How I Ran a Half Marathon Unprepared

I apologize for the lack of photos here! It was an exhausting weekend, and photos were the furthest thing from my mind, but I hope my fellow runners enjoy this post 🙂

Back Story

2018 was going to be my year! After my first half marathon of the year in March I made it my goal to run a sub 1:40. That means running the half marathon of 13.1 miles in under 1 hour 40 minutes. I was so excited after Rock n’ Roll Dallas Half Marathon in March that I decided to register for Rock n’ Roll San Antonio in December (Yep, 9 months out!). No regrets there. That’s what I did the year before and that’s how I handle my business. One of my resolutions for the year was to run 3 half marathons and I had plentyyy of time train and meet my goal.

It wasn’t my first half marathon, so training should have been a breeze. If you read this post here I talk all about how I have found success in running and I provide you with my 10-week training plan. Let’s throw that out of the window right now because I did not train for 10 weeks. More like 15 days! Those training runs were brutal! And I mean, b r u t a l. I was out of breath, had a painful side stitch, and I overall did not feel good about my running abilities. Those feelings didn’t matter. I made a promise to myself 9 months earlier and I had no choice but to follow through. I have excuses galore, but the truth is this: if I wanted to PR, I would have made the time to do so.

Race Day

I had just finished moving into the new apartment the day before, and here I was hitting the road for a a run I barely prepared for. I should have been stressed out. I should have had a melt down on the drive to San Antonio. I should have been upset with myself, but I wasn’t. I accepted it wasn’t going to be my best day, and I was completely ok with that! I slept like a baby and was at the start line the next morning by 7 am.

I made my peace with it and forgot all about a sub 1:40, but figured I could at the very least run a 1:45. God laughed at me, but he didn’t abandon me. He sent me three people along my race who lifted me up. I started the race strong. My heart, lungs, knees, and music were feel great. My spirit was soaring high and I thought, “this isn’t so bad!” A man in his early sixties approached me mile 3. The man said he had been following me for a while and my pace was great. He commended me, and then gracefully ran past me until I could no longer see him. In all the runs I have run, this had never happened before! I was pleased with myself. This man who was in incredible shape and has been running for years (I assume), thought I, the girl who was unprepared, was doing well.

It was a sign that I was right where I needed to be. A second person, a nameless girl, ran up beside me and said something similar. She too had been following me for a little bit and said I was running at a good pace for her. Her goal was a 1:45 and I said, “me too!” We stuck together for a little while but lost each other through the swarm of bobbing heads and shaky legs. Come mile 5, my running high was long gone. I had slowed down some and I felt like I couldn’t go on. Then, nameless girl shows up by my side again. I looked at her and told her I was tired. She could tell and said, “I know, just stick with me.” We picked up the pace a bit and ran 4 miles together before I tapped her shoulder and told her to go on without me.

I was devastated! My lungs were feeling fine but one of my knees gave out. So there I am at mile 9 with a heavy heart and a bad knee, feeling so sorry for myself. The feeling was miserable. Up there with heart break I’d say. I decided to walk/run myself through the last 4 miles. Yes, it was physically and mentally challenging, but it really sucked seeing so many people pass me by.

Then, on mile 12, when all hope was gone I was all alone on the race course, the most joyful man appeared. There weren’t many people around. He could have ignored me limping and gone on with his run, but he stopped to encourage me. Boy, did I need that! The last part of the run was physically miserable, but I felt better. After limping for 4 miles, I finally crossed the finish line!!! I ran a 1:56 – good considering I was handicapped for a third of the race.

I was making my way back to my hotel, when I spotted nameless girl! I was so happy to see her. We chatted a little about running and I had to thank her. Thank you again Kristen for your encouragement and support! Thank you God for making even the hardest of races a pleasant one. There are no runs in my future, but I’ll be back to it sometime this year.

And finally, thank YOU for reading and keeping up with me.

XO, Vivian