I guess you can say I'm a runner now

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. 

Pre-Race 

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!