I did it!!
With an official time of 2 hours, 7 minutes and 49 seconds I completed my first half marathon!
Let me start at the beginning. I started prepping a week before the race. My race was on Sunday, January 27th and unfortunately on the Sunday prior to my race I got food poisoning. But I quickly got over it and on Monday I started drinking as much water as I could throughout the day. My tumbler was full of water and by my side for the next 6 days. I knew hydrating myself was going to be crucial. I ran my final run on Wednesday. I ran 6 miles and then rested for the rest of the week. On Thursday I started carbing up. I didn't over do it, but didn't feel bad eating those carbs either. I had pasta for dinner Thursday night, spaghetti for dinner Friday night and then pizza for dinner on Saturday night before the race. So at that point I had the carbs and water covered. I also drank a few Gatorades on Friday and Saturday to get those extra electrolytes.
The week before my race my friend, who I was suppose to run the race with, decided that for many reasons she was not going to be able to run it. I totally understood, but she was my partner for my first race so I was a little bummed we couldn't run this one together too. BUT, my amazing husband immediately stepped up and volunteered to "run it with me." He had not been training for a race, so I was a little hesitant. But he was the one who got me into running 2 years ago after he ran his first FULL marathon. So I knew he was capable, but still nervous for him. He assured me he would take it easy and start out with me but did not plan on keeping up with me. This meant the world to me! I was already a little nervous about the race and the thought of having to do it all by myself was something I didn't want to do. So I was so grateful when he came to my rescue.
On Saturday my Mom and sister-in-law helped the girls make signs to hold up for us. They were so excited to do this!
Saturday night we went to bed around 9:00, but it was a very restless night for me with not a whole lot of sleep. We had to wake up at 4:45 a.m. We were on the road shortly after 5. I had grabbed some greek yogurt, a banana and some Gatorade to eat on the way there. We had about a 40 minute drive there so it gave me some time to wake up, eat and get my nerves calmed. But honestly, I wasn't that nervous. We got parked easily and headed to the event. I wanted to go ahead and go to the bathroom and thankfully I did because the line was CRAZY and getting through the line took up most of the time until it was race time. 7:00 was race time. I was ready to go! Actually, I was ready to get it over with!! I wanted to conquer this and get it behind me.
We started the race and the hubby and I stayed together for about a mile. It was so crowded and hard to navigate through the people that we lost each other pretty quickly. I was kind of upset because I didn't get to tell him goodbye or good luck, but thankfully in the beginning there were a couple of loops where we got to pass by each other and give each other a high five and thumbs up. It was just what I needed to keep me going.
The first 6 miles felt great and went by so quickly. They were also the most emotional. I was so happy and in awe that I was getting to run this race, laughed when I saw some of the amazing signs the crowd was holding up, near tears when I saw the children holding up signs for their parents, and dancing when my girls favorite song "Call Me Maybe" came on my playlist. THEN, I knew my parents, girls and sisters-in-law were right past the 6 mile marker and my excitement was growing. I couldn't wait to see them! At this point I was running a pace of 9:43-9:54. I was so happy with that because I wanted to stay around a 10 minute pace but felt I was going much slower.
Finally around mile 6 I saw my family. What a beautiful sight it was!
(Here are 2 of the 6 of them)
I had originally planned on stopping to take a picture with them, but they were on the other side of the road so I couldn't really get to them. However, the hubby made a stop to get some love.
I soon after stopped for a quick bathroom break. This threw me off for a little bit. It was hard for me to get back into it. Plus after mile 6 the fans kind of disappeared and the scenery wasn't nearly as great. But by mile 7 I was going again. Then around mile 8 there were 2 slight hills. That was another hurdle, but I got through it. Mile 10 is where I hit my wall. During my training I was only able to get up to 10 miles and my body knew it. Thankfully around mile 10 is where I crossed paths with hubby again. He encouraged me and gave me that fuel I needed. At this point I had not stopped to walk except for 4 water stops to grab a quick swallow of water and a bathroom break and I was not about to walk now! I knew I was about to see my family again around mile 11 so I kept going with the anticipation of seeing my girls. It was amazing how they were at the miles I needed to see them the most. When I saw them I was still at such a great pace I couldn't make myself stop. So I got high fives and the encouragements I needed to get me to mile 12.
I knew I was so close but I was struggling pretty bad. I kept up the pace, but I was hurting. At the end of the race we turned off of the main road and headed down the entrance to the University of Houston at Sugar Land to the finish line. Once I turned down University Road I started sprinting. It might have been a quarter of a mile, but I ran as fast as my legs would allow me. I crossed that finish line with a lump in my throat. I was first of all amazed to see that the clock said 2 hours and 9 minutes because my goal was to be under 2 hours and 30 minutes and then my second goal was to maintain a 10 minute mile pace for at least half of the race and I knew I was under that for the whole race. I actually ran to the finish line so fast that my family had just made it there when they heard my name announced.
It felt so amazing when they put that medal on my neck. And then to see my parents and girls was such an emotional moment. It was so special to have them there.
Me and my Dad. (I sadly didn't get a picture with my Mom)
My biggest fans!
After I finished, stretched and drank some water we headed over to the tents and got some goodies and snacks. Then we headed over to the finish line to wait for hubby to come in. His sister and sister-in-law were waiting at mile 11 to see him and let us know when he was getting close. They finally called and so once we spotted him the girls and I went and ran the rest of the way in with him.
His time was 3 hours and 3 minutes. I was so proud of him and amazed that he ran a half marathon with no training! And I am even more thankful we got to do this together.
I am so thankful God has given me the ability to run because 2 1/2 years ago I would have told you there was no way I could ever do it. And I am also thankful for my amazing family. They truly made it an amazing experience.
