Afternoon in Dallas at Sixth Floor Museum

How was your weekend?
Saturday, Trey and I toured the Sixth Floor Museum. We took the self-guided audio tour. If you are in Dallas and looking for something to do, this is a wonderful tour.
Rich in history.



JFK Memorial.

After the tour we walked around and ate at Hard Rock Cafe. Later that night, we went shopping at North East Mall, went to the movies and watched Kingsman: The Secret Service and ended our night  eating dinner Carrabba's. That was the first time I had ever eaten at Carrabbas's. I got a pizza, it was alright.

Valentine's Group Date. Boys Surprise Us with a Limo Ride to Dallas

For over a month, Trey has had Valentine's Day plans for us. He kept the details from me. However he did tell me, that it was going to be a group date. I love surprises! I didn't even beg him to tell me.

Yesterday, I worked a half-day, so I would have enough time to get ready.
Before meeting our friends for a night of fun, we stopped by to see the girls.

It was nice seeing Trey dressed up for the occasion.

We arrived at Paul's house (the guy to Trey's right), and we took group photos. We were chatting, wondering now what? Where are we going? What are we doing, boys? And then this black limo pulled up. The girls were like what???? Are we being punked? They have the wrong address.
We were so appreciative of the wonderful surprise! Way to go guys! Thank you! We felt special.

Have you ever rode in a limo? This was my first time. It was pretty cool.

We cranked up the music and had a great time. The guys still didn't' tell us where we were heading. An hour later, we were in Dallas!

Talk about fancy…we stopped and ate at Pappas Bros Steakhouse. I didn't even know about this place. I've been to the other Pappas chain restaurants, but I didn't know they had a steakhouse. It was a formal resturant. The atmosphere was over the top, romantic - even with four couples. :)

I made some new friends and new memories.



Thanks, Trey!

Don't Blink or You'll Miss It

Look in the sea of runners and you'll see me. The YouTube setting defaults to 320p, if you can -- change the view to 720p, so I look less like a blob running. (Video of Dallas Marathon)

My Dallas (Half) Marathon Race Photos

Here are my race photos

This was early on, during the race - that's why I'm so happy. And the photo to the right is me crossing the finish line.

Jeri and I tired, but happy.

2012 Dallas Marathon (Half for Me)

Distance: 13.1 miles
Duration: 2 hr 6 mins
Avg Pace Per Mile: 9:38 (official time)
Weather: 70 degrees (HUMID)
I'm so glad I did not have my eyes set on a sub 2 hour race. My Half Marathon PR is 1 hr 56 mins. It was too hot for that. Oh, yeah and I had a baby a few months ago, so there's that too.

EXPO (Saturday) 
I'm going to backtrack for just a moment. Saturday, Trey and I took the girls to the Dallas Convention Center and we checked out the expo. I was hoping to see my friend, Jeri -- She lives in South Dakota. I've been blog/twitter stalking following her online for a few years. I like to think, the stalking is mutual. I was so excited when her schedule and my schedule worked out and we were able to meet in real life. She's so much fun! I enjoyed the few hours we spent walking the expo floor. I wish we had all weekend to hang out, but I'm sure her Dallas family would hate me for kidnapping her.

Instead of kidnapping Jeri, I did the next best thing, we ran together. Granted, it was only about a mile and a half, but still...

I promise, she's totally normal. Haha!

SUNDAY MORNING: RACE DAY 
3:30 am
I heard Dakota moving around in her crib. I got her and fed her.
4:00 am
Got dressed. Ate Oatmeal with bananas walnut and cinnamon. Updated my music playlist. I needed Weezer!
4:50 am
Becca arrived at my house and shortly after, we were in the car driving to Dallas.
6:30 am
Parked! I was worried about traffic, but going to the expo the day before really put me at ease. I knew where I was going and I had a general idea of where I wanted to park.
6:40 am
First porta-potty break.
7:00 am
Met Jeri near the 9:30 pace group and had to say goodbye to Becca, since officials were enforcing assigned corral locations. She was assigned to C. I wanted to run with her too.

By 8:05 am I was running. The first mile was fine, but then the heat started to get to me and I knew it would be a terrible mistake to push it. So, my race strategy was to run and do my best to keep a 9:30 pace. If it was cooler (maybe 40-50 degrees), I think I would have shot for a 9 minute pace. Honestly, I was thrilled just to be running, my longest distance since having a baby - (6 months postpartum). I ran the first mile and a half with Jeri. She gave me the green light to go on without her, so I did. We met at the finish line.

Becca and I after the race. She is also a momma. Her son turns one this month. She did great, I'm so proud of her and I'm pretty sure she exceeded her goal time.

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for me:
After I finished (30 minutes later), I was so thirsty. I needed bottled water, not a kid cup that volunteers were handing out at the finish line. You guys know how I am about water. When I went in the expo, there was a massive crowd, trying to make their way to the expo area and I was standing there trying to make my way over there too, I almost lost it. I felt nauseous, weak, light headed, irritable, and extremely thirsty and hungry. Remember, I ate at 4:30'ish am. I was on the verge of fainting. Once I broke away from the crowd, drank water and ate food - I was back to myself. Next time, I need to run with at least one gel and have my own snacks handy. I thought Gatorade and water would get me through, but obviously not. It worked for me before, but this time I didn't take into account that I'm still nursing a 6 month old.

Recovering
Today, my legs feel sore, but not trashed.

More Race Stats 
 

The State Fair of Little Rides & Big Food

Last week, we experienced the State Fair for the first time. The fair I'm most familiar with is the Abilene West Texas Fair and Rodeo. So, I was kind of expecting it to be like that, but bigger. It was bigger and I was surprised there was pavement to walk on. Every time I'd go to the Abilene Fair, I'd wear my oldest, dirtiest shoes because I knew they would get covered in dirt.

Does anybody else think Big Tex (or whatever they call him) is super creepy and has really skinny ankles? He's a giant and I'm sure he scares young children.

Riding on the Ferris Wheel. She's not scared of heights.

Family Picture

I've decided I'm over fair food. It's over-priced and usually gross, EXCEPT the funnel cakes -- Yes, those are overpriced BUT they are delicious. These nachos, in the picture below, came back to haunt me. It must have been the fake liquid cheese. Great, now who wants dinner? Ha, sorry.

We bought a lot of tickets and we needed them. Most rides were 3 to 4 dollars per ride.

Cheyenne enjoyed it, so it was worth it, considering it was vacation and all...I guess :)

Okay, totally worth it.

Since the ride was at a stand still, we were simulating our excitement. Whee! Fun! Oh, wait...we're not going anywhere....
The ride, twirled us in circles. I love circle rides. Rides like that make Trey vomit, literally. 

A Big Boy Ride, Trey could handle.
 
He had more fun, than the kid behind him.
No hand pilot move

We ended our day at the Auto Car Show. This is Cheyenne driving a Camaro. Remember when Trey wanted a Camaro? Not anymore. Thank goodness.

Diner at Red Robins
After an 8 hour day, we decided to leave the fair grounds and have dinner at Red Robins.
I almost flipped out when I saw that they had sweet potato fries on the menu.

Look at us, we're so weird AWESOME!
 

Mavericks at American Airlines

Saturday evening, I was so exhausted after running the half marathon. Even though resting sounded like fun....going to a Mavericks game sounded better. At that point, Trey was recovering from his stomach bug, so he was well enough for me to leave Cheyenne with him.

That night, I felt like the single friend with all the couples, but my friends are cool and didn't make me feel left out. Before the game, we ate a light dinner at Panera Bread and then we hopped on a train to American Airlines.



Here is a short clip featuring Katy

Last year, we went to the game and took Linda and Steve. Here is the blog post from that game. Cheyenne looks so cute!

In This Case, Sharing is Not Caring

Guess who has the stomach bug now? Trey.

It started yesterday evening and pretty much knocked him off his feet. He was in bed by 7:30 pm and after I put Chey down for the night, I followed his lead. I thought it would be smart to get a solid eight hours of sleep before the half marathon. Well, right as I was dozing off to bed, is when his sickness got ugly and I mean U-G-L-Y.

Both him and Cheyenne missed my half marathon this morning. That makes it two years in a row that they've missed this particular race. I had a great race and I even set a personal record. Yay! I'm looking forward to writing a full race re-cap of that. I would do it now, but I just got back from the Dallas Mavericks game and I'm toast! Half mararthon + setting a PR + taking care of sick Daddy + Mavericks game = tired momma. Goodnight and sleep tight.

P.S. Trey, get well soon.

The Road to Recovery & Race Stats

I'm still on cloud nine! I ran a good race and I'm feeling great. My road to recovery has been fantastic. Hot chocolate, compression socks, and some Tylenol. The rest of the week, I plan on going by the book and taking it easy, which means no exercising. I'm going to give my body the time it needs to heal from this race.

A few things I failed to mention in my original recap:
1. I ran 26.2 miles and have ZERO blisters.
2. Post race - my tummy enjoyed a greasy burger (like promised)
3. At the moment, I'm on the fence about the Cowtown Ultra Marathon. There is a good chance I will be running it, but you know....
4. I can now say, I've given birth to a child and I've ran a marathon and the truth is they both hurt like hell! 

Check out these stats! If the print is too small, just click on the graph for a better view.




The average runner was at mile 25 when I finished. I believe I was at mile 14, when the overall winner crossed the finish line.

2010 Metro PCS Dallas White Rock Marathon

Distance: 26.2 miles
Duration: 4:15:29
Average Pace Per Mile: 9:45
Weather: 37 degrees. NNE wind at 9 mph. It was COLD.



3:00 am Sunday Morning
I woke up and  could not go back to sleep. I was so excited. I stayed in bed and waited until my 4 am alarm went off. At 4 am I heard the NFL theme song. Da-Da-Da-DAH! Trey said, "It's marathon time!"

4:00 am - I got dressed and made sure I put petroleum jelly in areas that are prone to chaffing. I did not want my armpits to catch on fire during the race. Chaffing sucks, but the jelly seems to work. Shortly, after getting dressed, I ate my typical breakfast, english egg muffin, with a banana. Then I started to freak out because I thought maybe I ate breakfast WAY to EARLY. I mean the race didn't even start until 8 am! I would be starving by 10! Since I already ate my meal, there was nothing I could do, so I promised myself I would eat again before 8.

4:45 am - Trey loaded the car, we headed to a gas station to get gas, Trey got some snack food, and we were on the road to Fair Park. We arrived early and we didn't have to deal with traffic. SCORE.

5:30 am - We sat in the car and twiddled our thumbs. Trey had to hear me burst out every few minutes..."I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!" Calm down. 

6:00 am - I walked to the coliseum to use the bathroom, while Trey waited in the car. There were no lines to the bathroom. I went back to the car sat with Trey and didn't feel like eating my banana, so I ate Trey's gas station powdered donuts. Fat = Fuel? Sure.

7:20 am - We decided to leave the car and I needed to make one last pit stop before the race. By 7:20, the coliseum was packed and the bathroom line went on forever and a mile. We decided to leave that area and look for the porta potties outside. Those lines were also long, but not as bad. Plus, they were close to the corral areas and I could hear race announcements. I waited about 25 minutes in line, emptied my tank and I was ready to run!

8:00 am - I said goodbye to Trey and I settled into my corral station, H. There were 22,000 runners and with the corral stations it felt like a smaller race. As you know, corral congestion was one of my main concerns, but I made sure I was at the front and I had no problems weaving around runners. Big sigh of relief.

Oh wow, the energy at the start line was incredible! They had some great music playing and with each corral start they would shoot confetti in the air. PAR-TAY!

It was so cold at the beginning of the race. While I was waiting for the race to start I could not stop shivering. I'm not sure if it was my nerves or the cold. Probably both. For the first mile, my feet felt like frozen blocks of ice. I also felt like my pace was too slow, so I pushed myself. Around mile 2.5 I finally checked my watch and my pace was 8:27. I was aiming to maintain a 9:30 overall pace, but I was feeling good, so I just went with it and maintained an 8:27 - 9:14 pace for a long time.

Here is the breakdown:
10K (55:26) pace 8:56 
Half (2:00:13) pace 9:14 
20 (3:09:20) pace 9:28
26.2 (4:15:29) pace 9:45


I'm super pleased with my results, especially this being my first marathon. Looking at the numbers you probably would never guess it, but there were two times during the race I thought about quitting or walking the rest of the way. At mile 12 and again at mile 16 my right ankle bugged out and I was in serious PAIN. I didn't walk, I just ran and prayed through it. I think it's strange how it came and went. Weird, considering I never really dealt with ankle pain during my training. I'm just glad the pain didn't come back after mile 16. 


There were about 30 water stations along the course. Since I stopped and fueled at most all of the stations, Gatorade and water, I only consumed two gels. I've concluded that it's A Marathon Bathroom Miracle since I didn't have to stop to use the porta potty during the 4 hour race. UNBELIEVABLE. 


Well, I'm really glad I decided not to wear headphones 1.) Because after a while the cord gets on my nerves and sometimes music in general 2.) I enjoyed hearing the spectators 3.) I got a chance to hear the live music, even if it was only in passing. My name was printed on my bib and also the blue bib signified I was a first time marathoner. So, spectators would cheer me on by saying, "Way to go first timer." "Looking good Dominique, keep it up." It doesn't seem like much, but those cheers really helped! 


The final stretch....

Post-Race
When I crossed the finish line, I immediately felt achy. The next few events felt like a dream sequence. I was out of it! Someone put one of those aluminum foil space covers on me and another person said congratulations and placed a medal around my neck. I made my way to the automobile building, picked up my finishers shirt, which is AWESOME. I had absolutely no appetite,  but I felt weak, so I made myself eat yogurt. I sat on the floor and didn't want to move. Everywhere I looked I saw finishers sprawled out on the concrete. We all looked terrible, but felt great ---- That's a marathon for you.

Trey's parents drove up and helped us with Cheyenne. It was nice visiting with them.

One thing I want to say about this race is that I was so impressed with the organization. I loved the corral start, there was ample parking, the route was mostly flat, and the finisher shirts and medals look great. Love. Love. Love The Dallas White Rock Marathon!