My First Half-Marathon: the Austin Marathon

-Lessons from Ground Zero to 13.1 in 8 months-


8 months ago, after giving birth, I could hardly walk to the end of our street. I never imagined I would be able to say the words, “I have finished a Half Marathon.” But Sunday, as of 10:30am, I can now say I am among a small, CRAZY percentage of humanity who has accomplished this goal (some of us slower than others.)
I am partially still in shock, partially so proud, and mostly just SORE and popping ibuprofen like it’s my job. For those of you who are wondering, here is how the race went for me:

My sleep the night before was scarce, and my thoughts were all over the place. I even remember thinking, “what if all my clothes disintegrate?” Can we say irrational? Woke up at 5:45, ate a bit, peed a TON, dressed and stretched. Lesson #1: dressing weather-appropriate is HUGE. #2: Proper hydration is a tricky balance; you don’t want to have to wait in a 50 person line for the port-o-potty at mile 4, like I saw people doing. And #3: WHY in the WORLD don’t I stretch more?! Stretching helps everything.

At 6:45 I went out into the chaos, of 14,000 runners/walkers, who were milling around, some of whom were quite entertaining and/or anxious. Marathons are a great place for people-watching. Lesson #4: picking a hotel close to the start is another huge deal. Parking should NOT be your main concern on the morn of your race. And #5: pick a race that has good weather. The cooler, the better for your body, as your internal temp and the outside temp will rise.

At 7:00 sharp, the crowd began moving. It took me 8 minutes to cross the start line, but I was soon rewarded with the gorgeous dawn view on the Congress St. bridge and the first of many live bands along the course. Lesson #6: choose a course that interests you, a beautiful place, entertainment, etc. This will help you get through the miles.


The first 5K was a steady uphill, that surprised me, since I always train on flat terrain. Lesson #7: don’t do what I did. The only good news about the uphill was that I could look behind me for miles and realize my fear of coming in dead last was unfounded. I was surprised how many people were behind me! We were the rewarded, with the second 5K being a long, gradual downhill. Things got better for me after that. In all the splits they gave me online, my place got better and better as the race went on. Lest I sound cocky, over seven THOUSAND people finished before me. But I feel proud that I gained on a couple hundred.

I took a GU at miles 4, 7 and 10; these were helpful. I mostly walked, but would jog or sprint a minute with Los just to change it up for our muscles here and there. All in all, I probably ran less than 1.5 miles, but it felt good to engage different muscles and get a change of pace. In my training, I didn’t really run at all, so I wanted to be conservative with running, so as not to overexert myself.

We had hills at miles 8, 10 and 12, the last of which sucked my will to live. Lesson #8: I have a lot to learn about using my arms to propel me. Once we crested the final hill, at mile 12.5, I got really emotional. It finally set in that a goal I’ve had in mind for 30 years, (which seemed about as attainable as me going to the moon) was going to come to fruition. I blinked back tears as I told myself I needed to conserve that energy for a little while longer.




We rounded the corner, on to the campus of the Texas State Capitol, a gorgeous, massive, red granite building. By then Los started crying too, out of pride for me. He split off (he did the race last minute as a bandit, to keep me company) and I ran the last bit through the chute to the sound of tons of applause. Since I didn’t have a watch, I was quite surprised to see that I had beat my estimated time by over 20 minutes!! I was elated. I still had tons of energy left in my tank, and didn’t feel too sore in any of my muscles. I was even able to run later, playing with Burly after the race.

I know that I have a LOT of room for improvement, and could probably shave more than an hour off my time if I ran more. But for never having done this distance before (except for hiking), and for walking the vast majority of it, a 3:27 was a fine time to start off with- a 15 minute pace. I just wanted to see that I could do it. And now I feel like I can do anything. Lesson #9: NEXT time I will stick to a training plan better. I did ZERO core work or cross-training, and I know both of those will help me be stronger and more fit. DO YOU HEAR THAT old man in the raggedy sweatshirt, jeans and fanny pack, who beat me?! I’m coming after you. I still may place in the 7000’s out of 9000. But I’m taking you down.