So I did it! Not without a lot of hard work and pain, but I finished my second half marathon in 7 days! This morning I was so nervous that I didn't think I could do it, but I did!
The Fort Worth marathon is a small race, with 3 distances-full marathon, 20 miles, and half marathon. With approximately 800 runners in all 3 races, this is by far one of the smallest races I've run. It was the hardest though.
Ready with my Twinkies!
There were a couple of reasons this race kicked my butt, least of which was a 13.1 mile race last Sunday. I think there were 2 major challenges for me in this race-a very strong headwind for the first 7 miles and several miles of gravel trail. There was a steady wind blowing directly into my face for the first half of the race, and it was strong. I tried to draft off of other racers, but the angle of the wind was such that drafting wouldn't work. So by the time I hit the midway point, I was exhausted. At least the wind was at my back for the rest of the race! The other big challenge for me was the gravel trail. If you follow my blog, you know that I run in minimalist shoes-today's were my trusty Wal-Mart brand aqua sox. I should have known something was up when a lady asked me how I handled all the rocks with these shoes on. I had no idea that she was referring to the 2-3 miles of this race that were riddled with rocks! The gravel was hard on my feet and I only allowed myself to stop one time to empty the stragglers out of my shoes.
The course itself was beautiful and fairly flat. We ran along the Trinity River banks in Fort Worth. Very picturesque. I attempted to take several pictures of the course, but I am not very skilled at running and snapping photos!
The weather was also very warm today. It was almost 80 degrees by the time I finished. But the beer at the finish line was ice cold and really hit the spot!
This race had the best medal to date. It is not only a medal with a killer tye-dye ribbon, but it also doubles as a belt buckle!!! I now need to buy a belt (I didn't even know you could buy a belt without a buckle, I thought they always came together) to show off my new bling!
Miles logged: 13.1
Small crowd at the starting line
Beautiful scenery along the Trinity River
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