Did You Know About My First Half Marathon?

Did you know about my first half marathon?

This morning I rang in the New Year by running my first half marathon! Marathon Bird and I got up early to travel to Kingwood, TX.



The weather was mild, no wind, no rain! We met another couple of friends there and were excited for the race to begin.

I think there were about 400 runners for both the half and full marathon. I was really anxious/antsy/jittery this morning. I had to go to the bathroom twice before the race, just to make sure! The race began at 8 am so it was good and light and the weather was just right-not too hot, not too cold. The course was concrete trails through a greenbelt area near Lake Houston. We were to complete two 6.55 loops for the half marathon.

The beginning of the race reminded me of the triathlon-a stampede of everyone crammed together. I did not like the first mile or so. I was getting frustrated that we had to start out so slow, but it had to be that way with so many people and by the first mile or so everyone spread out and it was not too bad. I stuck with my five minute run/one minute walk intervals. I was very tempted to skip the first walk and just get out of the crowd, but my friend had told me to stick with what I had trained. I am really glad I listened to her.

I knew I was going pretty fast but I was feeling good and wanted to keep on a good pace. I never checked the actual time but just kept to the five minute/one minute schedule. As I headed back to the turn around I noticed on one of the trees my friend's name posted. I remembered that when we started I overheard someone say "Watch for your name on the trees." I thought maybe some folks had posted encouraging messages to friends. Then, I noticed my other friend's name, and then his wife's. So I guessed they had posted every participant's name and I was looking for mine by then. As I came to the turn around I was really happy and feeling good. A little ways back I notice my own name posted on one of the trees! That was fun!

I had a hard time keeping track of the mileage, I think I would miss seeing the appropriate mile marker some times. By the time I got back around to mile ten I was really happy. I was feeling good and decided I would go ahead and eat my gel pack to sustain me through the end of the race. (I had at first decided not to eat it, but as I got that far I felt I needed it.)

Beginning at about mile eight I got to where I was clapping every time I saw a mile marker! Mile eleven again proved to be the hardest for me, but not too very bad. I think doing the run/walk system and getting sips of water every so often really helped.

I finished with a good time of 2:14:41. This beat the goal I had set for myself by 15 minutes! I was really pleased when they handed me a little stuffed bat (why a bat? don't know!) with my finishing place marked on it!!



I also loved the giant medals we got! We could not hear well when they were being shown off before the race, but apparently this was the ten year anniversary for this race and so they wanted them bigger and better!



I really, really enjoyed doing this half marathon. I love how it is held on New Year's Day. I love how it is open to everyone, elite runners (it's a Boston qualifier) all the way to the walkers (the course time limit is dusk!) The volunteer staff was great! We got great goodies. And they did not even limit me on how much pizza I could eat after the race!! :)