Here we are, another Monday, another weekend come and gone in the blink of an eye. I truly believe that the more fun you’re having the quicker time goes by…and we wonder why the weeks seem to go by so slowly sometimes 🙂 This past weekend was so much fun but I feel like it went by far too quickly. I mean, I wasn’t even in San Antonio for 48 hours!!! The 3 hour drive down I-10 was made significantly better by a pit stop at Bucee’s!
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| All my Bucee’s loot!!! |
I got to San Antonio Friday night just in time for a late dinner and lots of catch up conversations with Julie and Andrea. Saturday however, was jam packed with all sorts of fun events! We started off the morning by taking Julie’s puppy Buck for a walk around the 2 mile trail near her house. He was a good boy and enjoyed trotting and sniffing around the great outdoors. He is a 6 month old, 60 pound hound mix and is absolutely adorable. I can’t wait for him and Maggie to become best friends and then boyfriend/girlfriend when they’re older 🙂 After the walk we picked up Julie’s sister Anna (it was her first half marathon weekend!), went to lunch and then headed to the expo!
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| Super excited for 3 years in a row! |
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| We couldn’t resist the Elvis photo op! |
We wandered around the expo for a few hours. We got a lot of freebies, tasty treats, coupons and even a free 10 minute massage! We had to wait about 35-40 minutes for the massage, but it was TOTALLY worth it. I mean it was FREE! During the wait I pre-registered for next year’s Rock ‘n Roll San Antonio half and got a great discount on it. Andrea and Julie also signed up for the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February {I already signed up}. I can’t wait for us to run this race together! We also had the opportunity to talk to Rod Dixon who won the New York City Marathon in 1983! He was at the K-Swiss both and talked to us about running and training for about 10 minutes. I even managed to snag a picture with him!
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| Anne, me, Rod Dixon, Anna and Julie |
The expo was fun, not too crowded and well organized with some great vendors. I was disappointed with the Larabar freebie options {not as great at in Philly} and I was sad that Jelly Belly wasn’t there! I love their Sports Beans when running.
Saturday evening we were lucky enough to have dinner with my amazing in laws! What are the odds that Kate’s{my sister in law} soccer team, UT Dallas, would receive a bid to the NCAA tournament and their game would be in San Antonio the same weekend I’m in SA? You call it luck, I call it fate. I am so happy that I was able to see my family and watch Kate play in her final college soccer game. I love you Kate and can’t wait to see you in just over a week for Thanksgiving!
Sunday was race day and we were ready to go!
It was a tough race due to weather conditions and my health. The morning started out great with temps in the low 60’s and an overcast. About half way through the race, the sun came out in full force and some humidity rolled in with it. By the end of the race, it was bright and already at 80 degrees. Not ideal race weather. Don’t get me wrong, it was a gorgeous day, but not great for running. Now let’s go ahead and add on top the fact that I’ve been sick with a respiratory illness and I already have asthma. Needless to say, it was not an easy race for me. Despite everything I had going against me, I still managed to stay strong and finish in 2:01:05. Not my best time, not my worst time, but I consider it a feat considering the circumstances. I ended up having to walk a good portion of miles 9-12 with breathing difficulties. I was proud of myself for listening to my body because I have a bad habit of being stubborn and pushing through {there are pros and cons to this depending on the circumstances}.
The course was the same as last year and I enjoyed it again! I think the best parts are running by the Alamo and the number of people lining the course. Seriously there are very few areas that don’t have people and it’s pretty packed in some areas! Hearing people cheer you on and reminding you that you can do it is incredibly helpful especially when you’re hurting like I was. After the crossed the finish line and gather my stash of goodies, I called JP and started crying telling him how I was just so glad that I ddin’t have to run anymore. I’ve never felt like that after a race and I will blame the feeling on being sick. I won’t let that attitude discourage me too much 🙂 Poor JP had to put up with me while I was super emotional though.
I want to give a quick shout out to Miss Andrea Claire Soule for her PR at 2:20:46!!! I’m also super proud of Julie and her sister Anna! It was Anna’s first race and Julie was a great little sis and ran with her to help her push through the whole way! All in all, it was a good race and I can’t wait for round 4 next year!
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| Amy, Anna, Julie, Andrea, Danielle – FINISHED! |
Next up is Aramco Houston Half Marathon on January 15th. Let’s cross our fingers that I’m healthy and it’s not raining like it did last year! Did anyone else run a race this weekend? Any other half marathoners or half marathon hopefuls out there? I would love to hear from you! Running is my passion!!!
Until next time…
With love and God bless,
