I had planned on getting there early to have a stress free morning, but as usual, "Planned" flew out the usual. Plan: Wake up at 4:30 and leave by 5 AM. Reality: Work up at 4:45 and played on Instagram and FB til 5:15 and then ran around like a crazy person to leave at 5:45.
I had stayed at my parents house in Spring the night before because I got to hang with Kali and Cole for a little while and I was too tired to drive anywhere. Those kids wear you out! So I had to drive from Spring allllllll the way to Kemah and I was freaking out a bit over getting there in time.
I stopped at Starbucks for a drink and oatmeal, because, Starbucks, and that put me even later behind schedule. There wasn't any traffic until I hit the Kemah Bridge but it moved quickly and I made it to the starting line with about 15 minutes to spare.
On the way I found this neat little wooden maze called The Lighthouse Maze. Totally added it to my bucket list.
I met my aunt, Laura, at the starting line and we started the race together. I kept running when she started walking but I thought she kept running. I knew I was going to do a walk/run combo the entire race but it was so hot I did a lot more walking. Sometimes I felt my heart working overtime and I didn't want to push myself.
But, let's be honest...I wasn't in the best shape and could have trained way more than I did. Actually, I hardly trained at all. It was a huge wake-up call for my next race and the half marathon in November. My feet feel great, hallelujah (!!), so I know I can keep training and get stronger. If you didn't know, one of the reasons I stopped running (besides marathon training burnout) was because I hurt my foot training and that hasn't quite healed. My new shoes have helped tremendously though so I feel confident to keep going. This race was sort of a test to see how it affect my feet. Now I know that I just have to get my booty out there and actually do it.
I made friends throughout the race and finished at 1:42.18, which is my slowest time by 31 minutes (PR set in 2012 when I was training for my marathon). I got in the food line and got a strawberry popsicle and waited for Laura to finish. I had seen her going down the other side of the bridge (3rd hill) while I was coming up my (4th bridge) final hill and knew she wouldn't be too far behind me. She finished at 1:51:28.
Afterwards we went to Crazy Alan's Swamp Shack for lunch and drinks before heading home. As you can imagine there isn't much plant based at a seafood place called the Swamp Shack, but I had a delicious meal of side veggies!
It was a great and even though I am slightly dreading the next two of the series, I am excited about the medals and calorie burning! Ha! I have a cruise in November after all! :)
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