Half Marathon by the Sea...

Mission accomplished! One half marathon in 2 hours on very little run training - aside from my feet screaming at me by the end, definitely a successful day. The weather in Galveston was really perfect on Saturday morning - 60's and 70's, no wind, blue skies, humidity but hey - it's Galveston so what do you expect? It was a beautiful day for a run, and after catching the very first shuttle to the start line (my mom does not like to take chances on missed start times - well, I can't blame her), we got to wake up while watching the sun come up over the Gulf. For a first time event, things were extremely well-organized, minus the lack of, um, "facilities" at the start and finish lines. That's going in my post-race survey for sure... But anyhow, aside from that oversight, everything went as smoothly as could possibly be expected. There were pace groups for the 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 8:15, etc. runners - I latched on with the 9:15'ers, hoping to hit the two hour mark. I can truthfully say that if it hadn't been for that pace group, there is no way I would have made it to the finish in two hours. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The first 4 miles of the race went by pretty easily. I got to know my pace leader, and was feeling very comfortable with the speed. The roads were nice and flat, and there was a surprisingly big turnout for the event (around 1500), so there was definitely a party atmosphere happening - aided by the live music at the aid stations. My first obstacle came around mile 4.5 when there was no more denying that I needed a port-o-potty stop (thank goodness they at least had them at the aid stations). I had to stop and wait to use the facility, and by the time I got in and out, my pace group was long gone. So I had to catch them. I didn't all out sprint, but I definitely picked up the pace until I at least had them in my sight. After about a mile, I was back with them, but I paid a price for that fast mile early on. By mile 6, my feet were starting to give me negative feedback - but nothing I couldn't handle. However, it got continually worse with each mile. By mile 8, each step was painful, and by mile 9, I had to revert to heel-striking - something I haven't had to do in about a year and a half. I felt it in my knees the next day, but my feet could no longer take the front-loaded impact that morning. So by mile 10.5 when we finally turned off of what by then seemed like the never-ending seawall, I was feeling pretty shot - definitely the worst I've ever felt at that point in a half marathon, including the XTERRA Trail Running Worlds and those who know me know that that's saying something. My cardio felt fine - I was barely breathing heavy, but my legs felt like lead. Now, my original plan was to save a finishing kick for the last mile and hopefully break 2 hours, but by the time we got there, I realized my finishing "kick" was going to have to be used to keep me on pace for two hours... oh well, the best laid plans.

In the end, the course was long, so my final time was something like 2:01:00, but according to all the Garmins around me, I finished my 13.1 in 2 hours, so I'll take it. There were stuffed BBQ baked potatoes and Bluebell ice cream at the finish, so I very magnanimously forgave the race it's shortcomings and proceeded to stuff my face. It was a very lady-like 20 minutes, I can tell you that.

After I refueled, I headed to the finish hoping to catch my mom coming through. I saw her trotting up about 10 minutes after I found a shaded spot to stretch out in the grass. She looked great! She had beat her goal time by over 20 minutes, and said she felt even better than she did the last time she did a half marathon. We took off as soon as she got some of the post-race eats, and headed home for showers and naps. Now that was a great nap.

The rest of the weekend in Galveston was a blast - getting to see family and friends, going out to eat, going to the movies, sleeping in every day - but it was also very nice to come home to Ken and Chuck this morning. I have today off from training, so later I'm headed to the dog park with Ken and Jake to watch Jake terrorize all of the other humans there, and probably try to undress me in public. ...Don't ask.

We leave for Austin Wednesday night, and then I can't believe that Thanksgiving (and the Austin Turkey Trot) are the next day!!! I am ready for a hard run, and then the delicious, all-you-can-eat, gourmet food-and-wine fest that is Thanksgiving with the Hawk/Walker/Johnson clan. And napping during the football games. And then more food. Oh I love holidays.

Until next time...