The Woodlands

Yesterday I wrote the beginning of a new chapter in my life. Or perhaps my legs and feet, or my very fast beating heart did. I ran my first half marathon. It was a race of physical endurance with emotional and mental dimensions.  My body and spirit surprised me in a pleasant way. All the training paid off, legs and feet were strong and did their job very well, and all the reading about controlling those nerves pre and during the race have come in very handy once the start gun went off.

Friday, the day before the race I was extremely nervous and highly hydrated, haha! I don't think I ever drank so much water in ONE day. Aside from having to use the restroom every fifteen minutes or so, I think it did my body a lot of good, as I didn't get any muscle cramps during the run.

After dinner, we loaded the bags in the car and drove for about an hour north to The Woodlands.  We went to sleep shortly after settling in our cozy hotel room. Needless to say that Ella was in heaven for spending the night at the hotel: this kid loves hotels! :) Here she is with all her cute stuffed animal friends that were lucky enough to make the travel list this time.

 I was able to sleep okay up until about 12:30 am, then the nerves started kicking in again. Somehow I fell back asleep probably around 2 or so knowing that the alarm would go off at 4:45 am. At 4:45 I got up, jugged down some more water, ate my two slices of bread with almond butter, blackberry jam and a half banana. I drank some more water and 15 minutes later I was stretching. Luckily I didn't make much noise to wake Ella and Hrishi who were going to get up at 6 or so. I got my race swag on but wasn't too excited to wear a sweatshirt, vain I know! I am glad I did though as it was indeed cold.

We were all ready and out the door at 6:30 am.

The start line was a couple of blocks away from the hotel but the traffic was still crazy and mostly closed so they dropped me off as close as they could and headed back to the hotel. As soon as I started getting "lost" in that huge runner's crowd, nerves started leaving me and were replaced by an overwhelming feeling of joy and excitement, I would even venture to say of pure happiness that I was actually there that morning and was going to run those long 13 miles. This picture I took right before getting started is a reminder to me of how I felt that morning: confident, focused,grateful, and serene about what I was going to do.

My plan was to go out slow for the first five miles and then try to increase my pace for the next five, and hopefully get a little faster on my last three and a half miles. I did go out slow but wasn't able to run faster on my second leg, instead I ran a 12.30 minute mile on the average throughout the course.  Hadn't my right ankle and knee started feeling a little achy at mile 7, I might have stepped it up a bit to an 11 min mile but I was fine with my pace, as I was able to breathe and run very comfortably in it. I heard a lot of stories of folks getting injured during race because they pushed too hard past their training pace and I wasn't going to do that. The course was beautiful, lots of beautiful green pine trees along the way, a couple of bridges, bodies of water, sun and wind. It did warm up a bit to 45-48F but the wind had picked up quite a bit by the end.

The overall atmosphere was great, lots of family and friends of runners or maybe just nice strangers were strang along the course with encouraging signs and boards, some funny, some serious like scripture quotes, but all so very much appreciated. I got to see some very fast marathoners passing us by, the amazing Kenyans, a runner from Mexico and one from the U.S. I believe. It was so neat that they were escorted by bikers and the runners would cheer for them as they were passing by. For a short moment I pretended that they were cheering for me as well. :) Anything that keeps you going, right?   (I don't have official pictures from the race yet but I will post them as soon as they become available.)

The first three miles went by slowly, but once legs and mind were warmed up, I got into it and started actually enjoying the run. I just wish they didn't run out of gatorade so fast, at mile 5... I was relying heavily on it and didn't bring my own along as I don't like to lug heavy bottles. I did take a couple of GU gels with me.

 Most of the course was flat with some little Texas hills sprinkled in there from miles 7 to  9. Those were actually welcomed by my legs and feet as they engage muscle groups different from the ones you use when you step on a flat surface.

Once I got to mile 10 I knew the end was in sight and all I had were only three more miles. The funny thing is that they didn't have mile markers past mile 11 and so probably around mile 12, I called Hrishi to let him know that I am close... I didn't realize how close I was though. I started hearing people screaming and cheering "You're there, you made it, you're close, very close" and I realized that we were close indeed. I started sprinting probably on my last quater mile and finished strong at 2:45:05. I was not only sprinting but cheering myself on, screaming like crazy things like "I did it" or something along those lines, ha-ha! Of course the crowd was going crazy as we entered the finish line alley but I couldn't really hear them, I could only hear myself. Later on, Hrishi showed me the video he shot while I was getting close to the finish and I heard him scream "Go Momma, go!! Stepping across the finish line was electrifying, a feeling hard to describe or replicate. Something that made it all worth it. I honestly didn't expect this distance to be so accessible (I won't necessarily say easy) to me. I'm sure it's because I stuck to the training regimen for the most part.

After taking pictures and talking to parents in Romania and India and getting all my congratulations and laurels, we headed back to the hotel for a cold water leg immersion (I can't handle ice), shower, changing, and packing. Since we were right by the mall, and Ella wanted to check out something, we stopped by and although she hasn't found what she was looking for, we did have a lovely encounter with some beautiful puppies and some other cute creatures at an animal fair held inside the mall.

We had lunch at Red Robin and then headed home.

She loved her burger and sweet potato fries!!

We came home and planned to nap with some icepacks on but my body and mind were still racing and couldn't sleep. When I got up I made doughnuts for Ella. She's been asking for them for a while.

So all in all, it was a great adventure. God willing, I will do it again. I'm grateful to Him for helping me train, stay strong, learn how my body works, and make it a great experience, both physical and spiritual. Through the months of training I learned a lot of patience, resilience, hope, and hard work. I also learned to love myself more, and therefore love and understand others around me more.

Finisher's collages.