Tomorrow

Tomorrow we will run/walk our last Cowtown 1/2 marathon.  It will be our 5th year and we will complete the medal series.  We started this 6 long years ago and so much has passed since that 1st Cowtown 5K.  That was our first race - the one I thought I couldn't do - but did.  The very next year we signed up for the 1/2 marathon.  It was the beginning of the Texas Star Medal Series.  The medals are so beautiful when put together, so this year we get to pick up our plaque and hopefully finish so we can get that 5th medal to show.  We ran race 1, we ran race 2 even faster and felt even better....then came the injuries.  We didn't do too bad on race three, although Rick was running in a lot of pain with his neck...and I was running in jeans because I forgot to pack my running pants!  The 4th year was the first after my back surgery - so zero training, but we finished it.  This year again very little training...I haven't really gone more than about 4 miles...every time I would start running something else seemed to fall apart - a knee, an ankle, etc.  But here lately it is all flowing back in place and feeling pretty good again.  I have NO speed, not that I ever had much to begin with...but the endurance is showing some improvement.  I'm actually looking forward to this one.  I'm in the process of proving once again I CAN do this.  If this one goes well I'll pick a new 5K and keep training and trying.  Wish me luck!

Race Weekend: Cowtown in Ft. Worth

It was finally here.  The weekend we had been talking about getting ready for since my surgery last June... note the "talking about".  Lots of talking - not so much doing, LOL.  We trained in fits and starts, mostly because I was concerned about the back.  We finally decided we were just going to walk the 1/2 marathon - try to match our 3 hour time (Pepaw's was 3:00, mine was 3:02) but our major goal was simply to finish!  Sometimes you just have to admit things didn't work out exactly as planned and go with the hand you are delt.

We packed up everything on Friday evening - this year I made triple sure I had my running pants packed! (Of course this meant that I totally forgot my TEAM 4:13 shirt and my Garmin!) We set everything by the door so we would be ready to leave bright and early Saturday morning.  The Adult 5K started at 8:15 and both Cotton and Candy were running that one, so we knew we needed to get there early - that meant we needed to be on the road by 5:30 A.M. - and we were!

As we neared our exit from the highway we were surprised at the line of cars just stopped on the off ramp and backed up for miles down the road.  We quickly decided we would go to the next exit and figure out what we needed to do from there.  Just about that time my phone rang, it was Cotton telling us he had been in that line for 20 minutes and still hadn't gotten to the street he needed!  We jumped off one exit further out and Garmin led us right to the parking area with no problem at all.  We parked and walked over to find Cotton. 

We stood along the barricades at the finish line and watched the 10K finishers, then Cotton and Candy took off for the start line. I kept thinking they would change the clock to the 5K time when they took off, but that didn't happen. I found out later it was changed on the side the racers could see, just not on the side for the spectators!  Cotton finished in just over 21 minutes - but I couldn't get my stupid iPhone camera to work quick enough to get a picture of him crossing the finish line. I thought his time was AMAZING, and he was pretty happy with it - he had forgotten just how hilly this course was!  Candy finished in just over 42 minutes - again, the hills are killer!  This was her first Cowtown, and she did a GREAT job too!  I posted the picture of her at the finish on FB - and of course that started a whole conversation about pictures of first borns...Cotton should learn to stop and pose, LOL  (Love you son!)

After everyone joined back up we walked to the cars and took off to find an IHOP for breakfast.  It was great to spend some post-race time together just laughing and visiting.  After breakfast it was back to the collisium to walk through the EXPO.  We were lucky to meet Joe Boyle - a former olympic athlete, now a running coach.  We visited with him and got some excellent training/running tips.  I wished we had more time to visit with him!  Cotton needed to get back so we went back to the cars and then headed to the hotel - hoping for an early check-in. 

We got all checked in and just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.  About 5:00 or so we walked across the street with the kids to the Ft. Worth water park...that was fun!  We walked all around looking at the fountains and pools, climbed the "mountain" and then wandered back so we could go for an early dinner - then it was time for bed.

I wasn't able to sleep very well...this was one of the NOISIEST hotels I've stayed at in a LONG time!  I listend to noise until after 2:00 AM and then had to get up at 4:30 so we could catch the 5:15 shuttle to the race...NOT a happy camper!''

We were glad we went on the first shuttle though as we were able to get chairs inside the building to wait until close to the 7:00 AM starting gun.  We ambled out to our corral (near the back) and settled in to wait for about 10 minutes.  It was actually one of the smoothest corral starts I've ever been a part of.

Actually, for the majority of the race I was very happy with the planning.  Plenty of water and electrolite drinks to keep us hydrated and TONS of volunteers. 

I felt so good for the first 1/2 of the race I couldn't believe it!  We completed the first 10K in about 1:28 - so we were ahead of pace...whoo - hoo! I was still running/walking strong and felt GREAT.  Then....the dreaded WALL.  I hit that at about 8 miles...I could FEEL myself draining.  I tried a GU hoping that would get my going again - and it might have, if it hadn't been for the hill at mile 9.  I didn't think we were EVER going to reach the top of that sucker!  By the time we finished that my legs were shot.  I never did get my pace back - although I did continue to try the run/walk pattern I had started at the beginning of the race.  Our 11 mile time was 2:40 ... we knew by then we werent going to make the 3:00 hour mark...but we kept going. 

It was really cool to get to the 13 mile mark and see the family there to cheer us on.  The grand-kids were so excited...running up and down the sidewalk with the signs they had made at the EXPO and cheering us on...made us smile really big.

We turned the corner, saw the finish line and decided to go for it.  We ran across the finish line holding our hands up in the air...Cowtown 1/2 Marathon #4 complete and in the books! 

Now we only have one more - and the plan is to actually get some training time in before we run that one!

I have decided to go back to a C25K type training program and start all over again.  Now that I know my back can handle it - not a single twinge or tweak during the entire race - we are going to sign up for some 5Ks here in the next few months, then add some 10Ks in the fall/winter time frame so we will be MUCH more prepared.  Watch out COWTOWN.  I WILL break the 3 hour mark NEXT year!!!

Dallas Rock And Roll Half Marathon - AWESOMENESS!

We were excited to be able to compete in the Dallas Rock And Roll (RNR) 1/2 Marathon on March 14th. It was vindication for being denied the opportunity to compete in San Antonio 2 years ago due to Rick's job. We had entered there and a couple of weeks before the race - after training hard for months - the move Rick's company was planning was moved to THAT weekend. This more than made up for it!

We were really ready, I think. I just felt all week leading up to the race that it was going to be a good one...despite the following facts:

1. We ran the Cowtown on 2-27 and my time was the worst I'd ever run...I believe due to the fact that I ran a PR on the treadmill for a 5K the week before and my legs were fried - but that's just me. I also think Rick's surgery had a little to do with it...he was only 10 days into recovery!

2. We ran the Allen Eagle run on 3-6 and both posted decent times - no PR for me, but I wasn't expecting one that race.

3. We worked out on Monday, then couldn't work out on Tuesday because we were so sore from working out on Monday! THAT hasn't happened in quite a while!

4. I had to work late both Wednesday and Thursday evenings for school activities - which meant NO workouts of any kind for me...again, hasn't happened in a while.

5. We took Friday off (planned) to rest our legs for the race - although I hadn't run since the Saturday before!

I still I felt this would be a good race...I just FELT good!

We got up Saturday morning and picked up Cotton to go to the EXPO. You are required to go there to pick up your bib, t-shirt, and goodie bag - no race day pick-ups...soooooo off we went. It was a really good EXPO. Well laid out and well organized. We found our "corral" and picked up our bibs quickly. Cotton was in Corral #1, we were in Corral #8. You are placed there according to your estimated finish time. I was just hoping that the 2:20 time I had put for Rick and I wasn't overly ambitious after my 2:32 time just 2 weeks before! Oh well, time would tell, right?

After getting our bibs we were directed over to the t-shirt table where we picked up our race shirts. They were REALLY nice! Black dry weave technical shirts...NIIIICE. Then off to another table to pick up the "goodie bags". These were also the official "gear bags" that would be used on race day to check in our gear. Once we got these we were at the entrance to the EXPO area, so we walked on in.

The EXPO was a lot of fun. We picked up some cool luggage tags right away. They have the Dallas RNR logo and we felt like there wouldn't be so many of those floating around when we had luggage to go anywhere - at least we hoped not! We saw some amazing new racing gear, training gear, etc. We walked from booth to booth, enjoying the comaradare. I picked up some samples of olive oil and basalmic vinegar at one booth, and some of a new sports drink called CYTOMAX at another. This was the drink that they would be giving out during the race. Cotton found some recovery tights he had been looking for, and they actually had his size there, so he got them as well. We found the GU booth and I bought a box of my favorite - chocolate. Since I bought an entire box, they threw in 2 free packs and a pair of cold weather GU gloves! As we were walking from booth to booth we turned a corner and I saw --- MY SHIRT! During the Cowtown race I had seen a couple of people wearing a shirt that said "TEAM 413" on the front and a copy of Philippians 4:13 on the back. That is my personal Bible verse...I've had it with me at work for years, I tied a keychain with the verse to the laces of my shoes to help me through my first marathon, and Cotton and Angel gave me a plaque with the saying for Christmas last year. It 'fits' me and I refer to it daily. Here they were - selling the shirts at the EXPO. I picked a white shirt with purple lettering for me, and Rick got a blue sleeveless with yellow lettering for himself. Now I was SURE it was going to be a great race! After looking at all the booths - and picking up more free stuff - we were ready to head home.

Race morning was beautiful. A little cool, but no clouds and not much wind at all. We picked up Cotton about 5:45 and we were off. Travel went quickly until the turnoff to get to Fair Park...the finish line of the race - and the place to park and catch the buses to the start line. Traffic was backed up like you wouldn't believe. It took us over 20 minutes to get to the parking area! This was honestly the only snag in the entire weekend. I hope they look into fixing this before next year's race - some kind of traffic direction or even Dart buses or Trains for transportation would be better.

We got to the start area and walked around a bit trying to find the gear drop off. We passed tables that had bananas, water, and bagels - so we picked up a quick and healthy breakfast. Just enough to stave off hunger and give us a few carbs to get us going. We found the corrals we would be starting from and headed back to "race village". On the way back we saw some buses with numbers in the windows. Sure enough, these were the gear drop off zones. There was an entire line of buses! They were set up so you dropped your gear off at the bus that had the sign for the first letter of your last name. We found ours - but decided to wait a bit before we dropped off our nice, warm, wind suits! We found a sheltered area and sat to wait. At about 7:30 we went ahead and packed up the gear, dropped it off at the buses, and headed back to the start line again. Now all we could do was wait for the start!

The corrals were totally organized. There were folks at the gates explaining that the first number on your bib was also your corrall number and helping people find the right place. For the most part people totally cooperated. This lead to one of the best starts of a race I've seen! They got started on time, corrals were released about every 2 minutes and there was plenty of music and encouragement to entertain while you waited for your corral to be released. They even had the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders on stage right at the start line. Finally it was our turn and we took off!

The course was a good one. To me it felt like I spent most of the first half of the race running up hill - although I know there were some flat areas in there too! I stayed up with Rick for the first 3 miles really well despite the fact that at mile 2 we had the greatest increase in elevation of the entire race! Then we hit the first part of the longest elevation change. It was a pretty sharp increase and I struggled a bit. He waited for me there, but immidiately began pulling away again. I ran like the wind and caught him on the flat to let him know I was OK....then he went ahead again. I saw him at the 5 mile water stop, and that was the last time. I love running with him whenever we can - but I'm always so proud when he takes off and runs "his" race. I don't worry about him looking for me and turning an ankle or getting hurt that way - and I know he can run his best time. I'm slowly able to keep up with him for more and more of the race time, but it is harder with my short little legs to keep up with his long ones! Anyway - he was off doing his race, and I was left to run mine. I was determined to do it right!

I chugged along feeling like this race was nothing but one big uphill. Well - for 4 miles it is! Rick left to run his race after the first mile of the longest elevation increase - little did I know I still had 3 miles of an uphill battle to go. At the end of this section there was a small crowd of people shouting encouragement. A man yelled out that we were almost at the top of the hill and it would be downhill from there - I yelled back it better be because it had been all uphill to that point...everyone around laughed and I knew I wasn't alone feeling the struggle!

He was right, once we made the crest of that hill we did start a long elevation decrease - another 3 miles. I think that is what helped my time stay pretty consistent here. At mile 12 there was a very small increase again, and my time slowed to 11:00 minute miles and even though mile 13 was a decrease I hit the wall here and it was all I could do to convince myself that I could keep running. I was pushing as hard as I could, but I just couldn't get it going again. When we went through the gates of Fair park I was so excited...I knew the finish line was close. Then all of sudden the UT band struck up and the crowds thickened. I followed the course and saw ahead of me the yellow fences leading to the finish line - I was close. Someone from the crowd shouted, just around the corner! I picked it up a little....turned the corner...and there was another corner! NOOOOOOOO....oh well - push it, push it, push it....turned that corner and there it was...ANOTHER CORNER! ARRRGGGG! I wasn't going to stop now! I pushed it a little harder and FINALLY there was the finish line. I crossed it and hit my Garmin. I did a double take, my time: 2:20:36 (official time was 2:20:42)! NEW PR! I had met the goal time I set for this race so long ago! As I moved through the group I saw Rick at the back of the runner's area waiting for me. He was so surprised to see me! We walked slowly toward the family meeting area and saw Cotton waiting at the fence for us. We met up to walk to the gear bus together. Cotton told us he had turned his knee at mile 10 and had to run/walk the last 3 miles, but still finished in 1:42:43! Rick had a PR by over 7 minutes of 2:10:36. All in all a great race for all of us!

As we walked to the car after picking up our gear we all agreed that this was one of the best organized races any of us had ever run in, and that we all wanted to run it again next year! The bands were nice, but you really only got to hear snippets as you went by - I feel they were more fot the spectators along the route than for the runners. I really enjoyed the cheer squads, and even more the folks just lined up along the route cheering for everyone.

Several times during the race people yelled out "Go TEAM 413", and others as they saw me (either me passing them or them passing me) would comment that they liked the shirt. It was always at a time when I needed encouragement - and helped me "stay strong". I can't wait to wear it to my next race!!!

Boring race stats follow!

Mile

Pace

Time

Elevation

1

9:53

9:53

-61 Ft

2

9:56

19:52

+194 Ft

3

9:54

29:50

-113 Ft

4

10:25

40:16

-1 Ft

5

10:40

50:56

+45 Ft

6

10:38

1:10:34

+25 Ft

7

11:04

1:12:39

+37 Ft

8

10:57

1:23:36

+30 Ft

9

10:28

1:34:04

-22 Ft

10

10:32

1:44:37

-54 Ft

11

10:51

1:55:29

-22 Ft

12

11:00

2:06:29

+5 Ft

13

11:22

2:17:52

-32 Ft

.27

10:03

2:20:36

-4 Ft

Cowtown +1

Last weekend we ran the Cowtown 1/2 marathon. It was pretty good. I felt a little fuzzy when we got there - that is what 4 hours of sleep will do to ya! I was really tired Friday night when I went to bed, but it was after midnight before I could actually get to sleep - hate it when that happens! Then we were up at 4:00 am to drive to Ft. Worth for the race. We stopped and picked up Cotton in Plano on our way so he could ride over. He wasn't running - he had just gotten off work and wanted to watch the race!

We got to the parking area and rode the bus to the start of the race. Went over to package pick-up and all they had there were our bibs...hmmmmmm. Walked into the Expo tent (very crowded) and there - at the very back - was a sign that said "T-shirts". We wove our way through the packed aisles and got to the t-shirt table only to find that they were totally out of Medium shirts, and had been since the day before. OK...call me crazy, but if you have people pay good money to sign up for a race months in advance, don't you think you would be able to pack up a bib and t-shirt so they would have what they ordered MONTHS IN ADVANCE! In my humble opinion - it should be the ones that sign up at the EXPO that should be stuck with the shirt in the wrong size.....well, I'll get off my soap box now and on to the race report.

We walked out of the expo tent and found a nice bench where we could stop and put on our bibs and D-tags (the tag they use for the chip timing). It was pretty dark right there (remember this is about 6:00 am!) but we muddled through and got it all set. We then made our way over to the start area. On our way over we happened to think that we hadn't looked at the bib to see what starting corral we were supposed to be in, so I glanced over at Rick's bib to see. To my utter shock he had on MY bib! Which of course meant he also had on my timing chip (D-tag), and I had on his! Well - maybe I would PR this race - HAHAHAHAHA! We decided since we were going to try to stay pretty much together for this one that we would just leave well enough alone and go with the flow.

We made our way to the starting corral and waited patiently for the start. They started the groups off in waves, which was nice, not so many people to dodge in front of us, but we were in one of the slower corrals and got off to a really slow start....not too much of a problem for me!

I was hoping that I would finally break 2:25 for this race - that was my time last year when I was running so well and my back started spasming at mile 11. I had to walk quite a bit of the last 2 miles. This year it wasn't as cold and not nearly as windy so I had high hopes...even though my legs were still really sore from my PR treadmill 5K earlier in the week. I figured they would loosen up as I made my way through the race.

The first two miles passed pretty uneventfully in 10:36 and 10:55. The second was a little slower than I wanted. I wanted to keep the pace between 10:30 and 10:45 as much as possible. Somewhere toward the end of mile 3 I started really feeling my thighs get super tight. Got through that one in a time of 10:44 for a 32:16 time. Pretty much my average during a half.

Off to get to the 10K mark. My legs were really getting worse as I continued to run, and my pace was showing it. Bless his heart, Rick was doing his best to stay with me - even when that meant running ahead and slowing down to wait on me to catch up! (He told me later that he really did this because he didn't want me to beat him in the race - remember, I was getting credit for his time since he was wearing my bib and chip! Too funny!) We finished the next 3 miles in 11:11, 11:18, and 11:03 - for a 6 mile time of 1:05:50. Again, pretty close to average for me. Slow for a 10K, but not for 1/2 way through a half marathon.

We continued on our way, Rick running ahead and looking back, me chugging along the best I could with my muscles feeling like they were tied in pretty bows! The next 3 miles had some pretty good hills in them and my time showed it. 11:45, 11:56, and 11:12. BUT, I was still chugging along - only walking the water stops, nowhere else!

I think here we hit a bit of the flat course, with the nice brickwork - you know the part where you worry that you are going to twist your foot or break an ankle....but it was smooth going for us. I think this was where I felt really good the year before and honestly thought I was going to break 2:20 - again this year I was feeling good, my thighs had finally untied themselves and I was running pretty smoothly again, if not setting the world on fire....I was at least moving better! At least for the first couple miles.... 11:03 and 11:06. Then we came to the hill that took me out the year before.

I don't know if it was me remembering last year, or honest fatigue, but this was a really slow part of the race for me - a mental challenge I think I lost. Mile 12 took me 12:14 to run. My slowest mile in the race. Now it does have a bridge that has a decent grade to it, but nowhere near the grade of Hawkeye's Hill, one of the hills earlier in the race. I think I was just taking it too easy without realizing it....but hindsight is always 20/20, right?

Once we got over that part and Rick knew I was going to be OK he went ahead and took off. I was so proud of him! I kept chuggin' along and finished mile 13 in 11:50 despite another small hill, then did the last .21 in 2:14 for an overall time of 2:29:13. (My official time was 2:32:13...Garmin paused at the potty break we took, lol). Rick's official finish time was 2:29:43. He said that he felt really strong at the end. I think staying with me, at least at the start helps him a little pace himself...and me trying to keep up helps me too! Anyway...despite this being one of my slowest half marathon times, I was really excited because I didn't have to walk this year. Only through the water stops, which is our plan anyway. I'll take that time as something to improve on in the Dallas Rock and Roll March 14!

Now, on to the +1 portion of the post.

Today we ran the Allen ISD Eagle Run. This run is one I really enjoy. I worry about it being squeezed between 2 half marathons - so my goal this year was to beat last year's time of 32:23, and to not walk other than the water stops.

We got there early and got our bibs and D-tags...we went back to the car to put them on and put the bag with our shirts in it away. After we double checked to make sure we got the right bibs on this time (hahaha) we went back to watch the 1 mile Fun Run. One of my students was running in it and I wanted to cheer him on. We also saw Kendran and Lisa, our friends from Weight Watchers, so we stood with them. I cheered for Sean as he went by and chatted with my friends until the race started.

After the Fun Run finished up we made our way to the start line of the 5K - I found my students that participate in "Girls on the Run", gave them a hug and told them I was proud of them and to have a good race. The gun went off and we were on the run!

I knew that if I could stay pretty close to 9:30 per mile at the beginning, I might be able to break that crazy 30 minute mark...I've already been close in one race this year! BUT I also knew that my legs wouldn't be totally recovered from the Cowtown last week, so I was going to be happy if I could just run the whole thing. I told Rick to run his race and not worry about me on this one!

My first mile felt pretty good - other than the fact that I just couldn't catch my breath like I normally can after the first .25 miles...I struggled with this a lot longer this time. Mile one went by in 9:19...a good time for me! I made it to the first water stop and walked my way through - took back off, but as I watched Garmin I was surprised to find myself going much slower than I felt like I was running. I noticed that I wasn't really stretching out as I ran, so I tried really hard to focus on my stride - it helped a little I think, but mile 2 still took me 10:16 to complete.

Mile 3 of this race is really hard because the last .5 miles of it is uphill! As I came up to the water stop I looked up to the bridge ahead, and sure enough, there was Rick - just like last year - but this year he wasn't walking! I knew I could do as well...I got my water, walked through, and took off again. I kept passing places where last year I walked, and I kept telling myself how good I was doing because I wasn't walking this year! We were still going into a headwind by now, but I don't think it was nearly as strong as the year before! I finished up mile 3 in 10:30 and knew I only had .1 mile to go....I was on the straight-a-way toward the finish line and I hadn't walked! This was a good race, even if I was already at 30:06 for the race.....I kept heading for the finish....crossed the line in 31:40. I had done it...I beat last year's time and I didn't walk!

Rick was there cheering for me as I crossed. I walked over to him and congratulated him on a good race. I was so proud when he told me he had finished in about 28:14. We got some water and bananas and I walked over to check out the official results. His official time was 28:07!!! As I looked at the overall results (they didn't post age groups) It appeared that we had both placed. We decided to stay for the awards and sure enough I took 3rd and he took 2nd! We brought home 2 trophies from this one!!! Not only that, one of the 2nd grade teachers from my school took 3rd in his age group and his brother took 1st overall, and one of my girls took 3rd in her age group! It was a good day for Boyd Elementary runners!!!

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly!

Today was a MAJOR learning experience - AGAIN! I am thinking that this is how it will be for me always. I don't think I will ever really know it all, and each race brings different trials. Today was a real test for me for many reasons - but let me start at the beginning.

I really had high hopes when I woke up this morning since I had such a good race last week with my 10K. We were up at 4:45 to get ready. We decided to use the DART train this year because of the parking situation at the race. Cotton came over and we rode together. We got to the race in plenty of time, but I needed to find the "break" area quickly. This is my normal habit - the problem this time was that we walked through a lot of grass on our way, and our feet got SOAKED! OK....lesson #1...pack dry socks! We took our break and then headed to the bag tent to store our bags with our warm-ups and after race "stuff". Once again this year we saw our dear friend Mary...she was Cotton's first grade teacher and she was so excited that he was with us this year. She couldn't believe how much he had changed - of course she hadn't seen him since he was in about the 3rd grade or so...she was really surprised at how tall he had gotten!

We went on over to the start line and Cotton went on up much closer to the front - we headed toward the middle. We warmed up and I re-did my shoes because my socks were slipping down and bunching up under my arches. I tightened the laces much more than I usually do - Lesson #2....the race is NOT the time to make changes in how you fix your shoes! The start was only slightly delayed due to some kind of technical problem with the timing mat, but only by a couple of minutes. The horn sounded and we were off......deep breath - and go!

The first 3 miles were really good. Felt good - had to keep slowing Rick down! We ran the splits in 9:54, 9:42, and 9:40. This gave us a time of 29:17 at the 3 mile mark. I was quite happy with that. The next 3 miles were almost as good - but part of this part of the race is run through a few of the neighborhoods around the lake and it feels like all of a sudden out of nowhere come these NEVER ENDING HILLS! Our splits here started to show how much of a toll these hills were taking.... 10:35, 10:54, and 10:47. I struggled more through here than I thought I would too, but still posted a 6 mile time of 1:01:34 - so right on pace for what we ran the week before in our 10K. This was actually about 4 minutes faster than last year and I was feeling better by then so I was quite pleased with the race up to this point.

We were still in the hills and mile 7 was run at an 11:04 pace. More than the hill though I was beginning to have some stomach problems. It actually started somewhere around mile 6, but it was really getting bad now. This has not ever happened to me before. I get up and run with very few problems, so this was quite the surprise. At 7.5 miles I finally knew I HAD to stop. We passed the water table and one of the gentlemen was kindly pointing out that there was a porta-potty just around the corner for the "inopportune" stops that some runners need. I rushed through the water stop and ran to the the other stop. This stop actually cost us close to 3 minutes....I was sooooo bummed! We did figure out that we had eaten dinner much later - AND it was a much heavier dinner than normal - I'm pretty sure that is what caused the problems I had, and we have determined that if we go out for dinner the night before a race from now on it will the the traditional spaghetti only! Lesson # 3.

After the stop I felt a little better and we were off again. During mile 8 I paid the price for the change in the way I tied my shoes. I started feeling hot spots on my arches at about 8.5 miles. Not painful, but not comfortable either. Incredibly, even with the stop we ran mile 8 in 10:38...(thank heavens for a few downhills here :) ). Mile 9 was where I was worried, this is where I pretty much hit the wall last year - this year I was feeling good other than the hot spots on my feet. Mile 9 split - 11:19 - and NO walking! We completed the 9 miles in 1:34:37. Our normal time around the lake (9.1 miles) is 1:37, so when you add in the "missing" minutes from the stop earlier we were still right on schedule.

The last 4 miles were not at all what I had anticipated. My feet were really starting to hurt but I was determined I wasn't going to let Rick know, I was going to just push through the pain and go. I did pretty good until mile 11 or so. We went through a water stop where, as planned, I slowed to a walk, but when I tried to run again it was so painful I couldn't. I told Rick about the blisters that had formed on my arches and he said it was OK to walk. We did for just a little bit and then I knew I would just be so angry at myself if I gave up at this point so I just kicked it back and ran again. Our splits here were: Mile 10 - 11:28, Mile 11 - 12:02, Mile 12 - 11:54. Somewhere in the last mile - I'm not sure of the exact distance we had left - slightly over .5 miles, Cotton found us and cheered us in. He was AWESOME. He had already completed the race and came back to help us during that last part. It was just what we needed! Mile 13 was completed in 11:56. Now at this point we should have only had .1 miles to go - but for some reason it always seems that at every race we run the finish is a little farther than the distance it is supposed to be. This one had .36 left. We ran that in 3.58...This gave us a Garmin time of 2:25:57 - that would have been a major PR for me....I do have to mention here that Rick stayed with me for the entire race this year - so even if I had kept the 2:25 it would not have been a PR for him...but it was GREAT having him right there with me every step of the way this year - even more so since I was feeling so bad through the entire last half of the race.

The "ugly" part of the race came after the finish. We went to pick up our bag at the tent, stopping for water along the way. I had nearly finished my water and tipped my head back to get the last little bit. When I finished the drink I felt a bit woozy, grabbed Rick's arm, and down I went! Passed right out! THIS has never happened to me before either! There was a Dr. standing right there and he stayed right with me until I was able to stand up and walk over to the tent where they got me a chair to sit down on. We waited for Cotton and by the time he found us I was feeling a little better. Rick and Cotton decided to go ahead and walk me to the medical tent and they found me a cot to sit down on and got me some more water. It was determined that because of the problems I had during the race I had lost more fluids than I normally would, and hadn't taken in enough to replace what I lost...between that and burning a lot of calories and not taking in enough of those either I just got a little light headed. I drank some more water and then we headed over the the food tent to get some much needed nourishment. After getting a little food in my tummy I felt MUCH better. Lesson #4...there is a reason that marathoners and 1/2 marathoners carry more than just GU with them during a race - next time I'll have some "real" food with me too!

Now for the official results. The clock time was 2:29:37. The official time this year was 2:28:08 where last year was 2:26:21, so I did not beat that time this year....ah, well....many lessons learned and there is always NEXT year!

Cowtown 1/2

Well, its over and we did it! I wasn't sure how this one was going to go but it was MUCH better than expected.

We got up at about 3:30 and got ready to go. It was COLD outside and while I was making the bed I could hear the wind howling. I told Rick - this isn't going to be pretty! We finished getting dressed, double checked all our gear, and headed to the car. We were on the road by 4:04 AM. We got to Chris and Candy's about 4:45 (a little early, which is on time for us, lol) and went in while Candy got the kids up. The girls elected to sleep in their clothes so that they could get a few more minutes of precious sleep in the morning! We gave them the hats and gloves we had bought for them and headed for the car. By the way, Peyton looked so cute in his new "Superman" attire! After stopping for the traditional coffee (and juice and donuts for the kids) we were on the road to Ft. Worth.

Getting there was MUCH easier this year. In fact Rick was quite surprised when we first pulled up to the parking garage. There really wasn't any traffic to speak of. We all pulled on the coats and hats and bundled Peyton in the stroller with extra blankets and went to find the registration table. Got our bibs and headed to the shirt table to get the shirts, then of course Memaw had to check out the porta potties...did I mention we stopped for coffee in Lewisville, LOL. As soon as everyone was ready we went back to the parking garage to put on our bibs and D-tags. (The D-tags are the newest form of timing chips. They are disposible so there is no big back-up at the finish line waiting for someone to cut off the chip, and directors don't have to pay for those that are lost because someone walked off with it still on their shoe.) We went back to the garage to do this because it was about 40 degrees outside with a windchill in the 20's! It was COLD!

We waited in the garage until about 15 minutes to start time. Chris was running the 10K so his starting area was different from ours for the 1/2 marathon. We were also looking for Granny (Chris's mom) who was going to walk with the girls in the 5K. After another quick stop we tried making our way to the start. Can I say crowded. We got to a certain point - we could hear the speaker telling us there were only minutes to go, but we couldn't move at all. Rick could at least see and tell me what was going on, but I couldn't see anything but people's backs.

The gun went off and.......we waited. It seemed like forever. Then there was movement ahead of us, a parting of the crowd and I could see the people walking to the start in front of us...they were on another street! I was soooo confused. How close were we? Were we past the official start pad that we had to cross? Were we going to have to back-track? I was trying to ask Rick, but he already had his headphones in and couldn't hear me. We finally started moving and I saw that we had been stopped behind a barricade that had been pushed aside. Once we actually got onto the street we were almost at the start line and off we went! It was actually a pretty smooth start for the number of people running. There were over 3700 in the 1/2 marathon.

We took off at a fairly slow pace. I was glad Rick was staying with me at the beginning. We usually get separated pretty quickly. He runs much quicker than I do. I wanted to keep about an 11:00/M pace for this race. I knew if I did that then I would beat my time from the DRC 1/2 in November. Even though we didn't officially set any specific goals for this race this year since our training had been "off", you still ALWAYS want to beat your best time, LOL.

I remember looking down at the Garmin at the 0.6 mile mark and yelling over to Rick, "Only 12.5 miles to go!" There was another runner just to the right of us that groaned, "Don't say that, is that really true?". We were laughing and joking about how we were almost to the finish with only that little distance to go...runners are a fun bunch! He sped up and went around us, but we kept to our pace.

Then next "big" memory for me is just past that point, as we came to the top of that small hill, and crossing of a major intersection. As we topped the hill the wind came blowing right at us. It was hard (gusts of about 30mph) and cold. You could hear the crowd ahead of us gasp as it hit them...we gasped too....it literally took your breath away! We pushed on.

At mile 3 I took my first gu pack. I know I need to take them at about every 3 miles for the majority of the race to keep my muscles from locking up. This is where the Garmin really helps me. (Well, that and keeping my pace fairly steady.) At mile 4 there were people to call out the time...Rick couldn't believe we were only at mile 4! I was finally warming up a little and elected to take off my sweat jacket and tie it around my waist. At mile 6 I reached for my next gu and knew I was in trouble...ALL MY GU WAS GONE! I guess the bouncing around of the jacket tied around my waist knocked it right out of my pockets. Every single packet was gone. I yelled at Rick and told him what had happened (after he pulled his headphones out of his ear) and he offered me his supply of gu.

At mile 7.6 we hit another hill. The bad part of this one was that not only did we hit another hill, but this hill was going straight into the wind! Uphill and into the wind....NOT a good combination! The next vivid memory for me is on up the course about a mile or so when we hit "Hawkeye's Hill". Hawkeye is a local radio disc jockey who was running in the race. At the bottom of the hill there was a sign telling us we were at his hill. At the turn there was another sign...Hawkeye has already been by, but he wishes you the best of luck in the race. Then a final sign, Good luck from the Big 96.3.

I was really feeling pretty good, even as we entered mile 10. The legs felt good, my breathing was good, our pace was good. I was beginning to believe we were going to REALLY beat my best time! Then we came to mile 11.

Mile 11 was just around a turn in the course. Uphill. Into the wind. By now, as you can imagine, with only two miles to go, we were pretty tired anyway. As I bent forward to lean into the wind my back just locked up and started having spasms. It hurt sooooo bad. I looked at Rick and was about to cry because I knew I was going to have to walk up the hill. I wouldn't have been so crushed if we hadn't been having such a great race up to that point. If we had been having problems because our training for this one had been less than for the DRC I think I would have been OK with it. But I felt good! I felt like if it had JUST been the wind, or if it had JUST been a hill I would have been OK.....but the combination of the two, that close to the end of the race was just too much for my poor old back. We walked up the hill and once at the top took off running again. There was only one more hill and I had to walk just a little of it and then it was on to the finish line.

This is always an amazing part of the race for me. There were crowds of people waiting for their friends and family to come by and they were cheering every runner on. As we neared the last turn there was a group yelling out, "You are almost there...this turn and then the straightaway to the finish line. You can DO it!" Then we turned the corner and you could SEE the finish. I was really focused on the fact that we only had .17 miles to go when I heard, "GO CJ, GO RICK, YOU CAN DO IT!" I glanced over to the side of the road and there was Candy and Peyton. She told us she would meet us at the food tents.

Rick and I crossed the finish line together. Yes, he stayed with me the entire race - even though I know at the end it was all he could do not to keep going. I do appreciate that. I know it helps him when he stays with me at the beginning, because I can help him slow down his pace at the start....but he could also pick up the pace for the last couple of miles, and this race I just couldn't do that with him.

We finished with a time of 2:25:39. Close to a minute faster than the DRC. The medals are awsome! The feeling of finishing - even better!!

One week to go

We have only one more week to ready ourselves for the Cowtown 1/2 marathon. I don't feel ready this time. We haven't run as far as we did for the DRC 1/2 last November. We have been doing a lot of hill running this time, so I feel a little more prepared if there are hills...I also feel a little faster on the shorter runs. THAT will remain to be seen.

I am excited about the run next Saturday - it will once again be a family affair with Chris, Candy, the grandkids, Cotton, Rick and I all going to the race. Cotton, Chris, Rick and I will all be running and Candy and the kids will hold our gear and enjoy the festivities until after the run. Tradition says we then go out to lunch together.

My goal for this race is to simply finish. As I said above, I don't feel real ready - I know I probably won't be as fast - but I also know I can go the distance!

You'll notice that I added another run after this one. The Allen Eagle 5K. This is to support the Allen Foundation of schools which benefits students and teachers of the school district I teach in. They give scholarships to both students and teachers, as well as grants to teachers to help with the expenses of teaching... A wonderful organization and one that I continue to support! Rick will be running with me too, and my goal in this one is (of course) a sub 30 minute time. It is chip timed this time, so a good possibility for me to be successful and show it!

That's all for now - I'll post again after the race!

DRC Half Marathon

Today Rick and I ran our first Half! My goal was to complete the run in under 2:30.

Our day started out early. We were up at 5:00 AM to make our way to the DART Rail Park and Ride over in Garland. We caught the train and made it to the White Rock station, then caught the shuttle to take us to the race. Once we got out on the road we determined pretty quickly that we had made the right decision in choosing to Park and Ride. The traffic was backed up for miles with people trying to get into the limited parking area around the lake!

We got to the staging area and quickly found the bag drop off. We went to the side of the fence and removed our warm up pants and put those in the bag. We knew we wouldn't need those for the run, although I chose to keep my sweat shirt/jacket and Rick kept on his long sleeved shirt...it was still pretty cool (the upper 60's). We went over to put our bag in the check in area when I heard a voice from my past. I stopped, swung around and sure enough there stood Mary Lewellyn - Cotton's first grade teacher! I taught with her for 5 years at Northlake Elementary! She was one of the volunteers at the check in station! We backed away from the entrance into the tented area to catch up a little. We were so excited to see each other! I found out that she has been running for years and is a member of a couple of the local running clubs, including the Dallas Running Club which was the sponser of this event. Retired now, she still runs when she can, although right now she is on the sidlines with a torn miniscus on her left knee. After chatting for a couple of minutes Rick and I went on in and dropped off our bag.

We walked around the staging area a bit and found the merchandising tent where we would need to go after the race to see if we could exchange our shirts. (By the time we signed up they only had small and extra small left - I had gotten extra small thinking we might be able to give them to the girls but they were WAY too big for them! We were successful in this endeavor after the race and we each got a shirt that fit!) We found a tent that was giving away bagels so we each got about a third of a bagel and a swipe of peanut butter and headed for the start line. Didn't want to start off on a totally empty stomach!

We found the pacers for a 2:20 finish and got in behind them and just ahead of the pacers for the 2:30 finish. We were both hoping for the 2:20 time... The announcer kept us informed about the time left before the start and it seemed like no time at all when the countdown began. On your mark, Get set, GO! and the gun went off at exactly 8:00. A little over 4 minutes later we crossed the start line! It was pretty slow going at first. Of couse you had to dodge the walkers that always seem to get in line ahead of you, and there were some slower paced runners, but after about the .75 mile mark the pace was pretty good for me. Rick and I were pretty close and going just slightly slower than we had planned. About mile 2 or 2.5 we were running along when I saw a guy come running out of the bushes along the side of the trail. I yelled out "MEN CHEAT!" The runners around me cracked up laughing and a discussion of how to politely go to the restroom on a long run ensued. It was quite funny! It was just after this that I got stuck behind some slow runners running together across the path...Rick got around them. I was trying to catch up to him yelling his name to get him to slow down - he was running at a faster pace than he wanted - but he couldn't hear me over his Ipod and I knew if I kept going at that pace I would die at the end so I let him go. He would have left me at about the 9 mile mark anyway - we just parted ways a lot sooner than either of us had planned :( ...

I was finally starting to catch up to where I thought I should be a little at a time...my 5K time was just slightly slower than I wanted - 32:22, but I knew that was because of the start so I just kept right on plugging along. My pace would vary - quicker when I was in the open, slower when I got stuck behind people...but I was averaging between 10 and 11 minute miles which is what I wanted.

We veered off our normal White Rock running path into a neighborhood and that is where the running really got tough. There were several hills that I wasn't expecting! I shortened my stride, straightened my back and just kept on pushing. Just the way we had trained for them... Actually felt pretty good and at the 10K mark I was at my "normal" 1:06:16. Seems I just can't get that 10K time any lower in a race, LOL. At the 1/2 way point (6.55 miles) I was right on pace for my 2:20 race. They called out the time as I crossed the line painted across the trail as 1:14 - I looked at my Garmin and saw 1:10. Whoo-hoo...I might just be able to do this after all....perhaps even faster, after all they HAD said the last half of the course was fairly flat!

I still felt pretty good, but I was tiring. At about the 8.5 mile mark I really started feeling the heat. We weren't in the 60's any more, THAT was for sure! About the last hill out of the neighborhood a very nice gal was running next to me and she said something about them saying this was a flat course. I answered that I had seen hillier (Tahoe), but this was one of the hilliest I had run and I was sure ready for the flat part! She said she was running this as one of her training runs because she was going to be running the White Rock Marathon in December for 57th birthday. I told her I was running this one for my 53rd! We decided we were pretty "BAD" ladies and she started yelling out to the crowd "Look at these BAD running ladies!" The crowd cheered and yelled us on as we left the neighborhood and veered onto the bridge at the spillway.

At the 9 mile mark my time was showing that I was slowing again - it was a 1:37:04...about 3-4 minutes slower than what I had been running in the early morning hours lately with the much cooler temperatures. Mile 9 was one of my slowest - 11:40. I think this was one of the last hills and included the bridge and the spillway. I had to walk here, simply couldn't run up that steep incline. This is where I lost my "BAD" friend. As soon as I got to the top I started running again though. It was nice running back on the path I knew though. I knew what to expect, I just couldn't make my legs go any faster. I would look at the Garmin and want to pick the pace back up, but my legs weren't cooperating at this point. When I looked down at the 10 mile marker and saw that I would need to do 10 minute miles to cross at 2:20 I knew I wasn't going to make that time. I was disappointed, but I also knew that crossing before the 2:30 mark WAS still doable if I kept pushing. Even though they said the last few miles were flatter - which they were - they still weren't FLAT and any hint of an incline at this point almost made me want to cry. I kept watching my time get closer and closer to missing that 2:30 mark. I prayed that I would make that mark...I had been working so long..."Please God, I'm not asking for 2:20 anymore, just let me finish in under 2:30!" Seems silly huh?

The last mile I started my normal countdown. It was so nice knowing we were getting closer and I was just urging my legs to keep moving one in front of the other...It was nice to have people along the way cheering for the runners and just after the 12 mile mark there was a whole group of the Team in Training supporters with music and bells and clappers just yelling a screaming for every runner going by. It really does lift your spirits!

With about 3 tenths of a mile to go my legs just gave out. I looked at Garmin and I was running at over a 12 minute mile pace. I knew at this point in the race and at this pace I wasn't going to make my goal. I was going as fast as I could and I was crushed. I staggered and slowed even further - my run was barely more than a walk when this nice girl in a red shirt came up beside me. She patted me on the back and said "Come on, we'll finish this one together!" She was so sweet. I told her not to let me slow her down, but she said - "No, we'll finish together - we've come too far to stop now." and she just started talking to me. I glanced down at Garmin and sure enough, my pace had picked up a little. She told me that she had turned her ankle at about mile 7 so she wasn't going to make her goal time, but was shooting for under 2:30. I told her that 2:30 was my original goal and she said "Well, lets go for it together then, see, I told you we would finish together. We'll either make it or we won't, but it will be together!" We kept running and chatting...we saw the 13 mile marker so I knew we were withing a tenth of a mile now...we turned a corner and there was the finish line. Rick and I had been working on sprinting to the finish so I told my new friend that we were going to go for it..."You mean we are going to sprint it?" she asked in surprise...my answer was "YES!" and together we picked up the pace even more. All of a sudden she said "Girlfriend, look at the clock, you are going to do it!" I looked over and saw 2:29:50 and I pushed as hard as I could. I knew it still said 2:29 when I actually crossed, but at this point all I could see was Rick's grinning face! I ran to him and he said "YOU DID IT!" I looked for the girl in red but she wasn't there - and Rick said he never saw her. You think what you want, but I think she was my personal angel - sent as an answer to that cry out for help to finish in under 2:30!


Rick's official time was: Clock time - 2:21:03:00, Chip time - 2:17:32:19
My time was : Clock time - 2:29:53, Chip time - 2:26:21:12