Last Saturday, I ran in the Wicked Half Marathon. If you’ve been around here for the past couple of weeks then you know that my plan was to run this race as a “long run with benefits” (aka the LRB). With only one longish run of 9 miles just the week before and a seriously unreliable ankle, let’s be honest, I really had no business jumping into a half marathon! But, I can be stubborn and I was looking forward to the Skirt Sports Ambassador meet-up. So I figured treating this as a long run with the benefits of course support and a medal was the way to go!
The bat in the medal actually spins!
My goals for this run were simple – stick to my 4:1 run/walk intervals, ignore pace and run by feel, and finish upright and smiling. “Finishing is winning” would be my mantra.
With my hotel just a short 20-minute ride to the start, I was able to sleep until a little after 5 before needing to get up and head out. The minute I stepped out of the hotel the humidity smacked me in the face and I knew this was going to be a tough morning – humidity is my kryptonite for sure, it just sucks the life out of me. So I knew the struggle bus would be coming for me…it was just a question of how long I could outrun it 🙂
Parking was easy-peasy – I was literally steps from the start line so I had lots of time to tape up, finish fueling, and chat with a couple of other runners.
Pre-run and ready
Soon it was time to line up, listen to the national anthem and we were off. I’ve never done run/walk intervals in a race and was initially concerned about how it would work. But early on it was clear I had nothing to worry about and I fell in with a fair number of runners all doing some form of intervals. I ran the first few miles with a woman from Tennessee who was also following a 4:1 plan. We chatted easily and it helped take my mind off the soul-sucking humidity.
Somewhere in the 7th mile I started to slow and said goodbye to Ms. Tennessee. My ankle started to complain and I wondered if it was going to cooperate with still a half a race to go. I dubbed Mile 9 the “dark mile” – I was hurting, my walk breaks were getting longer, and the negative chatter in my head was getting louder. Once past the mile 9 marker, I was able to shake off the funk – yes my legs were less than happy, yes I was more than ready to be done, but I kept focused on the fact that I would soon hit 10 miles and I haven’t seen double-digits in a while. Finishing is winning!
I’m not going to lie, the final few miles were a trudge – the struggle bus not only caught up with me but was threatening to run me over! Somewhere in the 12th mile, I met up with a woman named Jen. She said she’d been pacing off of me – running when I ran and walking when I walked. We chugged along towards the finish, and as we made the last turn towards the finish I spotted my “Skirt Sisters” – as each ambassador had finished they stuck around to cheer on the rest of the group. Such an awesome sight! Jen and I crossed the line and congratulated each other, I collected my medal and then joined the rest of the ambassadors. As our last Sister approached the finish, some of us went out to run her in. The Wicked Race organizers actually posted a video of our group finish on their Facebook page along with this group photo:
Finishing is winning!
I’m sorry you had a tough race. But finishing IS winning and you did it! What a great looking crew! Congrats. 🙂
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Thanks Rachel 🙂
Finishing is always winning! Congrats and I hope your ankle is ok now. How fun to meet up with some of the skirt sports ambassadors
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This SS ambassador group was so much fun – a couple of us are already talking about doing another race together!
I love that you ran in your last sister!!! That’s true teamwork. Good for you for finishing, it’s really not about the time but the journey 🙂
I’m learning to focus on the journey more and more and letting go of the clock.
I love your attitude going into the race. It can be hard to go to a race and not race it. Great job on pushing through especially the dark mile. What a great Skirt Sister s meet up too!
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I was nowhere near ready either physically or mentally to “race” it – letting go really helped to take the pressure off.
Finishing is a major victory on a tough morning with that struggle bus threatening to take you out. IT’s great that you had a team of “sisters” there to cheer everyone in as they finished 😉
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Seeing the skirt sisters at the finish so such a welcome sight – really a great group of women!
I gotta say, the race logo is a tad frightening but looks like it was a lot of fun!
Yeah the t-shirt designer really got into it this year! LOL!
im sorry that you had some hurdles…but so proud that you kept up and finished it. such a winner!!
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Thank you 🙂
Such a great attitude to have! Sorry to hear you had such a challenging race.
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Thank you Jessica!
Sorry it didn’t go well but you finished! I love your attitude and determination.
Thanks Sarah – appreciate it!
I’m glad you finished so well! Love the support from the other ambassadors. I can’t help but think that if it had been a 10 miler, you’d be golden, since that’s the same time I started suffering in NYC. But, you know I’m a 10 miler. 😉
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You know I’d be happy to run 10 milers if there were more in the area. I’m always so jelly of how many 10 milers you have near you – keep saying I need to travel to DC more!
wahoo! congrats on finishing
Thank you!!
What a great accomplishment! Congrats on your finish!!!
Thanks Meredith 🙂
Congrats! Sounds like it was a tough run for sure, but you did it!
It definitely was tough, but I figure if you can take away some good things from the situation that’s always good, right?
Finishing is always winning! Great job on pushing though those last miles…Congratulations!!!
Thanks Angela!
I love that you ended with finishing is winning!
Thanks Jill – I think we runners sometimes forget that covering 13.1 miles is an accomplishment! It was really important for me to remember and celebrate that.
Congrats on finishing! <3!! I'm glad you have such an awesome support system + I hope your ankle is ok!
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Thanks so much Farrah 🙂
I will definitely remember the quote that finishing is winning, Michelle! Sometimes a race can be quite challenging but you’re awesome, girl!
Thanks so much!