Recap: First Half-Marathon

Wouldn't be a race if we didn't have to get up at the a**-crack of dawn, right?

But let me back up.

Two years ago, our friends Björn and Jenny were in town, and Jenny saw a flyer for the 2008 Rock'n'Roll Half-Marathon, San Antonio's upcoming first involvement with the company that puts on these races nationwide. "Cool," she said. "Let's do it!" Which, by the looks on Dave's and Björn's faces meant, "Let's do it, Shan."

So we made a deal: if she didn't get pregnant, I'd run the 2008 race with her.

Lucky for me, they were trying to get pregnant, and soon I was off the hook for 2008.

So... baby born (a week before the 2008 race), and Jen says, "I still want to do that race. 2009, Shan!"

Dang. But Jen was willing to fly from Germany to run it, so who am I to be a dork and say no? So I said OK.

Then something awesome happened: Dave said he wanted to run it with us. When Björn found out, he decided to train. Then our friend Trip, a frequent marathon-runner, said he was in, too.

Cool!

Fast-forward through weeks of gym training that wasn't really all that beneficial, then our decision to quit the gym, then a loooooonnnnngggg, hot summer of walking to work, and finally a training plan to begin in late August.

We actually stuck to the plan, for the most part. We revised our medium-length run distances downward, but got ahead on our weekend long run distances -- enough so that we were able to do a 2-week taper instead of the 1 week on the original plan. All in all, we felt pretty prepared.

Björn, Jenny, and baby landed safely in Houston. Trip arrived via SAT. A big spaghetti dinner was had Saturday night, November 14. Our alarms went off obscenely early the next morning. That brings us to the photo at the top.

The start area. Picture 30,000 people in an area the size of maybe two football fields, 25,000 of whom are waiting in line to use port-o-johns. Long story short: no toilet paper by the time I got in one. Fantastic! I took one of the empty cardboard toilet paper tubes and peeled myself some rather texturous paper. MacGruber!



Trip wished us good luck and went up to corral #2, where the fast runners were hanging out, doing fast runner-y things. We were in corral #28, where nose-picking passed for warm-up stretches.

What's a corral? It's about half a block of a normally-busy city street that's bounded on either end by volunteers holding ropes, because, by golly, you said you'd finish the race in 3 hours, so you're darn well going to stay put with the other 1,000 people who also said 3 hours (no skipping forward or you'll be disqualified!).

Seriously, the corrals allow for a Wave Start, which keeps the race organizers from having a panicky stampede on their hands. When the gun went off, it was for corral #1. Two minutes later, an airhorn gave corral #2 their start, and so on and so on, until about an hour later we -- corral #28 -- were released from the start line by a butterfly fart.

We were off!

And immediately faced the task of passing at least 50 people who were walking. Maybe they didn't hear the fart -- it was pretty quiet -- or maybe they tragically underestimated the time needed to walk a half-marathon and put themselves in corral #28 instead of whatever the last corral was. THIS WOULD BE A THEME.

Still, we felt good. Björn and Jen decided to go for time, and so set out at a fast clip. Dave and I had slower clips planned from B+J's, and from each other, so once they took off, we kissed each other good luck and set about rocking our individual races.

Which we did. Jen wowed us with a 2:08:42; Björn with 2:23:59. I felt good when I crossed the finish line at 2:24:47. Dave rocked his 13.1 in 3:19:57. Of course, Trip blew us all out of the water by running 26.2 in about the same time as I did 13.1. Show-off! Kidding, we love you.

A few impressions...

Did I mention it was 75F during the race with 94% humidity? I think we should get recognition for swimming part of this event.

The Rock'n'Roll part of this event needs work. There was supposedly a band set up every mile along the course. I know at least one fantastic band that was turned down from performing, in favor of at least five mediocre alternatives. Plus, half the bands were on break when I ran by their stages. Plus-plus, the headliner concert was (admitted local favorite) Los Lonely Boys and (they're still alive?) Grand Funk Railroad. Come on, organizers. More rock, less suck.

Probably not a good idea: letting Team Banana distribute cut bananas at mile 6. Picture three blocks of the course LITTERED with banana peels. Insert vaudeville pratfall (but not by me, thankfully).

I know walking participants are welcome at the SAR&R, but I wish they would walk on the sides of the course instead of all over the road. We dodged so many walkers that Jen's Garmin said she had completed 13.1 miles about 0.2 miles before the finish line.

The volunteers were GREAT. So were the spectators of all ages. So were the racers. THANK YOU, EVERYONE, FOR BEING CONSCIENTIOUS, SUPPORTIVE, AND INSPIRING.

Gu Chomps work. I got a sample bag of 5 pieces in my race goodie bag. I chewed two at mile 7, then one each at miles 9, 10, and 11. Just as my muscles started to get that weird, disconnected, near-bonk sensation, I'd chomp a Chomp and swig some water, and be renewed as simple carbs (via tapioca syrup, cane sugar, and maltodextrin) raced through my veins and into my weary legs. Because that's how they work. Yay, sugar!

UnderArmour base layers work. Maybe you've tittered at their ridiculously buff mannequins at your local sporting goods store? Me, too. But, y'all? They rock. Zero chafe. Fresh as a daisy. Just saying.

Water works. I'm glad I stuck with water-only hydration on the course. Organizers also offered a sport drink, which Dave suspects gave him a stomach ache for the last half of the run.

Best part of this experience: being in it with Dave and other awesome friends. You may not run together, but it's enough knowing they're somewhere on the course, sweating their balls off right along with you. Especially if you can find everyone again for a post-race photo...



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