As always its has been an eventful past few weeks. So eventful that when I have a chance to sit down and write, I am to tired to think of what I need to write about. My last post I left off when I was heading to New Orleans to run my first half marathon, so I will begin there.
The last weekend of February was the date of my first half marathon, it also happened to fall on the same weekend as the Houston Rodeo BBQ cook off. Now for those of you that aren't Texans, the rodeo is a pretty big deal and BBQ cook off is quite an epic event. If you live in houston you want to be at the BBQ cook off. I had tickets for Friday night with the Crossfit girls, but I hadn't planned on attending Thursday night. I ended up getting a last minute ticket from a coworker and decided why the heck not! So after work I headed down to the Rodeo grounds to enjoy all you can eat and drink! I figured it would be a mellow night since I had work and crossfit the next morning. I met up with my coworkers and we hit a few different tents, the last tent we went to was where the party was happening. Before I knew it, 3:00 a.m. rolled around and I was just heading home! Whatt...and then my alarm was going off at 6:00 to go to work. I was thankful it was Friday and only a half day. (This is probably not the best way to prep for a half marathon, but you only live once!) After work I came home, did laundry, packed and napped for a few hours. That evening I meet up with the girls and we headed back to the rodeo for round two of BBQ cook off. This evening was much more tame, I was home and in bed by ten.
The next morning I was up early to hit the road to New Orleans. From my casa to the french quarter it is about 5 hours and 15 minutes, I really enjoy driving so I put on some good tunes and headed east to good ol Louisiana. I made it into town around 2 o clock and headed straight to the convention center to get my race packet. It was quite a fiasco trying to find parking, after about an hour I was exploring the expo and getting everything I needed for the run. Once I got my packet I headed to the hotel to check in. Now let me explain this hotel situation, I waited so long to book my hotel that there was nothing available for under 300 dollars. Thankfully I had enough points to book a stay at the Waldorf Astoria. I travel a lot and I have stayed at some nice place and I have stayed at some horrible places, but now I understand why someone would spend several hundred dollars on a hotel room. Hello! It was awesome, the bed was nicer than my bed at home, they provided turn down service and left mints on my pillow. After a quick nap I met up with the people I was running with for dinner, I had an excellent high carb, high protein meal.
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Sunday I was up at 5 so I could eat some breakfast and get thoroughly stretched out before heading to the race. I drove to the finish line and hopped on a bus to the starting line. When you register for a run they ask for your estimated finish time, that way they can place you in a corral that has people that run at your pace. I originally estimated it would take me three hours to run, but with training I was pretty sure I could finish in two hours. So the day before I switched corrals, well the young man that was making the changes misunderstood me and put me in corral two. Lets just say people in corral two are pretty serious about this sport of running. The first corral group the runners were running 5 minute miles for 13.1 miles. One guys goal was to finish the half marathon in an hour! Are you kidding me....thats just sick! So after a few announcements they fired off the gun and the first corral was off. After a few minutes we were off...and fast at that. When I was training I was averaging a 9:15-9:30 minute miles. Well being competitive I was off just as fast, after my first mile at 7 minutes I knew I needed to find my pace so I could maintain for 12 more miles. I finally fell into a good rhythm and as I was hitting mile marker three the guys in the first corral were finishing up mile six...really!!
The race I did was part of the rock n roll series so every mile they have different bands set up. It was fun to run around New Orleans and see a side of it that you normally dont get to see. By far the best part of the race is the spectators. Most are family members that got roped into standing out in the cold to cheer on their runner, but there are few that just come to support the runners. They all held signs of encouragement or funny sayings. A few favorites were "this is the worst parade ever" "what are you running from" "run stranger run" (for those that didn't have family members to cheer them on). The first two miles were smooth sailing, about mile three my left knee started to get tight, but not the "I cant take another step tight" so I pushed on. The mile markers were flying past me about mile six I caught a second wind and cranked out a good sub nine minute mile. 7.5 miles hit me like a ton of bricks, they had an option where you could split the run with a friend and 7.5 was the splitting point. I was wishing I had done that and that I could stop and make someone else run the rest of it. Mile 8 was a gu energy station, the last time I used one of those it worked like a charm, this time..not so much. I was dehydrated and dying, I was trying to drink water and gateraid, but that is impossible when you are running, I just ended up wearing it.
The next few miles felt like I was crawling, nothing was working everything in my body hurt. My hip flexers were tight, hamstrings were tight, and then the knees were getting ready to quit working. I kept pushing on I mean I have already run eight miles what is what is 5.1 more miles. Then it hit me I still have five more miles to run. There was no quitting now so I just tried to keep my legs moving even though I couldnt feel them anymore. Then I hit it mile marker ten...only three more miles...then boom everything just locked up. Both knees got tight and I was done, there was no way I could finish. Or so I thought, some how I managed three more miles. Seeing that finish line was the most glorious thing in the world and I managed to cross it on my own two feet, in two hours and three minutes! I got a sweet medal, lots of food, drinks, and pictures. There was a large after party, but I was hurting and desperate to roll out my IT bands. So I hiked a mile or so back to my car and then off to the hotel.
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After getting cleaned up and packed I treated myself to a giant bowl of gumbo and then hit the road back to htown. Even though it was slightly challenging to run with my IT band issues, it was quite an experience. Something I would do again if I can get my knees in shape! Although now that I know I can run, I am looking at buying a bike and start training for Triathlons...who wants to join me?? I hope you all have a wonderful week and dont work to hard.
Until Next Time ...
Tory
