Rain, Pain and Personal Gain

We did it.

Carrie finished the Houston Half Marathon in 2:10:24 establishing a new PR (personal record) and exorcising the demons of her first Houston Half Marathon in 2005. When our paths crossed around mile five, I was ecstatic to see her with a smile on her face and running effortlessly—a testament to all of the hard work she has put in over the past 12 months.

As for me, I finished the whole marathon in 4:11:39—also establishing a new PR. And although it was still several minutes slower than what I was hoping for, I was just really happy that despite all of the pain in my knee I was able to finish.

The race itself was not without its own drama. In fact, there was some doubt as to whether or not it would it actually happen. Severe storms were in the forecast all week and as late as eight o'clock on the night before the race we were getting text messages from race officials warning about the possibility of lightning—and even hail—which would require everyone to be pulled off the course and placed in shelter. While luckily neither happened, we did run virtually the entire race in the rain with temperatures topping out in the low 70s, a stark contrast to the mid 20s we'd been training in.

This is the fourth year we've participated in the event, however it was the first time all members of CL4 (me, Carrie, Curt and Cheryl) participated together with Cheryl joining Carrie in the half and Curt setting the pace in the full. It's an incredible event, the best I've ever been a part of. It's extremely well run, fan support is great (despite the weather) and you get great swag. For running,and completing the full marathon, I got a T-shirt, a running shirt, a beer mug, a hot meal and numerous other freebies. Enough to make me want to endure training through the winter to do it again. If you're a runner looking for a future event, I highly recommend it.

Now I'm in the process of looking for my next challenge. The emotions and sense of accomplishment associated with running a marathon make it strangely addictive.

P.S., like all runs like this there were lots of funny homemade signs, my personal favorites were: "Worst Parade Ever" and "Just Don't Poop Yourself."