Race #2 - Livestrong Austin Half Marathon - Featuring The Hill That Will Steal Your Will To Live

Race #2- Livestrong Austin Half Marathon, February 17, 2013

It's hard to take a clear low-light photo when you're
shivering. Lucky for y'all, I'm a professional.

The Austin half is new to me, but I really enjoyed it! I had been eyeing this race for a number of years, mostly via the booths they have at pre-race expos. I love the half-marathon distance, and also the fact that you get a big, heavy medal at the finish, and had almost sworn off all others besides Houston after a bad experience with the San Antonio Rock-n-Roll half marathon, but something about this race kept me intrigued.

I approached their table at the 2013 Houston Expo, acting uninterested and eyeballed the map- it reminded me of the Capitol 10K, except backwards, preceded by a run straight south down congress and straight back up 1st. To call the course "hilly" is like calling the Houston course "flat." Duh. The friendly person at the table encouraged me to sign-up soon, as they were nearing capacity, and had tables at several other expos this weekend.

So the following Monday, sore from the Houston Half the day before, I signed-up for this race, knowing full well it was four weeks after the race I had just frozen and shivered my way through. I popped two ibuprofen and started plotting my recovery training schedule for the next three weeks, vowing to rest that fourth week and hope for no injuries.

The participant shirt is a bright spring green Nike Dri-Fit performance tee, a nice change from the Underarmour shirts from Houston, in my opinion. They do CHIP timing, which I don't mind, but I'd rather have the chip built into my bib instead of having to goof with the shoe tag (another Houston perk).

The expo was nice, but small compared to the Houston event I hold so dear. They did have the benefit of a vendor I hadn't seen in Houston- RoadID! I went over to check out their offerings when I realized that I had left town without mine, so I quickly ordered an updated wrist band and checked out the other tables while I waited the 15 minutes for my ID to be etched and assembled.

The start was a little jumbled, even though there were clearly-marked flags for people to group themselves by expected finishing time or pace, but when you trust people to self-corral, well, you're asking for a jumbled mess. The start moved pretty quickly after about 5 minutes, and we were off!

Me and my girl! (Photo courtesy of Kip.)

The course is littered with hills, which is a challenge for a Houston runner, but the crowds were concentrated near the bigger hills where you really need the distraction, which helped enormously. The biggest hill in the half was actually chalk-painted like a staircase, and had chalk art all around advising that we were climbing a stairway to heaven! The Taiko drummers at the bottom of the hill created a feel of going into battle- much needed since the stairway to heaven was capped off by the mile 12 marker! I won't lie- I walked three times, but for less than a minute, and all in the middle of giant hills.

The finish area was nicely streamlined, and the post-race area was nicely staffed and full of the usual necessities (bananas, water, recovery shakes, bathrooms, photographers), and was entirely outdoors on Congress, so you could meet-up with your loved ones in your own designated area. I missed the post-race celebration, again because I really wanted a nice cup of coffee, a shower, and a place to eat with chairs, but I hear it was littered with food trucks and live music. I just really wanted to be clean.

Will I run this one again? You bet! Unless it's too close to the Houston Half. :)

Normally, he avoids labels.

The best part of the race? (Really, the best part of ANY race, if you ask me.) My road crew. My support team. My cheerleaders. Kip and Megan showed up twice, both times when I needed a serious pick-me-up: at the turn onto Cesar Chavez from our long out-and-back down Congress and 1st St, and then again at the top of the monster hill that ended in mile 12. I'm so fortunate that they don't mind walking all over town looking for places to catch me for 15 seconds as I run by, and are so accepting of my stinky, sweaty hugs and kisses! Thank you both- I love you!!!