I ran the Houston Half Marathon!

I feel like I have been waiting for this event all year! Well, truthfully, I am not sure If I was waiting for it or dreading it. This is one of those things that was a "promise" to Samantha     after I woke up from surgery. I had a million reasons to not run this half and no one would have thought of me as weak or a quitter. However, I refuse to let cancer rob me of one of the things that I used to love to do. Yes, I am a crazy person that used to love running. This past year, it has been more of a love/hate relationship. I love to be able to run, but hated the toll it took on my body. I loved the runners high, but hated the aches and pains that should not have been. I loved getting out there and just feeling free, but I hated when my body failed me. 

I guess I really started training in late August after the wedding. It was slow, but went well. I turned into a 5am runner. That was difficult. For the most part it went ok. My body was not adjusting well. Some days were great, but others not so much. My body would shake like it was depleted of all energy at times. I was pushing through it though. Then November hit and I injured my calf. I was doing a Fartlek training run and I felt something snap. I took a week off and tried a nice easy run. It wasn't happening. It hurt too bad. I ended up taking the whole month off. Then I slowly added back in quite a bit of walking. Even walking hurt and caused stiffness. I did not know if I was going to be able to run. In December I started to increase the time I was walking, plus added in a few short jogs each week. Once I hit an hour, my body was depleted. Once, I was too far from home and kind of worried I would not make it back. My determination would not let my body fail me...or it may have been my stupidity. I decided I just needed to see what I could do. A few days before Christmas, I set out to do a run a mile/walk a mile session for a little over 10 miles. This let me know that my body could handle the duration...and if I could do 10, I could do 3 more. I was running out of time to try and get a long run in. On December 29,  I set out to see how far I could run. To my disbelief, I made it over 7 miles. I felt like I could have kept going, but it was Hannah's birthday and we had a lot to get done. I also didn't want to risk injury or just flat out wearing myself out. Anyway, I had planned on getting in a few short runs before race day. However, that didn't happen. There was some sickness in the house over the break. While I did not get sick, I could tell my body was fighting something. Monday before race day, I got up and knew it wasn't going to happen. I went back to sleep for an hour. Tuesday, I got up and set out to run, but quickly realized that my legs were so tired that I needed to walk. I ended up just resting the rest of the week. There was one day where my watch logged 10 hours of sleep, but missed the 2 previous hours where I dozed off and on. Apparently, my body was very tired. 

Friday before the big Sunday, Samantha and I went to pick up our race packets. I was ready for the excitement of the Expo, but apparently a lot has changed since our last time 12 years ago. It was smaller and more geared toward sales than fun and engaging. We did not stick around long. We did find our names on the wall of all of the participants! 

I tried to rest and fuel Friday and Saturday. Then Sunday, we were up bright and early...well, it wasn't bright, it was 4am. It was a perfect day for a run, but so very cold for just walking and standing around. I won't bore you with all of the pre-race details and an effort to make sure my bladder was empty...what can I say, I did give birth to 4 kids. Some things can become a problem at some point. I think Samantha and I logged almost 2 miles of walking through Downtown before we made it to our section of the starting line. I kind of feel like that is just a tad unfair! LOL It was cold. I moved my race bib a few times as I tried to decide on sweatshirt or no sweatshirt. I did end up with it back under my sweatshirt. Samantha and I snapped a quick photo. Then a coworker stopped to say hi before she and her running buddy moved up to the faster people. 

The race officially started, but it took almost an hour for our group to get to the starting line. There was already a pile of jackets, sweatshirts, hats, bathrobes (this one confused me), and gloves all over the side of the gates. My nerves were kind of gone and excitement set in. We crossed the start and were off. Samantha started a little faster than I was comfortable with, so I slowed a little. We were together for a while before I lost sight of her. I had forgotten about all of the excitement and encouragement along the route. I did ditch my sweatshirt before the end of mile 1. I did decide to keep it instead of toss it, just in case I ended up walking a lot. I was afraid I might get chilled. 

 I ended up catching back up with Samantha just after the 5K mark. She looked at me and said, "how did you catch up?" My response was, "slow and steady baby." Way back in June when I signed up, I listed my projected finish time at 2:30. In November when I couldn't run, I changed it to 3 hours. However, going into the run, I really just wanted to finish, but I was trying to keep 3 hours in sight. Don't laugh at my slow pace, but I figured if I could keep it at 13:30, I would be good. That is what I did. When I felt myself speeding up, I would slow it down. When I felt myself slowing down, I would pick the pace up a bit. It was working. We ended up in River Oaks. Sam said, "How did we get all the way to River Oaks?" I couldn't resist. I replied, "we ran." Somewhere before the 10K mark, I lost Samantha. I turned to point something out, but she was not behind me and nowhere in sight. I kept going! 

I had a friend from my Rodeo Committee who was going to be at the fountain around mile 8. That fountain felt like it took an eternity to get to! I was determined to make it there still running! I did and was even still smiling! This is a photo my friend took after I rounded the fountain. I kept trudging along. I made it to where the other side of the street turned to go towards the fountain. I saw Samantha! She looked at me like "WHAAAA!" I kept going! Right before mile 9 I stupidly stopped for what I was hoping would be a minute of walking. After that minute, I struggled to get back to running. It hurt! Walking hurt more! The neuropathy in my feet was in overdrive and I couldn't even walk a straight line. I did some walk/run for the rest of mile 9. Then I felt good, but I didn't want to over do it and not finish. I was too close! I picked it up to a brisk walking pace until I got to Allen Parkway. Once there, I knew the end was in sight and I would get there even if I had to crawl! I mean, once you make the turn and actually SEE Downtown, the adrenaline kicks back in! 

I mean, for real...how beautiful is that view?!?!?! It is even better when you know the end is just on the other side. Once I hit the 12 mile marker, I picked up my pace. I saw my time and while I knew it was unlikely that I would make the 3 hour mark, I knew that it was possible. I kicked it up to a 12 min/mile pace. I felt like I could have gone faster, but that seemed to be when people started to stop and walk while taking in the crowd. I get it, the crowd was amazing and loud and the cheering kept me going, but get out of my way!!! I have a race to finish. I zig zagged around some folks and bumped into a few who all of a sudden couldn't walk a straight line. The end was in sight!!! Actually, no it wasn't. There was an arch that looked like a fake finish line. I knew it, but...ugh. I kept going and pushed my body hard. I tried not to cry as I got close to the finish. I tried not to cry as I head all of the cheering. I made it! I did not cry! I got my medal! I got my finish! My body protested the walk to get the banana and chocolate milk. I got irritated behind some slow people as we weaved back into the convention center. My legs needed to keep moving, or they were going to quit. I picked up my finisher shirt and plopped down to wait for Samantha. I was getting notifications on my watch when she crossed certain points. I thought she crossed the finish line a minute or two after me, but she was actually at a check point farther back. So, I sat and waited. I snapped a photo of my barely hanging on with my medal and sent it to some folks. 

Then I kind of collapsed and waited for Samantha. Once she got her shirt, I managed to pick myself up off the ground. We went and got our food and coffee! I went to get my checked bag, while she went to find Anthony. I was planning to meet them in the reunion area...under the W sign. However, Samantha couldn't walk that far and had him move. I did not know this, so I went to W. I sat down to eat before we met up. I snapped a photo of me NOT moving for a while. 

This came after Samantha asked me to come back and meet them at the AB area. That was NOT going to happen. I asked her to come back to W. As you can see, that was not going to happen either!

After eating, I was good to go. I could have got up and run some more. I was walking around normally. Samantha was not! I had to slow down on our way to the parking garage. I even suggested the stairs due to the long line of people waiting for the elevator. She was not amused. We made it home...our trackers saying that we had done over 17 miles that day. She rested. I took a shower, put on my finisher shirt and medal and took my dog for a walk. I was SOOO close to 40,000 steps and just had to do it! I mean for real, who doesn't do a half marathon and go home and walk the dog while wearing the medal??? 

I know, I know, I am a little extra! 

Amazingly, and what felt like against all odds, I finished the half marathon. I did not make it to my internal goal of finishing in under 3 hours. For half a second, I was a little upset at myself. My goal was to finish. My goal was to show my body that cancer may have taken a lot and probably still will, but it will not stop me! I was initially hesitant at sharing my finish time, because it is so slow, but I will share it! This was an accomplishment! With the odds stacked against me, I did it. I also remembered how much I loved the crowd and excitement and already signed up for next year. Cancer may be in my journey this year, but I am confident that I will overcome and accomplish another half. I set my goal time for 2:40, but hope to edit it to take time off instead of add time to it this year. 

I am also including the photos of our splits. You can see that I did pretty well at keeping my pace the same. My watch does actually show each mile and the consistency of my pace.  

I did it!!!!!!!!