Somewhere in January I decided I wanted to run a half marathon. The most I had comfortably run at that point was 5-6 miles. I decided to do a 10K first, and keep training for a Half. I ran the Chattahoochee Trail 10K in Atlanta, GA on March 4th, 2017. I mixed that race with visiting my good friends the Elizondo's. It was 32 degrees when the race started and I hadn't prepared for that. I had one super thin long sleeve shirt and two t-shirts on. I was so cold, but by mile number 2 I didn't notice my hands being frozen anymore. The last mile was downhill. Running downhill after about an hour of running was exhilarating. I mean talk about feeling like Super Woman! Dear Virginia was there to capture the moment and cheer me in. Then her fantastic husband had a delicious brunch ready when we returned, I'll never forget: edamame spaghetti noodles, vegan sausage, and spaghetti sauce with sauteed squash and zucchini. The Elizondo's are some of my most favorite people.
It was a fabulous stop on my running adventure.
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| Pre-Race |
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| Happiest runner you'll ever see. (blue headband, purple shirt) |
Next stop... 1/2 marathon.
In my training I rewarded my first 8 mile run with the most amazing Torchy's Taco- the Roscoe. a crispy waffle, a fried egg, fried chicken, a slice of bacon with syrup on a flour tortilla.
I found a small race in San Antonio called the I Ran Marathon April Showers series. It is a weeks worth of races in a Greenbelt near 1604 and I-10. Friday afternoon my mom and I drove down and stayed in a hotel that literally backed up to the trail head and start of the race.
On Saturday, April 1st, by 6:30am I was up! I had my “Stronger then the
boys” shirt, my fancy running socks, my body glide to prevent chaffing, my
“Absolutely Brilliant” headband, my play list, salt tablets, and Salted Caramel
Gu. I got all geared up and we
headed to the trail head at 7:15am. Our prayers were answered. The night before
their was a 50% chance of rain by the start of the race and an 80% chance by
10:00am. Miraculously and hour before the race the rain chances
disappeared. It was about 60
degrees, partly cloudy, and no rain!
We found out it was a really small race, with 5k, 10k, ½ and full marathon, all running
the same race. One lady was organizing it from start to finish. My number was 238 (it was 823 at the
Atlanta 10K I did in March) but there were nowhere near 238 people at that event. I guess more will show up to various races throughout the week. The course had me run a 1.55 mile route one way and then back, four
times.
We started at 7:45am. I took my first Gu and I was off!
Since it was a public greenbelt, there were lots of others
out running and biking. Mom went and had breakfast after I started, but then
came out and walked the same trail as me for 4 miles. I am so glad that she was
there. It was encouraging to pass her and know she would be there at the end.
My play list did it’s job in encouraging me. I tried to think
of the person I identified it with each song, a fun memory of that person, and then pushed on.
Every 3 miles we were back where we started and I drank a
couple small glasses of water, and swallowed a salt tablet. Every 45 minutes I
ate a packet of Gu. I went 6 miles
before doing a little bit of run/walk. My breaks of walking never lasted more
then a minute. After 10 miles I was pretty exhausted. Ten miles was the most I
had ever done in a training run. I was all out of steam, but I knew I would
finish. I knew I could walk a bit, and I never felt like I had to stop all
together. My goal was to do it in less then 2.5 hours. My fastest mile was my first- 9:53, and my slowest was my 13th mile at 12:14. My pace stayed in the 11 minute range for the majority of my run. My final time: 2:26:52.
Bam! I did it! It felt so good. I accomplished a great feat without feeling like it almost
beat me! It felt wonderful.
At the end of the day when I got back home I discovered that my sweet sweet dad left me 13 roses. One rose for
every mile. Now how did I get so lucky?
This morning I feel pretty good. I am a bit wiped out, sore
every where, but not that I can’t move. I am amazed at how great my knees have
handled this, not bothering me at all today. I am so grateful for all the
advice I got from runner friends, and for the encouragement that I could do
this. I could do this! I did this!
I ran 13.1 miles in under 2.5 hours. Now what? I am not sure. I have a stubborn 10 pounds gained
post surgery that I need to get off to feel better about myself. I will work on
that. I don’t play on training for a full marathon at this point, but I can
definitely aim to do another half!
