Big D Half Marathon Recap

Okay, now that I've signed up for a second half mary (more on that in another post) I figured I should finally write my recap (you're welcome Jimmy & Lynn).

The night before the race was great because my in-laws were in town and we had a family birthday party to go to in Dallas. The birthday party was great....adults in roller skates (GREATNESS!). I didn't skate long 'cause I was worried about breaking a leg or something equally as catastrophic. Our pre-race carb up meal was also awesome...lots and lots (and lots) of pizza! I may have overdone it a bit 'cause I was a little immobile at the end of the meal, but it happens. For some reason I wasn't getting nervous at all until around 9:30 I got a fb chat message from the owner of our local running shop telling me to GO TO BED...then the butterflies started coming. Luckily I went to sleep easily and the 5 am alarm clock wasn't too terrible the next morning. 

 (All ready to go!!)

Jimmy and I had some breakfast (english muffin & PB and honey) and I had a little bit of coffee (I HAD to FORCE myself to find a way to go "potty" before the race *TMI- I know). Jimmy, the in-laws (our pit crew) & I made it to Fair Park in Dallas about an hour before the race started...right on schedule! 

 (pre-race photo...I look tired!)

We said goodbye to his parents, walked around a bit and then made our way to the start. {I had a few jitters, but they went away pretty quickly} Jimmy and I kissed each other good luck and then we were ...

ON OUR 13.1 MILE JOURNEY! 

Mile 1:

The start was a little cramped with all the runners and the weird way the route went to get on the actual roads from inside the park, but all in all the start of the race wasn't too bad. Except I have one major pet peeve I discovered...race walkers. If you're going to walk in the first miles of a race can't people either start in the VERY BACK or get their asses to the side!? I had to ask a few walkers to move over because people were practically running them over trying to get past them. Okay, rant over. 

Mile 2:

At this point, the crowd had thinned out and I had a pretty good pace going (probably just under 11/mile). There was a gradual hill at the end of mile 2 and I so wished I had a camera...it was such a beautiful site to see all the runners ahead of me with the sun starting to shine down on them. I can't begin to describe how awesome it felt just to be a part of such a diverse group who all had the same goal. 

Mile 3: 

We were starting to get into a neighborhood that was downright gorgeous! Pretty houses always have a way of keeping me distracted during races :) At about 2.5 miles I started to hear people cheering, but couldn't see what was going on ahead until I turned the corner and saw a cute, little neighborhood park where these 2 girls were running towards the kiddie slide...they SLID DOWN THE SLIDE and then ran back to the pack and were back on their way. I LOVED seeing that kind of lightheartedness...although they were technically in a race, they still found a way to lighten the mood! I might have to try something like that sometime! 

Mile 4- 

I was feeling pretty good until I started to feel the need to find a port a potty. Dang it! I hate that I can't figure out my stomach issues while running...it's not a consistent issue, it just comes at the most inopportune times. I had already passed a port a potty so I was just going to have to wait until I saw another one. At around 45 mins, I took a gel...not because  I needed one, but because that's become my routine...gel every 4 miles or 45 mins. I'm thinking that might be a little too excessive. 

Mile 5- 

This is where the full marathon and half marathon course split. Although the course split, this section of the race was on a paved running trail and not a road so things got a little crowded for a mile or so. I really didn't mind though because it gave me a chance to pass a few more people. Nothing like passing people to give yourself a little mental boost! At around 5.5 miles I got to a bathroom stop which ended up being a 5 minute delay in my run...dang it! Oh well...it happens! 

Mile 6- 

This is where a section of pretty intense hills started, but I didn't really care cause I knew we were almost halfway there and we were running through a neighborhood of multi-bagillion dollar homes. Seriously...who has that much money to live in these mansions/compounds?!? Those houses were a much needed distraction as the field had really thinned out and I was trying to ignore the people who were stopping to walk up the redonkulous hills. 

Mile 7 through 9-

Let's be honest here, I don't really remember much about these miles other than I saw my AMAZING WONDERFUL STUPENDOUS GREATEST IN-LAWS IN THE WORLD aka pit crew a few times during this stretch. My mother and father-in-law rode their bikes along and around the race course to give us our gels and/or water along the route. How freakin' sweet is that? Each time I saw them, they would give me small words of encouragement and tell me how far I had to go...one time my MIL even told me that Jimmy was about 20 mins ahead of me. It was nice to get a Jimmy update :)

Mile 10- 

This is where I started to think about THE END. I knew I only had a 5k left to go and I felt pretty darn good. But it's so funny how things can start to turn so quickly...

Miles 11 & 12- 

How is it possible that a road can SUCK as bad as the road on this part of the course SUCKED? SERIOUSLY. Pot holes? Check. Severely sloped? Check. Sketchy part of town? Check. At first I didn't realize how much the road was affecting my stride until my knee started to bother me. Insert ITB pain. My knee was starting to really throb! I had to run on the outside of the cones in the middle of the road just so I wasn't running on the slope. It was at this point in the race where I started to really feel the mileage. Remember, my longest run before the race was 11 miles so this was uncharted territory for me. 

Mile 13 plus .1- 

The road eventually got better and I just started focusing on my last mile and .1 ... you really can't sleep on that .1! As I was making my way inside the fairgrounds to finish, I saw a guy being treated by the paramedics up a head of him. All I could see was that a guy in a red shirt was being put on a stretcher...Pop quiz: What color shirt was Jimmy wearing in our pre-race photo? If you guessed red then you win...well, nothing but nice try.  I started to get a little bit nervous until I got closer and realized it wasn't Jimmy. Phew! (I do hope that guy was okay though)

{Okay...back to the end.}

I was starting to get worried that the mile markers had been wrong and that I wasn't close to the finish line because it seemed like I had been running forever since the 12 mile mark. See? I told you not to sleep on that .1! Once I finally saw the finish line, it was like a mirage...something clicked in me and I just booked it to the end. Now that I look back on it, I'm SO happy I had a little left in the tank to kick it at the end!

Final tally: 

chip time- 2:29:00

potty break time- 4-5 mins-ish (didn't really time it)

was it worth it? 

ABSOLUTELY 

 

Best quasi-running partner ever...we did it!!