LaPorte By The Bay Half Marathon Take Three

I just realized I never wrote about my ½ marathon!  I completed my eighth half marathon on November 20^th in LaPorte, TX as part of the Texas Bridge Series running events.  Originally I was going to run all three races with my Aunt Laura, but she ended up dropping out of the last race so she could watch my cousin (her son) in a swim meet.   I was thiiiiiiis close to saying screw it and not participating but I kept chanting in my head “you never regret a workout” and “you paid $65 for this thing, get your money worth” and “I really want my two extra medals I get when I finish this race”. 

I started the race figuring I could at least walk the entire way, even if I couldn’t run that far.  It might be painful, but I knew I could finish it.  The course looped around really close to my car and I sooooooo wanted to turn that direction and head to my car quietly, but I decided to keep going.  I can do this thing!

I made friends along the course as I usually do.  Why suffer in silence for 13.1 miles when I can talk to keep myself busy?  I’m a talker, y'all!  I can’t go without talking for that long (even though a bucket list item is to go to a week-long silent retreat!).  The miles past relatively quickly and before I knew it I was on my way back over the bridge. 

My feet felt great with my new shoes and I made sure to stretch while eating my race recovery food.

The funny part is that you get a finisher’s mug that said “Beef Loving Texan” but I am plant based and don't eat meat at all anymore.  I could still use the cup but I have so many that I just gave it away to my Aunt since she couldn’t be there. 

Half Marathon #8 in the books!

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?

Toughest 10K Kemah Round 3

On Sunday we completed the 1st of 3 races as part of the Texas Bridge Series, Toughest 10 Kemah.  The two remaining are One Tough 10K-Galveston (October) and the LaPorte by the Bay Half Marathon (November).

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! :)