Half marathon #12 for 2013: Rehoboth Beach Half

Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon
December 6, 2013
2:20:01

Yes, that :01 is killing me. Really?  I couldn’t find one more second to knock off???

The good:

• The course was mostly flat and 6ish miles were on packed dirt.
• The start was 2 blocks from our hotel.
• Dogfish Head Brewpub for dinner.
• Eating pancakes, mac and cheese, pulled pork, wine, and 16 Mile Brewery beer at the finish. What? I was hungry!
• The race was well organized and the water stops were plentiful.
• This was my 20th lifetime half marathon!!!
• The medal. It’s a beast!

The bad:

• The puddles and the mud.  Amazingly I stayed dry.
• The path through the woods felt like it was never going to end.
• No sleep the night before the race.
• The cold and potential rain.

The ugly:

• The wind.  I thought I was a bit overdressed, until we turned into the wind. Then I was happy about every single piece of clothing.
• Potential nasty weather made us cut our visit short and we came home Saturday instead of Sunday.

From the first mile, I knew this wasn’t a PR race for me.  10:30 felt comfortable. 10:20 felt impossible.  So, I just decided to try to run a steady pace.  I only walked at water stops and to avoid falling in puddles.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have it in me to balance those walks with faster runs, so my overall pace suffered.  Eh, whatever.  I was just happy to get this race done.  I’d totally run it again though.  Decent course, good organization, lots of food and drinks at the finish, and a wicked awesome medal.

One more left to go!  My dad and I are running one more race together this coming weekend and then 13 for 2013 = done!