Delaware Running Festival Half Marathon Recap

My first race postpartum was not a walk in the park. Signing up for 2026 races was like dreaming up the perfect scenarios after becoming a mom, and hoping they'd workout. As I was growing in my second trimester, I thought out how much recovery time I'd need, base building time, and ultimately what I thought would be enough time for some great finishes. Well as life throws us lemons, it seemed to throw them pretty hard. We had to figure out how to make lemonade, if you know what I mean. Here's some context as to where I am coming from with this particular race preparation:

If you've been following me or work with me, you know that I recently gave birth to twins about seven months ago. My birth story is blogged for you all here, but to give you a quick synopsis, it was not an easy process. Not only am I a Type One Diabetic, I was also feeling the impact of carrying twins. I developed both ICP and pre-eclampsia between weeks 28 and 33. These diagnosis's lead me to being induced at 33.5 weeks, giving birth to the most beautiful, perfect boys. I somehow avoided a c-section (thank God!) but dealt with other complications after delivering. About 3 days after having the boys, I started getting gnarly (what I thought was) sciatic nerve pain. The pain started in my hip, then grew to down my hamstring, calf, and foot. For days, I was crying in pain. My children were in the NICU and I was suffering sitting for long periods of time. I had to sleep on hard surfaces for weeks (aka the ground), and wear slippers throughout my house because my feet hurt that bad. Even sitting in the car drove me to tears. I remember my husband and I went out to a movie one night while our kids were still in the NICU, and having to leave 10 minutes in because of how much pain I was in. All we wanted to do was get our minds' off of not having our children home, but I was robbed of any joy of seeing them because the pain I was in was so intense.

My first steps were going to urgent care for pain killers and physical therapy. My OB went ahead and put the order in for PT, which we just started trying to treat the sciatic nerve pain. Although the inital shocking pain went away after a few weeks, the lingering "zinging" in my foot & hamstring was still intense along with having absolutely zero calf strength. Whatever nerve this was, it completely turned off the muscle in my calf from working.

I wish I could say PT helped, but it did very little. My next step was to see a spine doctor and get an MRI done. Maybe they could tell me I had a slipped/bulging disc and it's healing?! Simply getting answers would help me figure out what happened. My kids were home by this point and I was about six weeks postpartum. I was back to lifting weights (light), light yoga, and cardio in forms of walking. Although I don't think running would "hurt", my calf strength was so demolished that I couldn't push off the ground. I felt like everytime I tried running, I was stomping. This would surely lead to an achilles injury somewhere down the road, so I stopped.

And, the MRI came back completly clear. Not only did I not have a slipped disc, but my spine actually looked extremely healthy and showed I have never injured it. Which, I gave myself a pat on the back for being such a dang good trainer BUT still had no answers.

Time was ticking now; we were in the New Year, and my half marathon was 4 months out. I could only dp a run walk, but my heal would get pretty sore. My calf strength was minimal, and progress was so incredibly slow. I finally got into a sports medicine doctor, who signed me up for a nerve conduction test. This test would fire both my nerves and muscles, tell us what's working and not, and give me a picture of what could've happened.

Lo and behold, I got my answers. The nerve conduction wasn't as bad as people say it is, but the muscle testing was a real bitch. The doctor came back and said one of my babies heads must've hit a web of nerves in my L5S1, causing damage and pain, while delivering.

I had certain nerves that weren't firing and one muscle activation test that didn't respond, which gave the doctor all the answers he needed to diagnos this. And guess what? The only thing I can do is wait for the nerve to repair. Just.... wait :)

He did say I could continue exercising howver feels best. So this gave me the green light to start running as my calf grew stronger. This was slow, but I have now completed my half marathon so can report back that it worked.

Training

Like I said, training started really really late. Initally, I had hoped to build a running base in December and January, to begin half marathon training in Februrary. However, with my nerve damage, I didn't start running until February. This run was an extremely, painfully slow build. I'm talking one minute run + four minute walk repititions. But this slow build to running allowed me to continue, injury-free.

The entire month of February, I practiced the run-walk method. I did not focus on speed or pace; but the walking portions of my workout were there to help me really focus on form and breathing during the run portion. The last week of February, I ran my first 4 mile run straight through and began to do weekly long runs.

My training week looked like this:

Monday: easy treadmill run (3 miles) + strength training

Tuesday: recovery (normally walking) + night yoga

Wednesday: easy treadmill run (2-3 miles) + strength training

Thursday: long run (5-9 miles)

Friday: cross train (stairmaster for 30 minutes) + strength training

Saturday: class at Lifetime, normally Alpha Strength (no running today)

Sunday: easy treadmill run (2-3 miles)

So most of my miles were on the treadmill, besides long runs. This was due to it just being easier and warmer. I did try to run my neighborhood as often as I could but we had some pretty funky weather in March.

My long runs all felt really good.I didn't do "down weeks" only because I didn't have time! My longest run was 9 miles, before I had 10 days of tapering.

Yoga was done at Core Power yoga- it's a hot yoga studio that practices mostly vinyasa and power. For training purposes, and because I technically did this on a recovery day, I made sure to keep the easier classes in my routine (this is relative.. Core Power isn't normally described as "easy").

Nutrition

During this time in my life, I felt less of a need to carb load and ingest performance nutritoin products. This is because I was training 5 months postpartum and really wanting to prioritize food that promoted health. My body was slowly "coming back" and I was feeling strong again, so I wanted my nutrition to enhance this too.

Breakfasts: almost always was a protein bar with about 30 grams of carbs. I dialed in my bolusing routine with this; I'd bolus half the amount needed and be running within 20 minutes of consumption. I didn't go high or low if I did this. As for my long run days, I frequently made kodiak frozen waffles. I felt like the waffles gave me enough carbs, but the addition of protein helped my bloodsugar not spike before the run. Before the race, I had kodiak microwavable pancake, because it had similar ingredients and I could make it in a hotel.

Lunch: Unlike previous years, I have been HUNGRY for lunch as a postpartum mom. I think because I am on my feet with babies at all times, I am burning off all of my fuel 24/7. On normal days, I'd make a Taylor Farms salad with either lightly breaded chicken tenders or leftover protein source from the night before.

Snacks: I try to make my snacks in the afternoon carb-free because I don't have to take insulin. So I've ate hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, and regular cheddar or swiss cheese. If my bloodsugar was low or I needed carbs, then great! More carbs means more fuel, and I'd grab a fruit leather or a handful of Purely Elizabeth granola.

Dinner: This is where I really tried to stay simple. We made a lot of chicken dishes, with some sort of vegetable or sweet potato. Carbs looked like rice and potatoes. I know, I know! I sound like a true body builder!! Haha, I kid... but, by taking control of my nutrition habits I really have started rebuilding my core strength and muscle mass, and I didn't want to give that up for training for a race. If I were concerned with a finishing time during the race, of course I would have worked in more simple processed sugars into my routine (because sugar is fuel for running).

I trained with First Endurance gels. These gels were new to me, but I liked that they were isotonics and that when they got "warm", they didn't get gross. They come in three different flavors; mocha, mixed berry and vanilla. Mixed berry is definetly my fav, but I like the sweet ones with it being a colder weather race.

Our trip to Delaware

What we were planning to do for our trip to Delaware and what actually happened are two very very different itineraries. One thing I've learned since becoming a mom, is that a) I don't find as much joy in planning and b) i don't have time to plan. I think a and b coinside, and that I would actually enjoy it again if I had time. None the less, to save time... I am going to share what we actually did on our trip versus what we were planning to do.

We decieded to drive to Wilmington Delaware from Columbus Ohio, about two days before the trip. We were planning to fly, but so many things came up that would've actually made flying harder with babies. So we packed the car up and left around 5:30 am for Delware on Saturday. Our trip, in total, took about 9 hours. This includes the stops we made to feed the boys and ourselves. Word to the wise- the turnpikes through Pennsylvania have absolutely zero food. We learned the hard way, starving for lunch with no options around. In fact, we ended up skipping lunch because there was nothing. This is less than ideal the day before a half marathon!

We went straight to packet pickup which was located where the starting line was for the race. I love when smaller races do this because it gives me a chance to mentally understand where I am and how far away I am staying. The packet pickup afternoon was gorgeous; we walked around the riverwalk and enjoyed the sun with the boys.

Saturday (accomodations, restaurants, packet pickup)

We stayed at the Courtyard Marriot in downtown Wilmington. It was really close to th start line, but not walkable. A few notes in terms of accomodations: it's really slim pickins. At least in the business district (close to the race), there were two hotels that I saw. Parking is a nightmare, however it is free on weekends to park on the street. Problem is, we never found parking on the street! So we paid extra to park in a public lot that was 2 blocks down the street. Absolutely not ideal when you have a thousand baby things to lug back and forth from the car.

We ate dinner at Banks Seafood and Raw Bar. We opted to sit outside, and it was honestly so nice! The restaurant overlooked the riverwalk. The menu had tons of fresh seafood and shellfish, so I was in heaven. And, I didn't have a hard time getting in "simple" carbs either, as they had potatoes and crackers with the apps we ordered. I felt really good about this dinner.

Saturday night

This is when "all hell broke loose". Our kids were an absolute nightmare overnight. We had packn'plays, which they've slept in many times before. But the combination of a 9 hour car ride plus being forced to go to bed just didn't sit well with either of them. So, the sleep I got was very little and on top of that, two grouchy screaming babies! My husband thought we'd for sure get a phonecall from the front desk, but we somehow dodged that bullet. So it was a long night to say the least, with very little sleep!

Race Day

We woke up around 5 am (well, if you want to say "woke up", we were pretty much awake all night). At 5 am, we took care of the kids with feedings, diper changes, clothes, etc. I began fueling with Kodiak Cakes Microwavable pancake. This was really good and provided 40 grams of carbs. I drank very little coffee simply because I didn't have time to. I loaded up my running belt with three First Endurance gels, my phone, and grabbed my headphones. Currently, I am running with bose headphones that are clearly way too big to be racing in, but I hate the new airpods. They fall out of my ears so easily!

We drove as close as we could get to the starting line and I hoped out to line up. Because traffic was so bad, I had about 20 minutes to spare when getting there to use the restroom. Unfortunately, I wasted all of that time just standing in line. I never even made it inside a porta potty before they blew the whistle. So I hoped into the first heat crowd. This was probably another mistake I made, looking back on how it started and ended.

The race took off in the downtown business district. There's really not much to see here. Big buildings, and a railroad. We ended up running down some beautiful streets that led us to a park. The park was gorgeous, with some swinging bridges and fun attractions to run throuogh. There was absolutely zero crowds, making it a self-motivating type of run. The mid-to-back half of the race ran through some beauitful neighborhoods with mansions. I actually enjoyed this part a lot; anything to get out of the hilly terrain of the park.

Speaking of hills, the entire course was hilly until the last 4 miles. This is something I did not train for, not because of my lack of planning, but simply because I ran out of time to train adequately for this race. So my legs were fried by mile 9, even though we were approaching majority downhill bouts.

The weather was probably the most insane part of this run. It started off beautiful. Low 60's, overcast, looking like a runners dream. Around mile 5, it started to rain and the temperature started to drop. This is when the wind picked up. I was so cold running, wet, against the wind that this definetly slowed me down. But, it is an experience and I leave it as that!

The last three miles (yes, what a whimp right?!), I decieded to do a walk-run. I'd run a mile, then walk for 5-7 minutes, then run the second mile, etc. Truly, I just wanted to enjoy this race at this point and feel okay. My legs were so tired from the hills and the weather was so unenjoyable that I was searching for every ounce to feel good, and that was my answer to doing so. Walking a little bit provided me opportunity to look at my texts from friends and family, cheering me on. This helped when I got back to running; "make it", was all I could formulate as a moto!

I finished with some speed, I'll be honest. There's something about seeing that finish line that makes you just want to run fast. So, I did! And after all that, I am pretty proud to have felt so strong at the end of the run.

Looking back at my paces... they were all over the place. Every mile was different. I attribute the inconsistency with the "oh shit this is a big hill" moments I had countless times during the race.

At the end of the race, I found my husband and kids. We celebrated (as much as 6 month olds know how to do), and enjoyed watching the winners of the marathon finish. That, also, was a humbling experience. Finisahing my half marathon beside the winners of the full (haha).

I will never forget this race. Even though, it's not a memorable one... it wasn't fun, there was

bad weather, and I was very unconditioned... I was 6 months postpartum. And I just ran a freaking half marathon. That, in itself, was such an accomplishment that my heart will hold close forever. Along with the memories of taking my babies to my first race. They were the best support system and the reason I finished.

The rest of Wilmington Delaware

.. that's it! As the rest of this trip had gone, we finished it the same way. We decieded to leave early and head home. And when I say early, we left right after the race. We found a whole foods, got some lunch, and trekked home. It wasn't my first plan to explore the city and the "fun parts" but its what was best for our family. Our boys were so paitent in the long car rides and we were asking quite a lot of them to sleep in packnplays... so, I get it ;)

How I can train YOU for this race

Well, I wont fit your training plan into a six week couch to half calendar. All jokes aside, this race requires some paitence and boring-tolerant energy. Training for hills needs to be a must, and the hills should include some flat road long miles tailing them. Being very East Coast, one should practice running in all weather conditions. Rain, sleet, cold, warmth. You may experience all in one race!