Race Recap: My First Marathon

Wow- I am officially a marathoner- I can cross this off my bucket list! There really are no words to describe my first marathon experience, and I want to get these documented so I don't forget! **Disclaimer: I'm definitely sitting here icing a sore knee and a sore ankle. Oh yeah....and everything hurts... everything.***

The bling made it worth it :)

Before I get into the details, I wanted to talk about the Aramco Houston Half Marathon and the Chevron Houston Marathon. Houston is my favorite race city of all time. The crowd support here is unmatched anywhere else (I mean- I've done this race in the rain before- and there were STILL people out cheering the crowds on). There were times during this race that the crowds really helped me out. There were people all along the race- yelling out our names and giving us the extra boost we needed at times. It made my heart happy! I will run this race every year for sure.

Race Recap starts now:

My mom and I at the finish! They trekked all over Houston to see us!

My mom flew in for this one (shoutout to JoJo) and Aaron's parents came to watch as well! We participated in our annual carb loading dinner the evening before at Collinas (a new location for this year, but we will for sure be back. I mean- unlimited bread?). Aaron and I also went to the Expo, which is one of my favorite race expo's as well. We had some fun in the photo booth and picked up some official race merch!

Part of the Expo. They build out this wall every year with water bottles!

It was a great day in Houston all around- the weather was gorgeous- so I really lucked out for my first marathon. We started the race in 52 degree weather, and ended at around 70 degrees. My big dilemma was figuring out what to wear. I don't like cold weather (anything below 60 degrees in my book), but I knew it was going to warm up.

What I wore: 

•  I opted for my Nike shorts
•  A short sleeve dri-fit t-shirt
• My trusty running hat (I love this thing) 
• Throw away gloves (picked up at the Expo), which I did not end up wearing

What I carried with me: 

• Hydration belt with two water bottles
• 3 bags of black cherry chomps (I prefer them because they aren't too sweet)
• 2 roctane lemonade Gu gels
• Burt's Bees chapstick(hey- gotta look good for the pics... in all seriousness, it is distracting to me when my lips get dry during a long run, so I just bring it along)
• 2 extra Strawberry/lemonade Nuun tablets (aka my lifesavers)

Aaron and I spent quite a bit of time the evening before trying to give our family proper directions to several of the viewing points (none of them are from Houston). I went to bed around 11, with a 4 a.m. wake up time. 

What I ate before the race (trained with all of these): 

• Cup of coffee
• Eggo waffle with an egg on top

Aaron and I made our way over to the convention center around 6 a.m. I needed to check some gear (mainly my ibuprofen in case I needed it ASAP after the race, flip flops... and body spray... again- priorities :) ) 

Us inside the Convention Center before heading out to our corrals!

We had enough time to use the porta potties, check our gear bag, stretch and head to the start line. We were lined up in corral D, and after our Dallas half marathon fail (at starting at the very end of the race because we were running a tad late), we knew how important it was to line up with our pace group. We were aiming to finish at about 4 hours and 45 minutes - 5 hours.

Right before the starting gun went off!

Before we knew it we were off. Our main strategy was to run a smart race. Stick to our pace and to actually finish. I also wanted to enjoy my first marathon experience, so I made sure to take lots of pics before, during and after the race.

Starting line!

Mile 1:

Passed by so quickly. We did NOT want to zig zag through groups of people, so we just stuck to our pace and stayed a straight line.

Mile 2: Saw our fam, but missed Kim.

Miles 3-7: Ran through some familiar places (West Gray, Kirby). Took one of my GU chomps at Mile 5. Noticed Aaron was drinking lots of water as it started warming up.

Mile 7.5: We were supposed to see our fam at this checkpoint, but managed to miss them.

Mile 8: Split for the marathon. This was when it got real for me. The Houston half has a large group of runners, and that group thinned out significantly when we split for the marathon. No turning back. Ran through Rice University, which was familiar territory because I ran here during training runs.

Mile 10: Saw some spectating friends, but missed seeing my boss- there were so many people out supporting the runners, it was hard to find people! Ate another bag of my GU chomps. Noticed Aaron was drinking more water at the stations than usual.

Mile 13: It was hot, but we were at a our exact pace we wanted to be. I think at this point, we were at around 2 hours and 10 minutes, and I still felt good. I wasn't overly tired, and I knew I would for sure be able to make it. I think at this point, I had refilled my water bottles and put another Nuun tablet in them. No headache, which is a huge deal for me. I didn't feel like I was dying. Aaron started to slow down on me, so we walked a bit. I could tell something was off with him, but the walking seemed to help.

Mile 13-16: These miles were hot. We were in the Galleria area, and there are alot of glass buildings- and a lot of sun. I remember a group of belly dancers- and found that amusing- a bit disturbed for the man who got a free shimmy. I took a GU Roctane gel at Mile 15.

Mile 16: The mile where we had to change our game plan. At this point we had 10 more miles. That normally takes us about 1.5 hours. Aaron was starting to cramp up- not good. Not good at all. I still felt okay (not fantastic by any means, but okay). We weren't going to be able to run the rest of the way, so we decided to do a run-walk from this point out. We also did some stretching.

Mile 16-18: Took us through some beautiful parts of Houston. I started noticing alot of cramping runners.

Mile 18: Saw a child on a bike. Desperately wanted to steal his bike and ride it the rest of the way in.

Mile 18-20: Took us through Memorial. Really very pretty, and the scenery kept me distracted from my burning glutes :)

Mile 20: Made it to The Wall - a checkpoint where they have a ton of extra gels, snacks, water, tissues, anything you might need set up. Still run/walking at this point.

Mile 20- just trucking along!

Mile 20-22: Memorial Park. I ate another bag of chomps at 20. Aaron and I were both very tired at this point, and I was worried because Aaron was limping a bit. We were still doing our run/walk.

Mile 22: Some man told me I "only" had 4 more miles to go. I got very frustrated (maybe hanger had set in?) because it seemed like an eternity. Note to self: I won't ever tell anyone near the end of a race how many more miles they have left to run.

Mile 23-24: These were probably my hardest miles. For me personally, I felt so close, but still so far away. I started to visualize what these miles might look like during a training run (i.e. it's only from my house to the park and back) and it helped me a bit. I was definitely in some discomfort (my hip flexors and glutes were killing me). I was also worried about Aaron. He kept slowing down on me, which is not like him and I could tell he was in some pretty significant pain by trying to keep his calf from cramping.

Mile 24: The bike medics almost took Aaron away from me. They gave him some biofreeze to rub on the calf and decided he could finish out the race. Two point two miles was soooo close at this point. We were on Allen Parkway, making our way into Downtown to the finish. We couldn't run though, because everytime we would, Aaron's cramp would get worse. We walked as fast as we could until Mile 25.5.

Home stretch.....

Mile 25.5-mile 26.2: I was praying Aaron's leg would hold out until we crossed the finish line. We trained together, and we were going to finish together! Right before the finish line, we saw our fam again- and crossed on over!

Finishers with our race bling!

Crossing that finish line is a feeling I won't ever forget. I've thought about that moment so many times in my head over the past several months. During the early mornings and the long runs. When I was tired and hungry. When we were both trying to keep up with busy work schedules. It made it all SO worth it. Our time ended up being 5 hours and 35 minutes, and you know what? It wasn't what I had initially expected, but I'm proud of it. We ran a smart race, and had to adapt as necessary to make it. At no point did I ever feel like I couldn't do it. While my muscles were definitely hurting, I felt fine. I didn't get a headache (which is a huuuuge deal for me) and was really able to enjoy the finish. Houston has a great post-race breakfast sponsored by HEB, and of course, I grabbed some chocolate milk! It was a day I will remember forever. I have tucked away memories of my very first half marathon back in 2012, and I will store these special memories in the same place.

You know- running is so much more than a physical thing. It's about pushing yourself past boundaries and through obstacles that you might not have thought you would be able to. It's about constantly expanding your comfort level and forcing yourself to new distances and new places. I love the race, and it makes me appreciate the journey to get there even more! "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength~" Philippians 4:13

So, here's to the next one (and focusing on recovery for this one)!

Tomorrow I'll be back with the things I think made this first race a success for me!

My Last Training Run: 22-Miles

I did my last training run before the marathon on Friday. 22 miles, and it wasn't pretty. There are definitely a few things I would do differently should I do another full marathon, which I will get to in a different post and running 22 miles by myself is one of those I would change. I'm on day three of recovery and some things still don't feel right. Miraculously, I still have my toenails (gotta think positive thoughts)!

I have had several friends (marathon veterans) tell me they wished they would have done a 22 mile training run. So I have had it in my head that 22-miles is the magic number, and I've been working up to that all along. The problem- was mixing training runs in with holiday and travel and my formerly predictable-training schedule - became much less predictable. I also managed to tweak my foot (somehow) during a short run when I was back in California for Christmas. Which that little tweak? Yeah- it's for sure coming back to haunt me.

Aaron and I typically do our long runs together, but I wanted to get it over with so I'd have enough recovery time and I had Friday off work. So a solo run for me it was. Also, the weather predicted rain for Saturday. I set off Friday morning, armed with my Nuun tablets, hydration belt and music (who knew how much stuff I'd have to pack). It was cold- and my poor California heart has never adjusted to anything colder than 50 degrees. It was 46 when I started out, but was supposed to warm up to 55. Totally doable.

Around mile 5 is when things started going downhill. If you're doing the math- that means I had 17 miles left to go (not that I was counting). My foot that I hurt in California- was killing me. The main pain is on the front part of my ankle. I tried to ignore it. Didn't work. I tried to stretch it. Didn't work. I was going to throw in the towel for the day, but I know myself- and I knew I had to get through these 22-miles to make me feel prepared for race day. Stubborn much?

So, I had no choice but to just get through it. I was actually able to run on it until mile 17 or 18 and had worked up a fairly decent 9:30 pace. By that time, my left leg had started compensating for the problems I had with my right ankle. I knew I had to stop and walk the rest. I made a few phone calls, made an appointment to drop Sawyer off at the groomers- ya know- just went about my normal business for those last few miles. I ended up finishing in 4:08, which would put me riiiight around the 5 hour mark for the full. My goal is to run a 4:30 race.

By the time I finished- I knew I had done some damage to my foot. It was a little numb and appeared to be a bit swollen. I'm icing it every night and not wearing heels to work (oh the sacrifices we make). I also took the last couple of days off from running/working out and treated myself to a massage yesterday. It's feeling better, but definitely not 100% , so I need to focus extra hard on treating my ankle nicely leading up to the race.

Soooo.... here is my PSA for the day. Just because I did something stupid- doesn't mean you should do the same. If it hurts. Just stop. Funny- because I'm pretty sure I said the same thing when Aaron got his stress fracture.

I'm back to the gym tonight and some yoga tomorrow. And lots of ice :) Happy Monday and back to work days for all of you!