Welcome to my Houston Half-Marathon Race Recap! I’m currently in the midst of marathon training and am currently about halfway through, so at the halfway point I signed up to do the Houston Half-Marathon. While my training was not perfect, I was sick a couple of weeks prior and the training that week was lacking I still finished. It was not easy though.
Here are the things that I liked about the Houston Half Marathon:
- The course was relatively flat/easy, there were only a couple of hills where I groaned.
- The race started before the sun came up in downtown Houston, I felt like it looked awesome. It was during the midst of the World Series so the high rises were lit up blue and orange, this one even had the lights set to cheer on the Astros
- It was on Halloween, which was the perfect temperature for a Houston race. Usually, races from April-ish to September are hot and the humidity suffocates you.
- This race also had an expo with different vendors, I was able to get myself a new pair of Goodr sunglasses. A naughty puppy got a hold of my pink ones. I grabbed purple this time. And of course, I was able to get some Honey Stinger for mid-race fuel, believe me. It ended up being the most important item I had during the race.
Overall it was a great race. The crowd was great and there were so many nice people. Heck, I even got to run with my sister’s sister-in-law for the first time. We had been trying to make plans to run together and this worked out perfectly.
Things that I have to change going forward! Let’s just say, I made mistakes and my body was hating me.
- Fuel up before the run. I seriously only ate a banana before I ran this race, I should have stopped and grabbed something more substantial. We didn’t and I paid for it.
- I had begun to start getting a cold the day before, it was full force the morning of and with the lack of fuel. I struggled!
- Now this one is probably TMI, but I was menstruating during this half marathon. That on top of the lack of fuel and the cold just made me feel horrible.
Despite my struggles both self-inflicted and caused by my environment, I finished. There was a part of it from before I ate my stingers that I was swaying on my feet. They were heavy and I could barely pick them up. Despite not beating my PR, I will definitely be back to do the Houston Half next year.
I finished though!
My focus for the last half of my marathon training will be making sure that I am fueling correctly. Staying well, and having fun. The goal from here on out is to update this site more frequently, so check out my run diaries here.
