Seaside Half Marathon

Seaside Half Marathon

I met Justin at quarter of six. After picking up his girlfriend Lauren we made the ninety minute drive due East to Seaside, NJ. The race started and ended at a large bar on the boardwalk. It resembled Old Orchard Beach or Hampton Beach but much larger. Upon arrival we learned that the course had been changed and was now a two loop course. This put six miles of the race on the boardwalk. Days before the race the forecast predicted up to twenty-five mph winds. Despite this I felt very relaxed and calm before the race.

The first mile was close to five thirty and I could tell Justin was pressing the pace with the wind at our back. The pace felt fast to my legs but I wasn't breathing that hard once we got passed the first mile mark. Most of my body felt the pace was slow, except my legs, which were non-responsive. At about three miles I told Justin just to go ahead without me.

As we looped over the course we passed the slower runners coming the other way and the 5K runners. Running on the boardwalk we passed bars and amusement rides. The whole thing was like a dream I always have, running through crowds and through buildings. And then there were my legs that were stuck in slow motion, just like the dream.

Despite being alone for the next ten miles with long stretches of strong wind I stayed somewhat positive. The miles into the wind along the boardwalk were approaching mid five-fifties and in the back of mind I knew breaking 1:15 was probably out of reach. Over the back half of the second loop Justin was out of sight but I felt the runner in third slowly closing. I kept my legs moving and pushed on. Ironically I finished exactly at 1:15 in 2nd place. Justin had won and run 1:13 flat which I decided was a very good run given the conditions.

My first reaction was that I had to completely rethink the marathon. Justin immediately told me not to freak out. I realized that my warm up had not been sufficient and decided racing at the end of a recovery week was also a mistake. Excuses aside, it is still a huge blow to my confidence to know that in five weeks we will be trying to run twice the distance at this same pace.