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I ran my 5th half marathon this weekend – the Huntersville Half Marathon. It was a cold one!

I’m a wimp when it comes to colder weather, hence moving from Rhode Island down to North Carolina. But everything turned out alright and I survived.

Packet Pick Up

I picked up my packet Friday morning at Fleet Feet Sports. It was chilly Friday, a good indicator of what to expect on Saturday!

They also provided us with these nice hoodies.

Ed was out of town Friday night for work, so it was just Tater and I.

I made my sweetpotato turkey burgers and some (low-fiber) veggies for dinner. Many clients can’t handle veggies before a race, but I have a strong stomach.

You definitely need to practice and know what to eat before running. It’s a trial and error kind of thing.

We watched some Netflix, I addressed Christmas cards, and snacked on some superhero muffins (from Run Fast Eat Slow) for dessert.

Again, there’s no reason to “carb load” only the night before a race, it’s more about everything you’ve eaten that week.

Make sure the week of that you are steadily increasing your carbs at each meal and snack.

Huntersville Half Marathon Race Morning

I woke up around 6am, and I didn’t leave the house until 7:15. I kept it really simple since the race started at 8 and was fortunately 10 minutes away.

I had my usual race day breakfast of oatmeal with peanut butter, banana and blueberries. I also packed a few Huma gels for the race.

Huma gels are my favorite running energy gels to take – but different options work for different people. I really love the Ucan products, too!

Fortunately, parking wasn’t too difficult. We were able to park about 5 minutes away from the start.

It was freezing, though. The thermometer in my car said 19 degrees when I parked.

I had long running tights on, a long sleeved shirt, and a half zip up over it. I also had ear warmers and gloves.

Upon stepping out of the car, though, I felt like I should have packed another layer. Better run fast, I thought!

The Race and Course

I waited in line for the bathrooms then headed to the start.

By 7:55, I was in the starting line trying to stay warm.

I started somewhere between the 1:40 and 1:50 pace group.

There were probably 900 runners overall, so it wasn’t a huge race and wasn’t too hard to navigate the first mile like some races can be.

The cold weather helped to take my mind off of worrying about pace and mileage.

I just tried to focus on keeping my fingers warm!

Around mile 3, I caught up to the 1:40 pace group. I felt really good and was having no trouble maintaining that pace.

I told myself I’d stay with them for 4-5 more miles and if I felt good, would go ahead, or otherwise, try to stick with them.

Well, I didn’t follow my own plan and passed the pace group around mile 5.5.

I continued to feel really good and felt like I was getting stronger by the mile. My whole body (except for my fingers) began to warm up. My fingers stayed numb for the whole race.

I also felt like I had some frozen snot the entire race. TMI? You know that feeling when it’s so cold that it hurts to breathe – that was happening!

Race Support and Course

The support along the course felt very minimal. Maybe because it was so cold?

But, it was a small race to begin with and I’m sure the brutal weather scared some people away. Most of the race was through neighborhoods, so there were some small groups here and there that came outside to watch.

I have so much respect for the fans that did stand outside and watch, especially the guy who was in his longjohns and slippers. Well played.

I do have to say, though, after running the Ogden marathon last month, this half went by so quickly. Before I knew it, I was already halfway done and then at the 10 mile mark.

The course itself was very hilly. Every mile had a rather steep incline.

There was even one that was timed separately called the “Hardcore Hill.” It was somewhere between mile 6 and 7.

I’m not exactly sure which one because there were a few that I thought could have been it. There were prizes for the quickest up the hill.

I’m not sure what the fastest time was, but apparently, I finished 8th in the hill climb.

Post Race

I crossed the finish line at 1:38.26.

I actually had the course as 13.20, and a few others said that the course was a bit long too. I think I was officially at 1:38.21.

After crossing the finish line, I was too cold to start stretching or cooling down.

I actually went inside a local hair salon for 10 minutes to warm up my fingers – they were painfully numb.

Once I warmed up a bit, I headed back across the street to Birkdale for a Starbucks latte, and then grabbed my car so I could drive back to the finish line for the awards session.

I got 3rd in my age group and was the 12th of 450 women overall.

I mistakenly thought I PR’ed, but I was 10 seconds off from my half marathon finish in 2014. But, this course was much hillier so I do feel like it was a PR.

Overall, I’m so happy I did the race. It definitely crossed my mind to stay in my warm bed and avoid the cold. But, it turned out to be a fun morning!

The rest of the day was lazy on the couch. I did take Tater to Petco for pictures with Santa, though.

Can you see the expression of excitement on both her and Santa’s faces?!

We ate more turkey burgers, had some wine, ice cream and called it a night! Sunday was pretty similar, and we made lots of christmas cookies!

Highlight of your weekend?

How do you make pet Santa pictures successful?