HALF MARATHON

Ok, it's time for the half marathon recap. First let me say that I had a fabulous time. San Antonio was awesome. Billy, Kelly and Eisley Lawson are beyond compare. Rock n Roll Marathon series organizes a great race. Great event, great friends, great city, great weekend!

We started the weekend by driving to Waco to meet up with our dear friends. I loved that Kelly was outside waiting for us when we got there. It did my heart good to see her face. We got to see where they live and learn more about the community they are a part of. I loved it!

Let me just take a moment to say that I know it is awkward to have the friend Kelly and husband Kelly both in this story. From here on out "KL"=Kelly Lawson and "Kelly"=Kelly McCuaig.

On Saturday morning, we got up and all 6 of us drove to San Antonio. The wives with August in our car, and the husbands with Eisley in their car. It was so much fun to chat, catch up, and rock it to 80s-90s pop. Lots of smiles.

Then we got to San Antonio. Our very first stop was freebirds where we loaded burritos with rice and beans and continued our carb binge. Yum!We then proceeded to the expo where we checked in, took lots of goofy pictures, and marveled at how many people were associated with this race. There ended up being 26,000 runners/walkers, plus race crew, plus vendors. It was crazy!

For our pre-race dinner, we went to Carraba's and shared a gift card that the Lawsons had been given. This was great for me, because I ate as much Italian bread as I wanted and didn't feel bad about it. I needed the carbs! Then KL and I ate a pile of pasta with some red sauce and called it a night. It was such a great meal.

We went back to the hotel which was...cozy. (Two queen beds in a bedroom, two pack-n-plays in the living room. I was glad to have the shared expense, and the close quarters weren't so bad because we were with such good friends. KL talked about how making new friends is fun, but also sometimes tiring, and how it was so nice to just settle back into an old, comfy friendship. I felt the exact same way.) We laid out our clothes the night before and went to bed early. Surprisingly, we both slept well, despite the nerves.

Race morning was early. Up at 5, breakfast, change clothes, last potty break (a real issue for runners), then down to the hotel to meet with our group to head to the start.

Starting was crazy! There were 33 start groups; faster people in the front, slower at the end. I was in 26, and KL was in 19. We would hear over loud speakers "group 1 starting in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6...." then an air horn. A minute later; "group 2 starts in 10, 9, 8, ...." It was crazy. After each corral started, every one behind it would move up to the next one. That means I heard 25 starts before it was my turn to start. The truth is, I had fun and it was exciting! As we started, people were standing on their balconies of hotel rooms and apartments up above cheering. It was such a cool way to start. I ended up starting at about 7:45ish.

As I started, I knew that I would be seeing the boys and kiddos around mile 3, in front of the Alamo. I was quite intimidated for those first few miles because I knew I had so many miles ahead of me. I was so glad to see my boys. Their faces helped me calm down and settle into my pace.
The next mile was a little tough. I knew I had 5 miles to run before I would see my boys again, around mile 8. Then I passed a cute little church with a high school band on their front steps. The drum line was doing a cadence (which I've always loved) and their marquee said, "you're doing great! Only 22.2 or 9.1 miles to go!" For some reason, knowing that I only had 9 miles to go was helpful. I knew I could forget about the miles behind me and focus on the very doable 9 in front of me. So I ran. And somehow the miles went really quickly. I was happy to see my boys again at mile 8. Another quick hug and kiss, and I was off again. It was so sweet that August was happy to see me every time I passed.

And the husbands were awesome. After they dropped us off in our corrals, they went to mile 3 and waited for us to pass. KL passed first, then they waited for me. Once I had passed, they headed to mile 8 to catch KL. Then wait for me, then head to the finish to meet KL. Then wait for me to finish. All with two toddlers in tow. They were amazing. Thanks, boys!

Somewhere around mile 10, I felt a boost of energy. I stuck with my philosophy of letting my legs run at whatever pace felt natural, so I ended up running almost a whole mile per hour faster than my normal long run pace. It felt great to be able to finish so strong. My goal was to run 13.1 miles in under 3 hours, and my official finish time was 2:58:59. I did it! Here I am with KL at the finish:
And me with the fam at the finish. So fun that Caitlin ran too!
The rest of the weekend was awesome. Steak on the river walk, Mexican food on the river walk, and a much deserved margarita on the river walk (which KL and I had been planning since we registered for the race many months ago). KL and I got to go up on the roof of our 20-something story hotel and spend 30 minutes in the hot tub that night, which helped a lot!

And just because I love this picture of KL, I have to include it too. Here she is running past our cheer club at mile 3:
I also want to share two more things: the reasons I did this. There were lots of reasons, of course, but two main sources of inspiration. First, my friend Kelly who challenged me to do this with her. Here's her post about the experience from her point of view. And my friend Angela who did this in Kentucky this past spring. Her blog post recapping her experience showed me that this was possible for me, a mom with no running in her background. Here's that blog post from her.

And last but not least, thanks to my friends and family who encouraged me, watched my kid while I ran, and helped with the costs associated with a race like this. I couldn't have done this without help from those around me. So thanks, so very much, for this experience.

I'm not sure what the future holds for me and running, but I know I don't want to stop. We'll just have to wait and see what opportunities present themselves, and whether or not I can afford them. :)