Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Rock N Roll San Antonio Half Marathon race recap

Continuing from my RnR San Antonio 10K recap and my weekend highlights summary.
--
The Half Marathon
I was up before sunrise to head to the half marathon and marathon start/finish village at the Alamodome.

These two races were clearly much larger than the previous day's 10K. Egress was very difficult. Many areas were fenced off, the walkways were narrow, and the lots were separated by underpasses requiring cramped stairway usage. It was really chaotic.

Nobody was enforcing the corrals. After I crossed the start line, the course was already filled with a number of walkers. Some were walking up to five in tandem! I gritted my teeth as I was weaving around them.

(NOTE: I elected to keep my phone in my runner's belt during the race. Therefore, all photos are from other sources.)

We ran through downtown San Antonio, passing the Alamo around Mile 1.25.

Source
I was running around a 10:15 pace, which my lungs were very comfortable with. Unfortunately, my hips and piriformis were already starting to alert me of their presence. I was thinking, "I am just getting started and already I'm hurting? Oh god. This might be a really long day with a really long road ahead of me."

After Mile 2, I took the pace down but the discomfort didn't subside. I kept telling myself, "You're not running this for time. All that matters is getting to the finish line. Think about those medals!" Even so, I was nervous. I paid almost no attention to my surroundings, instead focusing solely on hitting the course tangents. The more you can minimize the distance, the better, right?

I think this picture was taken somewhere around Mile 3:

Finally around Mile 4, my hips and piriformis started loosening up a little. I then relaxed enough to start taking in my surroundings.

We passed by Brackenridge Park and the Japanese Tea Gardens, which were lovely:
Source
We also passed by the entrance to the San Antonio Zoo:
Source
I was in a decent rhythm. Unfortunately, my rhythm was short-lived. As we entered Trinity University's campus around Mile 5.5, the course got very hilly. It stayed that way for the next 1.5 miles.

I was trying to run up the hills in "low gear" by shortening my stride. Every time we turned a corner and saw another uphill, I heard audible grumbling and cursing from runners around me (which echoed my thoughts exactly). There was a sign that said "I eat hills for breakfast" and it made me groan. I told myself, "Come on, you can do this. Think of the medals. You want those medals!"

The crowd support at Trinity was fantastic. There were so many people lining the streets, waving signs, giving high-fives, handing out orange slices and other refreshments. The campus was pretty, too.
Source
I should have enjoyed both the crowds and the campus more, but I was almost completely focused on simply surviving the hills. It was a relief when the course flattened out again after Mile 7.

We ran through some business districts. Unfortunately, the temperature was rising, the sun was beating down, and there was almost no shade on the course. I don't remember much other than cursing inwardly for being overdressed and for not wearing a hat. It felt like no matter which direction I turned, the sun was glaring in my eyes.

I started counting down each subsequent mile after Mile 8. "Just five miles to go... just four miles to go... you run this distance in training all the time, you can do this." My hips and piriformis were aching, and now my feet joined in. I tried to alter my footstrike to vary the points of impact.

We ran through some residential neighborhoods filled with beautiful, stately mansions like this:
Source
My mind registered that we must have been running through a historic district. Beyond that, I was in a fog. I was only taking occasional glances at my surroundings. (Based on subsequent research, I think this area was the King William District.)

Somewhere around Mile 10, I started feeling occasional flashes of groin discomfort. What a terrible surprise. It's been years since I've experienced groin pain while running. I've since worked hard to strengthen the areas of weakness which caused this in the past. I was praying to myself, "Please, please, please no explosions! Please hang on for a few more miles!" (Looking back, I'm wondering if my attempt at altering my footstrike contributed to this?)

We ran through some nondescript, industrial areas to which I paid little attention. I saw a 40K sign and tried to calculate the distance in my head. It took me several moments to determine that the marathon and half marathon courses had merged back together. It was a nice distraction to see some of the marathon front-runners zooming by.

I knew the course finished on Cherry Street. When we turned onto Cherry Street, I didn't notice until I realized I could see the finish line looming in the distance. YES!!!

It was more of a relief than anything else to cross the finish line! My official time was 2:18:38.

In retrospect...
I wish I had made the experience more joyous for myself. My concern over my physical discomforts overshadowed everything else. The groin pain, in particular, was unnerving. Thankfully, recovery came quickly and I felt completely fine by the next day.

I now think my mental hurdles from the idea of running a back-to-back 10K and half marathon were an even bigger obstacle than the physical hurdles. I know I could have prepared better, which would have made a big difference. However, I am not motivated right now to train for this type of challenge in the future. That is A-OK. You live and you learn.

Or maybe I should say, you run and you learn. =)

And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes my racing season for 2015. Woo hoo!!!

Cheers to a new year coming soon!

22 comments:

  1. I've been there with muscle pain and stuff. Not as early as you though. It's difficult to keep things fun when different muscle groups are protesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is a bummer that you've experienced similar muscle pains protesting at these critical moments. It really is so tough to look beyond the discomfort and keep things fun. This is where it comes back to running being so mental, yes?

      Delete
  2. I love your finishing photo - not the look of victory, but just simply relief. I know the feeling all too well. At least, with all your aches and pains, you made it through! And you still looked pretty good to boot!

    Congrats on a great race season, and good luck next year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Natalie, I know you totally understand. I was honestly just happy to finished without any explosions of pain! I once saw a race sign at Disney which said, "The happiest place on earth is the finish line" and I completely agree with that!

      Thank you so much - congrats to you also on a fantastic race year, especially with your new addition to the family coming up! Next year is going to be a great one for both of us. BTW - when are you going to do your big gender reveal??? I'm dying to know!!!

      Delete
  3. Those tights! Sounds like a mostly pretty course minus the hills, I can do without those. It seems like RnR races are pretty lax about enforcing their corrals and the tandem walkers up front are frustrating. Sorry about the niggles. I hope the groin thing disappears as quickly as it came on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Marcia, would you believe that when I was buying those tights, I thought about all the fab tights you wear? I need to get in on your sources. =) YES on nixing the darned hills. I do wish RnR would be better about enforcing their corrals - but on the other hand, I don't think many of us select RnR events for PR targets anyways. Thank you for the well-wishes on my niggles - here is hoping they behave themselves!!!

      Delete
  4. Congrats on your half! 2:18 is not at all too shabby for the day after a 10K in my opinion :) I haven't run too many destination races, and one of the big things that's kept me from doing so (aside from the obvious $$$ factor) is fearing hills on the course. I would not be at all ready for that coming from Chicago training!

    Bethany @ Accidental Intentions

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Bethany! I completely understand - I've been terrified of doing certain destination races (the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, most notably) because I fear hills. Even the race I did in Crown Point, Indiana - less than an hour away from Chicago - was so darned hilly! It's a big hump to get over, both literally and figuratively!

      Delete
  5. Congrats! You had a great year of running. I'm sorry you were in pain for this last race.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Sara! Much appreciate your sympathy for the pain - I know you understand what it feels like during those tough miles, too!

      Delete
  6. Sounds like this course was prettier than the 10K. Too bad you weren't able to enjoy it as much as you would have liked. But, hey, you did it and you have the bling!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The HM course was MUCH nicer than the 10K - too bad indeed I wasn't able to enjoy it. Note to self for next time - and YES, the bling is all that matters in the end. =)

      Delete
  7. Congrats! I would love to do this race...I'd love to see more of SA! Glad your pain went away...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Wendy! Since your 2016 running plans involve lots of great destination races, I vote you add RnR SA to your list!!! =D

      Delete
  8. Congrats on the back-to-back races! I could not even comprehend doing two in a row, so kudos to you! Sounds like this course was better than the 10k course. Anyway, you're done - congrats on finishing out your 2015 running season! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Pete! I don't have the inclination to do a back-to-back again anytime in the future. I have a lot more respect now for professional athletes who play games on back-to-back nights. It is killer. Congratulations to you too on finishing out your 2015 racing season! It feels great to be in the off-season, yes?

      Delete
  9. Love your tights!!! You have a great finish time for a race in which you had so much discomfort.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Zenaida! I'm getting more and more into the crazy fun patterned tights. Anything to keep us motivated to get out there, yes? And I know you understand all too well those brutal races!

      Delete
  10. Ah I remember that course well. Great job finishing strong despite some struggles. Those hills are a B!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Michelle! I can certainly imagine you know the course super well, having lived in SA for 6.5 years! Being a Midwestern flatlander, I tend to make mountains out of molehills (literally) - so I took some solace in the fact that many local runners were frustrated by the hills, too!

      Delete
  11. I am happy the groin pain went away. Geesh! Don't want that back!

    Ha! I have finished a half just to get a medal. I totally understand doing it for MEDALS!!!

    Did the full marathoners merge on to your course? They kept us separated from the half marathoners on Sunday, which I thought was nice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Kim - the groin pain was one of the worst injuries I've ever dealt with in my life, let alone my running career. YES on the medals! They symbolize the struggles, trials, and tribulations for us so the nice medals are a huge memento for me!!!

      I think it was somewhere around Mile 11 that the full marathon course merged back with the half course - but the road was split for each. Left side halfers, right side full marathoners. When I went through that stretch, the right side was nearly empty the whole time. I only saw like five marathoners total on that part of the course (passing all of us halfers up like the wind, too, LOL)!

      Delete