Photos courtsey of Flicker user Uffdah

So there’s really not much to say about this year’s Houston Marathon.  It wasn’t fun.

This was the crowd the first few miles- soaked, dodging water puddles, bumping into each other wearing all sorts of bags & jackets. The forecast was for 50 degrees & overcast- perfect running weather.  However, they were several hours late with their predictions & we ended up with pretty substantial rain, wind, and temperatures in the mid-40′s.  It was pretty brutal & I seriously considered calling it a day when the downpour occurred during the first mile. I should have packed a poncho instead of my regular running jacket, and should have gone with my waterproof P&S camera.  I’d pretty much blown off the race & didn’t really prepare mentally for it!

 I ran again this year with my step-mom and we were really just hoping the rain would stop.  It eventually did- around 8:30, although it would occasionally mist again & we fought winds the rest of the race.  I apparently have trained hubby good enough to put the camera in Auto mode when he picks it up, so this is as good as it gets!

After meeting up with hubby at mile 11, then calling him to see if he could find any hand warmers  because  my gloves were wet & hands were freezing, we missed our miles 16 meet up near the Galleria.  I told him to just go on to Allen Parkway & I’d see him at mile 23.  I swear I’d been running 2 mile intervals & only walked when I saw him struggling to take a picture.

Note to the Houston marathon- you don’t need a dozen bathrooms here, how about moving some of those near the beginning to the lines aren’t so long

I ran the first 20+ miles with my step-mom, but we parted ways once she needed to stop for the bathrooms again.  I needed to keep moving & finish!  Luckily, hubby waited around for her near mile 23 & she wasn’t too far behind me at the finish line. No finish line photos & no post-race photos this year! I needed to sit down & warm up in some dry clothes.  No neighborhood party this year- most people were heading home to watch the Texans play-off game.

 I know many people often complain about the road surfaces in this race (well, all around Houston actually) & it was really evident when you added rain to the mix.

I was however really encouraged by the huge number of supporters and volunteers that still made it out to the race, despite the cold & rain.  They were cheering, happy, and really made me grateful to live in such a wonderful city.

 Not a great time- almost 30 minutes worse than last year!  I did make 2 bathroom stops, and the first few miles everybody was going slow dodging the puddles and each other.  Overall, I’m happy with the time considering the conditions and my desire to quit the race about 10 minutes into it.  I was worried about running with wet shoes & clothes, but it really didn’t seem to be a problem- I’ve had waaay worse races as far as blisters/chafing go, so I guess I just got lucky.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Headed out with our friends this evening to celebrate a big 3-0 birthday!

Since we’re in all sorts of out of chronological order, I thought I’d go ahead and share my broken finger.    Thankfully, it happened on our very last day of vacation & it wasn’t too painful, after the initial instant it got crushed.  Luckily I didn’t have my rings on since we were out snorkeling and it happened to my left hand instead of my right.

I haven’t broken a bone in probably 25 years & I ‘m actually pretty amazed at that fact, especially if you know how clumsy & klutzy I am.  I was getting off our snorkel boat after the tour & grabbed the little folding ladder off the back to hop down into the water. I must have wrapped my finger around it while a way had momentarily separated it from the boat & the next way pushed the ladder and boat back together- with my finger in between them.

That’s my ring finger on my left hand- a top view on the left & then with my hand rotated. Supposedly those dark lines are the several places that the end bone was shattered.

Right after it happened, I took a few photos & it wasn’t looking too bad. We went to dinner, hung at the pool the next day, decided to fly home since I didn’t want to spend my last few hours of vacation in the hospital.  It really only hurt to touch it because the skin was so swollen, but otherwise it wasn’t throbbing or painful.

It really hurt when it happened, but I decided to wait it out & see if it got worse. The left photo is 1 day after, and the right photo is about 2 days later when we returned from Hawaii.  You can see my whole finger was starting to turn purple & the area around my nail was very swollen.

I spent about 3 hours on New Years Eve, right after we landed, at the ER. There wasn’t really much they could do besides take the x-rays & give me a little finger splint.  It’s been almost two weeks now & most of the swelling has subsided, especially around my cuticle. The bottom of my finger is way less purple, but the top/nail area still looks pretty gnarly.  My skin is all unhappy & cracked from being puffy for a few weeks, and I’m really hoping that I don’t eventually lose the nail.

Anybody else had a broken finger?

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Another cozy evening at home, and we’re going to bust out our wok for some stir-fry for dinner!