Around mile 9 of the Half Marathon.

There are many things on race day we as runners can control. There are also a few things we simply have zero control over. Weather is one of those things. At the Atlantic City Half Marathon on October 13th, I had to accept the given weather forecast, adjust expectations, and dig deep.

I have been pretty darn lucky in my running career to rarely experience bad weather on race day. The AC Half was going to throw me a curveball: 30 MPH winds, with strong gusts. All I could do was settle into a good pace, and adjust accordingly. I was originally planning on using this race as an opportunity to test out my marathon training and to get my head in the game. While I was able to keep my head in the game, I had to abandon the notion of running a pace I had set my mind on.

The AC course has lots of twists and turns, and so I had hoped I could take advantage of some tailwinds. No dice. Somehow, I never got a lucky break. If there wasn’t a head wind, or cross wind, there were swirling gusts. A few times I was knocked sideways. I even had one of my legs knocked into the other. My race bib flapped in the wind, my visor almost flew off, and there were times where I had to lean forward and drive forward with the top of my head.

I had to abandon looking at the clock or my Garmin, and just focus on getting the job done, regardless of my finish time. I crossed the finish line in 1:35:11, one of my slowest Half Marathon times ever, but it didn’t matter. I had forged through a hard race, kept my focus, and never once experienced PTSD – which has plagued most of my races since Boston.

My medal and my Age Group Award

Thankfully, all of the other runners were in the same boat and their times were also slow. I finished 8th overall female – out of 740, and 3rd in my age group. Despite my compromised race time, I am happy with my performance. True, it’s not a race I can use to accurately calculate the marathon in November, but it was a good test of mental grit.

I suppose the lesson of this race is this: sometimes you cannot focus on the time on the clock. Sometimes the race is about you and the other runners, and how you all handle the circumstances at hand. Sometimes all you can do is adjust and forge on.