My First Half Marathon Recap - Part 1

  

This week has been crazy at work, sorry for the delay in getting my half marathon recap up… it’s just been one of those weeks!

 

Last Thursday at work someone brought cupcakes... and I am considering that part of my carbo loading... it was delicious!

 

 

Friday morning was my flight and it left Houston at 7am – I had the hubs drop me off at 5:45 just in case there was a long security line for people going home for the weekend, it was quick, but the good thing about that was I was able to grab a cup of coffee!

My wonderful sister picked me up at the airport and I got to spend the day with her at nursing school… learning about catheters and NG tubes (feeding tubes) – Friday she had a clinical’s test on how to do both – so I reviewed it with her before going in to take her test.

 

 

Then we went by the Marriot and got my packet for Saturday and something amazing happened. Two men I don’t know and will most likely never see again made my day. I walk into the lobby of the Marriot and one of the employees walked up to me and goes “Ma’am are you looking for the run registration? You look like a marathon runner and I figured I would see if that’s what you were here for.” MADE MY DAY! Then he directed me where to go- I walk up to the registration and it’s a U shaped group of tables and a guy coordinating people looks at me and says “You look like you are here for the marathon, not the 5k, am I right?” I must have been smiling from ear to ear at this point and he pointed me in the right direction – I had no wait grabbed my packet and met my sister who was making the block, totally elated at this point. I know I am a runner, I knew I was a runner the first time I ran, but I never thought OTHERS saw me as a runner. Especially a long distance runner- I am NOT your typical runner’s physique, but evidentially I still look like a marathon runner and that made my day!

I also got to spend a good bit of time with my mawmaw that afternoon, she seems weaker every time I get to see her, and I hate to see her suffer, but I love having her around! She turns 88 this Christmas and I probably won’t be able to see her again until Thanksgiving, so I am glad I got some time in with her! Then my sister and I went and got pedicures... she wanted to de-stress and I wanted to wait til after my half, but figured why not?

 

 

We also went to Ross, and I got a great new purse and two cute new dresses... and she found a dress for her nursing school ball!

 

Friday night carbo loading consisted of Juicy Lucy I had the Drew Bree’s burger (Burger of the Day) – it’s a burger stuffed with mac and cheese!!!! AMAZING!!! I also had sweet potato fries and at this point was thinking running long distances is amazing, due to what you get to eat guilt free the night before – as a woman – being able to eat guilt free does NOT happen often! Then afterwards, I put the nail in the coffin with some tirimasu gelato from Bracato’s across the street if you haven’t ever been here and you are in New Orleans – GO! Everything there is amazing and it’s a fun atmosphere as well!

Jake made it to New Orleans just as we were finishing our feast – he didn’t get to take off work Friday so he drove down after (hubs of the year award) to come support me at my half and I flew in early to a) spend time with my sis and my mawmaw and b)pick up my packet at the hotel. We settled in, and I had trouble falling asleep because I felt like a kid the night before Christmas – but I was a mixed bag of emotions, both excited and completely nervous with anticipation of what the morning would bring. We were sleeping in the living room and I felt like I had finally fallen asleep and I was woken up to mawmaw coming in the kitchen at 11:45 to get ice water – she doesn’t sleep much at night, but she didn’t know we were sleeping in the living room, so I helped her with her water and she went back to her room. I got back to sleep pretty easy this time because I was worn out!

 

My alarm went off at 5am and I got up, got dressed in all my running gear, ate my Luna bar (a race morning tradition), went to the bathroom, and then woke up the hubs so we could head out to the start, we left around 6 because we were worried about parking – the race started at 7. We got down there easily and were able to find parking just a couple blocks away so we were pretty happy about that, but the line for paying for the parking was crazy long – so the hubs told me to go line up and he would wait and pay and meet me if he had time. I used this time to line up at the porta potty and get in one more break and drink an entire bottle of water before the start. Luckily he was able to find me before the start and then he went passed the start to get pictures of me starting out. (I found out later he was out of memory and got nothing, but it’s the effort that counts!)

 

 

I am standing in a massive group of strangers and I am freaking out. Everyone is upset about the weather, we got an email advisory about the weather recommending we do the 5k instead, and they had us all grouped together with the 5k’ers so it was a cluster at the start, however, I trained all summer, I have run in the humidity – never so late in the day (I would start earlier to be done before it got to hot, and never so far, but I could do this). My 10 miler I did the weather wasn’t bad at all, so I was a bit worried, especially with the official warning we received and all. I am starting to worry if I can do this – self doubt is pretty high at this point, but I decide that I have gone through all this training and even though I was sick and missed out on some of my longer runs I had to at least try to do this, because I would let everyone down that was cheering me on! Finally after what seems like hours (only minutes) they let us go, I start my heart rate monitor and my Runkeeper app and we start moving like a heard of cattle to the start line.

The first four miles I am cruising at a sub 12 min mile pace (my training runs were all around 13 min mile paces or more on my long runs- anything over 6 miles), but my HR is below 170 and I feel AMAZING- so I go with it, normally mile 2/3 is my worst mile, but mile 2 was my best mile 11:10 min/mile. I was rocking it. I was surprised and nervous because I know people say hold back at first, but I WAS holding back, I was running what seemed to be an easy pace and watching my HR.

 

Mile 1 I passed these guys... they do this every year and were walking shortly after, but kudos for them! Oxygen pack and all!

 

Mile 5-8 my pace slowed a bit, but I was running near another runner and she and I started talking and decided to run together- we were about the same pace – I did slow down a bit to run with her, but I figured that I needed to slow myself down to make sure I could finish anyways, these were run at about a 13 min/mile (my training run pace), at this point it was starting to get hot, we saw the fast runners coming back down St Charles and they were in the sun, we were at least covered by the shade of the beautiful oak trees! It was nice to have a running buddy, it made the time pass very quickly on these miles, her hubs and two kids were waiting for her at the Audubon Park section of the run and we decided to take a walk break- my legs were starting to hurt and I figured it would help keep things stretched out.

At this point I had seen quite a few people on the side of the road passed out from the heat, others on the side stretching and looking horribly worn out and I was just glad to still be moving forward. Mile 9 was my longest mile- I walked a good bit that mile and it came in at a 14 min/mile. I started to run again, but my running buddy wasn’t ready to run yet so she stayed back as I went on. Mile 10 I walked a bit, but miles 11-the end I decided that my legs were in pain and whether I walked or ran they would hurt, so I needed to run it out to finish sooner  and stop hurting. Around 12 ½ miles in there were people handing out whisky shots, I was struggling to keep running and ignored them and then Katy Perry’s song ROAR came on my ipod… and people were saying you are almost there – and I just took off- the lyrics got to me, and I started tearing up and then I turned a corner and saw I only had a few blocks and I could see the finish line… I got to run in to probably the BEST song that could have come up randomly on my playlist for the half… yes I like when Britney’s “Work B” song comes on, but its still not as good as ROAR…. 

I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath
Scared to rock the boat and make a mess
So I sat quietly, agreed politely
I guess that I forgot I had a choice
I let you push me past the breaking point
I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything

You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that sound
Like thunder gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)
Get ready cause I’ve had enough
I see it all, I see it now

[Chorus]
I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You’re gonna hear me roar

Now I’m floating like a butterfly
Stinging like a bee I earned my stripes
I went from zero, to my own hero

You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that sound
Like thunder gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)
Get ready ’cause I’ve had enough
I see it all, I see it now

[Chorus]
I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You’re gonna hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You'll hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You're gonna hear me roar...

Ro-oar, ro-oar, ro-oar, ro-oar, ro-oar

I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You’re gonna hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You'll hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You're gonna hear me roar...

I just finished a HALF MARATHON… and I am in shock!!! ... and need to hold onto the rail to stand!

 

 

 

Sorry this post is so long, will finish the update tomorrow.... :)