The short
2:42:39
5413 of 7063
307 of 369 AG
2608 of 3041 Male

This is more of a path to the race than race report.

On 9/16/13 I posted Am I crazy? to try to run the Dallas Half Marathon On 12/8.
Here are some of the replies I got.

D: Yes, you are, yes, you should do it
Brrrrrrr: If you can do 9 miles, you could do 13.1. Especially if there's cheering. Smile Looking at your PRs, I think you could shoot for a 2:45 finish or so, depending on how training goes.
Ileneforward: Yes you are crazy.  In a good way.  You should race it.
Sly: Of course you should, I will be there.

And I replied: (Teach me to ask a bunch of crazy people if I'm crazy.)

So I began training reaching 142 Miles in October.

On 12/6 The Dallas Marathon was canceled due to weather. It was a real disappointment.

The next week The Cowtown Marathon 2/23 cut their registration fee to the earlyist fee for
runners who had regestered for Dallas. So I registered, and started another 12 weeks
of training in the worst part of winter. I got 110 in Dec. 87 in Jan and 40 in Feb.

Sometime in late Jan I hurt my knee, I thought it could have been a stress fracture but
Dr. said arthritc wear. I had a 15k scheduled for 2/8/14. So I took 10 days off before I ran it,
I felt pretty good during the race and didn't have any knee pain, but the next day the pain was back.

So for the 2 weeks leading up to the Half Marathon I didn't run at all, only elliptical and bike.
A week before the marathon I got an ingrown toe nail.
And the Friday before I got hit by a virus bus.
And I whined!

But thanks to some encourgment and some kick ass antibiotics I made it ti the starting line.

I couldn't get a clear picture of what the weather was going to be, but it turned out perfect.
Low 50's at the start low 60's at the finish. A weak front came through in the middle that
kept it from getting to hot and reversed the wind direction. I ended up with a tailwind
for most of the race.

I met Sly around 6 am we talked a bit and he gave me  more encouragemnt.(thnaks!)

Originally my time goal was going to be 2:30 but after everything that happened
I would be glad to just finish, so i decided to try to stay with the 2:40 pacer as long as I could.

I made my way to my coral and met the 2:40 pacer, A women about 7 months pregnant!
We were off about 7:20.

It was pretty crowded for the first few miles but not to bad,and I skipped the first water stop at 1.5. I tried to keep the pacer in sight and at 4.5 and I saw a chance for a stop with no waiting. I grabbed some water and was off again. I cougt up and saw the pacer about .1 ahead and just hung on.

I brought 3 GU packs with me and used the first one around mile 5.


Fort Worth Stock Yards

Mile 7 went through the Fort Worth Stockyards and I thought I had lost the pacer but all of a sudden she was right in front of me, she had to take a bathroom break, but she took off to get back with the group and I never saw her again.



Tarrant County Courthouse

It was a fairly flat course till mile 9, then there is a Big Ass Hill, for me anyway, 110ft in about 3/4 mile. 40 ft in the last .1 of that.
Needless to say I walked most of it along with everyone else around me. I used the second gu here.

Miles 10-12 had some ups and downs I walked the ups and ended with a little rise to the finish.

(don't think I'm feeling it like D does)

So in the end, yes I'm crazy, I'm a runner!
Yes I can run a Half Marathon, in just under 2:45
And Sly was there.


First in a 3 year series.

PS: If I ever even mention the idea of a Full Marathon, just shoot me.

Congratulations!  After all the issues this past month, you did very well.  Aren't you glad you went for it?

Hey, you did it, and with everything that life threw at you to get in the way you still got it done!  Congrats!

Mile 7 went through the Fort Worth Stockyards -   That must have been a wonderful smell, if they're anything like the stockyards here in San Antonio.

Congrats on your half, PAD, way to go!  That is a very popular event isn't it, the Cowtown Half?  There is also a 5K, isn't there, which is very popular?

That was a nice RR, full of positive things. Congratulations, Pad! And good thing you didn't have to assist in a delivery.  I absolutely love the medal!

Mile 7 went through the Fort Worth Stockyards -   That must have been a wonderful smell, if they're anything like the stockyards here in San Antonio.

 

Congrats on your half, PAD, way to go!  That is a very popular event isn't it, the Cowtown Half?  There is also a 5K, isn't there, which is very popular?

Actually the only live stock there are the Longhorns they parade down the streets once a day. There's more closer to the start/finish line. That's where they have the stock show that just ended.

The Cowtown is growing. They had record runners and times this year, Dallas being canceled and increased prize money brought in about 30,000 people for the 5 races.  They had the 5k & 10k on Saturday and the Half, Marathon and 50k Ultra on Sunday.

Congratulations, PAD, you did it!  Even with the knee injury.  Great job, and glad you got the chance to FE with Sly.  That metal is about the cutest I've seen.  Heck I might have to run in Texas just to get one of those.

Congrats, PAD!  The Cowtown is my favorite HM so I'm glad you decided to go for it.  I know there were issues leading up to the big day, but you DID it!  Way to go!