Rock n Roll San Antonio

This weekend was the much anticipated Rock n’ Roll San Antonio Half Marathon. We left our house Saturday morning and began what turned into a 5 hour drive to the Alamo City (it’s really only a 3 hour drive but thanks to me forgetting an important piece of the breastpump we had to turn around after we’d already been gone an hour). Evie cried almost the entire trip and by the time we arrived I was about ready to jump out of the car.

We immediately checked in to the hotel and went to pick up our race packets.

A little sidenote: Evie discovered the power of her voice on Friday. By this I mean she discovered how to scream (not cry) at the top of her lungs so loudly that it makes you suffer temporary hearing loss. She now does this at every possible opportunity. Sidenote over.

My parents are awesome and came with us to babysit during the race so after we picked up our packets we all went to dinner. Unfortunately, we spent the entire meal trying to get Evie to stop screaming. How do you teach a 6-month old baby that it’s not okay to yell in a restaurant?

“No honey, we don’t yell. It’s not considerate to the other people here.”

Uh no. Let me just go ahead and tell you that doesn’t work. Instead my mom, the saint, bounced, sang to and played with her so I could eat. Thank you, mom.

On the way back to the hotel we walked by the Alamo which is beautiful at night. My dad, being the very proud and loyal Texan he is was determined to have little Evie touch it. Apparently it’s a “federal offense” to have a 6-month old baby put one finger on the structure, we were sternly warned by a policeman who was hiding in the bushes. Uh huh. Poo-poo head. That’s what I think about that.

We woke up at 5:30 the next morning for the race. We dropped off the baby with my parents at 6 and by 6:30 we were at the start line.

For me, the race was great. My carb loading on Friday and Saturday was extremely successful and if you can call 13 miles easy, I think this race qualifies. I finished in exactly 2:10:00  which oddly enough is my EXACT same finishing time for the Virginia Beach half we ran a year ago, down to the second! I am still perplexed by how odd that coincidence is. I was mildly sore the remainder of the day Sunday and Monday but by Tuesday afternoon I was ache and pain free. Yay!

For Jason, the race was slightly different. After developing a massive leg cramp around mile 4 he limped through the remaining 9 miles. Though somehow he still managed to break the 2 hour mark, go honey! This small personal victory was overshadowed by something much, much more serious. As he was crossing the finish line Jason saw a fellow runner collapse and die. Not figuratively. Literally. It’s one thing to know that a runner dies during an endurance event but it’s something entirely different to actually see it happen. Right there. The man who had been running beside him for the last mile just keeled over and died. It has been haunting him for the last 3 days. It’s a shockingly real reminder of how dangerous endurance running is, especially in the heat. Not something to be taken lightly.

After the race, we reunited with my parents, showered and went to Tony Romas on the Riverwalk where we proceeded to eat a massive hamburger. A small reward for months of training and one really long run.

My parents left after the burger and our little family spent the remainder of the afternoon laying in bed sleeping off our exhausting morning. I had a massage that evening and the most wonderful husband ever babysat. Early Monday morning we hopped in the car and drove back home. This time, with a much more content child. Thank goodness.