Bold in the Cold Half Marathon 2012

The race lived up to its name--it was cold this morning. Mid 40s, overcast, and a chilly breeze blowing off of Lake Grapevine. It was one of those: I need gloves, I don't need gloves, I need gloves runs. But the first Bold in the Cold Half Marathon was a great race! The course was beautiful, water stations were perfectly placed, mile markers at each mile, friendly volunteers AND I had a supportive husband and puppy to cheer me on!

The course followed the trails around Lake Grapevine, starting at Oak Grove Park. Most of the trails were in good shape, nice and smooth for those of us in minimalist shoes. Some parts had broken asphalt and were a little hard on my feet, unfortunately these parts I had to run over 4 times (out and back twice). Since there were only 328 half marathon racers and 238 in the 15k (we ran the same course most of the way), the trail was not crowded.

I also PR'd in this race! I took off fast, mostly because it felt like everyone was passing me. When I looked at my watch at the 2 mile turn, I realized that I was running at just over a 10 minute mile pace--much too quick for me to maintain for a half marathon distance. I tried to pull back a bit, but got fed up with a walk/runner that kept cutting in front of me (no reason to, there was plenty of room) and stopping to walk. So left her in my dust! I definitely did not manage to make negative splits during this race, but I'm happy to have run as well as I did.

Miles logged: 13.1

Only a few miles in and still smiling!                                           

Do I look faster from behind?

Post race with my freezing cold puppy!

Race bling!

 

Short video of me running

Click here  http://youtu.be/BZLcJYpXNaY for a full video of all the half marathon and 15k runners at the start of the race. I show up at about the 1:25 mark.