Oak Island Marathon recap

 Sunday, I found myself standing at the starting line of the Oak Island Marathon. Let's just say that it was not the week leading up to this event that I wanted. 

Things started with the Charlotte 10 Miler, I had a fair race but near the end, I felt my right hamstring twinge. I iced and ran easy all week. I reset my plans to just being able to finish the marathon. Hamstrings and marathons don't always play well together. They can act up at any time and pretty much leave one walking. 

Then, the night before, on my way to Oak Island, NC, I was in a car accident which sent me scrambling. Less than 12 hours before the race, all my priorities were shifted elsewhere. The accident and the hours that followed are a whole other story that I might share another time. 

Suffice to say that when I finally made it to my hotel, I was mentally and physically just exhausted. Like I said, this was not the plan going into my marathon. 

Still, at 7:45, I was standing at the starting line, and I put everything that had happened out of my mind. 

Time to run 26.2 miles

I positioned myself well back in the field. 

The gun sounded and for a long moment nothing happened. No one moved. 30 seconds passed before I started moving and then I literally walked across the starting line. The breath of the street was packed with runners. 

Slowly, I made it to a jog, and then, to what one might consider running. 

I could see the 4-and-1/2-hour pacer flag waving in the distance. 

As the road opened up, I was able to pick up a bit more pace. I was passing people anywhere there was an open spot.

At the same time, my brain was looking for any twinge of an issue with my hamstring. Every stride was a test with a pass fails result. Problem was I didn't know when the next failure might come.  

Through the early miles, I held myself in check. 

I passed more and more people as the exuberance of their early miles got harder for them to maintain their pace. I caught up to Chad and ran with him for a bit. I asked him what his goals were for the day. 

 Through 10 miles, no ill effects came from my hamstring, so I started to push a little harder. Maybe not the wisest of ideas. 

Around 13 miles, the half marathoners turned off to head for their finish. We turned right for a long, long stretch of road to what I believe was around 19 miles. 

The sun came out during this stretch, and I was getting rather warm. I had my top zipped as far down as possible. 

I was catching other runners during this section of the course, and my hamstring continued to hold its own. I had settled into running between 7:30 and 7:45 pace. 

Around 19 miles, we made the turn and went over one block. I am not sure what happened in that block, but suddenly, the sun was gone and the wind was blowing in my face. There was no place to hide from it. I searched both sides of the road looking for anytime type of wind respite. Nothing could be found. 

All I could do was grind it out. 

While was it wasn't really cold temperature wise, the strength of the wind chilled my legs. This caused them to tighten up. 

In the entire run back to the finish, the only time that I was out of the wind was when it we did the causeway section. In all honesty, this was a welcome relief. 

I will also share that I took it really easy off going down each side of the causeway. I knew that I could run faster, but I was on miles 22 and 23. My hamstring could go sideways at any point. No point in risking it. 

Once back on the main route to the finish, the wind was back in my face. At some point in the final miles, I thought I could see that giant flag waving at the finish line. As I got closer, yes, that's what I was seeing. 

I never did see the signs for miles 25 and 26. 

I crossed the finish line in 3 hours 26 minutes and 11 seconds. I finished 34th overall and won my age group. This was not the day that I wanted but this was day that I was dealt. I finished the race after having what I would term a rough week. 

Here's hoping that my next marathon is much better. 

The Cool Down Runner