Duration: 02:02:10
Average Pace Per Mile: 9:20
Temperature: 24 degrees with a 17 degree windshield & a north west wind at 11 mph
Notes: Wear two layers of gloves to Cowtown and possibly invest in a face mask.
This picture was taken right before I left the house early this morning. I normally don't wear headphones, but I figured the other runners could care less about my music, so I spared them.
I woke up this morning to frigid weather conditions and when I left the house and ran to the start line, I slipped on ice twice. I didn't fall on my face because I was able to catch my footing. During the race there were small snow flurries. I carried a water bottle with me and around mile 9 the water started to turn ICY! For the most part I stayed really warm, the only parts of body really freezing were my poor fingers and my face.
About the race:
All those postings I read about the hills are true, but THE HILL everyone kept referring to should be called THE HILL from hell. It was brutal! I felt like a snail as I ran up it, on my tipi toes. When I described it to Trey I said, "It goes straight up into the sky, that's how steep it is." He laughed at me. Since I was wearing my headphones, I was able to talk to him on the phone for a brief moment. During the race, he called to encourage me. I lost all track of time while I was running and I didn't see any mile markers, so when he told me I was only at mile 5 (this was his estimation based on the time), it really surprised me. I thought I was on mile 8...yeah, I'm telling you, I lost track of time. When I crossed the finish line I was so happy and then I started to stretch when I felt it...pain near the left side of my pelvic. I stretched and walked it out and within an hour the pain disappeared. Good! And I'm really surprised about my race time. When I run 4 miles, my average pace per mile is typically 9:40, but 9:20 for a half marathon?---that's a pleasant surprise.
Okay, so Trey and Cheyenne didn't make it to watch me cross the finish line. I was very disappointed. The reason why they decided not to get out was because Chey had a cold. The last two nights she's been waking up crying and miserable because she can't breathe out of her nose. It was best that we didn't have out in this freezing weather. However, I did call Trey and ask him to pick me up, after the race was over. I didn't want to make my 14 mile day any longer than it needed to be. One mile warm up to the race and 13 miles of the race course...No, thanks.
Awesome job!
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