2014 Aramco Houston Half Marathon

Sooooooo last Sunday I ran in the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in Houston, Texas!  This was my first big half marathon (about 25,000 people in this one) so needless to say I was pretty nervous!

Josh and I got to Houston on Friday afternoon so we could have time to settle in and we were able to  pick up our packets that day as well so we could beat the crowd on Saturday.

Packet pick up is a BREEZE at this race!  An email was sent to me that I needed to print out and take with me to the expo.  Once there, I had to find the booth that my bib number fell under and give them my paper to scan and then I was given my bib and other race info.  After that I proceeded to the t-shirt tables to get my participant t-shirt and then find the “hero” booth so I could get my “hero” bib.  A “hero” is someone who fundraised a certain amount of money for a local Houston charity.  I fundraised for my sister’s former employer, Bering Omega Community Services, a non profit that provides dental, day center, and hospice services to those in the area affected by HIV/AIDS.

My sister lives in Houston, so Josh and I stayed with her while we were there.  Friday we rested up and Saturday we went to the Galleria for a bit (the Galleria is a million-block-long mall that has every store ever in it).

Sunday, race day, came way sooner than I expected!  We got to the civic center around 5:30 in the morning, the race started at 7, so we had plenty of time to check our bags and get ready to run!  Sara came to watch us, so it was nice that we didn’t have to drive ourselves and all of that.

 

My sister and I before the race, she made really baller signs for Josh and I!

As I made my way to my corral to wait to start, I got really nervous and anxious as I usually do, and that’s about the time when those really awesome thoughts start coming  into my head like: what have I gotten myself into?  Why did I sign up to do this? and so on, and so forth.  But as I finally crossed the start line, there were SO many people yelling and cheering for us, all of them strangers to me and I was instantly calmed and happy and excited!  I get nervous before many races but soon after I start I remember why I run in the first place.  Races have such great energy, those running in the race are inspired by spectators and other racers, and spectators are inspired by those running and participating in the race.  The atmosphere is so awesome that it is hard to feel discouraged no matter how bad you may feel during the race.  I was definitely feeling bad at certain points throughout the race but then I remembered that I had worked 6 out of the 7 days before the race on 12 hour night shifts and only had 2 days to try to get back on a “normal” sleep schedule and the weather didn’t give me many opportunities to run outside.  So, I took the race for what it was and decided to enjoy the day rather than stress and feel bad about myself during the race!

I can barely describe how I felt as I rounded the final turn and ran to the finish line.  There were so many people cheering and I found my sister in the crowd and I was so happy and proud that I had finished the race!  I got my medal, slowly walked to get my finisher’s shirt, and hobbled to bag check to get my bag so I could change and then find Josh and my sister.

 

Josh and I after the race, don’t we look so tired? haha

All in all, it was a great weekend and I was glad to have time away with Josh and that I got to visit my sister, and run a really awesome race!  I highly recommend considering this race if you have a chance to go to Houston!

 

As always, thanks for reading!!

My Runniversary!

Sooooo this very day one year ago I began my running journey.  I definitely didn’t think that it would last as long as it has, I didn’t even think I would run enough to be able to finish the marathon!

January 17, 2013 was a very cold and snowy one (unusual for Paris), just perfect for running… NOT.  It wasn’t easy to stop myself from getting discouraged about the coniditions or that I had never been a runner before, I hadn’t run in a few months, and that I had signed up for a very expensive possibly once in a lifetime marathon that would take place in less than 3 months!

Somehow I persevered and kept running, and running, and running and have loved every minute of it!  It can be hard when I’m caught up in the moment to be hard on myself or get discouraged, but I can honestly say that I am so proud of my running accomplishments from the past year!

2013

• Began running
• Completed my first Marathon
• Completed 2 10K’s while I was in France (met my goal of a sub hour time at my 2nd in June)
• Completed multiple 5K’s and won my age group in a couple
• Completed my first half marathon
• Became more knowledgeable about the sport
• Started this super fabulous blog!
• Ran 1062 miles!

If you ever said to me a year ago that I would do any of those things I would have laughed in your face and probably never talked to you again cause I would’ve thought you were a crazy person!  I am happy to say that I think I’ve found my forever hobby and I can’t wait to see where running takes me in the future!

Oh, I’m sorry, you want to know how I’m celebrating my runniversary?  I’m going to run in the Aramco Houston Half Marathon on Sunday! This will be my first big half marathon and I can’t wait to run, I’m getting so anxious and excited!!  Josh and I got to Houston Today and we went to the expo to pick up our packets and check out all the swag and vendors that were there.  The expo was awesome with so much there to look at and so many great deals on running gear!  I EVEN GOT TO MEET MEB!!!!  I knew he was going to be running in the half marathon on Sunday and I figured he would be around at some point, but we were walking around and THERE HE WAS!!!!  He signed my bib AND…

This was just about the perfect way to cap off my first year of running!

How did you make it through your first year of running?

What are your favorite moments from your first year of running?

What keeps you running?

Thanks for checking out m’blog!

What I’ve been up to lately

Sooooo not a whole lot going on here lately, just trying to keep my Runner’s World Running Streak going!  It was pretty tough the first few days that I worked to make myself run when I got home, but I can say now that it’s gotten easier!  I feel like I’ve noticed me even feeling more energized throughout the day, so this streak is doing great things for me!

I finished up with school yesterday.  This semester was frustrating at times.. many, many times.. but I’m glad that I’m done with it and that I won’t have as many classes next semester AND I’m that much closer to being done!  Another fun thing yesterday, I was running and a man with a dog ran past me, we both said hello to each other and as soon as he did I thought to myself, that’s your old microbiology instructor!  (At least I was pretty sure that’s who it was)  So I continued with my run and thought to myself if I pass him again then I’ll ask him if he is who I think he is.  Sure enough after I turned around I saw him running my way and I instantly got nervous, I mean what if I ask this guy if he’s someone and he is TOTALLY NOT THAT PERSON?!?  Anyway I asked, and he said he was indeed my microbiology instructor (from 3 years ago and a lot of people take this class each semester) and before I could tell him who I was he said “Samantha Brown, right?”  You coulda knocked me over with a feather, I never thought that he would remember who I was!  So we had a nice little chat and then we continued on our way.  I like running for that reason, you start out and you never know who or what you’ll see along the way!  Little surprises like that make running that much more fun for me.

Today we got snow and couldn’t make it out to the rail trail so we had to go with plan B and run on the treadmill.  Josh hated it and me, I’m getting used to it.  I can’t seem to get myself to be able to run more than about 35 minutes or so at one time, but some running is better than no running!  We also finally put a TV down in the basement so we’ve got some entertainment while we’re running in the same place!

I also found out this week that…

I WON RANDOM DRAW INTO THE NIKE WOMEN’S HALF MARATHON IN D.C. IN APRIL!!!!!!!!  I was so excited to get the email after work one day this week and find out that I got in!!  I don’t know how many people registered but they were only going to select 15000, AND I’M ONE OF THE 15000!!!!!!!!  So excited!  This is just what I’ll need after running in Houston in January to keep me going and excited throughout the rest of winter!

A lot of nice things happening lately, finishing school, a great job, the run streak, and finding out I was selected for another race!  What cool things do you have going on in your life?

Thanks for reading!!

November Goals & October Challenge

Soooooooo I know this is kind of late, but I’ve been busy adjusting back to this whole working, keeping up with school work, and having a life business. Anyway, another West Virginia runner who has an awesome blog (running hills and hollers, right here on WordPress) posts goals at the beginning of the month, and I started thinking that by actually writing down my goals I would be more likely to commit to them, so here goes!

1. I NEED to drink more water!!!!  It can be very hard at work to have time or remember to drink water, so I’m going to try to drink two full water bottles a day ( I have a water bottle that I can keep in my area at work so it’s accessible when I have a minute for a drink!)

2. I HOPE to run at least 85 miles this month.  I went from running 100 in September to 78 in October.  Yes, October was jumbled with starting my new job, but I’ve come up with a plan to ensure that I keep my mileage where it needs to be.

3. I WANT to finish the Miles of Smiles half marathon on the 24th of this month.  Although I have completed a full marathon already, this will be my first half, so I’m not going to give myself a time to shoot for, instead I just want to finish.

4. I WILL try to incorporate cross training into my routine 3 times a week.  Running isn’t the only way to become a better runner, so I’ll try to add in some cross training to strengthen my core and legs.

5. I MUST have a more positive attitude about my running.  I have a tendency to over-think things, especially when it’s related to how well or how poor I have done things.  If I can think more positively about myself I think it will translate into my running.

6. I PROMISE to post to my blog at least 5 times this month.  I always think about posting to my blog and then move onto something else and don’t get back to it or say I’ll do it tomorrow.  So I’ve got to get 5 posts in this month, and I will do it!

What goals do you have for the month of November?  I also have more personal goals for myself to accomplish this month, but I won’t bore you with that!

 

And now for the October Challenge.  Kim, the author of the blog I mentioned earlier, posted an October challenge last month.  The challenge was to take 6 pictures while running that represent fall.  I don’t run with my phone that often, but I did manage to take 5 pictures of the beautiful scenery that I get to enjoy while I run.

West Virginia truly is a beautiful state to run in, especially in the fall when all of the leaves start to turn colors, it adds something to look at and think about during long runs!

I am also proud to announce that I am officially registered to run the Aramco Houston Half Marathon!!!!! The half will take place on January 19th, 2014 in Houston, Texas.  I went to Houston last year to visit my sister and watch her finish the race and it was such an awesome atmosphere, that now that I am into running I decided I would kill two birds with one stone and visit my sister and complete my first big half marathon!  Josh is going to be running in the marathon as well.