Houston 2012

Once again my family and I took on the Houston Half Marathon and 5K! In 2007 this was my first marathon. My family chased me all 26.2 miles. Each year we say NO CHASERS. This is the 2nd year that has happened, and I couldn't be more proud! The past few years have been a lottery for this race due to the popularity. My mother was the only one who didn't get into the Houston Half, so she registered for the 5K, with the plans of getting a bib later as it got closer. However the big man up stairs knew of other plans. During my parents training, my dad discovered some nerve issues in his neck causing him to have 4 vertebra fused together on Dec. 27th, 2011. Due to his drive and determination to get better he walked the Houston 5K with my mom. My Uncle, Aunt, Cousin and myself completed the Houston Half Marathon.

Before we all walked out to get into the line to start the race, we were all sitting around chatting about the race, doing some minor stretching, these 1 of the 2 ladies standing around made a comment, "Man it looks like y'all have done this before". We all kinda chuckled and shared our history with the Houston Marathon. Turns out it was these 2 ladies 1st half marathon. In conversation, we discovered they had EACH lost 100lbs AND one of the ladies husband's had also lost 100lbs. I was blown away at this, but not near as much as the other lady informing us that today was the 2yr anniversary of her double mastectomy. This blew me away! Here I was a little nervous about the fact that I didn't train for this race/run and I was just praying to get through it without walking. This lady has lost over 100#, celebrating her 2 yr double mastectomy anniversary with her FIRST half marathon. This stayed in my head as I ran. I observed the people around me and thought about what their story was. There were people of all shapes and sizes out there, I saw a guy with a missing leg (forgot the medical term) running his heart out. As I ran I found myself mentally thanking everything that made this possible for me (especially since I didn't train for the race/run). I started off thanking the good Lord. He provided AMAZING weather for us to run in. He gave me my health to be able to do this. He gave me my family that supported me through this. I could go on and on here. I thanked my family for the mental support. I would have let go of my endurance abilities and missed it, if they didn't keep signing up to run in these events. Their kind words at the beginning and end of the event are needed. I thanked my dad for his mental state that even being injured it isn't going to slow him down. I can only PRAY I inherited some of that. I thanked crossfit and my crossfit family for my physical stated and for pushing me and keeping me in top condition so I can pick up and run a half marathon with my family at the drop of a hat. I cannot say it enough...THANK YOU! Pierces you make me proud...