2/3rds Done-Galveston Toughest 10K Recap

Saturday was the Toughest 10K Galveston race that is the 2nd race of the Texas Bridge Series races.  It was not as bad as the first race, but it was not a walk in the park.  When will I learn that I actually need to train for races? Oh right, I thought these races would encourage me to train...nope!

I stayed at my Uncle's house in Pearland the night before the race so that my aunt Laura and I could get up early and head out to get the best parking spot.   We all stayed up way to late into the night talking and I hardly got any sleep.  I need my sleep or I am a crab (did you see what I did there...crab. Galveston...not funny?)


Anyway we got to the race and were able to park with ease.  The race itself was uneventful except I wasn't feeling it.  I really wanted the 4th medal though so I pushed on.  The things I will do for race medals.  I thought I liked the Kemah race better, but I really liked the Galveston one better.  I remember not really liking this race, but I liked it a whole lot more than Kemah this time around.  I think it was Kemah was just too hot in September.

I did 2 minutes faster (whoo hoo) than I did in Kemah, which is weird because I felt like I walked a lot more this time.  Who knows!

A few friends from church were running the race too and we took a picture.  . We were supposed to all wear our medals to church today, but my eye is a bit infected...I'm hoping it isn't pink eye.

After the race our plan was to go to the Farmer's Market, get lunch and then have mimosas on the beach but we got to the Farmer's Market area and apparently it is on Sunday and not Saturday. I"m not sure how we both missed that on the website, but we did.  We went to the Galveston Greek Festival instead!

The tickets were only $3 and then you paid for whatever food/dessert/drink/souvenir you wanted. Laura got the plate dinner and I got some sides mixed together.  I thought the grape leaf things I got were just rice filled but apparently they had some sort of meat, I think lamb.  I didn't want to waste it, so I ate it.  I know, it's not plant based but it was one time and I hate wasting food.

We watched some dancers do a little number and listened to a band for a bit before heading home.  We had mimosas when we got back to Roger's and I took a nap on the couch before heading home.

Fun day, fun weekend!  How was yours?

Blacklight Run Houston

Here is a race recap that I didn't run AT ALL!  I walked the entire thing with my friend Teri.  We got a groupon for $20 to do the Blacklight Run in Houston.  The event started at 8:30 pm at NRG Stadium (formerly Reliant Stadium) and had an estimated 16,000 people in attendance.

What is a Blacklight Run?  Basically it is a color run, but at night and there are a few blacklights on the course. Sorry, but I wasn't that impressed.  I mean, I guess for $20 you can't beat it, but I know a lot of people who paid a lot more.  These huge run companies come into town and charge a lot of $$, but don't have any food or other fun stuff at the finish line.  I guess I just like smaller runs with free bananas (that I don't take), water bottles, samples, etc.  Plus, I like the smaller ones that the proceeds go to a charity.  I don't like to pad a companies pocket with a huge amount of an entry fee.  I see on their website that they do give some money to a charity, but it doesn't specify a percentage, it only says that they do give some money.  IDK, I just like charity runs.

AND they ask for volunteers!  How can a company that is making a HUGE profit ask for volunteers?!  I think that is ridiculous, I mean you should really pay the people.  I can see a non profit race ask for volunteers, but a for profit race?  No.  Greedy.  I'm all about making $$, but these huge companies that come in get on my nerves. (I didn't realize all this when I signed up).

I also didn't like the course.  It was ALL in a parking lot that you just go back and forth in. Not fun, let me see some cool sights!  But to be fair, I think that renting NRG stadium would be really expensive and it is hard planning for 16,000 people I guess.  It was only $20 (for me, with my groupon) so I can't really say that it was too bad.

I still had fun with my friends.  I walked the entire way with my friend Teri and hung out with her and Armando before and after the event (Armando ran the entire way and waited for us at the finish line).  We took lots of pictures!

Roc Race Recap

On Saturday morning I drove to Baytown to run in the ROC Race with the Wino Warriors.  A group of about 6 of us were supposed to race, but only 3 of us were able to race.  Well, we aren't sure about two of the team members, but Krista, Tyler and I for sure represented for Team Wino Warriors.

The ROC Race had waves all day, starting at 8 am and ending at 6:30 pm, and our wave was at 9 am.  I woke up around 6:30 am and headed to Baytown to meet Krista at Wal-Mart and carpool together.  the race had a $10 parking fee in addition to the registration fee, so to save $$, we drove together.  I don't exactly know how much the race fee was, but it was over $50, plus fees, so free parking should have been included.  I'm sure it was the hosting site and not the race itself, but they should have negotiated the parking with the rental. 

Anyway, we got to the race right at 8 am and got the race packets.  I had picked mine up the day before, but Krista and Tyler got theirs that morning.  Krista's mom, Ginger,  came to watch baby Levi while we were racing.  While we were waiting for them to come, I took this photo of them.  Ready to 'ROC'. ;)

There were 12 obstacles covering 3 miles.  You run on the track for a bit, hop over a wall, and then run around another track.  The first water station was at the weirdest place, about a quarter mile in.  We weren't even thirsty yet! 



From the ROC race website

The first few obstacles were easy, but I could not do some of them like the monkey bars (no upper body strength-workin' on it though) or the bouncy balls.  On the 2nd or 3rd obstacle, there was a pool of water at the end of a slide and then the next obstacle was a wooden wall that you needed to climb that was very slippery.  Logistically, that wasn't a smart move. LOL.  There were three heights of the wall, I took the shortest, since I am a shorty and I didn't want to get hurt.  There was also a big bouncy thing where you take a running leap and slide across a field of bubbles.  That was cool.

Go here to see a video of the obstacles on the ROC Race website. (a few of these obstacles were not on our course-I guess they have a few that are rotating amongst cities)

My favorite obstacles were at the end.  The three coolest ones were at the end, the rotating bar, the swinging red balls with a balance beam, and a GIANT slide.  The big red balls were rotating with a crane and you had to run across a balance beam that sort of rotated.  Out of me, Krista and Tyler, Krista is the only one that made it across without falling.  I fell almost immediately into the pool of heavily chlorinated water.  It was super fun. 

Charlie's Angels waiting in line for the rotating bar.

The rotating bar was also on a sort of platform. I had to duck about 3 times to make it across-easy but fun!  Then the last obstacle was a huge slide that you walk up...omg so much fun!!!  They squirt you down with a water before you slide, so you are soaking wet at the finish.  I want one for a birthday party of mine!!!!

At the end, you can get your picture taken in an area full of bubbles.  Team Wino Warriors!

We had a lot of fun at this race!  It wasn't timed, so I have no idea what my final time was.  We all stuck together the entire time.  Krista fell in the weirdest angle on the bouncy ball obstacle (I will say that those were a hazard because the first ball-at least on ours-ws not inflated enough), it was painful to watch, but I think it only hurt her pride. I am sure she was very sore the next day!  There were a few bumps and bruises that we saw along the way.  One lady snapped her ankle and left in an ambulance after falling on the rotating wrecking balls into the water (the lifeguard had to jump in to save her) and one guy busted his head open with blood everywhere after sliding down too fast on the rotating beam.

There wasn't much swag with the high price of admission, only a t-shirt and a bib.  No water at the end or anything.  I guess that is part of the traveling race companies-they gotta make that money!  We did have fun though, I would recommend doing it with friends.

The Woodland's Half Marathon Race Recap

So, yeah, the Woodland's Half Marathon, let's just say it wasn't my favorite race ever.  Not because the race itself wasn't fun, but because of my lack of training.  I did not train for this race AT ALL and I paid for it that hot and muggy Saturday morning.

My day started at 4 am when I woke up and ate breakfast (PB toast) and drove to the race site.  I didn't know what the traffic and parking would be like, so I made sure to leave no later than 5:15 am.  Luckily, I found parking easily and walked over to the finish line to check my bag.  It was sprinkling a bit at this point, so I stayed under a canopy and stretched until it was almost time to go.

The race started with the National Anthem and we were off!  I ran for about a mile straight before I stopped to walk, it actually probably wasn't that long (I didn't have my watch).  I was struggling already and I knew that I had  a looooong way to go before I could finish this thing and I was seriously thinking about calling it quits right then.  I saw my friend Sarah at mile 2 and she had a huge smile of her face and encouraged me not to quit.  Around this time I also met a group of women that were doing a 1 minute walk and 1 minute run the entire way, and I asked if I could stay with them and they said sure.  I am so thankful for them because without them, I would have not finished.  They were running for a little girl at their school who has spinal bifida, and I believe their entire team won an award for the most money raised.

I had my hand-held water bottle with me the entire time, but I still took cups of water/gatorade at some of the stations.  My stomach started to feel like I was going to throw up multiple times on the course, I think it was the humidity and the lack of training that almost did me in.  Luckily, my new friends wouldn't let me stop and encouraged me to keep going.  When I was training for my marathon or even other half's, I never realized how long a half marathon is. LOL.  That distance is a monster without training.  Note to self:  Do not attempt a half marathon without training ever again.  I have a half marathon coming up in April, I need to actually train for that one.

The finish line was a small portion on the water way, but not as much as I would have liked.  There were a lot of people at the finish line (being close to the mall in all), but the course it self was lacking people.  I finished, got my medal, took a group photo with my new spinal bifida friends, and then headed to the food line.  The food selection was great in my opinion (but I heard they were running low for the marathon finishers that finished after 4 hours), you had the choice of either 2 breakfast tacos or a chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-a, and also they had cookies, fruit, muffins, and drinks (I got chocolate milk).

While in line for food, I saw my blog friend Tabitha!  We have been blog friends since last year, but this is the first time we have met in person.  I went with her to her team's tent and we chatted for a bit, then I said good bye and headed to my sisters house to shower and nap before we went to a wedding that night.  I showed my medal to my nephews and they were unimpressed.  Thanks kids. :/ LOL.

Cons of this race:
Overall, I think it was a well organized race, but it did have its down sides.  A few things that I didn't like (and that I saw others complaining about on the race FB page) were packet pick up was only on Thursday and Friday before the race, and no race day pickup.  For those of you who do not know where the Woodland's is, it is about 30-45 minutes (depending on traffic) from Houston and on a Friday afternoon after work, it is about 1.5 hours.  I understand with 7,000 people running a race and trying to pick up their packet the morning of the race, it might be difficult to have it on race day morning, but if the race wasn't forever far away, then it wouldn't be too bad.  I usually look at that before I register, but this time I didn't notice that.

Also, the 1st water stop on the 1/2 course wasn't well stocked, they seemed to be very unprepared for this race.  Luckily, I had my water bottle with me, but others had to stop and wait until they could pour them a cup.  Crowd support on the course was lacking and the course itself was a bit boring and not much to see.

Finishers Medal to add to my collection:

I noticed right after I crossed the finish line that it had a ding in the black part of the medal, but I didn't want to turn it in because it gave it character and a little black sharpie will fix it right up.  Plus, it sort of summarizes how the race went and how I felt afterwards--beat up!

Now, before you see my time for this event, realize that my PR is 2:25 and when I train I can be much better, but there is no excuses for my lack of training.  I should have done better and it is 100% my fault that I did so poorly.

Overall finish time:  3:09.25
Age group rank:  #377 out of 417

TIR Relay Recap

Last weekend I ran the Texas Independence Relay from Gonzales, TX to the San Jacinto Monument.  We were team “Dude, Where’s My Van” and we finished in an impressive last place. :)  We were having fun and we didn’t care about where we placed on the score board. 

TIR by the numbers

12 people

2 vans

6 cases of No Limit Brewery Beer (one of our sponsors)

34 hours

3 pizzas

40 legs

Overnight

We had two total teams (24 people) with four vans. Not everyone could leave at the same time so we had each van leaving about an hour apart; I was in the 5:30 van.  We got there and semi-decorated the van before leaving.  After we were on the road for awhile, everyone had started to get hungry.  We stopped at a BBQ place and everyone got dinner to eat on the road.  We arrived in Gonzales about 8:30 pm and the rest of our team was at a bar called Runners having dinner or drinks. 

 We stayed there for awhile and then headed to the junior high so we could get a good spot in the gym.  We were afraid that the gym would be packed by then, but we got there and were the first team to arrive.  The showers were freezing in the locker rooms!  I found a spot on the floor and set up camp.  I don’t have a sleeping bag so I just brought the quilt that I made a few years ago and my pillow.  The next morning I was able to dress quickly and pack up before our 1 mile epilogue run.

Start

We started at 6:34 am with our co-team, Because 201 Miles Would Just Be Crazy.  The start was right in front of a museum in the town square.  We all took pictures and headed to the start line.  Each team starts off with a ‘canon’ going off (firecracker I think).  We ran around the 1 square and then our first teammate, Whitney, continued on for his leg.  Our van was the ‘off’ van so we were able to take our time getting to our next exchange.  We packed our stuff from the night before, had breakfast at McDonald’s  and headed to our exchange.

Leg 1

Leg one started at a really HOT part of the day.  The morning had been freezing and I was worried about what I was going to wear since I didn’t have a long sleeve shirt or jacket.  Unfortunately my leg was super hot and hilly.  One of my team members, Jenn, wanted to run my portion with me so we headed out on my four miles together.  I was super nervous about this relay and having her there with me really helped calm my nerves.  We took longer than we would have liked because we kept having to stop to walk and she was also having stomach issues.  We finally made it to the end though and I was so relieved! I had my one and only beer of the trip at the end of that leg because it was so hot.

(photo courtesy of Scott)

Beer

One of our sponsors was No Label Brewery out of Katy.  They have given us 6 cases of beer to share between the two teams.  I only tried the Jalapeno beer, but it was good.  I am not really a fan of beer but I will say that the jalapeno beer was good.  It has a kick to it that you wouldn’t expect, if you like spicy jalapeno things, try it!

Leg 2

Leg two started at night and I was nervous about running in the middle of no where in the middle of the night, but honestly it was peaceful!  Towards the end of the run though I started to get bored so I sang “99 bottles of beer on the wall”, I got all the way to 30 something bottles before I finished my leg.  I couldn’t find my van and walked around for a good 5 minutes before I found it.  After my leg I found a comfortable seat in the back and fell asleep until we finished all of our vans legs.  We made it to the Luke’s Locker Katy exchange, ate breakfast tacos, and then dropped people off so we could all sleep.

Sleep

At around 4:45 am we dropped off Tom and Robert  at their cars and all agreed to meet back at my apartment at 9:30 am so we could make it to our next leg (Memorial Park) by 10 am.  Me, Aly, Matt, and Jenny all went to my house to sleep for a few hours on the couch instead of in the vans.  I woke up around 7:45 to take a shower and get dressed again before everyone else got up.  Jabba was quite talkative that morning so I opened the window in the room so he could sit and watch the birds through the screen and be distracted!   Everyone met up with us and we were on the road again headed to Memorial Park for Jenny’s next leg.  After Jenny started her leg, we went to Starbucks for much needed caffeine!

(photo courtesy of Scott)

Leg 3

My final leg was actually two- three mile legs put together (37 and 38) through a sketchy part of town, luckily it was daylight so I didn’t feel too unsafe. These last two legs felt like I was turning every few minutes, luckily Aly had given us some bracelets with the directions on them so we wouldn’t have to rely on the traffic cones to direct us.  Every time I got to an intersection a cop would stop traffic for me.  At one intersection two cops were on a very busy road and as soon as I got to the intersection they turned their lights on and pulled out onto the street.  I felt like royalty! LOL.  Sweaty, smelly, and tired royalty, but still a queen.  It was super cool.  My final leg was awesome compared to the other two.

I just kept trucking along until I got to my halfway point and I texted the team telling them I was done with the first leg.  I almost didn’t text them, but something told me I should.  Luckily I did because we actually had a “Dude, Where’s My Van” moment at the end of my final leg.  The entire time I was running I was thinking that they had not passed me yet and that they must have just figured out where the exchange was and went straight there instead of driving the course.  They had all stopped to get something to eat after Whitney finished his leg, since my legs would take about an hour and 20 minutes.  I came around the corner half expecting them to be there and half not since I had not seen them, but alas, they were not there.  I got out my phone and started calling but they didn’t answer.  I was about to call Aly when they came around the corner really fast.  Chris, our next leg runner came flying out the van and didn’t look too prepared. Haha.  Poor thing, at least I had just gotten there though.  Once we got going again Aly handed me a frosty from Wendy’s (it was sooo delicious!  Thanks Aly!).  Apparently Chris had a triple cheeseburger, fries, and a frosty 15 minutes before running his final leg. Yikes! 

Finish

After Carberry started the final leg we drove to the finish line and met with the other part of our team.  We all changed into our bright yellow team shirts and waited for Matt to finish.  We found out that we were one of two teams left to finish so  when Carberry came around the corner and was neck and neck with the girl from the other team, we were all cheering really loud.  Matt passed her and the finish was hilarious.  As soon as he passed her, her shoulders slumped a bit and there was defeat in her eyes (haha).  We all created a tunnel for her and Carberry to pass through and then we raced to the finish line for our .1 mile prologue run.  The other team was full of really young kids (they looked no more htan 18) so they kicked our booty crossing the finish line together.  That’s ok though because we were finished!

After party

Since we were the last team to finish there wasn’t much of a party going on.  They started taking down all of the decorations as we were taking our pictures and signing the banner.  They gave us three pizzas from Papa John’s and sodas/water to drink.  We all got our stuff together and headed back towards our side of town.  We also ran into a few Gotta Run team members as they got to the monument to wait for Alain to finish his journey. 

Alain

On the way back we decided to look for our running coachAlain along the course.  Alain ran the entire 200 miles by himself!  I was tired just doing the 17ish miles that I did, I cannot imagine doing the entire thing by myself.  We kept checking FB to see where he was and heard that he was around exchange 36, which was the leg right before mine.  We found the end of the leg and worked our way backwards until we found him.  Alain had quite the entourage going on, two SUV’s for support, the Houston Chronicle doing a story on him, and also one of our running team members running alongside him.  Alain started his run on Thursday around 4 pm and then finished Sunday night (or Monday morning technically) at around 3 am.  Read about him here.

Jail Break Half Marathon Recap

This weekend I completed my 5^th half marathon, the Jail Break Half Marathon Run in Baytown, TX.  While I didn’t get a new PR, I still had a blast running this weekend!  The Jail Break Half Marathon and 5K proceeds go towards police officers that are sick or injured.  As some of you know, my stepdad Keith is a police officer, so I like to support causes that help police officers.

In Jail Break Run has three events, a half marathon, a 5K, and handcuff 5K.  I of course did the half, but maybe next year I will do the Handcuff 5K because how fun would it be to be handcuffed to someone during a 5K?  Super fun!  I told my mom about it, and she was interested in doing the 5K, but I forgot to remind her so she didn’t end up signing up.  Maybe next year!  My friend Aly wanted to run the half marathon also so we rode together.

The race started at 7am so Aly and I had to leave my house at 5 am for us to have time to park, pick up our packets, and stretch.  It was so cold that morning and luckily they had a few space heaters that we could all hover by until the race started.  Walkers were able to start 30 minute earlier than the rest of us, and promptly at 7 am we started the race.  While we were waiting we took pictures of the starting line that looked like a jail!  Super fun.

 (This is Aly wanting OUT of jail) :)

Not even a mile into the race my friend and former co-worker Kevin caught up to me and we said hello.  I knew he was running the race (per FB), but I didn’t see him at the start line.  By mile 3 of the race I knew that this was going to be a tough race for me.    A muscle in my inner thigh was hurting pretty bad, and my feet were going numb.  I had the strength to run endurance wise, but injury wise I wasn’t doing too hot.  I stopped at mile 4.5 to readjust my shoe laces that felt too tight and Aly went on without me, I had told her I would catch back up with her on the bridge.   Right before the bridge there was a random dog on the course by someone’s house that was loose and barking at the runners.  I am terrified of scary dogs so I stayed on the far side of the street, but the guy in front of me almost got bit!  The course went to the top of the Fred Hartman Bridge and back down instead of over completely and back down in the LaPorte by the Bay Half Marathon.  I did a walk/run combo up the bridge and flew down it signing R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly” in my head.

My feet were still hurting and so was my inner thigh, so I stopped around mile 9 to do some down ward dogs (super helpful for tight legs), then kept going.  At around mile 10 I noticed Aly wasn’t too far behind me so I stopped to wait for her and then we ran the rest of the way together.    We were both hurting at this point; her leg was hurting too so we did a walk/run combo for the last three miles.  We finished at 2:40.35, way off my PR of 2:25, but honestly with my injuries and also the bridge I am not disappointed.  I worked for that medal.  BTW, I LOVE the handcuff medals!!!  Nice job Jail Break.

The food at the finish line was awesome!  They had Chick-fil-A there (with their dancing cow), Buffalo Wild Wings, What-a-burger, 5 Hour Energy (not a fan of that sort of stuff), plus other snacks and fruit/veggies.  After the race we went to Waffle House for breakfast (I saved all my food for later) and I got to eat grits and chocolate chip waffles!  Whoo hoo! 

I would highly recommend the Jail Break Half Marathon to anyone who is looking for a half marathon to run in the Houston area.  The race was very well organized, the course took you all over the place (including a awesome view at the top of the bridge), had tons of water stops, tons of finish line food, and the medals were awesome!!!

The Boy Your Momma Warned You About

This post has actually been one of the most difficult posts to write because I am still trying to wrap my head around that I am a member of the 1% Club!!!  (Only 1% of the world has ever completed a marathon, once you complete one, you are a member of the 1% club) I have all these feelings and thoughts to write down and they are so sporadic that it’s hard to put into words.  I did my best though so enjoy my recap of the Chevron Houston Marathon 2013.

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Chevron Houston Marathon 2013 Recap

I have always heard that a marathon is a different type of beast and it’s in a whole different category, but until I ran one I didn’t know exactly what they were talking about.  Marathons are like the boy you momma warned you about, but you didn’t listen. Haha. 

For more pics go here.

As you know, I was a bundle of nerves this entire week (well, the past 6 months!) and my friends all tried to calm me down via encouraging messages, movies, and even flowers!!  My friend Hector brought me flowers to my work to cheer me up.  Aren’t they beautiful?  Tulips are my favorite flowers of course!

I went to the expo on Saturday morning around lunch time to pick up my packet and walk around the expo.  There were all kinds of vendors set up ranging from clothing to hydration.  There were also several different races set up so you could sign up for them.  I just walked around looking at everything but I didn’t end up buying anything.

There was this big wall that you could write why you were running and of course I had to write why I was running (you can go here to see what I wrote).

Official bib!!

After the expo I went to my parents house to chill out and also give my dad/stepmom my special needs bag in case I needed anything when they saw me on the course.  It had an extra pair of shoes, socks, Tylenol, hat, running fuel, bandaids, and a PB&J sandwich.  I got home around 8:30 and fell asleep by 9:15 pm for my 3:30 am wakeup call.

My running shirt that I had made on Etsy!  It's silver glitter paper!!  I highly recommend using VA shirt shop on Etsy, they are awesome to work with and I got my shirt back within a week.  If you look closely in the shoe it actually says 26.2.  Go to the picture page (link at the top) to view a close up of the shoe.  Super cool.

The next morning I woke up at 3:30 am having not slept very well that night.  I don’t remember what my dreams exactly were, but I remember having a lot of them.  I ate a bagel with peanut butter and a banana, which I could barely finish but I choked it down.  I am not used to eating at 3 am so my body didn’t want it.  I got dressed, double checked my lists to make sure I didn’t forget anything and waited for my friend Tonya to pick me up.  Tonya had offered to drop me off at the race, along with our friend Aly so we wouldn’t have to drive and worry about parking. My parents would take us home later since we would be too tired later (smart decision!!).  We were dropped off around 5:30 am and met our group in the area to take pictures and to stretch.  

At 6:45 we headed to our separate corrals to start the race at 7 am.  I was in the open corral so we were the last group to cross the start line.  The faster runner you were, the earlier corral you were in (A, B, or open), but I am not super speedy so I was just in the average people corral.  I crossed the start line about 13 minutes after the gun went off and I started my Garmin GPS watch.  The 6 hour time limit didn’t start until the last corral crossed the start line, which gave everyone a fair advantage.  I said a prayer to God to keep me safe and help me finish this goal.  I knew that there would be obstacles for me to finish, but that it would make it that much sweeter when I did finish.

Right when I was crossing the start line it started to pour down rain.  I had a poncho on, a light weight jacket , and gloves, in addition to my other race gear but I got immediately soaking wet.  I kept trying to avoid puddles so I wouldn’t get my feet wet, but the rain was coming down so hard and people were splashing, it was inevitable that my shoes and socks were soaked by mile 2.  I knew that my family were going to be at around Mile 5 so I could get new shoes then if I needed them.  I crossed mile 3.1 and an automatic alert was sent to my friends and family via text and also FB updating them on my progress.  At this point I was on pace to hit my goal of 5 hours!

At mile 5 I started to look for my family hoping to see a familiar face, but I couldn’t find them. The crowd of runners were so thick that I didn’t think they could find me easily so I was looking really hard to find them.  Every mile after I scanned the crowd looking for them, but I couldn’t see them.  At Mile 8 I knew that they would be at Niko Niko’s so I knew I could give them my soaked jacket and Garmin watch to hold so it wouldn’t get wet anymore, but still no family or friends.  I just knew at any time I would see them.  I crossed the 15K and Half marathon marks and automatic texts/FB messages were sent out and people on FB were cheering me on (I LOVED reading the comments later when I was done).  Right around the 1/2 marathon mark, a group was sprinkling "holy water" on people...of course I got some!  I am Baptist, so we don't have holy water but I still believe in it!  I guess a preacher blessed it or something?  IDK, but I loved it!!  Each mile after 15 my pace got slower and slower.  I really wanted to see my friends and family, but I couldn’t find anyone.  I ditched my poncho at Mile 15 because the rain had stopped.

At Mile 16 we entered the Galleria area and I was still feeling great, and then finally at Mile 17 I saw my friend Leslie!!  Halleluiah!  I was so happy to see someone I knew.  She ran with me for a few minutes asking if I needed anything.  I had ditched my gloves around Mile 7 so my hands were so cold they wouldn’t close.  She offered me her gloves and I felt bad for putting them on, but she assured me that she wanted me to have them (Leslie, I will wash them and bring them to you!).  At the 30K (18.6 miles) marker I realized that this is the farthest I had ever run, which sort of messed with my head a little bit.  Could I keep going? Yes!  My pace began to slow waaaaay down at this point because my head was playing games with my resolve.  Where was my family? 

 

(photo courtesy of Leslie)

Finally we crossed 610 and made it to the Memorial Park area and the dreaded 20 mile ‘wall’ area of the course.  Right before Mile 21 I saw my Dad and stepmom Pie.  I saw them before they saw me and waved my hands so they would see me.  They said I looked great and had been to four different spots trying to find me.  I needed Tylenol and I was starving so I ate a quarter of my PB&J (it was all I could stomach even though I was starving).  My shoes were dry by this point so I didn’t change my shoes.  I don’t know if it was the socks that were amazing or if God knew I wouldn’t be able to handle blisters, but I ended the race without blisters (I think it was God who helped me out!).

Krista was waiting for me at Mile 22 and took pictures of me running.  She is so awesome!  Krista was my inspiration to start running in the first place and came to cheer me on for the marathon and her also to cheer her mom Ginger and friend Katie to the half (who both did awesome btw!).  Krista didn’t run this year because she is carrying Baby Dabel #1 due in May. :)  She said I was looking good and that she would see me at the finish line.

(photo courtesy of Krista)

Mile 23-26.2 were pretty bad, I’m not going to lie.  I don’t think I ever hit ‘the wall’ but I did have a hard time.  I only had a 5K to go, but that 5K was brutal.  You could see downtown and knew that the GRB/Finish line was just behind those skyscrapers, but you couldn’t get there fast enough.  I absolutely did a walk/run combo in those last three miles.  Brutal. 

At Mile 25 I could see the GRB and I just kept focusing on the big red things on top of the building, willing myself to go faster so I could be done.  I kept praying to God that he would give me strength to finish this thing (I really had been praying that since Mile 18) and I felt that my grandfather was up there watching me the entire time.  My Grandfather loved baseball hats so I wore one of his hats (Texans) so he was with me the entire time.  Every time the wind blew I felt he was there with me.  When I wanted to give up, I would just think how he was up there watching me and how he would be so proud of me. 

I started to cry at Mile 25 because I knew I was about to become a marathoner!!!  Wow!  Who would have believed that a girl who started running a year and a half ago, that was 40 lbs heavier, would be running a marathon today?  Me?  What?  But I was about to do the ‘impossible’. I was crying pretty hard and I couldn’t breathe so I had to calm myself down. LOL.  Nerd! :)

I finally turned the corner and tried to sprint to the end, but I honestly had nothing left to give.  I jogged it in as fast as I could, but I left everything I had on that course.  I saw Aly and Matt who were cheering me on, then I saw my Dad and Pie, Krista was there also but I didn’t see her.  I crossed the finish line at 5:45:30, 45 minutes past my goal of 5 hours.  It was a tough, brutal day but I gave it my all and didn’t give up.  I was very proud of myself.  

If you go to this website and search by my last name you will find a video of me crossing the finish line.

 Picture with my Dad and Stepmom Pie!  

KRISTA!!  She made a sign for me that said Margaritas at the finish Steph 26.2.  She actually bought me a margarita and brought it with her!!  I haven't drank it yet, but I will soon!!!  

Finishers goodies!  Once I crossed the finish line I got a medal immediately and then went inside the expo center to pick up my mug and shirt.  This is the back of the shirt.

 Finishers medal up close!  I worked super hard for this thing.  It was EARNED, not GIVEN!

My parents drove me home and after they left I immediately took a bath. I couldn't stand up in the tub so I just sat there washing my hair.  Finally, I realized this was really lazy so I tried to stand up, 5 minutes later I finally did and then got out.  I fell asleep around 3:30 and didn't wake up until 8 am the next day (well, I did for a few minutes at a time to feed Jabba and stuff but it wasn't for long stretches).

What did I put in my finishers mug?  Nuun Hydration of course!  I needed to make sure I was hydrated so I could recover properly, so Nuun it was!  Plus, I am not a fan of beer.

Thank you's:
Thank you's also go out to my Dad, Pie, Krista, and Leslie for encouraging me on the course and at the finish line.  You guys are awesome and I am so glad you were there to share it with me.

I checked my phone on the way home and I had so many notifications at the top it was unreal!  Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone out there who encouraged me along the way.  You have no idea how much you words, prayers, and positive thoughts meant to me along this journey.  I am truely blessed to have all of you in my life!  My FB wall and automatic posts that were sent each time I crossed certain mile markers had positive words that I keep going back to read.  You guys are awesome!  I have never felt so loved!!

My family (and some friends) tracked me the entire time via the app or text messages and I received many calls and texts of congratulations when I crossed the finish line.

What's next?
Will I do it again?  Ask me again in a few weeks/months and I will let you know.   I will say that I am very competitive with myself and I am already itching to beat my time, so it will probably happen, just not right now.  I don't even want to think about it at this point.  If you asked me either Sunday or yesterday, the answer was probably a NO, but today I am actually considering it.