San Antonio 1/2 Marathon recap

I'm back from San Antonio. I was convinced it was going to be a bad race, but it turned out pretty damn good. (Well, at least for me. Evan & Rob didn't exactly have the greatest experience.)

I got to San Antonio late Saturday morning, went to the Expo & picked up my race packet, strolled around the River Walk for a few hours, had a nice late lunch/early dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse & relaxed at my friend Julia's house for the rest of the night. Last minute jitters set in & made for a night of tossing & turning instead of solid sleep. When I did sleep, all I remember is dreaming that the only way I could run was on my hands & feet (like a crawl) & I could only move about as fast as molases. Weird.

My alarm went off at 4:35 & I quickly jumped into action. I cleaned up, got dressed, grabbed my stuff & was out the door just after 5:30 to drive downtown & meet up with Evan, Rob, Lori & Meredith at their hotel. We left around 6:30 to walk the 2 blocks to the starting line & waited to get things started. I wasn't too happy about the 70+ degree temps & billion percent humidity that morning (all before sunrise), but I was praying that at least the sun wouldn't show itself until after the race. I was pleasantly surprised to see Sharyl, a Houston TNT-er & former honored patient, who was there to support her friend Theresa who was running. We chatted for a bit & then said our goodbyes/good lucks. After what seemed an eternity, they finally made the announcement to get ready at the starting line. We said good-bye to the girls & made our way towards the back. We never did hear the gun go off, but the movement of the crowd signaled the start. After about a minute, we finally made it to the starting mats & we were off. I wouldn't see Rob again for about 5 hours & Evan for about 2.

I started off running. It's hard to NOT run when you're in a race like this. My adrenaline was pumping & I was feeling great. After about 2 or 3 minutes of running, I started to walk. It didn't take long for the majority of the crowd to pass me by & before I knew it, I was pretty much alone. It's always a bit frustrating knowing you're one of the slowest people on the course, but I was trying to not let it get me down. I'll admit it was nice to run/walk by the Alamo & not be surrounded by people. Since it was so early there were no tourists there yet & it was so quiet & peaceful.

The course for the race was a series of loops within loops, which was quite confusing in some parts & quite frustrating in others. The one thing I liked about it was that the way it was configured meant I wasn't alone for very long. By mile 2, there were runners coming back around from the opposite direction. (It was also quite humbling when I was between mile 4 & 5 & suddenly I was being passed by a full marathoner on his SECOND loop... aka mile 17 for him.) When I got back towards downtown, it was great. There were runners everywhere & there were people lining the streets cheering. It's a real boost to hear people yell out your name (it was written on my shirt) & tell you "you're doing great!" I was wearing my TNT singlet & at one point I heard someone on the sidelines yell "Go Team in Training!!! WOOOO!!!" I looked over & to my surprise, there was Sharyl. I was SO happy to see her there. Seeing her made me smile the biggest smile & even though I was already feeling great, it gave me such a huge boost. Not much later, around mile 7 or 8, out of the corner of my eye I saw a runner coming in the opposite direction raise his arms up. It was Evan. He smiled & sang to me as he passed me by & again, I got a rush.

I was amazed at how well I was doing during this race. I was making fantastic time (well, fantastic for me) & wasn't hurting at all. I knew if I could keep up my pace, I would finish MUCH earlier than I had anticipated (my goal was a 4 hour finish). I couldn't believe how fast the miles were coming. Every mile marker was a thrill to see & made me push harder. There was also one section of the course that was spray painted by a local school. It had stick figure drawings of runners & phrases like "You can do it!", "Keep going!", "If not now, when?", "One mile at a time!" It was awesome & exactly what I think everyone needed. The kids were all there handing out water & Powerade & cheering us all on. It actually gave me goose bumps.

The only problem I had was the teeny tiny pebble that managed to lodge itself under my left heel around mile 2. I figured I'd eventually forget about it.

Not so much.

I'd been blazing through the race & was SO damn excited, but with each & every step, I could feel that damn pebble. Finally, around mile 8 I couldn't take it any more & had to stop & take my shoe off. I knew it would fuck up my pace, but I HAD to get it out. When I did, even though it was only about the size of the head of a pin, the difference was night & day. I felt like I'd removed a friggin' boulder from my shoe!

Finally I came to the turn-around point where there were photographers up on step-ladders waiting to take my picture. When I got to the blue line, I threw my arms up in the air, smiled a silly smile & ran on by. I was in the home stretch & so friggin' excited.

As I made it past the 11 mile marker I called Lori to tell her I was almost done & that I hoped I'd see her at the finish, but I later learned her phone had died. I was bummed because I really wanted to see her cheer me on.

Around mile 12 I heard someone yell "GO ERIN!!!" I figured it was just another random stranger who read my name on my shirt but then I heard the tambourine. I immediately perked up & looked around & BOOM! There was Lori shakin' her tambourine on the corner of the street cheering me on. I was so. damn. happy to see her. I threw my arms up & yelled & she took my picture. She said I was right on schedule & I told her I was actually about a 1/2 our ahead of schedule! As I passed her by, she started to walk with me & told me she'd seen Rob & Evan & about how far they'd gone. On the next corner was Meredith in her cute green hat cheering me on. It was SO great to have my own little cheering section. You wouldn't believe what a difference it makes knowing people that love you are actually out there to cheer you on. It fills your heart up & makes you want to go faster. :)

I made my way out of down town, under the freeway, past the Price is Right-like model at Evan's hotel (she was pointing the way), & rounded the corner towards the finish line. I saw that 13 mile marker & knew I was home free. As I made my way into Alamodome area, there were tons of people & when they saw me, they all started to cheer me on, saying "you're almost there!" "Only a few more steps to go!" "Go girl!"

I saw the finish line in the distance & felt my heart race. I was mere yards away. As soon as I made my way around the little bend & into the chute, I started to run & the crowd burst into applause & really started to cheer. Talk about a rush! I could hear the announcer say something like "now that's what I'm talking about! Here she comes!" & I ran as hard as my feet would let me. I could see the announcers, the photographers, & race officials at the finish line & I could feel the emotions about to burst out of me. As I crossed the finish line, I raised my arms up again in victory, smiled a big smile & said "YES!" A woman handed me my medal & everyone at the finish line was congratulating me on a job well done. I stopped to catch my breath before posing for another official photo with my medal proudly displayed around my neck.

I did it.

I finished.

Going into this race, all I wanted was to finish in 4 hours. The week before in practice it had taken me almost that long to complete 12.8 miles.

My official gun time for the San Antonio 1/2 Marathon: 3:36:13

My official chip time for the San Antonio 1/2 Marathon: 3:35:13

Holy. Fucking. Shit!!!

I know that there were about 1000 people that finished the FULL marathon in less time, but for me, knowing I could do 13.1 miles in that time was such an accomplishment. What made it even more of an accomplishment for me was the fact that I did that time with hardly any running. I did my 3:1's for a little bit in the beginning, but the heat was just too much for me so I pretty much just walked. Imagine what I could've done if I'd kept up with the 3:1's the whole time!

I am going to be SO ready for the Houston Half. Bring on that 4 hour time limit bitches! Bring on your silly time requirements for certain parts of the course. I'm gonna kick your ass!

And don't even get me started on what I'm going to do to San Diego. :)

My final splits & time (according to my watch):

1 - 14:48:23 (one of these days I hope all my split times involve #'s like these)
2 - 15:48:11
3 - 15:30:85
4 - 16:31:51
5 - 16:25:90
6 - 15:16:34 (Wow! I can only guess this was due to the boost I received from the crowd downtown)
7 - 16:39:08
8 - 17:40:36 (this is when I removed the boulder from my shoe)
9 - 16:41:36
10 - 16:53:45
11 - 16:44:37
12 - 16:59:01
13 - 16:53:05
.1 - 2:03:38

Total: 3:34:55 (I like this time the best. Go figure.)