Dallas Marathon Report Part 2

Jacob was asking why it's taking me so long to write this report. I told him I have a lot to say as it was an interesting 4 hours. He says I'm just long winded. He's probably right.

The second half of the race was different. I started focusing on different things as the euphoric high I was feeling began to wear thin. You know a guy holding a sign with Larry the Cable guy saying "Git r done" and having the path go by a store called CondomSense can only take you so far. I tried to enjoy it but then of course the pain started to set in. Significant pain didn't start affecting me until mile 18. But at the same time between mile 18 and 19 I realized I was going to finish this one. And not for the reasons you might think. It is so weird but I had just come off a turn and was running by a storage facility on my left and woods/lake on my right. Total deja vu happened at this point. I have been here before --- but I hadn't because I had never been to Dallas before. I realized this place was in one of my crazy running dreams a few months earlier. Weird I know. Then a sense of calm and resolve washed over me and I knew that was it. That no matter what the rest of the race brought I was going to finish. But I also knew I had to keep going.

Mile 19 was a big ass party. I was laughing because it was this motivating mile that Clif bar and Hooters was supporting but the Hooters girls were so cold they were in orange jumpsuits instead of their typical uniform. But all very nice nonetheless. There were funny signs like "If you wanted to get a pedicure and couldn't because you are missing toenails - you are a marathoner" and "If you have ever gotten excited for a Powerbar - you know you are a marathoner". Yep and Yep. Then they had a crappy sign. "THIS IS THE WALL" with no push through it or there is no wall. And right after that was the biggest hill on the course. Thanks for the motivation. But I got to laughing again when supporters were trying to pass out beer and donuts and trying to cheer us all up the hill. Simultaneously I was really motivated when I surged the hill and everyone started walking. I felt like such a rock star. I was just looking around at everyone thinking why you peeps walking didn't you train for hills??? No you didn't but I did!!! At that point I was apologizing for every bad thing I had ever said about hill training.

Things then became a bit quiet from this point until the end. The runners had thinned tremendously. Often I was running by myself. Plus, there didn't seem to be as much crowd support. Around the lake was cold in parts and if the wind came off the lake just right it was downright nasty. I had already ran through a mile of rain pelting the side of my face and the wind trying to blow me over. That's the mile I just reminded myself over and over that it was nothing compared to that one nasty training run on lake Michigan (http://mynicknameisbooger.blogspot.com/2007/11/happy-to-finally-be-home.html). Even after I had come off the lake it started to cool down even more. I only noticed when the wind picked up and would fight through saying to myself "you live in the freakin windy city this is nothing". It actually worked this time.

Mile 20-22 I felt myself slow down. There was no mile marker for 21 so I was really thrown off on my time. I had no idea how I was doing anymore and honestly I didn't care during those miles. At mile 22 it hit me - Shit this is the longest I have ever run and there's only 4 miles left (okay 4.2). So I envisioned where I was on my lakefront path and how I normally feel at that point and what I normally do to get home. Just get home was all I was thinking. I was really hurting. My left knee had decided to join the pain gang the left hip had started. The arches of my feet were aching horrendously. I am already flat-footed and it felt like I flattened them with a blacktop roller. Then somewhere around this point my right knee felt left out and wanted to join. I also took my last GU and as I stopped to grab water ( I walk through the water stations as I am not coordinated enough to drink on the move) my left knee/leg gave out felt like it just collapsed...F*** @#$%^&*& That's not good - Is all I could think as I didn't feel any pain. Keep moving, keep moving, drink water, suck the GU and RUN. Get your ass in gear girl. It actually felt better to run. Finally I came to mile 23. My watch read something like 3:34. I figured I could do a 5K in ~30 minutes or so at this point. The faster I get through this the sooner I'll stop hurting. Oh and for even more motivation I looked up to spot thong girl just ahead (I had been running "with" her now for nearly the entire race) . I picked up my pace and went. No way thong girl - it may be mile 23 but I am going to kick your little thong butt. I passed her and didn't look back. Really it was because I was scared to see what the front of her awesome running suit looked like.

Mile 24-25 dragged on because there were not many supporters and the marathoners merged with the half-marathoners around this time. In my pain I then had to swerve between walking half-marathoners. Not so fun. Then I saw a guy whose shirt read "CHICAGO WAS HOTTER". I wanted to catch him to talk but decided I needed to pass him instead. A major plus, it was all downhill or flat from here on to the finish. I hit mile 25 and had to go around a curve on my approach to the West End of Dallas and I started to get choked up realizing I was going to finish, it was going to happen for real not just in my mind. Tears nearly streaming down my face I had some difficulty breathing so my emotions would need to wait until I actually finished. With around .3 left my ipod shuffle shuffled onto Somewhere Over the Rainbow sung by Israel Kamakawiw Ole' (not Judy Garland or Katherine McPhee but the good version). I thought it was very fitting for how I was feeling. Then it died, just ran out of juice. But I didn't! I put the headphones in my pocket so I could take in the finish line (and take a good picture). Literally steps before I crossed the finish line I heard my name and saw Jacob and his uncle waving. I waved back and threw up my arms as I crossed the finish line. Again I can't wait to see that picture :)

You know what was evil though. The finish area was on a hill so I had to walk uphill to get my blanket, medal, take a picture, get some water, etc. That hurt. Really, really hurt. Then I had to go down 4 steps to go to my meeting place with Jacob (yeah didn't plan that too great either) and I looked down and just stopped. I couldn't do. Then this little old Texan man came up and said "honey, you okay? Here let me help you". So sweet because I'm not sure I would have made it myself right then!

Here are some pictures Jacob took of me finishing and after the race.

me in the pink and white - almost there! The back of me finishing!! so freaking cold but so freakin happy too
my race bling
And the shirt I have been waiting to wear since October

Overall I had a great 2nd 1st marathon experience. During the race I kept thinking "Now this is how you want a race to go" and I actually finished saying I would run another marathon. Although I do vaguely remember around mile 19/20/21 thinking maybe I might be better at only running 1/2 marathons. But eh that was just the pain talking. Next goal under 4 hour marathon! I'm still sore and wobbling around like a penguin but the pain will pass. I look forward to the day when it won't hurt to sit on the toilet or go down steps. There were some things that annoyed me about the pre and post race. Like the fact I couldn't find any food when I finished only beer and I was so not in a beer drinking mood. It all could be corrected if they chose to put up signs. But it was nice to run a smaller race and visit a new city.

If I hadn't started blogging I can't say for sure if I would have been as motivated to attempt another marathon after Chicago. You all kept me motivated throughout training and kept me moving one foot in front of the other during the tough miles of Dallas. Thank you everyone!!!

Before I leave you here are some more fun stats from the run.

start to mile 5: 9:28 min/mile pace

Mile 5 - 13.1: 9:09 min/mile pace

Mile 13.1 - Mile 19: 9:25 min/mile pace

Mile 19 - finish: 9:42 min/mile pace (need to work on this)

Dallas Weekend Race Wrap-Up part 1

I wish I was a master storyteller but unfortunately I did not receive that gene from my father. My sister inherited that one instead. So I'll do my best here to replay my 2nd 1st marathon weekend. I think the use of pictures will move the story along. But be prepared this is a long report so get comfortable.

Jacob and I arrived in Dallas on Friday and took a very expensive cab ride to the hotel downtown. Cabs are ridiculously expensive there! I thought Chicago and Vegas were bad but Dallas takes the cake. On the ride to the hotel I realized I had no idea where the packet pick up was located. Yea me for being prepared. Luckily it was on my e-mail confirmation that I had printed off as an afterthought:) Once we checked-in we headed back out to hit up the expo and then grab some dinner. I was bummed the expo didn't have any race t-shirts that I liked or magnets but otherwise very similar to every other expo I have been to just smaller.

Saturday we slept in and it was so nice. The hotel concierge recommended a great place for brunch. He sent us to Breadwinners and told us how to get there for free! The McKinney Trolley. This was the oldest train car I have ever been on but it was a lot of fun. And you can't beat the price!
McKinney Trolley

Apparently this was the only brunch place in Dallas as it was packed. But it was all large groups and luckily there was a table for 2 available right away. If you ever go to Dallas you must stop by this place. Later Jacob's aunt and uncle picked us up and we drove around Dallas. It was 80 and gorgeous and I just tried to stay hydrated which meant I had to pee every 20 minutes. We had some fun by the convention center with the bulls :) Jacob attempted his best Ace Ventura impression.

Big threat of rain was on Sunday's forecast. Earlier in the week it was supposed to be sunny and warm so Saturday I received an e-mail about staying cool in the warm weather from the race director. No chance of that by the time the e-mail was sent. By Saturday they were calling for cooler temps and scattered thunderstorms. Sunday I woke up and after putting my contacts in I hustled to the window to see the rain situation. None that I could tell at 6 am. Checked weather.com and the rain was supposed to be in city center around 7am. Oh just perfect :) We got to American Airlines center right around 7 so before the rain came I took a picture. It was a little chilly, in the 50's, so perfect for running!

I was kind of annoyed with the pre-race set-up. They had the American Airlines center available to stay warm and dry but it was a complete cluster f***. There was a huge line to get in because you had to go through metal detectors and have your bags searched. Then they only had one set of bathrooms open. Luckily those moved quickly. It was impossible to move around in there so it took nearly 25 to get in, use the facilities, and get out. As soon as I walked outside the rain started. But it was a steady rain not hard rain. So I pulled out the handy dandy New Orleans Bourbon Street poncho left over from friends wedding 3 1/2 years ago when Tropical Storm Matthew hit and walked to the starting line with 15 minutes to spare.

Before I got into line Jacob gave me a very serious look and reminded me to walk if I ever felt bad that there was no shame in walking. He told me to remember if I ever felt like I did in Chicago that I needed to stop immediately. I was like yeah yeah whatever I'm good :) I settled in between the 4:15 and 4:30 pacers not really knowing what to expect this time around. The weather was better for running this time around but then I started questioning my choice of only running in shorts, t-shirt, and gloves. Did I need a long sleeve? Would I be okay? Instead of obsessing I realized I would see Jacob at the halfway point and if I was miserable I would stop and pull my shirt out of my bag then. I realized standing there that there weren't many females running this race and not many people my age. Very interesting. I didn't talk to anyone rather just tried to get in the zone of doing this thing. My stomach was in knots and I was hoping it was only nerves and nothing GI related. It was difficult to hear what was happening up front so I just waited for everyone to start moving. Only took 2 1/2 minutes to get to the start line as compared to 15 in Chicago. I threw off my poncho and I was off. To top it off it had stopped raining! I went out at what felt like a slow pace trying to remember everyone's advice about if you feel slow in the beginning you are probably right where you should be. People started weaving in and out and I lost the pacers immediately. I started to get nervous. Then in my head a little voice said over and over "just run your own race you are in it for the long haul". I started to relax immediately and try to enjoy my surroundings. My first 5k took slightly longer than I wanted but I figured I could make it up in the middle and tried not to worry too much. I felt great I was happy and having fun. The 5k - mile 8 flew by. My left hip was aching but nothing I hadn't felt on every other training run so I wasn't worried yet. I smiled big for the cameras at mile 6 (can't wait to see those pics!). Best of all the rain was off an on but never for more than a few minutes at a time through the first 8. For the most part it wasn't raining or maybe I was just running so fast I missed the drops ;). The rain that did fall made the roadway slick and I nearly lost my footing at mile 7. After that I focused on my stride and looked ahead to seeing Jacob at White Rock Lake between mile 12-13. A huge chunk of the race occurred around this lake (must be why they call the race White Rock Marathon). Anyways, at around mile 8 you head downhill and curve around to reach the top corner of the lake at 9 miles. This is where I found orange slices. Oh mama - that was the best orange slice EVER! I felt like a soccer playing 4 year old who got an orange slice at halftime. Then the course took us around the lake for the next 10 miles.

The group had definitely thinned out by the time I arrived at White Rock Lake and I was always seeing new faces because of the corporate relay challenge so it was difficult to find a rabbit. I always like to focus my attention on one or two others and try to hang with them during the race. But then I found the girl I wanted to beat. Girlfriend was wearing a matching lycra running suit in silver and it was blatantly clear she was wearing a thong...to run a marathon...I was like no way is a silver suit thong wearing bouncy girl beating me. But more to come on that.

When I reached mile 11 and started looking around for Jacob. I wasn't seeing him so I started to get a bit bummed out then right after a water stop that I passed there he was hanging by himself. I gave him a thumbs up and big smile. I seriously felt so great here better than any training or race before. He came out and asked how I was feeling (because this is where I took a turn for worse at Chicago) and told me I was on track for a 4:02 marathon. I was surprised. I knew I was running good but that was better than I expected! Here I am smiling big for the camera. I'm such a cheeseball.

I reached the halfway point a few minutes later and still was smiling and feeling really good. I got through 13.1 in around 2:01 and knew I could keep it up!!! Since it took me two attempts at my first marathon it is only fitting that I leave you at this point. I'll post part 2 later but right now I seriously have some work to catch up on!