Race Recap (finally): Dallas Half Marathon 2019

Kids, it's been a week....ok, really over a week since I busted out my goal half marathon in Dallas, Texas.  I really meant to bore people with the minute and intimate details of all 13.1 miles of that race sooner, but these things called "work" and "family xmas gatherings" kept getting in the way.  But now I have some time, so let's get this race recap on, shall we?

Race recap WHAAAAAA

Pre-Race Stuff:

I flew in to Dallas on Thursday night before the race because Friday and twin sis and I (who lives in the Dallas area and runs the races with me) had to hit the race expo downtown and grab our packets. 

Helpfully pointing out the race expo for you.

We signed up for the weekend series, which meant we voluntarily signed up to run a Saturday and a Sunday race because more bling, a sweet jacket, and more bragging rights. Thankfully we had the presence of mind to sign up for the 5K on Saturday rather than the 10K, so it served as more of a shakeout run for Sunday than a race.  And the trip to and from the expo served to give me more experience posing on train platforms and taking touristy photos of Dallas from said train.

Saturday Race: 5K-ing it

On Saturday we got up super early and took the train to downtown Dallas for the 5K.  It was a little chilly outside, but nothing some handwarmers, gloves, and a throw-away sweatshirt couldn't take care of for me.  Oh, and posing in front of the starting corral with a light pole and a twin sister also helps keep you warm, I swears.

The 5K and 10K (and the marathon and half marathon) starts right in front of the Dallas City Hall building, which is a neat little building with a huge street in front of it that happens to be a good place to start races.

The 5K course takes you on a nice little jaunt through downtown Dallas, with a few hills to keep it interesting.  My only complaint is that the finish is a nice little uphill until you hit that sign in the pic above, which is a minor complaint of mine in the 5K but becomes a major complaint when you run the marathon or half marathon the next day and finish in the same spot.  At least running the 5K let me know what I was in for on Sunday at the end of the race.  Speaking of the end of the race, here's me and the 5K blingity bling in a marathon t-shirt.

*bling*

Sunday Race: Half-marathoning-it.

The twin and I again got up super early and took the train downtown to the same start line.  However, the twin hurt her back during the 5K race the day before, and after testing it out with a warm-up jog after we got downtown decided not to run the half with me lest she injure herself further.  She ended up hanging out in the nearby convention center to wait for me to finish...and watch my gear check bag so I didn't have to waste time a) finding where the hell they put gear check this year (please stop moving it!), and b) having to go to gear check after the race.  I dutifully lined up in the start corral, realizing quickly in the 55 degree temps that I didn't need the throw-away sweatshirt, gloves, and handwarmers I had brought with me.

This sign is a lie when you're waiting to start.  FYI.

My goal time for this race was originally a 1:55, but after a look at the elevation profile and realizing just how many hills were in the first 6 miles, I revised my goal to hitting anywhere between a 1:57 and 2 hours.  Since I wasn't trying to PR in the first place, I felt that this new goal range was pretty reasonable for me....and I remembered how much it hurt a few years back when I overdid it on those beginning hills and petered out in mile 17 of the marathon.  Respecting the hills (and not completely destroying my body for my next training cycle) was the rule of the day here.

Nothing like a STEADY CLIMB

So the starting gun went off and off I went, running the streets of Dallas.  I was going to hang with the 2-hour pacers for the first half, but of COURSE they were running too fast...so I decided to run my own race.  Specifically, that race was running too fast for those hilly first 7-ish because I'm stupid like that.  I was running between 9 and 8:50 the whole first half of the race, and I remember that at the 5K mark pictured below I was thinking, "man, I don't have to run this fast...I better slow down."  But my legs were all WE ARE RACING SHUT UP LET'S GO FAST WHEEEE and it was all downhill from there.  Well, uphill, actually until mile 7 or so.

I know that it was a net downhill from miles 7 to the finish, but that didn't stop the race from containing a few more steady uphill climbs.  (NOTE: I didn't pass the 2 hour pacers until mile 8, and my splits the entire time were well UNDER a 2 hour pace...fast pacers are one of my all-time racing pet peeves.) Mentally those hilly climbs were getting to me, but I kept telling myself "your mind gives up before the body does...keep going...wimp."  And I did, but I was slowing down a lot in the last mile due to stupidly running too fast at the start and a sharp side cramp right underneath my rib cage.  I did stop and walk while I tried to work out the side cramp, but then high-tailed it to the finish line for the last 0.7 (and up that nasty finishing hill...UGH) to snag a 1:57:22.

Please to note crappy 13th mile (9:07)

So, of course, rather than celebrating being right on the fast end of my goal time range I was all OMG IF I HADN'T WALKED I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN A 1:56 I SUCK AT THIS...but I had to remind myself that for a 45-year-old broad who just ran a gazllion freaking hills that 1:57 was a time of which to be proud--a time comfortably under 2 hours. Also, I ran the whole race in a pair of shorter-than-normal-for-me shorts that I would never have worn if I hadn't lost 15 pounds...so there was another small win. Bonus win: buying that shirt I raced in at the expo two days before and not experiencing any adverse chafing events.

Overall it was a successful weekend: great weather, great time, great company, great bling.

Not pictured: Awesome weekend series jacket

So, what's next?  Well, I'm taking it easy for a few weeks before I start marathon training again (although I could get used to that half-marathon "only running 10 miles tops on the weekends" thing fer shure); this next training cycle I will be focusing on getting lighter and getting faster so I can get as close to the 4 hour mark as possible in the spring.  More on those goals later...but for now, this post is over.  You don't have to go home, but you don't have to stay here and read the stupid learnings below:

• The weather was absolutely perfect for the half.  I almost took my shirt off in the last 2 miles because it was that nice, but decided no one needed to end a race seeing me like that.
• The course is tough but doable--that's why I keep coming back to this race.  It's a challenge.
• Have I mentioned that pacers that run too fast and then have to slow wayyy down at the end are one of my racing pet peeves?  Like a HUGE pet peeve?
• Another pet peeve is having the majority of the race photos taken at the end of a race.  I would like to see my suffering at all points of the race, thankyouverymuch.
• I'm sure one of your pet peeves is really long race recap posts.  Too bad.