Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, is one of my favorite places in the world.

I’ve been vacationing there since I was two years old, and I look forward to my annual beach week in Rehoboth every year. I take comfort in the fact that in so many ways, Rehoboth in 2018 looks a lot like Rehoboth in the 1980s. Very little about the boardwalk has changed in 30 years — and I like that.

Still, even though I’ve been going to the beach for most of my life, last year was the first year that I ever visited during the holidays! I ran the Rehoboth Seashore Marathon to qualify for Boston, and had such a wonderful experience that I decided I will try to run the half marathon every year that I am able. (I don’t like the idea of repeating a full marathon unless it’s Boston — there are just too many I want to run! But I’ll happily run the same half more than once!)

So I ran the Rehoboth Seashore Half Marathon on Dec. 8, finishing in 1:42:55– a 7:51/mile pace, and my fastest half in almost two years! Truthfully, I had dreams of finishing under 1:40, and I know I can do it eventually — but I’m going to need to train smarter. This was my 17th half marathon, and I’ve yet to follow an actual training plan for that distance. I just run my normal 3-5 mile runs three or four times a week, and try to do a long run of 10-12 miles every weekend for about 4-6 weeks leading up to any half. It works for me, but maybe I could do better if I trained more seriously!

Anyway, my husband and I drove in Friday night after work and got to Rehoboth about 15 minutes before the race expo closed, so I was able to grab my bib and swag bag before we hit dinner at the Dogfish Head Brewpub. My eating habits before a race tend to be a little unconventional — if at all possible, I prefer to eat a veggie burger and French fries and wash it all down with a beer or two. Hey, it’s carb-loading! I wish I could remember the name of the stout I drank when we first got there — it was rich and chocolate-y and, at 10 percent ABV, probably a risky move before a race, but it was worth it. I also had a Seaquench Ale with dinner, one of my favorites and also one of the beers given out to runners at the post-race after party! (Did I mention that runners each get three beer tickets with their race registration? Seriously, if you are a beer lover who loves to run, sign up for this race!)

I knew it was going to be cold the morning of the race, but I wasn’t too worried. Like most people, I run much better in the cold. Last year, it was 45 degrees and sunny for the marathon; this year, it was about 15 degrees cooler. I was prepared for it in running tights, compression knee socks, a long-sleeved shirt, my Rock ‘N Roll Marathon windbreaker, neck gaiter and gloves. Oh, and my goofy “Meowy Christmas” cat hat that I wore last year.

Runners were treated to an amazing sunrise just before the start of the race! Sooooo many people were taking selfies, haha.

The gun went off promptly at 7 am, and once I started running, I warmed up almost immediately. All runners start off at the Rehoboth Bandstand and head down Rehoboth Avenue, then turn off into the side streets to head toward Cape Henlopen State Park. There’s a turnaround for half marathoners around mile 3, with marathoners heading into the park and half marathoners going back through Rehoboth and then onto the Junction & Breakwater Trail for much of the back half of the race.

I ran my first mile in 7:56 and it felt comfy. My next few miles grew progressively faster, and I held pretty steady between 7:30-7:40 for miles 3 through about 9! I was proud of that — not just the pace, but the fact that I was able to stay so consistent. I even had a woman run with me for a mile or two on the trail because she said I was pacing so well. Again, I think the cooler temps helped me a lot, as well as the flat terrain. There are pretty much ZERO hills in both the full and the half marathons, making both races good for PRs.

I did start to hit a bit of a wall around mile 11/11.5. By then, I’d been running on the trail for several miles and it is more uneven and tougher than road running — plus, I’m sure I was paying for all those earlier miles in the 7:30s. Whoops. That said, the Junction & Breakwater Trail is lovely and is home to one of my favorite parts of the course –the “flag alley,” with a variety of different flags hanging above the trail. I’m not sure who sets that up, but it’s so colorful and fun! There is also a DJ playing music right around that point in the race, too.

At mile 12, I was officially off the trail and back on the road, heading toward the finish line behind the Cultured Pearl sushi restaurant. I started thinking about finishing the marathon a year earlier, and seeing my husband standing on the side of the street at mile 26 yelling at me to “EMPTY THE TANK!” I can’t believe that was a whole year ago, and I’ll finally get to run Boston in four months.

It was really all such a blur that I don’t remember much about actually finishing (I legit look like I’m about to pass a kidney stone in the finish line pictures). This year, I was paying a bit more attention and felt like that last turn by the Cultured Pearl and through the finish line went on forever. Like, that last .1 might as well have been a mile long. Of course it wasn’t, but that’s how it felt!

I collected my finisher’s medal and called my husband (who decided to sleep in rather than see me finish — part of me wanted to be annoyed, and part of me was like, “well, it was your 17th freaking half marathon, this is not exciting for him anymore.”) I walked back to the hotel about two blocks away, showered and then he and I grabbed some breakfast and then came back for the after party.

The post-race party is LIT. The DJ was taking requests all week long in a Facebook group dedicated to the race, and he was playing all of them — including lots of ’90s music, my personal favorite. Everyone was dancing a lot and a group of runners who call themselves Team Fireball were there passing around, what else, a bottle of Fireball. I even saw the race director take a shot or two. I love me some Fireball, but it gives me two-day hangovers and so I stuck with my beloved Seaquench instead. 🙂

The party continued well into the afternoon, and some of the volunteers even walked the last finisher into the tent, to huge applause! I thought that was so awesome.

As for me, I probably had a little *too* much fun at the after party and then at the Purple Parrot that night for karaoke. If you had to hear me singing Donna Summer’s “Last Dance” (among other gems) …. well, I am truly sorry.

Registration for the 2019 race opens on New Year’s Eve! I believe both the full and the half sold out this year, so don’t wait until the last minute if you are interested!