Race Report: Rock N' Roll San Antonio 1/2 Marathon

Distance: 13.1 miles
Time: 2hrs. 32 mins. 21 secs.
Route: Downtown San Antonio, Texas

I did this race two years ago, during the inaugural year. The first 4 miles of the race have changed, for the better. We headed to Dallas on Thursday, as I was going to visit a friend and meet her newest addition for the first time. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out for either of us, so hopefully, we'll be able to meet up next month when we head to Dallas for Gavin's 8th birthday. On Friday, we headed into Round Rock (northern suburb of Austin) and met up with Mark's cousin Seth and his family for lunch. We hadn't seen Seth in two years, so it was wonderful to catch up and finally meet his wife, Shannon. They had two of their kiddos with them (Kekoa and Ginger), so Gavin and Lauren were very happy to have a conspirator with them. :) After a yummy lunch at Cafe 620, we headed further south and hit up the San Marcos outlets. We always have to hit them if we're in the area. They are some of the most awesome outlets ever. After depleting the wallets, we decided to hit the road again and hit our final destination: San Antonio.

We stayed at the Residence Inn-Downtown San Antonio/Alamo. You can't miss it. You can see it from the freeway and yep...it's behind the Alamo. It turned out to be a GREAT location, as the start line was only a 1/2 mile from the hotel. We drove over to the expo (and paid the overly exorbitant fee of $10 for parking) at the Alamodome and met up with Jenn and her family. It was nice to hit the expo early. It wasn't crowded at all and we were able to take our time. The tech shirts were pretty cool this year, although the swag had MUCH to be desired. I've noticed that a lot of the races are cutting back on the swag. Probably due to sponsors dropping and other economic factors. After picking up the packets, we all headed off to dinner at Alamo Cafe. In the three years we lived there, we had never been. It was awesome. A new favorite was born.

Saturday, we got up bright and early for Gavin to run his race. We all bundled up because it was really cold and windy that morning. We headed over to Brackenridge Park and was amazed by the organized chaos. His grade group ran at 9:15am and I'm so proud of him! He and Mark ran together and they did it 11 minutes! :) Because there were so many kids and it was so cold, we decided to forgo the zoo and went to lunch and saw Megamind instead. Turned out to be a wise choice. We had dinner over at Jenn's parents' house and enjoyed meeting her wonderful family. Her grandparents remind me so much of mine! Then it was back to the hotel for some shut eye.

I woke up bright and early and pretty much before all of the alarms. One benefit to staying downtown is that we didn't have to drive to get anywhere. The last time I ran this race, there was so much traffic that I ended up having to get out of the car and walk down an off ramp while on the freeway. Not this time! However, it was totally entertaining to see all of the cars from the hotel window. :) I got dressed, headed downstairs to grab a quick bagel and headed over to the start line.

Holy cow. This race has gotten BIG. There were easily over 30,000 people there. I guess it's true what they say - Everything is bigger in Texas. We made it to the start line at 7:45 and we were off! It was a cold morning, so I was happy that I work my capris and long sleeves. The first two miles were pretty congested with people. Surprisingly, we encountered a lot of runners that had gone out way too fast and were already walking at mile 2. We weaved in and out and Jenn mentioned that her knee was starting to get a little fussy. She had forgotten her IT band support, and her husband was going to have it for her at mile 3. We saw Mark and the kiddos at right before the Alamo and David and Taylor (Jenn's husband and daughter) at the Alamo. She put the brace on and kept going. It was right about mile 5 that her knee/IT band really started to flare up. She slowed down a little and tried to walk it out at an aid station. We kept going, but right around the halfway point, she was in a lot of pain. I felt really bad for what happened next. I looked at her and her mom and they motioned for me to keep going. I told them that I'd stay with them, but they both told me not too and to just go ahead. So I did. I felt guilty for the next 3 miles. I hated leaving my friend behind, especially while she was in pain. Had her mother not been with her, I would have stayed with her.

After I went solo, it was all kind of a blur. I popped in the headphones and just cruised. I started feeling tired around mile 11, so I dug in a little deeper and just kept going. At mile 12, an anti-abortion protester was hanging out with a truly offensive sign. I get that everyone has the right to protest, but come on. Not the right place and definitely not the right time. I hit mile 13 and saw my family again. They were hanging out at the start of the finish chute and I waved and blew them kisses. It's exactly what I need to get up the blasted hill at the finish. I sprinted as hard as I could up the hill and finished. I didn't really know what my time was. I had an idea, but I didn't know until I got on Facebook later that afternoon. I had a personal best of 2:32:21. The last time I ran it, my time was 2:47:45. So, I improved by almost 15 1/2 minutes. I will definitely take it! Jenn and her mom finished not too long after me and we all met up at the end. I was and still am SO PROUD of her for finishing!! Even when she was in so much pain, she kept persevering and made it through to the end. Through all of this, I have made an incredible friend. I am so very lucky indeed.

So there it. The half marathon is done. Now it's time to change gears, dig even deeper and keep pressing on for the Rock N Roll New Orleans Marathon. Yep. The full 26.2. With a little faith, hard work and determination, I'll make it through again. :)