My RnR-San Antonio 1/2 Marathon Experience

Posted by: celluloidcinemaier on: November 24, 2009

(Copied and revised from ATTTID)

I find it hard to believe that race weekend has already come and gone. So many trials and tribulations led up to Sunday, November 15, but, in a nutshell, every obstacle was worth the payoff.

I triumphantly crossed the 1/2 marathon finish line at a slow and steady time of 3 hours, 17 minutes. Which surprised me. I was hoping to come in under 3 hours. But from what I understand from other runners, many came in slower than anticipated. I gotta blame the humidity.

Ah, yes, the humidity. I knew we may be in for a hot day, when at 5:15am, Kelly and I stepped out of our hotel, bound for the downtown shuttle to the start line, and I didn’t need any sort of light jacket. 5:15 in the morning. And it was warm. Uh oh. Kelly and I made our way to the convention center, and were greeted by hundreds of other people also waiting. Luckily, we got there early enough, before hundreds more followed behind. The thing that stuck out? A lot people were carrying their breakfast food. Hmmmm …. Maybe eating that PowerBar at 4:15am was not such a good idea. I should have brought it with me and eaten it later. Especially since I would not actually begin running for another 4 hours.

When Kelly and I got to the start line, we detoured for a quick bathroom break, and finally, about 10 minutes ’till 7:30, found Dawn in our corral, No. 28. We had reconnected with Dawn the day before, when we picked her up for the Expo, and lemmie tell ya, I still could not believe she was in our presence, especially after not seeing each other since 2001. It was supremely awesome. Because, had it not been for Dawn challenging us to do this race, we would not be standing there with her.

Back on June 14, Dawn messaged me and Kelly this: “I’m registered for the half marathon, and i am telling you right now, you should too. it would be SO FUN to do it together, esp with the 3 of us coming into town from our respective locations and reuniting. plus, we can train together via accountability and sharing stories!! heck we can even start a 3-person blog about our running project!!!”

And thus, ATTTID was born. (Of course, Amanda was soon on board, too, a much welcome voice of full marathon training details.)

We didn’t actually cross the start until about 8:30 or so, what with 27 corrals ahead of us. But once we did, we each took off at our own paces and the course was ours.

We ran past our hotel on Mile 2, and my parents and hubby spotted me. Dad came running out and jogged alongside me for about 1/2 a block, telling me how proud he was of me and that I was running at a good pace. (Dad is a former marathoner, so he’s been through many, many races.)

As far as tunes, I decided to forgo headphones at first, curious as to all the sounds that were surrounding me. But when things got real, real quiet around Mile 4, I broke out the music and it carried me through to the end.

A lot of people around me were walking, which slowed me down at times, but nothing too extreme. I got the runner’s high at about Mile 5 or 6, and reminded myself to slow down and not drain my energy. The only time I walked was through each water station, where I took in the Cytomax sports drink or water, and sometimes both. I was very thirsty (and nauseous) most of the time, which I believe had everything to do with the weather (and probably too much Cytomax).

Around Mile 11, I passed by my college friend Jenny’s church. To my surprise, she ran out when she saw me, and hugged me and said, “Go Erica!!” It lasted for maybe 5-10 seconds, but her encouragement pushed me through to the final stretch.

And a push I needed. The last couple miles were definitely the toughest. I kept counting down the mileage in my head. But when I spotted the finish, it made all the hard work worth it. Crossing the finish was wonderful. After all the tendonitis battles and knee battles and fatigue battles, I did what I set out to do. I did what Dawn challenged me to do. I completed a 1/2 marathon. 13.1 miles. When I began, I could not even run 2 minutes at a time. Let me say that again. When I began, I could NOT even run 2 minutes at a time.

After I crossed the finish, I was dead-set on finding the recovery tent. I passed tables and tables of food, but wanted only to lie down and stretch and ice (my right knee was aching a bunch). My dad found me first, and he and I went to the tent together. He helped me stretch some and found me some physical ice (not the cold compress packs New Balance was giving away). Then we went to find everyone else.

My fam and I eventually reconnected with Kelly and her fam. And after a while, we slowly, slowly trekked back to the hotel for a much-needed shower and nap.

Thousands and thousands of people were there that day. Thousands. Runners and their friends and families and other spectators. I had never experienced anything like it. It was a madhouse. But it was awesome.

That evening, all of us reconnected at Alamo Cafe (it was just too difficult to reconnect at the race), a great cap to the weekend. A well-deserved time of fellowship and high-calorie meals!

But it was all over much too fast. Again … I still can’t believe the weekend has come and gone.

I began the journey to Rock n’ Roll – San Antonio to lose weight (23 pounds down and counting!!), but I discovered along the way that I really like the challenges running presents.

And as many of you know, my journey continues as I prepare for the Austin Marathon on Valentine’s Day. The full shebang. 26.2 miles. I will be documenting that journey as best I can here on my personal blog, so come back often and comment to your heart’s content. I’ll need to hear from you.

For now, here are a few pics from that glorious, whirlwind of a race weekend …