Van Hoy: Half Marathon

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Half Marathon

This past weekend was my half marathon. I now have completed 3 half marathons- something I never thought I would do :). After everyone of them I say I will never run another one again, only to find myself training for another one haha. This one was in Groveton, TX. Don't know where that is?? Well I am still not really sure either lol. It's in the piney woods- a very small town about 4 hours from here. Stephanie found the race so we made a whole weekend of it. Hilary (our college roommate) lives in Huntington (which is about 50 minutes from Groveton). So me, Steph and the girls went up Thursday night to spend some time with her. We got 3 carseats and all our luggage and baby stuff into Stephs Honda (see pic below). It was pretty tight but we managed to fit everything. The ride to Huntington went pretty well. Payton did great. Hadley slept the whole way. And Kinsley was good for the most part- a few stretches of impatience. We spent Thursday Night and Friday with Hilary- catching up, shopping, and eating. Friday night we headed to Groveton. Jonny and Stephen rode up together and met us there. And Steph's family also came Friday night. Since Groveton is so small the closest hotel was about an hour away so we decided to camp. It was the girls (and mine) first camping experience. Although, it really wasn't great camping- we just pitched our tents near the stadium where the race started (no fire or anything). So needless to say the night was a little rough. There were security lights, lots of noises, babies, and such.... So we all didn't get much sleep at all. I think I woke about every 45 minutes. So the morning came. Race Started at 7am. I woke up most of the night but got out of bed about 6. I woke up feeling awful- seriously so sick and nauseous. I didn't think I was gonna be able to run- I thought I was gonna throw up. So I forced myself to eat a banana and then headed to the start line anyways. And I just started running. I still felt awful the whole race but I just kept going. I ran my first 8 miles pretty well. But once I hit mile 9- I was not in good shape. I walked/ran most of the last 4 miles. Oh, and my phone died at mile 9 too. It was terrible- running with no music is not fun. But the most important thing is I finished :) Ran it in 2:25:56. I was soo bummed. I had been training so long and getting really good. The most I have ever trained for a half marathon. Two weekends before the race I ran my 12 miles in 1:48:00... So it wasn't the outcome I wanted but I finished. And I think I caught a bug or something (plus lack of sleep) cause I did not feel good for a few days. After the race we all went and ate and then we headed home. The girls slept the whole way home (and so did I ). It was a really fun weekend and I loved spending it with my friends! We had a lot of fun and made some great memories :)