My second run of the 3M Half Marathon was Sunday January 21, 2024. My first half-marathon last year was cold (starting at 38F), but this year’s was slated to be even colder (33F) and I was nervous.

For dinner on Saturday night, I had a HelloFresh meal of meatballs and mashed potatoes, and I went to bed around 9:45pm. I set an alarm for 6, but I woke up around 5:15 am and lingered in bed until 5:30. I drank a cup of coffee right away and then had a productive trip to the bathroom. I ate a banana and had another cup of coffee while I prepped my gear and got dressed.

I put on my new UnderArmor leggings and shorts with the number that I’d attached the night before. I packed an additional running shirt in case it was cold enough to double-layer; something I’d never done before but the forecast called for 33 degrees, five degrees colder than last year’s cold run. I also put on a pair of $3 disposable cotton gloves that I’d picked up at the packet pickup expo the day before. I wore new Balega socks and my trusty orange Hokas (my new ones aren’t quite broken in yet).

My water bottle’s pouch would hold my car key, an iPhone SE to provide tunes streamed to one Bluetooth earpiece (the other died months ago) and snacks: a pack of Gu gummies and some Jelly Belly Energy beans (which I ended up liking most).

I left the house around 6:45 for the 7:30 am race. While waiting at a light in the parking traffic I concluded that I definitely was going to need that second shirt, so I put it on under my trusty Decker Challenge shirt that brought me to the top of Kilimanjaro.

By 7:22 I had parked and was waiting in a long line for a porta-potty near the start, debating about whether or not I should just skip it and go find my pace group. Ultimately, the race began just before I had a turn, although it was nice to dispose of that second cup of coffee. Alas, I was forced to start with the 2:40 pacers. I started my Fitbit a minute or two before my group made it across the starting line. Alas, my second watch (an ancient Timex I found somewhere) crashed when I tried to start it as I crossed the starting line.

I spent the first mile passing folks and by the second mile marker I’d reached the 2:05 pace group. For the next few miles, the 2:00 pace group was in sight in the distance, but I’d never caught up to them, despite my hope of running most of the race with the 1:55 pace group. I consoled myself that I’d probably crossed the start line to two minutes after the 2:00 group so my dream of finishing in under 2 hours was probably still possible.

Around mile 5, my energy started to flag, but shortly thereafter an 8yo in a tutu running ahead of me guilted me into realizing that this wasn’t as hard as I was making it out to be. I passed her in about half a mile, grateful for the boost.

Shortly after mile 6, I discarded my gloves which had served me well. By this point I was taking short walking breaks and had concluded that I was unlikely to set any PRs.

Miles 6 through 9 were full of signs. My favorite was the 3yo boy holding a sign that said “This seems like a lot of work for a banana“– I told him it was the best one I’d seen. I groaned a bit at some of the signs held by twenty-somethings; one woman’s read “Find a cute butt and follow it” while another proclaimed: “Wow, that looks really long and hard!” Like last year, around mile 9 I stopped for a pee break although this time it was almost nothing… I ended up consuming under 16 ounces on the entire run.

By mile 7, my torso was starting to get a bit warm in my double shirts, but in another few miles the breeze had picked up and I was glad that I had them. Sheesh, it was chilly.

Amazingly, nothing hurt. My feet felt good. My legs felt good. My throat and lungs felt fine. I didn’t have any weird aches in my arms or back. The closest thing I had to any pain was the bottom of my nose, which was getting chapped in the cold.

This year, I was anticipating the two hills downtown, and while I can’t say that I ran up them, they were much less demoralizing than last year. As the finish line approached, it had been a few miles since I’d seen my last pacer, but I figured I was somewhere in the 2:13-2:18 range. I idly hoped I’d still beat my time from last year’s slow Galveston Half.

Ultimately, I crossed the finish with a chip time of 2:09:24, a 9:52/m pace.

This year, I made sure not to blow by the volunteers passing out the medals just over the finish line.

Tired but feeling like I could’ve easily run a few more miles at a slow pace, I hopped the bus back to the starting point. I grabbed my phone and a jacket from the car and walked a mile to the bagel shop to get a coffee and celebratory breakfast sandwich… the day felt even colder. Back home on the couch after a long warm shower, I signed up for next year’s race.

Next month is the Galveston Half Marathon. I hope to run the race with the 2:00 pacer the whole way, but I’ll settle for beating 2:09, five minutes faster than last year’s effort.