I spent this year's first few month's moments of spare time preparing to run a race with my older brother and sister in Texas. He is stationed there with the army and invited us to come on down and run with him. Who doesn't want a WARM(er) run? Plus a kid-free vacation? STOKED! I may have spent nap time running one million laps around our yard to get the miles in- but other than weird looks from our dog- I got them in!Training completed. Tickets purchased. Body Glide packed.
I found out right before I left that we were in fact expecting #3, so the wonderful wave of fatigue and nausea were in full swing but I was DETERMINED not to quit! I could do this! I was pregnant, not broken.
At this point the goal was to finish, not PR, but finish. If that meant I walked, then so be it! As the days approached we started to notice a cold front heading for Texas. A cold front. And by cold, I don't mean 70 degrees. I mean COLD! So in the days leading up we began to prepare for this cold, but can you ever really prepare for it? You don't know? Let me tell you! NO! No, you cannot! You know that you will sweat as you run, and then you will be all sweaty which means you catch something terrible... All because you exercised in the cold. That's dumb. (How did I prepare for it? I ran mostly inside.... I am not a good cold runner... I should relocated somewhere tropical.)So how did it go? Well... every time I think of Texas; I want to cry. Like a baby. And hide under a table in a dark corner so no one will make me go. Does that help?
The flight was interesting- which should have been a clue as to how the whole trip would be! My sister (oh yeah- she did this with me but let's all not act surprised by that! If Katie is doing something crazy, more than likely Amy is in the thick of it too.... Or behind it) ended up missing her flight. I have never experienced someone missing their flight before, and it happened. A storm had moved into KC that day and slowed down the highways, at least that's the official reason. What do I think happened? I bought her lunch, since she was running late, and her tray of cheese, apples and hummus cost me $20. TWENTY DOLLARS. I sure did carry that all the way to Texas with me and delivered it to her five hours later, it was $20 hummus people. And she ate it, either because I terrified her or she was actually hungry at that time.
Once we ALL finally got to the airport, some of us were waiting more patiently at the Texas airport than others for my sister's plane, my brother picked us up and we headed for the hotel. That was two hours away. People, when I run a half marathon I go to bed at 7:00 pm, that is before my (4) year old goes to bed. Here it was 9:00, we were checking in and I still needed food for breakfast before the race. Ay yayayayayayayay. Drop off bags at the room, take some nausea meds, go to Target, take some nausea meds, check the weather (have about 15 minutes of pure shock and dread at the weather report), try to sleep. And by try I mean I think I finally conked out three hours prior to needing to be up to go.
5:00 am... We are up, fed, dressed in what we were willing to carry if we got to hot, the duck was ready and we needed to get to the shuttle. This race was offering a shuttle as most do, so we thought it was no big deal, EXCEPT their plan of five shuttles changed that morning when only one showed up. for hundreds of people. Oh, and it was raining. RAINING and in the 30's. 
SERIOUSLY. I have never wanted to quit a race in my life, but at this point even where my thighs naturally rubbed to keep warm was cold! This was not a good sign. After about 17 hours, OK 45 minutes, of waiting for the shuttle we were dropped off at the starting line about two miles away. 
We barely made it across the starting line before they started to tear it down for the 5k finishers, we were off to a great start. Walking was no longer an option, if I was going to make it out there, I was going to have to jog simply to stay warm. And at first, it wasnt bad. The first four miles were okay, and things were moving nicely. Then the rain started, or shall we call it sleet? Let's call it sleet, that sounds more terrible. Because it was terrible!
At mile 8, I was OVER IT. I was out of fruit snacks, granola bites and body warmth. My feet were still dry and that was the only thing still dry. All I wanted was a finish line, or a cart picking up the slow pokes- I would have had no issue hitching a ride. None.BUT... I didn't quit. None of us did. Not even my mom who stood at the finish for the better part of an hour with new blankets and snacks to help us survive our trip back to the car.
Amy and I survived (seriously that was the goal- and yes she beat me), and my brother finished his first full marathon. I got a blanket, a medal, some fruit snacks and a nap... It was a fantastic end to a race I will always think of and shudder.
It was the worst experience of my life, but I love that I had it. I loved being with my brother and sister and my mom and enjoying the rest of the weekend (that didn't involved running)!
May your runs be dry and warm....
~K
