Corpus Christi Harbor Half Marathon recap

This was our first half marathon of the season!
Ready, set, go!

If you read the previous post, you already know about the night of gluttony before the race. We ate way too much of all the wrong things, enjoyed some wine, and stuffed ourselves with rich food AND DESSERT instead of carbo loading. I will admit this was a bad decision but still would not change it because it will always be a great memory... and it can serve as a warning for future running preparation! Ha!

The Harbor Half Marathon had a 7 AM start and luckily our hotel was downtown close to the starting line. We ate some bananas and peanut butter crackers at the hotel for a very early breakfast and my husband got STARBUCKS! Now, we all know that caffeine is a diuretic and it's only going to dehydrate a runner who is totally and completely addicted to caffeine (and who is also already dehydrated from alternating between diet coke and wine the day before the run). Oh, the abundance of bad pre-race choices is staggering. Oh well, we had a good time in Corpus!

It was pretty annoying that the race had 12 port-o-potties for 1,000 runners so the lines were still 30 people deep when it was 5 minutes until start time. The hubs and I missed the start of the race because we had to "GO" thanks to our Starbucks coffee. Luckily it was a chip timed race so it didn't matter that we were a couple of minutes behind the crowd.

Here we are before the race, smiling because we are overly-caffeinated and it's still DARK outside!

I was singing that song "I wear my sunglasses at night" just like the guy wearing his sunglasses in the bar in the beer commercial. Classy, yes?

So we walked to the start line as the last few runners were leaving and started out strong. It was dark out, the weather still felt cool, and we were feeling good. Mile 1 was great (as mile 1 usually is) and our pace was on track at under 10:00. Then we saw the bridge. The horrible, terrible, painfully steep, killer bridge. Scott is pointing to it here. I can't show you the inappropriate gesture I gave to the bridge. The first time we crossed the bridge, we ran the whole way up it, and although it slowed us down a little, we were still pretty close to our goal of a 10:00 mile pace.

After we crossed the bridge, the sun started to rise over the ocean. It was amazing. The sky was pink and orange at first, and then it turned to gold. We saw dolphins playing in the water as the sun was coming up and it was one of the most beautiful sights I could imagine. All of the runners were pointing and smiling with excitement. It was such an incredible thing to see that with so many other runners! Doing the race was worth it for that one moment. It's something my husband and I will always remember!

Around mile 3 or 4, we started to get really thirsty and we were praying there would be a water stop soon. Well, there was a water stop but they were OUT OF WATER!?! Seriously?! A run for 1,000 people ran out of water. We were about to die! But what else can you do but keep going?

Around mile 6, we passed a girl who was laid out on the ground with a crowd around her. She was breathing and no one seemed to be too concerned so we kept running to the turnaround at mile 6.5. When we passed back by the girl who was still on the ground, the hubs stopped to see what was going on since he is a medical guy. There was a nurse and a doctor who were doing the race that were already with her when we passed the first time. They told us that she was breathing, had a pulse, had no medical problems, and paramedics had been called, so we continued on the course. Around mile 8 we finally got some water! We were already getting dehydrated by that point and were starting to feel really rotten. No carbo load the night before the race combined with not drinking enough water the morning before the race was a recipe for disaster.

About mile 10, we had to walk. For at least a minute. Then we started running again until we got to the big @ss nasty bridge again. I just couldn't run any more when we started climbing it. I told the hubs to go on without me but he was beat down too (or he's just sweet and didn't leave me in the dust) so we walked up the entire bridge. This totally killed our time. We started running again when we got to the top of the bridge but our pace was pretty slow from this point to the end. We were actually going about as fast as your grandma walks around the grocery store. Oh yeah... speedy for sure.

We finally crossed the finish line with a 2:20:08 finish time. It was my worst half marathon time ever but I only have myself to blame. I didn't take it seriously. I thought that since I have completed 3 half marathons before, I didn't HAVE TO carbo load. (What a stupid mistake). I didn't have to take water and Gu with me. I didn't HAVE to do much hill training. I thought the bridge wouldn't be that bad. Ha. That bridge kicked my butt!

But hey, we finished! Here we are with all 12 of those port-o-potties after the race. Good times.

With all of that being said, it was an amazing and fun experience.

I am grateful for:

1. Seeing the dolphins play in the water and watching the sun rise.

2. Experiencing this run with my husband.

3. The physical ability to run.

4. The mini vacation to Corpus Christi.

5. Volunteers who got up early on a Sunday morning to hand out water.

6. The police who kept the roads closed to traffic.

7. Last but not least, the pizza after the run!

And LOOK!!!! I got another medal!!! :-)

The next half marathon will be better! The San Antonio Rock and Roll Half Marathon is coming up in November. Who's in for it?

When is YOUR next race?