Monday, November 16, 2009

My First Half Marathon...






Wow! Let me just say...anyone who has ever competed in a half marathon, full marathon, triathalon or any similar event, I now have a whole new respect for you. The race was both amazing and awful at the same time.
We woke up at 5 a.m. on Sunday and were out the door by 6 a.m. We walked to the convention center in downtown San Antonio to catch a bus to the starting line. We waited in line for an hour by the time the bus dropped us and we made our way towards the starting line they blew the gun for the first corral to go. Luckily, Tamara was in corral 9, I was in corral 12 and Kristi was in corral 21. We had to take a quick potty brake between some poor individual's home and a fence because the port-a-potty lines were at least 20 people deep. By the time we stepped to the starting line they were on corral 7. So we had just enough time to stretch and calm our nerves. We all decided to start together in Tamara's corral. I know this may be a no no to some of you, but there were people with all sorts of bib numbers so we didn't feel too bad. The first several miles I was just overwhelmed with emotion. It was such a cool experience to be running with so many people. I think I heard that 31,000 people had signed up for the race, 26,000 actually showed up that morning and cross the starting line and only 20,000 people made it to the finish line. CrAzY! I kept fighting the tears back the first few miles. Seeing people run with signs like, "I'm A Survivor" or "In Memory Of...". I just feel so blessed to be able to have had the experience and I thank God every day that I am healthy enough to get out there and run. I started off ahead of my two friends and then Tamara and I fell in together after I stopped at the first water station. I heard someone say there was like 94% humidity when we started the race at 7:30 a.m. The temperature felt great, but as the sun begin to come out the hotter and more humid it got. Tamara and I ran together for probably the first 5 miles and were keeping a great pace, but I stopped at EVERY water station so we got separated at some point after mile 5. I hit a wall around mile 11, but picked up my pace from mile 12 to mile 13. However, the finish line was a huge hill and I slowed it way down for the last stretch. I had NOTHING left at the finish, but I didn't walk once and I FINISHED MY FIRST HALF which is a great feeling! It took me a while to recover afterwards. My second toenails on both feet were REALLY bothering me and when we finally got back to the hotel and I got my shoes off I saw why...they were purple and I'm 90% sure I'm going to lose them. Small price to pay I guess!
I'm pretty sore today, mainly in my back. The hot tub is calling my name!
Here are a few pictures...please ignore the sweaty glow and lack of make-up.

This was on Saturday before we left to get our registration packets. We stayed at Hotel Indigo downtown. I HIGHLY recommend this place. This lovely, chic boutique hotel was conveniently located and the service was superb!

Here we are Sunday morning pre-race.

Tamara and me, post-race.

And me with my #1 fan. She has missed very few of my races, so we figured we better not start now.

Lastly, the three of us, post-race.

My Results:
Chip Time: 2:18:40
Overall Place: 6901/20021, Gender Place: 3190/12585, Division Place: 403/1109

I didn't make my goal time, which, for my first race, I'm totally ok with. I don't think I'll be ready for another half anytime soon. The spring may be the earliest I feel up to another event of that magnitude. But, I can look back on this race with pride. It's like a sign I saw someone holding during the race said, "Your legs will forgive you...eventually."

*Ok, those descriptions are in order for the pictures at the top of my post. Anyone have any idea why when I upload pictures they're now in code form (aldkja;fa'da) instead of showing the actual picture? So, I'm unable to move them around, but they show up normal after I publish the post??? Strange...*

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21 comments:

Kristin Meeks said...

Congrats on your first half! It really is an amazing feeling! What a great time! I think that was about the same time I did my first half in :) Keep up the training! I look forward to reading about your next races!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your first half! It really is an amazing feeling! What a great time! I think that was about the same time I did my first half in :) Keep up the training! I look forward to reading about your next races!

~Mrs. Guru~ said...

Congrats on your first half! So exciting!

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

You go girl!! Congratulations on your first half. We are all so very proud of you. Take care of your tooties1

Have the best day enjoying all your blessings!!!

Lisa said...

CONGRATS!!! I've been waiting to see what you said. Glad the weather was good - no rain/snow/ect! Bummer about the toe nails. I've heard of a ton of people that have that problem. You probably already have, but maybe try a bigger shoe size? I measure a 6, but wear a 7.

Anyway, congrats. I'm so looking forward to my race in a few weeks - but also like you dreading it a bit. I ran 10 this past weekend and it was rough afterwards!

Oh and your time was awesome. I'm trying not to put any time constraints on it - just hoping to finish. And I'm also thinking of walking through every water station - my big bro told me to do that.

Confessions Of A Domestic Goddess said...

Congrats!!! That's such a huge achievement!!

xoxo!!

Christine said...

Wow that is so great!! You are in inspiration!

erin f. said...

I feel tired just reading about this! Great job!!

Miss Jody said...

You inspire me.
How do I go about doing this?

Sweet Simplicity said...

I am so proud of you! This is a seriously amazing thing you have accomplished!

Jax said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I am so proud of you!!!

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

Woo hoo! Congrats! I am so amazed by long distance runners. You rock lady!

Mrs. H said...

Congratulations! What an amazing accomplishment!

Sonja said...

CONGRATS! that's awesome!! I'm proud of you! :)

I'm training for my first one now (it's in March) and I'm scared to death about it!

Do you have any advice or a great playlist to help you get through!?

Congrats again! You inspired me to keep on trucking through this! :)

Liz Mays said...

Congratulations! That's fantastic! It's a huge accomplishment, and not everyone can make it so you really should be proud!

pammycakes said...

great blog! Can't wait to follow!
http://pammycakes-pammycakes.blogspot.com/

Renee said...

Congrats!! You accomplished a great thing! I always cry during races too so I am glad I am not the only one!

Anonymous said...

Congrats girl! Loved the pictures you look fabulous! Hope your having a great day--sorry I am so far behind! xoxo

Dana said...

Congratulations!!! I am preparing for my first half marathon in March. I am so excited about it, and I need to get my training on point haha. My whole blog is dedicated to the training and I'd love it if you could give me some tips, inspiration, ANYTHING! Congrats again on your great time, I can't wait until my first one :)

Anonymous said...

hey girl! email me your PIN and I will hook us up! {its on my profile} Hope your having a great day! xoxo

Karena said...

Congrats on finishing your first half! I feel like I've missed so much in the blog world the past week and a half!!

O man, black toenails!! Do you wear your shoes big enough? Your feet swell like crazy when you run so you want to make sure you have a decent amount of space between your toes and the shoe (like 1/2 to a full size from your regular shoe size). I also used to get black toenails when I forgot to keep my nails SUPER short while training.

Would you run another half?? :)