Houston Half Marathon

It is hours before the crack of dawn and I am awake getting dressed for my first half marathon. Methodically going through my pre-race routine for the first time in over a year…Layered in my new running outfit with Clif bars and water I am on my way to downtown Houston.

Rewind to the three days prior to the Houston Marathon and Half Marathon. I was working at the Finish Strong Sports “booth” at the Marathon Expo. As a newbie to the big races scene I was in awe of all the preparation the entire city put into helping thousands of us run one of the season’s highlights to Houstonians. All day Thursday was spent loading trucks, unloading trucks and creating a “booth” for the store at the convention center…I use the term booth loosely because it was more like a pop up store almost the same size as the brick and mortar location. Seeing the space they held the expo at transform from a bare concrete room to an elaborate maze of shops and pick up stations for the various races was a sight to behold. It was also exhausting…

On Friday the Expo began and it was nonstop chaos until close that evening…selling clothes, shoes, Garmin, and having a Karaoke station almost put the senses on overload. Saturday was much of the same drill except at the end of the day we had to tear down and pack it all up. So I was on my feet and for the three days leading up to the race. I also had been nursing a minor knee injury.

Sunday, January 19, 2014…We get to downtown Houston before all the streets are closed down and I make my way to my corral…The whole set up was foreign to me since I am used to just standing on a starting line in the middle of a field or on a track. I was filled with anticipation as the music got louder and the crowd grew; before I knew it we were slowly making our way to the starting line, building up to a sow jog and finally into my pace a quarter mile into the race. At mile one I had an awesome friend jump in and run the race with me.

I was feeling good up until mile 5 when my knee started to ache, but thinking it was just a cramp or something I pushed through it, but as I kept running the pain continued to increase on the outside of my knee and then up to my hip. However, I was determined to finish the race. My goal time had to be replaced with finishing under 2 hours considering the condition of my knee. I had to stop and stretch…walk for a few minutes to ease the pain, but I never quit. It was probably a stupid decision to keep running risking damaging my knees. At mile 9 it was my feet that began to feel like knives; my theory is that the past three days finally caught up with them. Only three miles to go! I don’t think I would have finished if I hadn’t had a friend with me supporting me. I crossed the line at around 1:55 and was so relieved to be done and proud that I pushed through all the pain and accomplished one of my life goals. It wasn’t my dream race but it helped me realize how hard it can be sometimes but with perseverance and support I can push through anything.

Since then I had to take a month off from running to rest my knee, but I am back to training now for my next big race in May!!!