The Race

Well the half marathon was on Sunday and what a wild, crazy weekend it proved to be. I was nervous, really nervous and honestly pretty scared. Saturday we met my grandparents for lunch, did a quick jaunt to the original Garden Ridge, picked up my race packet and ate some dinner. It was an early night for all of us (my folks and Lyndsey)We were in bed by 8:45p.m. with lights out. I was alseep by 8:46 p.m. Not one to sleep well away from home I slept like a log until 4 am, and prayed until my alarm went off at 4:45.

I asked God for the wisdom to know when to stop because I've been nursing this injury that sends excruciating pain down my leg. The kind of pain that little makes you cry out and hop around. My fear was from that, I kept wondering how long (mileage wise) it would take before it became dibilitating. So I prayed.

The line on the shuttle was almost as long as the race it seemed. The ride took about 40 minutes (I think our driver got confused and took us to the finish line first). We started on time for our corral (which was half hour after the initial start) and we were off. Slow and steady.

Mile two took us in front of the Alamo, I took a moment to enjoy that, but it's hard when you're running with 31,000 people to look at anything but what's directly in front of you. Dad quickly found someone to talk to for at least half a mile or so, then someone else and between talking, singing, and running backwards for the first 5 miles or so he managed to keep up with me.

Mile 5 ish brough a big hill and that finally shut us both up. I could feel myself losing my juice around mile 7 and looked forward to seeing Lyndsey and Mom at mile 8 for my gummy bears (my carb refuel of choice).

Problem is I missed seeing them. The mile was a winding narrow stretch and a great place for spectators. There were so many people lining the streets I coudn't see them. Apparently Dad did and threw his hat to them, but didn't bother mentioning seeing them to me.

So the only option was picking up a GU at mile 10 for my carb load. Now, GU is the consistency of thick icing, about 20 times sweeter, and sticks in your throat something fierce. It took about 5 minutes to feel the affects and I was restored.

Around mile 11 Dad needed to walk out some pain in his right knee. For some reason stopping to walk made my runner's knee flare up so I kept at a very slow jog next to him to make sure he was alright. I promised my mother we'd finish together...

He was able to continue so we slowly jogged to about the 12.5 mile mark where we repeated the walk/slow jog. That didn't last long and the man, a true Marine, sucked it up and ran the rest of the way, which included a very steep hill at the end, right next to me.

We came to top of the hill, and saw the finish line, rounded the last corner and began to go for it. All of the sudden I heard my name and looked. There yelling for us were Lyndsey and Mom. I smiled at them feeling like I could have gone forever and looked at my Dad. That was enough for him, he dug deep and began to speed up. I had to try to keep up with him.

We crossed that finish line together. Battle weary and worn but together. I learned on Sunday that I can do anything, my body was good to me because I had no pain the entire the run. It was my most enjoyable run ever. I learned when Dad needed to walk that being together and healthy is more important than the time on the clock.

I did this. We did this. I am a half-marathoner!