A Race to Remember

CowTown 2017. 

Definitely a race to remember.

 My first ever point to point half marathon. 

My first ever race with a goal to beat the cut off time. 

My first ever race WITH a cut off time.

What a race it was. 


So now that the dramatic intro has been given, I will break it all down. CowTown was held on February 26, 2017. My husband was running the full marathon, and I was doing the half. The kiddos stayed with my mom, and everyone there had fun. My goal was to merely beat my husband, but also to make it to the last water stop before the 4 hour and 30 minute cut off time. I managed only one of those goals, but let me back up a bit and give a recap of my race, and by way of doing that will reveal which goal I met.

The day started out slightly chilly. Being from Texas, I was most excited about running a race in February in shorts and short sleeves. Why? Because in Minnesota where I currently live, February isn't exactly shorts weather. LOL!! I also was looking forward to the sunrise. It did not disappoint. Being as I was walking the half marathon, and expected a rather slow time, I was put in Corral 8...the last one. My husband somehow scored Corral 3, a mystery we STILL haven't figured out. 

By the time I got to the start line, the race had been going for close to 30 minutes. The race itself traveled through several parts of Ft. Worth, including the Historic Stockyards and parts of downtown. The race started well...or at least as well as I could have hoped for with minimal training time. I made it to the first aid station relatively middle of the back of the pack. Unfortunately, I had to use the bathrooms, which shifted me back a bit. For the first three to four miles of the race I played leap frog with Batman. After the water stop at mile 3, I started to realize I was pretty much on a solo adventure. There were still people around me until mile 6, at which point I had to pull off to get a bandaid for a blister.

After mile 6, I ventured into the outskirts of the Stockyards. I could still see people ahead of me, they were moving about 5 minutes in front of me speedwise at this stage. I loved walking through it, and taking in some of the sights on my way through. After leaving the Stockyards, I entered into what could only be described as Old Towne. I had tried to look for a restaurant with my name around mile 7, and missed. Trust me...a place with my name and that sells tamales? I was FOR SURE looking out for it. I found the taco trailer, but not the restaurant. At this stage, I could still see people in front of me, but that wall was sure sneaking in. I briefly thought about sitting on the curb and waiting for the sag wagon. This thought disappeared around mile 8.5 when I met up with Team RWB passing out cookies. Seriously. Those ladies totally lit the fire back under me, and helped me get my head back on my shoulders. They are just a few of those that made the race as amazing as it was. 

After leaving the cookie stop, I had the looming bridge at mile 9. It has some serious optical allusion going on, making it appear as this hugely steep hill. In reality, it wasn't that bad. In fact, by the time I got to the top of it, I had no pain anywhere, and felt totally refreshed. That might have been the cookies, or the gu...or Nuun....it could have even been the fact it was the Trinity River bridge, and as one who grew up by the Trinity further south, I thought it really cool. Who knows? By that point, I was in it for fun...and to beat the lights I knew were behind me...somewhere. 

Once the bridge was conquered, I entered downtown Ft. Worth. My GPS watch decided to go bonkers, and part of that was due to not turning the auto pause feature off. Why mention this? Because when the race was all said and done, it only had me at 12.76 miles. Slightly short of the 13.1 I actually did. Anyway, I digressed. Downtown was amazing. By this time, I was actually solo mio. No one had passed me since mile 5 or so, so there was that. Those behind me, were still behind me. 

While I made my way through Downtown, there were some officers who took the time to cheer me on. By this time, it was me and then open space. My feet were killing me, my mind was giving me alternative facts as to how many miles I actually had left, and I was almost in full pity party mode. Then I came across that one officer. How I wished I could have taken a quick selfie while he was directing traffic. He gave me the heart symbol, cheered me on by name, and gave me a high five. That totally made my day. However, a few blocks later, there were a couple of officers that almost negated that amazing feeling. I had to stand and wait while they were Facebooking. I think that was my only time I have ever gotten an attitude with any course marshal, and I felt bad for it.

After I cleared downtown, my focus became to hit the last aid station at mile 11 before it closed. Remember one of my goals? I was quickly closing in on that time cut, and I had to get there. I saw them standing there at the top of the hill. As quickly as my tired legs and hurting feet could get me there, I did. First words out of my mouth was to let them know others were behind me, and not to tear down. It took them back that I would be so concerned. It was there I found out how many runners were actually behind me, and that those lights I had been running from, were still behind me. It was also there I realized I only had 2 miles left. 2. miles.  I was on top of the euphoric high at that point!!! 

After the final water station, it was a big downhill adventure. About halfway down, I saw a squad car with lights show up. I wasn't sure if it was backing up, or going slowly on my side. I decided to try and catch it. I got close, and then it took off once it had crossed the bridge at the bottom of the hill. At that point, I saw an elderly lady who was walking at a steep slant. She had turned down medical help, and was finishing the race at all costs (and why not? She only had a mile or so to go at that point). I later found out she had a neurological issue, and the half marathon was on her bucket list of things to accomplish before the disorder eventually would take her ability to walk. I felt bad passing her going up the final hill, but felt better once I realized she did in fact finish. 

Once I hit the top of that hill, the end was near. I could hear it. I could feel that vibe of excitement. I was a bit bummed, because I had gotten a text from my husband that he had just made it in a few minutes before. Oh well. My goal to finish strong, and to finish with a PR...whatever that would look like...remained in my focus. As I made the next to last turn on the course, I started getting passed by marathoners and ultra runners. I felt out of place, but due to their focus and energy, I actually picked up some pace. I was actively looking for that 13 mile marker, and was getting discouraged by not finding it. Imagine my surprise, and the laughter, when I found TWO of them!! 

Right about the time I found them, I heard my husband cheering me on. It was the last turn. Around the corner I went. I tried to run. Really, I did. I saw the finish line. I saw the clock. The result is one pathetic pic, as I looked like I was about to cry. Not from pain either. Honestly looked like I was ready to cry that I was about to cross the finish line. The truth? I saw the clock, which was set to gun time, saying 5:20:30. I had that quick moment of upset that I missed my PR....by a lot. Then I remembered it was chip time, and I was offset by 30 minutes. Quick math said I PRed...and I was excited!!! 

In the end, I PRed by 7 minutes exact. I managed to get the obligatory pic with the PR bell in the bell (I could walk under it!). I got Blue Bell ice cream (some of the best stuff out there). And ultimately, I finished. Yes, my feet hurt (shoes are an important thing...and using some that work on blacktop don't always work well on concrete), and I was exhausted, but I finished. I got a finisher's shirt (I had always gotten participation shirts before). I have so many memories, and lessons learned. Would I do this race again? In a heartbeat!! 

A New Beginning....Again

So. Here I am. Again. 

    Why the delay? Frankly, I am not sure. Life has gotten incredibly busy, and almost insanely so. I have so much I want to write/blog about, yet so little time to do so. Some days it comes down to sheer ability to remember...something I need to work on. 

All that said, I have been thinking about the direction I want to take this blog. I have henpecked at this over the years, and it seems a bit....aimless. Don't believe me? Check out the archives. 3 posts between 2014 and today. 3. Two of them are while I was laid up after having ankle surgery. All 3 posts are unique in content, and none of them very cohesive in their content. My blog has officially become just as random as the title. For me, this is scary, as anything in written form should have some semblance of order. Hopefully this post will be the first of many that will change that. 

This leads to the next logical question....where do I see this blog going in the next days/weeks/months/years ahead? A very good question indeed. My hope is to start by recapping my recent (ok...so not so very recent) race experiences. Since February of this year, I have completed 3 out of 4 half marathons that I had set out to do. The incomplete race? 4 miles stand between me and it...and I will go over that one in a later post. I have also had the privilege of volunteering at a Ragnar relay. This experience will be documented as well. Why? Because it is an insane race, and it was a blast to be a part of it! In short, I see this blog becoming what it should have been when I started it....about running. My own tales, the tales of those of a volunteer, and perhaps tales of one who chases another while that person is running. 

While this is my first post of many to come, have no fear. This is not a "head's up" on a change, only to end until the next time. My hope is to be a bit more regular with updating the blog...maybe figuring out how to change the backdrop (new change should equal a new background, right?)...and passing on the tales of a runner randomly running for Christ.