Houston

I have no snappy headline for this blog entry because in a word the Houston half marathon: sucked.
But before I start complaining: A big shout out and THANK YOU to my sister, Lizz who paid for my entry to the Houston Half Marathon. Lizz, you rock and I really appreciate all your support!!!
Onto the race report:
I managed to pull a hamstring and I'm still trying to nurse it. And since I'm supposed to run 20 miles this weekend to prepare for Austin, I'm a little bit worried. I think I might run 15 or 18, as much as my body feels ready for and just hope that's enough.
I am proud that I finished the race. At about mile 5 I started to feel the hamstring hurt and managed to sort of limp the last couple of miles in. The only reason I even ran the last mile was because I was determined to have a time better than 2:45. Someone I know and am not too fond of was recently bragging about his "GREAT" half marathon time of 2:45. Before Sunday my worse time was 2:30 and I'm pretty slow. So I was determined to have a better time than he did. I finished in 2:38:38. Not great, but respectable I guess. This was probably one of the only half marathons I've run in which I thought "now I know why people think distance running is so impressive." I struggled to finish, but I did it. Now I just have to get myself mentally ready to run another 26.2 and hope I can do it without injury.

I'm fairly certain I hurt myself going around slower runners and hopping up onto a curb or two. The thing is I KNOW not to do that. In previous races I even reminded myself that no matter what I wouldn't do that. For some reason in Houston I lost all control of my senses and did it anyway. Lesson learned.

But what was most frustrating about the whole ordeal is that the race medics weren't much help. Those along the race course told me: stretch it out. The medical tent at the finish line refused to help me because I wasn't "a medical emergency." I mean all I needed was some ice and someone to wrap my leg. It wasn't asking for an IV drip. Hopefully they'll take notice of what I wrote in my postmarathon survey and fix that next year.

I was happy to have someone to run with. Running with Jordan, who I haven't run with since Nashville in 2004, was really great. It's always nice to have someone to keep you going!

In other fitness news, I've started doing Bikram Yoga. It's the type of yoga where the room is heated and humid. The first class I thought I was going to get sick and pass out. In that order. But now I'm pretty addicted to it. I think the heated room has been good therapy for my pulled hamstring. I'm going to walk a few miles today after work and see how the hammy feels. Wish me luck!!