I ROCKed the Rock!

I ran the half-marathon at the White Rock Marathon this past Sunday morning. This race marked my 9th half-marathon completed and one more towards my goal of completing a full marathon. I had originally signed up to do the whole but switched to the half a few months ago because of some family issues that were interfering with my training. At the time I was sad about the decision but am very glad that I made that choice because this White Rock Half-Marathon was my BEST to date!

The night before I made sure I had everything that I was going to need for race day in one area. I put my Shot Bloks and in my Spibelt, put my MP3 player and camera on their chargers and got all of my clothes together (race clothes, jacket and windpants to wear before and after the race as well as my flip flops to put on after I finish). The morning of the race started bright and early at 5:00 so that I could finish getting stuff together and get the family ready to go. Once everything was packed up and ready, we were off to the Cotton Bowl where the race was going to start and finish.

Because it was pretty chilly outside, once we got to the Cotton Bowl, we found a building to go in so that I could “gear up” and do a little bit of stretching. Once I was set, I walked with my husband and daughter towards the starting area so that they could get a good spot to cheer me on and I could go on towards my starting corral. Because of the number of people participating (I think they said 27,000), they sent us out in waves starting with the wheelchair participants, then the elites, then smaller groups of everybody else. My starting corral was close to the back of the middle so it took me about 20 minutes to actually get up to the starting line. While waiting, I did a lot of hopping up and down to try to stay warm!

When I got to mile 1, I realized that I was running 11 minute miles (my 5K pace!) and thought to myself “I need to back off some, I still have 12 more miles to go!” I spent mile 2 telling myself to slow down but still ended up completing miles 2 and 3 in about 11 minutes each. During mile 4, I fell into my slower pace and continued cranking out miles. Between miles 8 and 10 there were a few hills but nothing too major. I made sure to drink plenty of Gatorade and eat Shot Blocks about every 30 minutes. The last 5K was pretty difficult, not because of the terrain but because I was getting tired and was developing a blister on my toe. Around mile 12.5, the marathon met back up with the half. At this point, I really wanted to stop and walk but I just knew that if I did my trainer (who was running the full marathon) would probably come up behind me and start yelling at me to get my butt in gear so I didn’t! I pushed through and finally made it! I crossed in 2:45:13 which is my new PR!

It was an amazing race and I am so happy to have another half under my belt (and finisher medal hanging on my wall. I am excited to see what happens during my training and at the Cowtown half and the Dallas Rock n’ Roll half this Spring. I have come SO far in my running journey and have achieved some really great personal records these past few months. Now…to figure out when my first full is going to be!