Fight to the Finish! That is the motto of the Alamo 13.1 half marathon and that is just what I did. I signed up for this race because it was in San Antonio and it ran right through my neighborhood. I also was hoping some of my friends would run with me because it is always fun to run with friends. One friend signed up and we were going to run together – until she got hurt a month ago. Another friend signed up for her first half, and almost didn’t run – but I told her I would run the whole thing with her and make sure she finished. My pre-race eating was pretty normal, but I did eat extra carbs in the form of sweet potatoes and bites of cupcakes. Ben was awesome and grilled chicken for my pre-race dinner.
Grilled Chicken & Sweet Potato Pre-race dinner
I had a very relaxed morning getting ready for the race – so relaxed I even folded some laundry! I did have an outfit crisis because it was extremely windy and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees overnight to 45!!!! That is cold for Texas at the end of March! About an hour before the race start, I got excited and a little nervous. I contemplated how I was going to keep my friend motivated to finish and even possibly running my own race (I’m horribly selfish!). I couldn’t just leave her though – I had committed to running with her and make sure she finished and I had to stand by what I said. She and her husband picked me up and he dropped us off near the start. We jogged around the Alamo to warm up and then got in line for the porta-pottys.
Pre-race with the Alamo in the background
The crowd lining up for the race
Mile 2 Going over the historic Hays St Bridge – love the cheeta pants on the right!
Mile 3
Trucking at Mile 4
The Husbands a.k.a. Our Bike-Riding, Photo-taking Cheer Squad
We started off at an easy pace, but M started having trouble with her feet falling asleep almost immediately. She had gotten new compression socks but they were too tight and not working for her. We probably walked about a mile in the first three and around mile 4 she ended up taking off her socks. After the sock stop, we began the climb up Stadium Drive and through the Trinity University campus – very up and down for 3 miles! We both took a Rehydrate Gel at mile 7 and I drank Spark through the first 6 miles. This was one time I was glad to walk the uphills! While we were trekking up and down the hills, our awesome husbands biked to our house and got her another pair of socks and at mile 9 she was able to change and we were able to keep up a steady run. At mile 9 I ate a Advobar RAW and M had another Rehydrate Gel.
Mile 10 on the Riverwalk near the San Antonio Art Museum
We had a few porta-potty stops during the race, the last one around Mile 11. After that it was heads down and run to the finish. M was getting tired so we took a couple walk breaks, but powered through the last 1.5 miles and gave it all we had to cross the finish! Our final time ended up being 2:50 – a little longer than her goal of 2:30, but the whole sock thing slowed us down.
Almost done!
Crossing the finish line…bad picture!
Finishers!
Victory!!! Just like the first time in 1836..only this time the Texans won!
I had a lot of fun helping M reach her goal and sticking with her to encourage her. This race really made me think running a full marathon is possible because with the slower pace I felt really good at the end and probably could have kept going. That is definitely not a feeling I have had in the past, so this was a great race for me as well. We enjoyed a post-race breakfast at Madhatter’s and followed it up with a great church service.
Dean Scram at Madhatter’s
I’m just chilling out at home for the rest of the day and trying not to eat all the salty food I’m craving. My post-race massage is tomorrow morning and I am very excited! I hope everyone else had a great weekend!
runningmyliferace 