Skunk Cabbage Half 2026
Just a week after the Syracuse Half Marathon, this home favorite was more challenging than I anticipated.
What a difference a year makes
This year when Skunk Cabbage rolled around, I’d logged 370 running miles, mostly outdoors. In 2025, I had just 236 miles under my belt at this same time, most of it on the treadmill. Thank you Strava for making it wasy to know this. Read my 2025 report to discover how it went for me.
Pain is Temporary, Strava is Forever
This was one of the first, and very few, signs that I saw on the course. It was early, just a bit past mile 2, and when I saw it I grinned a little, but it didn’t resonate today. Last week in the Syracuse Half, a sign with the same message provided motivation. It has been a week since the race and I have some thoughts about why this is.
Pacing the Skunk
At Tuesday night’s track workout, several folks were surprised that Scott and I signed up for the half so soon after Syracuse. Many assumed I’d be long running it with no pace goals. Scott had told Alex this was his A1 race. He cared about his result because he knew if he ran well he could get 1st Vet and get money and chocolate.
Alex and I talked about pacing. This course is more difficult than Syracuse. It has little crowd support and 800 feet of elevation gain. The first 3 miles are gently uphill and then you hit rolling hills for the next few miles. It is an out and back so when you turn around you know what to expect. Alex said the race doesn’t really start until the top of the steep hill on the way back. This hill ends a bit before the start of mile 10, so my pacing plan could be to race the course from there. She cautioned that in order to do this I may need to start more slowly than I wanted to.
I decided to pace it the same way that I did for Syracuse. I’d run just on the edge of uncomfortable for 10 miles (8 if I was feeling good) and then race the last 3. I felt pretty solid with this decision.
Off to a strong start
Race morning went pretty well. Scott and I are having our bathroom redone so we have relocated to our kids’ old bedrooms for the project. A week into this and I’m pretty comfortable with sprawling out in the queen bed in Xander’s old room. We did our NY Times puzzles and had some toast with peanut butter, bid my sister farewell before her flight home and headed up to Barton Hall to start the race. After Syracuse, I was ready for my 10 minute warm-up. I hit the bathroom line before it was too long and launched straight into running. It was a crisp 32 degrees, but it felt warmer. I felt warm during this run, immediately knowing that I’d overdressed a bit for the day. I considered taking off my windbreaker and wished I’d chosen not to wear fleece leggings.
Soon, I was at the starting line with all the other half marathon runners. I looked around and saw many familiar faces in the crowd. Despite my intentions to go out more slowly, I got caught up in the momentum as we all took off. My watch was set for the 9:20-9:35 range and I heard a few beeps from time to time letting me know it was too fast. Still, all the miles were slower than Syracuse and I did feel like I was on the edge of uncomfortable but still ok. Between mile 3 and 4 is where the first hill that deserves the name hill lands, hence the slower pace there while still running to feel slightly uncomfortable.
Stomach distress
Somewhere after the steep downhill that occurs between mile 3 and 4, my stomach started to feel really uncomfortable. It feels like an anxiety response but it is complicated in that it could also connected to nutrition. I had a few Honey Stinger chews as I ended the hill and I had eaten peanut butter toast for breakfast. These are not new things for me, but I was struggling with still tasting the peanut butter and with the sweetness of the chews. But, the anxiety was real. Despite holding reasonably solid pacing, I started to feel like I couldn’t do this. The wind was swirling, the gradual ups and downs looked daunting, and the stomach distress was my body’s rebellion to the situation. I started to deliberately slow my pace to try to find a way to help my stomach cramping abate. Slower running meant slower breathing and slower heart rate. I started to worry that I couldn’t actually finish this race by the time I hit the turnaround.
It’s a small race
With just under 250 people, this race is little compared with Syracuse. There are no timing mats, you take your own water off the water tables, and you see a few folks cheering you on. There is nothing wrong with any of this, but it is very different than the external motivators just a week prior, and today I needed the external motivation.
But then, why didn’t the pain is temporary, Strava is forever sign motivate me? The same sign was helpful last week. I shared my struggles with Alex after the race and she said that our bodies have a way of remembering their experiences. Last year I wasn’t really well-prepared to run. This year, I thought I had made a wise choice in running several long runs on the course, but today I was feeling panic instead of comfort from that. My body wanted to run slower today. I had created some patterns of slower running on the course. Could that be it? Scott had followed the same protocols as I did and he had no such struggles.
I know how I should do
After sitting with the race for almost a week, I believe I have a reason for why I struggled so much was that I had some pace markers in the field of runners. At Syracuse, I knew no one except the members of my family and maybe a couple of other folks. Shortly after my anxiety kicked in and my stomach turned, a couple of people that I should be running with zoomed by me. I reacted emotionally, feeling I couldn’t do this, instead of rationally with an understanding that each day is different, and each moment of a race is different. I struggled to rally and I started to spiral.
A few highlights
Shortly before mile 6.5 (the turnaround), I actually considered dropping when I hit the midpoint. I didn’t believe I could keep running, despite being very prepared. I’m pretty proud that I rallied - reminded myself that it was a ridiculous thought and that I was totally prepared for this.
At about mile 8, I caught a very happy runner. He hadn’t even run 10 miles in his training cycle and he was singing and chatting. His exuberance perked me up. I quickened my step and we enjoyed each other’s company for a bit and then he passed me by.
When I hit the hill at mile 10, I saw my friends Jeney and Adam flagging at the top. Last year they were motivation for me to run the hill but this year I made it about 10 steps up and switched to a walk. This, despite lots of hill practice. If I’ve learned anything about myself through this training, it is that much of my success and struggle is mental. Today was a hill walking day. I leaned in.
Things turned around when I got to mile 11 and I caught back up with the happy runner. He was still happy, but had slowed down. I considered joining him. After all, we’d have a nice conversation until the end and I wasn’t going for time anyway. But, I took a little assessment of my body. Yup, I could run faster than he was running and it was a race. My stomach had calmed down and dare I say, I was having fun.
The last couple of miles zipped along reminding me that sometimes a runner has many different emotional states during a race.
After the race
At the end it is time to talk to all the runners! Celebrations all around. Whether we hit a PR, won an age group award, or just continued to put one foot in front of the other for 13.1 miles, we did it. I met Strava friends for the first time in real life, I saw people I haven’t seen since the fall races, and connected with folks I see all the time. This end of race celebratory feel is one of the reasons I keep coming back year after year!
13.1 mi in 2:02:52 // 171 of 258 overall, 5 of 8 age group, 9:23 pace // strava