Bangs, bruises, & personal records: Race Day

As I said, I was SUPER nervous about the Houston Half Marathon. I even had a horrible nightmare about it, in which I was 90 minutes late to the start, forgot my shoes, bloks, water, etc. & couldn't remember how to run. It was like I was being held in place by an invisible rope. I was so upset in the dream that I actually woke myself up because I was crying!

The night before the race I laid everything out to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything.

When I woke up race day morning, my back was feeling almost 100% & my knee wasn't bothering me at all.

The weather was clear, cold (about 42º) & slightly windy. I got dressed, gathered all my stuff & headed over to the GRB. Once there, I made a pit stop to the porta-potties, checked my bag, looked for friends (unsuccessfully), then headed to the starting line. There I ran into Adrienne, Carmen, Pam, Angela (who's 5 mos. pregnant!), & Sandi. We huddled together for warmth waiting for the gun to go off. We were in the black corral, which meant we didn't get to start until 7:10 am (vs 7:00 am for the more elite runners). When the gun finally went off, I took off at a fairly decent pace, leaving the girls behind me.

The gloves I had on didn't last a 1/4 mile before my hands were too hot & my long sleeved shirt barely lasted 2 miles before I had to take it off. The first 2 miles we were all packed together like sardines. It was driving me crazy having to weave in & out of people & I almost got tripped several times. Eventually, maybe around mile 4, the crowd thinned out enough to where I felt comfortable ust running & I wasn't worried about getting tripped.

The first 4 or 5 miles seemed to fly by. I was running faster & stronger than ever & I was amazed at how great I felt. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to keep my pace up, but I sure as hell was gonna try. It helped knowing that as soon as I hit Montrose, I would be seeing my friends on the sidelines cheering for me. And sure enough, as soon as I got to the first intersection on Montrose (right around mile 7), I saw my friends Tracy & Jeff. They were shocked to see me so quickly & weren't prepared. They hadn't even had a chance to unfurl their poster. I ran over to them quickly & gave them a big hug & thanked them for coming out. It really jazzed me to see them. :)

Just after mile 8, I saw my friend Don & his wife, Melissa, then a little further down was the TNT tent with all the TNT folks. I saw Coach Bill first, then our honored patient, John Purtee, who gave me a big high five as I ran past him. Then I saw our other honored patient, Jonathan Nitsch, who ran with me for a few moments. I gave him a big hug & wiped my sweaty face in his t-shirt (something I always do after practice because he finishes so much faster than I do & is always changed into clean dry clothes by the time I finish... silly, I know). He laughed & wished me luck. After that I saw Coach Jill, who also ran with me for a little bit. After that I was alone again.

I kept looking for my dad, who had said he was going to try to come out, but I couldn't find him any where. By the time I got to the turn-around point at Montrose & Richmond, I figured he must not have been able to make it. As I headed back up Montrose, I finally saw him standing all alone on the little concrete median in the middle of the road. He was looking all around, trying to find me. I yelled for him & crossed over to where he was. He finally saw me & his face lit up. He gave me a big hug & apologized for missing me earlier. He told me how great I looked & how incredibly proud he was of me for everything I was doing. He tried to run beside me for a while, but his back was too sore, so I stopped. He told me how much he loved me, I gave him a huge hug & a kiss on the cheek, thanked him for coming out to cheer me on, told him I loved him, & continued on my way. He told me again how much he loved me & as I left him, I began to cry. It meant SO much to me that he came out there all on his own to cheer for me. A huge burst of energy came over me & I felt lighter than air. Seeing him was the highlight of my race. :)

Not long after seeing my dad I came upon the TNT group once more, this time seeing John Purtee's mom, Cyndi (who did Nike with me & crossed the finish line with me). She gave me a huge hug & told me I was looking great. Then I saw my good friend, Carissa & her niece, Erycka with their sign & pom-poms. Carissa ran w/ me (in jeans & high heeled boots!) asking me if I needed anything, making sure I was doing ok, that I wasn't in any pain. Again I was just so happy to see someone I loved. :) I said I was fine & didn't need a thing, thanked her for everything, & continued on my way.

By this time I was a little over 9 miles into the race & starting to feel tired, but I pushed on. Just after mile 10, I came across Tracy & Jeff again, only this time they were joined by our friends Jennifer & Christine. They all had signs & noise makers & were screaming for me. I laughed so hard when I saw them & hammed it up for their cameras.
Again I got another burst of energy, just when I needed it most (I was REALLY getting tired). I knew I'd be able to finish & finish strong. After that, it was onto Allen Parkway & the home stretch. There was a decent crowd along Allen Parkway, including the "frat guys" passing out beer. LOL! My favorite part of that section was the huge banner on the Sabine overpass that said "1.5 miles to the finish!" HALLELUJAH!! After that, it was right into downtown Houston. The first few blocks were lonely (no spectators) but I could hear the crowd from the GRB & I could hear the music & the announcer. I was almost there! I made the final turn & could see the finish line in the distance. There was a huge crowd, which of course jazzed me again & made me feel strong. I picked up the pace. When I hit mile marker 13, I "sprinted" towards the finish. My right calf started to seize up on me, but I ignored it & pushed through. I heard the announcer call my name, I threw my arms up in the air, let out a happy scream, & crossed the finish line.

My original goal for this race was to finish in under 3 hours, but with my injuries, I went into it just hoping to finish in 3:15. My final official time:

2:56:14!!!

HOLY SHIT! I finished in under 3 hours!! Not only that, but I broke my last 1/2 marathon record by 31 minutes!! I was ECSTATIC!!! I still can't believe I did it. I have never run harder or stronger in my life. And the thing is, I actually RAN all 13 miles. The only times I stopped running was at 3 water stops when I took my Clif bloks (too hard to run, eat the bloks, & wash 'em down w/ water). I definitely ran slower on a few miles, but the point is, I still RAN. I never in my wildest dreams would've thought I could do that. I can't wait to see what I can do in Vancouver in May!

Here are my final splits:

Mile 1 - 13:09 (couldn't believe this, especially since I was pretty much packed like a sardine in that huge crowd of runners)
Mile 2 - 12:53 (Wow! Seriously? How is this possible with all these people crowding around me?)
Mile 3 - 12:54 (OK! I'm liking this!)
Mile 4 - 13:18 (first walk to take bloks)
Mile 5 - 13:02 (I've never been able to keep this pace up for this long. Usually it's 3 miles, max)
Mile 6 - 12:58 (Wow! I'm totally amazing myself!)
Mile 7 - 13:56 (2nd walk/blok break & 1st hug break with my friends)
Mile 8 - 13:15 (See? I told you my friends gave me a burst of energy)
Mile 9 - 13:43 (stopped w/ my dad)
Mile 10 - 14:05 (getting tired, 3rd walk/blok break, also stopped w/ TNT gang)
Mile 11 - 13:48 (still tired, but jazzed)
Mile 12 - 14:08 (more tired, but determined to pick things up in the last mile & finish strong)
Mile 13 - 13:33 (there we go!)
Mile 13.1 - 1:26 (Done! WOO-HOO!!!)

And there you have it. My best race to date. :)

By Tuesday my quads were SCREAMING & I was walking fairly odd, but today there's only a slight pain left in my muscles & I can walk just fine. I haven't worked out since the race, but I plan to get back into it this Saturday. I'm still in training so I really can't afford to miss many workouts. I've already bought myself a new swim suit so I can be back in the pool next week. I'm curious to see how much I can improve by the time Vancouver rolls around. :)