Surfside Half

Well, this last Saturday was the Half Marathon I'd been looking forward to...It was at Surfside Beach, which is maybe about 15 minutes from home. It was a much simpler day, it seemed, than when I ran my full marathon in San Diego. I guess that's part of the beauty of racing close to home! Much cheaper too!

Anyhow....I had set my cell phone alarm to go off at I think 6 am, thinking I'd head out by around 6:30ish to get there, parked, etc. by around 7. Well...you know what they say about best laid plans! Of course, me being me, I had to snooze that cell phone a few times before I actually got up. Why my brain at early morning hours gets a warped sense of time, I'm not sure, but it does. "Sure, I can snooze til 6:20, and be gone by 6:30 still...yea, right! Well, I left home around 7, after having my little breakfast of champions of some leftover spaghetti (yes, I am weird!) and a Diet DP (uhuh..weirder still, that I don't like coffee!) and headed out to Surfside. This was the first time I'd been out there since Ike, so I wasn't real sure what to expect, especially in what the road was like, driving on the beach etc.. So, I thought I was doing the safer thing time-wise to cross the bridge and go straight to the beach and drive down it to the tent where the race headquarters were (and where my packet was awaiting me still, since youth group the night before prevented me from picking it up on Friday). Well, I think this was probably my first mistake of the day! It was slow going on the beach between the humpity-bumpity sand and all the runners up and down warming up and who I am guessing were the early starters. Not to mention the pea-soupy foggy wet air that morning too! So, I finally make it to the tent and get parked and by the time I did all that, it was probably 7:35ish...and all the prerace stuff was to start at 7:40, so thankfully there was still a decent line of people waiting to get their chips...and they couldn't start til everyone had those!

I get my stuff and they do a few group pictures and then wambamthankyoumaam before I knew it, it was on like donkey kong! We ran down toward the bridge for a little over 2 miles and then turned around...and I was feeling pretty decently strong. It was so fun too, at the point when all the fast people started coming back at us after their turn around, because you could see who was where and it gave you some good distraction! Then, the farther along I got, the more walkers and slower runners like myself were passing by and we were all woo-hooing at each other, which is always fun! So, we turn around and I'm still feeling pretty good, running pretty steady, and right around mile 4 (mile probably 7 or 8 for the fast folk way ahead!) we started getting this crazy, brutal headwind! I mean, it was like lean into the wind and run strong! Everyone where I was at was talking about how it felt like we were going straight uphill...and man, was it tough! I had hoped to try and run pretty much this entire half, and I toughed it out til about 6-1/2 miles, and then I had to walk. That wind just wore me out way more than I'd have thought! And it was weird, because it was almost like my legs started walking without my permission or much thought from me...like they had a mind of their own and just were like "doggonit, we are WALKING!" So...I complied and then when I tried to run some more it was like trying to move rubbery lead! I kept a pretty strong walking pace and got to talk to some new friends along the way, but I was only able to run for a few minutes at a time after that point.

Everyone who was up ahead and had already made the turnaround at mile 9 were telling us how great it was after you turned around. The tailwind was within my reach, and I was ready! Finally, I get to mile 9 and HALLELEUJAH (or however you spell it!) there was no more headwind. And it was much, much easier. But by now, my rubberized-lead legs were struggling, and I still only managed to run a little here and a little there. So, things are good, right? Well....for about a mile they were....and that was when the RAIN started. And I don't mean any ordinary woosy rain either....these were some honker drops that I honestly wondered if they were hail when I saw them hitting the sand in front of me! It started raining pretty good and I was actually ringing water out of my shorts.

Now, I make no bones about the fact that I carry A LOT of extra weight around....I am hoping I won't be doing this forever and that someday I will be a normal-sized human, but for now, I'm one big mama.....but holy cow--I wonder how much EXTRA weight I was hauling from water in my clothes and my shoes! I mean, I probably had the equivalent of a skinny person on my back! Wow...was I ever wet!

So, I managed to run about the last .2 or so miles back to the finish once I got there, because I was bound and determined to RUN across the finish...and there were my babies waiting on me. Craig had gotten everyone up and out there to see me finish, which was really cool. Gabriella was the first to see me and start yelling, and then the boys joined in and they were so cute cheering and jumping up and down. Nearly brought me to tears...I dont' know what it is, but there is something about being so stinkin' exhausted and seeing the ones you love that just gets to you! At least it does me! The boys were so cute "Momma, did you win the race??" Though there were finishers for the FULL marathon coming through at the same time as I did for the half, they didn't care...they were still pretty excited, which made it that much sweeter.

My final time was somewhere around 3:32, I believe. I dont' really ever go for speed, but it was slightly slower than I had hoped for. I had hoped too, that I could run most if not all of it without having to walk....but, honestly I think the wind was my biggest limiting factor. Well, that and I had been sick with a nasty cough the whole week before. But hey...I did it, and I was sooooo happy I did!

That evening, since it was Valentine's Day, Craig had arranged for one of our friends to come watch kiddos while we went to eat Carrabba's, which is about an hour away. Lemme tell you, I could hardly MOVE after riding that far! It was pretty sad! By Sunday morning, I was doing much better though....the healing of sleep is pretty amazing! By Monday, it was pretty much just what I call a "good sore" that I had left....enough to know you did something and to hurt just a little, but not so much that it really impairs your functioning.

Tonight (Wed) I ran to church, which is my first run since Saturday. It felt GREAT! It was only 2 miles, but I was still so glad I went. Anyhow.....I have been talking about this half for awhile, so I thought it only appropriate that I blog a bit about it! I'm looking forward to doing another one, and now its full steam ahead to the tri in Galveston in April....wahooooooooo!!!!!!

And.....I must say, a big huge thank you to all my friends who have been encouraging me in this journey of getting back to being healthy (and of being me again)! The encouragement, accountability, inspiration, and help of so many of my dear peeps is more of a blessing than I could have ever imagined. God is indeed good, all the time...and I am so thankful for the friends and opportunities He has given me....okay....can't resist another WAHOOO!!!! What a deal!