Race Report - Austin Livestrong Half Marathon

I had an amazing time in Austin.  It was the perfect mix of relaxation, excitement, great food and fantastic company. 

I've been trying to figure out how to write this post without sounding, mad, upset, disappointed or frustrated.  So....I'll just tell you what happened and we can move on from there.

Pre-race history:  At the end of December, I went to the doctor (both regular and naturopath) to talk about some strange weight gain I had over the prior few months. (note: I am on a very regimented program with a triathlon coach, I am doing a workout of some sort (running, biking, strength, swimming) 6 days a week....um, not really a recipe for weight GAIN).  At the doctor visit, my blood pressure is skyrocketing.  We do a few things, I wait 2 weeks, go back to find out it's still really high.  At that point, I'm put on meds to make it come down.  We're now a month from race day and I am dealing with meds, emotions, etc.   I was having some dizziness (that my doctor kept telling me would go away when my body was used it it) when I ran over 5 miles so my training got restricted by CL to the treadmill and elliptical at the gym. At least I could catch up on my trash tv.

The Coach Lesley team made it down to Austin and we are all giddy with excitement.  There were 8 of us running either the full or half.  The entire week prior I was a little nervous, but knew in the end if I wasn't meant to run the 13 miles, I could walk and be fine. 

Race morning - a normal start to race morning....getting up, getting fueled, getting ready.  I did a lot of stretching that morning, more than I normally do, incorporating my new yoga moves into the mix.  I felt good, I felt ready.

Walking to the start line always produces a lot of emotion for me.  I don't know if that's the case with others but I honestly start tearing up as I get closer to the start.  I look at all of the people around me who have either done this numerous times, or the folks who are getting their first taste of race day.  I think about all of the hard work I've put into getting there and exactly how I want to feel at the end. 

As I said goodbye to the rest of the group as they moved closer to the start line into their pace queue, I felt really peaceful, knowing I'd done everything I could to prepare with all the stuff I had going on.  I knew this wasn't going to be a pr day for me, nor did I want it to be.  I was excited to see the course, which I had been told was challenging (hello 3 mile long hill, then another at mile 12).  I was giddy at the thought of stating and finishing in front/behind this amazing capitol building (I'm an architecture nerd).  I lined up with the 12 minute pace peeps and heard the cheer of the starting gun.  There were so many people that it took almost 15 minutes to cross the start line.

Had a really good start, probably came out a little too fast, but then quickly slowed to what is my comfortable start pace.  I knew I had it easy until mile 3....up Congress on a never ending hill that was just steep enough to be super irritating.  Mid way up the hill I knew I needed to walk a little....hoping to conserve some energy to gain some time on the down hills.  At the top of the hill, mile 5, I started to feel slightly dizzy. I chalked it up to the never ending hill and just kept going.  Other than the mild dizziness, my body was feeling great. 

At mile 6 the course gradually descended back toward downtown, passing all sorts of interesting food truck trailer parks - I always love a good food truck. :-)  My race plan was working, I was feeling really good, fueling well.  It was around mile 7 that things started to a little wonky. 

I started to get a little more dizzy and slowed to a walk, except where the down grade was good (I was going to get forward momentum where I could....down is always a good start).  I remember the Powered by Beef cheering section at mile 8, they were great!  A little boost of energy in what started to be a few frustrating miles.  I started to think - if I just turn left up at the next intersection, I could go to the zoo and see the monkeys.  I kid you not, those were the thoughts going through my head - getting to the zoo.  Does Austin even have a zoo?  At that point I'm not entirely sure I knew I was in Austin.  I also started to weave a little and knew that when I passed the water stops to just keep my head up, take some water, don't open my mouth, just keep going forward.  I was going to cross this finish line, no matter what.

I had a moment of clarity at mile 9 - where a ton of Livestrong volunteers were lined up along the road cheering and screaming as everyone went past.  They were high fiving, waving, singing along to the loud music, cheering - it was the best cheering section I've ever seen!  I knew something was going on with my body that I couldn't at this point control, so I was going to just keep moving forward and do it with a smile on my face.

Thank you to the woman at mile 11 that was handing out cookies as I went by - that was really, really needed at that moment.

A few hundred yards past that was a hill.....well, not a hill... a MOUNTAIN!  Remember - I'm delirious at this point....it really seemed like a mountain.  Head down, singing Truckin' by the Grateful Dead (that's my go to song that pops into my head during races), I made my way pretty quickly up the peak, rejoicing once it became flat at the top.  

I knew I was close and apparently thought I could run the last bit to the finish......that's when I turned the corner at 12.5 and came face to face with ANOTHER climb.  Seriously - this course was not a piece of cake.  This is also the point that the full and half merge and the streets became lined with cheering people.  I couldn't do it, I couldn't run up the hill.  I was so close but I knew if I ran up that hill, my body was going to drop and hit the ground with a large thud.  I walked up to the top which left about 500 yards to descend to the finish.  As the cheering got louder, I got faster.  I passed numerous people on my race to the finish.  I just wanted to be done.

As I was just about to cross the finish line, I looked up and saw my time.  Not a good day, but I finished.....vertically across the finish line.

There's always the next one.

After a nice ice bath and a long chat with CL, we determined that my blood pressure had dropped too low and after a visit to the doctor upon my return, I'm now on a different med, running happily and dizzy-free.  Whoo hoo!  Vancouver is 2 months away and I'm well on my way to a great race day.