It was the worst half marathon since my injured race in Las Vegas last year.
The weather was hot and humid to start. I wasn't sure I would make it after the first couple miles.
Then floodgates opened at miles 3 and 4. I was cursing myself for not wearing a hat. It was miserable but at the same time a relief because it cooled it down for a bit. Mile 3 was my fastest mile and that was over 13 minutes so you can tell this race sucked. We also ran past the Alamo during this mile.
At the start of mile 5, a guy stopped to light up a cigarette. No, seriously, he started smoking mid-race. LOL! The people around me looked at him like he was crazy. I found it humorous.
During mile 6, I bit my tongue. I'm not really sure how. I wasn't eating anything but I was chewing gum. Very odd. It hurt like hell and I actually cried from the pain. Most people have cramping issues or strained muscles...I bite my freaking tongue. Days later, the only lingering pain from the race was my tongue. ha!
Mile 7 is the blue mile where they have pictures of military members who were killed. It is a very sad mile and I tried to keep my emotions in check but the pictures of guys with their babies or young kids get me every time. More tears.
Miles 8 and 9 were not very memorable other than running through mud and puddles from the rain that happened earlier in the day.
Mile 10 is when I started having issues with my shoe insert. I think running 10 miles in wet shoes and socks was the reason my insert was slipping and folding on top of itself. I stopped a few times to fix it. Finally I got fed up and took it out. Yep, I carried that insert for 3 miles. It is even in my finisher photos. LOL! I struggled with this mile trying to determine if I should take the other one out too so I'm not running "uneven" but I was too tired and lazy to do that.
Mile 11 was the Mariachi mile. There were bands every 100 or so feet. It was needed as this was the only major hill of this entire course. Yep, the major hill was during mile 11. Mean!
Mile 12 is where the sun came out and the got hot fast. I was so relieved to be almost done! I also felt sorry for the marathoners who had to keep going straight while we turned to run to the finish.
Mile 13 I met Nacho. I can't remember his really name but everybody calls him Nacho. This was his first half marathon, he lost 100 pounds this year and ran the race to celebrate. That is my kind of guy! I ran with him most of the last mile.
Overall, I finished 2 minutes faster than I anticipated so that was cool. 3:13:41!
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