

On Saturday, my husband and I made the hour and a half drive to Atlantic City.  The moment that I saw Finisher’s Village, trepidation and anxiety hit me hard.  Everything I had been thinking about was now becoming a reality.  I met my friend, Gina, and her family who was also running the race at the expo. In order to calm my nerves, I decided to indulge in some retail therapy.  While at the Expo, I also registered for my next half marathon, The Long Branch Half Marathon on April 27^th, 2014.  I also had the opportunity of meeting Melissa, creator of Sweat Me Pretty Headbands, at the expo.  She gave me one of her AMAZING bands to review (see previous blog post).

On Saturday night, I tried to go early, but I couldn’t fall asleep until after 11. At 4:30am, I woke up and could not fall back asleep. So at 6:00 I finally got out of bed and decided to start getting ready for the race.  My nerves were going crazy.  Thankfully the race was starting right outside our hotel.  My husband and I went down through the casino to meet my dad, who made the drive down just to see the race. When we were outside, we met up with my friend Gina was also running her first half marathon.

A look of absolute confidence 

As I was waiting to start, it seemed so surreal to be standing on the boardwalk in Atlantic City waiting for the gun to go off.  Once we finally did start the race, I had to choke back tears.  My thoughts, my miles, my goals were coming to fruition.  I had made the decision to run the race without listening to music.  I had gotten this advice from a few different people. When I first heard this advice, I scoffed at it. How the heck would I be able to run 13.1 miles without music? Well I did and it was one of the best decisions I had made! I truly got to experience every aspect of the race from conversations to heavy breathers to the people there cheering us on.

During long runs it takes me a mile or two to warm up, find my pace and remember I actually like running.  I never experienced that feeling. It didn’t take me long to find a comfortable pace and actually the first 3 miles went by without much thought.  At this point I had fallen behind the pace group for the 4:55 marathon finish.  Their pace leader was entertaining so I decided to hang with them for a little while. During a water break, I made the decision to push past them and find my pace.  Before I knew it we were at the 10K mark.  Just before mile 7, there was a turnaround. This was probably my favorite part of the race. There was so much energy from the runners, the volunteers and the people there just to support the race. I can’t even explain the feeling I got from having strangers genuinely excited to cheer you on.  It definitely helped give me an extra push. 

Next thing I knew… mile 8! We were almost back to running on the boardwalk! I texted my husband to let him know I would soon be running by him. Seeing him and my dad and hearing them cheer me on really kept me going.  Mile 10 was definitely my hardest mile. My legs were tired. My hips were sore.  I knew I was so close to the turnaround and home stretch.  It seriously felt like the mile went on FOREVER! Finally I saw the turnaround and was in the home stretch. I felt myself go into my focused zone.  My mind was on one thing and one thing only, the finish line.  Then I heard Melissa from Sweat Me Pretty Bands yell “Go Emily!” I don’t think she could realize how important hearing her say (yell) those words were. It brought me back to experiencing the race.  I kept on chug-a-lugging along.  I was around mile 12 and crossed paths with my friend Gina. After a quick high five, some quick words of encouragement, we both continued on our way.  Then I saw the crowds of people were getting thicker.  Some guy in the crowd was saying what a great job it was and congratulating me and it hit me.  I did it. I was going to finish. I was a going to accomplish my goal and be a half marathoner. Then I felt the tears well up. I didn’t care.  I overcame a lot to get to that moment. I worked my butt off to do this. I worked hard for that medal.  I earned that medal.  When the medal was handed to me, I couldn’t get that thing around my neck fast enough. 

After the race, I got the opportunity to watch others finish. Perhaps the most exciting thing was seeing the winners of the marathon finish.  (I also jumped for joy a little… I ran the half faster than they ran the marathon!) A few things I have learned and love about the running community, they are so supportive of one another.  I love that people you don’t know and don’t know you are genuinely cheering you on and want to see you do well.  I also love and am so inspired every time I go to a race to see the diversity of people that are running the race.  Runners vary in age, vary in speed, and vary in shape and size.  A few times during the race I saw people and thought “they do not look like they should be running a half marathon.” Not only did they finish, but many finished before me!

Finishing the race was by far one of my biggest accomplishments.  It wasn’t about time. It was about accomplishing a goal. Never did I think I had what it took to train for a half marathon, no less run in one.  But I did. I persevered through the weather, bad runs and the worst hindrance… MY OWN HEAD! I guess it is time to face the facts… I am capable of so much more than I give myself credit for, so much more than I think. I cannot wait to see what else I can do!

Go be awesome, 

Emily