I ran a half marathon on Saturday! (That I signed up for on Friday afternoon – I love a go-time race decision.)

HUNTERSVILLE HALF MARATHON

I ran the Huntersville Half Marathon for the first time and it was a great race! I’d had this race on my radar since before the Every Woman’s Marathon but was very noncommittal about it. The most important thing was that my body felt up to it and I was also only going to run if the weather was nice. One of the great things about smaller local races is that it’s not too difficult logistically to register at the last-minute. You’re already in your regular routine at home and you can pick up your bib morning of.

My alarm went off at 6a. I spent the next hour showing, getting dressed, drinking coffee and gathering my race gear. We hit the road a little after 7 (ran with a friend!) and made the 25 minute trip up to Huntersville (a suburb north of Charlotte). I didn’t have much of an appetite before the race so all I was able to get down was a Honey Stinger waffle.

We arrived at Birkdale Village around 7:35a. Parking was ample since it’s a sizable outdoor shopping development. It took about 10 minutes to grab bibs and then we sat in the car until 7:56a and made our way line up for the 8a start.

The weather was in the low 30s at the start and upper 30s at the finish. Cold enough to feel cold standing there but nice when we were moving. Here’s what I wore:

• Under Armor Headband/Ear Cover – the light weight of this was absolutely perfect and I never overheated. This style is discontinued but this is similar.
• lululemon Swiftly long sleeve
• lululemon Energy bra
• lululemon Down For It All vest
• lululemon Wunder Train pants
• Feetures socks
• Saucony Endorphin Pro shoes
• Under Armor gloves
• Hand warmers in my gloves

I was 95% happy with what I wore. I would have been more comfortable in shorts and could have stood it weather-wise but I wasn’t too hot in the pants. I just don’t like running in pants. I also need to figure out a better glove/hand situation. I have Raynaud’s and lose feeling in my fingers pretty much immediately when I’m out in the cold. They were so numb for the entire race even with hand warmers in my gloves I’d love any and all suggestions.

It was a gorgeous and sunny morning to run! I cued up my marathon playlist and got myself in a groove. The first few miles were definitely warm up miles and the effort felt harder than it should have. I didn’t really settle in until about mile five or so. I think this was due to not having any cold weather runs under my belt this season along with basically being in a taper or recovery phase of run training for the last seven weeks (minus the marathon day race effort).

I felt all the things out there. I have really missed weekend long runs and needed this run mentally. My mind was so full of things that I was working my way through – there is absolutely nothing like running for helping me process.

There were also at least 4-5 moments where I wanted to quit. I told myself, “you can just DNF” and “who cares if you just walk the last three miles – it’s fine!” This is actually another thing I love about running – it helps remind me that the thoughts in my head are just thoughts – not the truth of what is actually happening in my body. I felt so strong after I finished knowing I beat the mental chatter and stayed with what I knew was true – that my body was capable of running the race I ran.

One thing I actually enjoyed about the Huntersville Half was the elevation and hills! So many nice up and downs. The Every Woman’s Marathon was flat and I’m not complaining about that – but as a runner who trains hills all the time I appreciate the variety they offer for my body. That said – my heart rate shot up into the 180s on the “hardcore hill challenge” portion of the course but I was proud of myself for digging in and picking up my pace up the hills.

It was so, so great to run with someone even though we decided for this race to do headphones. We did a quite a few long runs together during marathon training and definitely pull each other through tough moments and keep each other on steady with pace. We agreed to just see how we felt out there and not go too crazy. Neither of us were trying to race the half and weren’t attached to any certain pace or finish time.

I took a gel 35 minutes in and 1 hour and 10 minutes in. Ideally, I would have done three and taken one every 25 minutes but my hands were so cold and I was working so hard that I just didn’t feel like going through the effort. Again, I wasn’t racing and I knew I wouldn’t bonk so I didn’t worry too much. I didn’t carry water on this run (which is not normal for me) but I did take water at every stop except the last.

We ran an average pace of 8:23. Around miles 7-8 I predicted that we’d finish right at 1:51 but we clicked into high gear for the final mile and pulled out a 7:37 mile to finish in 1:49:47. Such an awesome feeling and a surprise!

There were 778 participants in the half marathon. There was also a 10K that started with us. It was a nice field size for a local race. The course was not super scenic and mostly suburb-feel/neighborhoods but I totally expected that.

Here are the splits! Pretty consistent. The 8:51 mile was when I got mixed up at a water stop and had to backtrack to get water instead of Gatorade. I lost a good 30 seconds in that snafu but oh well!

I was SO COLD after the race. This always happens to me if the weather is even slightly cool for a race or long run. I’m fine until I stop running then I shake. We walked over to Summit Coffee and my maple sea salt latte warmed me up.

Overall, it was a great morning and I’m so glad we decided to go for it. I’m currently taking a little pause from structured run training in order to focus on strength but I’m really looking forward to spring training and what I have planned next summer! 🙂

QUESTIONS 

Give me all of your suggestions for keeping fingers warm while running when the rest of you is fine! 

Do you have any winter races coming up?

What’s your cut off temp for running in shorts?