It was early and cold when the alarm went off this morning. I woke up at 4:58, precisely 2 minutes before the alarm. I spent most of the night dreaming about a marathon that I was running with my husband that I wasn't prepared for--horrible things like having no Chapstick and starting late. Good thing neither happened at the race today.
I met up with some friends at the train station and made our way down to the starting line. It was chilly, windy and overcast, not unlike the conditions last year. We stayed inside the convention center as long as possible, but ultimately had to head out into the elements.
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| I'm kind of a BIG deal |
I said bye to my friends (we were assigned different corrals) and went in search of the 2:15 pace group. I was feeling good this morning and was confident I could PR on the course today. There were thousands of people milling around and jumping into their corrals. Pace groups were nowhere to be found (either 2:15 or otherwise). I finally ended up getting into my assigned corral, resigned to manage my own pace.
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| Yep, no pacers anywhere! |
It took a while to get up to the starting line, nearly 20 minutes from the actual start of the race, my corral was ready to go. After observing everyone around me, I realized that I don't take enough race selfies, but it's never too late to start!
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| My first selfie of the race, right at the start line. I'm working on learning how to smile! |
I think I'm a much better back-of-the-pack runner than I am middle-of-the-pack runner with a goal. I found the race to be extremely crowded with poor control of the corrals this year. I was passing tons of slow runners and walkers within the first mile. I had to dodge packs of walkers 4 or 5 across and was very frustrated trying to keep my pace. I hope Rock 'n' Roll sends us a survey this year because I'd really like to give my honest feedback.
The course was the same as last year (and hardly changed from the years before that), so I know every turn and hill, which definitely helps when you are trying to make good time.
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| The Book Depository |
Within the first half mile or so, I kept hearing someone POUNDING the ground behind me. I was concerned that they were going to injure themselves by hitting the pavement so hard with such a small amount of mileage completed. Then, I thought, someone must be running with a drum that they keep beating. Strange, but to each his own. Even stranger when I got passed by this dude, dribbling 2 basketballs!
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| That guy had balls! |
I had a tough time regulating my pace for the first few miles, I'd run for a few minutes, look down at my watch and see that I was running a 9:30 pace (I was striving for 10:30). Afraid of running out of steam in the second half, I would slow down, only to repeat the cycle again and again. I started getting into the rhythm around mile 5. And my hubby showed up near mile six with a sign that said "Slap it!" I'm not sure if more people slapped his sign or his butt, but he was having a great time!
It took me an hour and a half to catch up to this lady--the 2:15 pacer! No wonder I couldn't find her in the corrals, all she had was a bib attached to her back, no sign, no flag, no other identifying factors.
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| The elusive 2:15 pacer |
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| This was supposed to be my happy face at passing the 2:15 pacer, but I forgot to smile. |
The rest of the race was downhill from here, literally, so I ran as fast as I could. With the wind at my back, I sped through the last few miles and finished with negative splits. My last mile was 9:32, my fastest!
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| I had to stop to get a photo with Elvis, and I smiled! |
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| At mile 13. I apparently just missed stepping in some dude's vomit. |
I made it to the finish in 2:13:10! A huge PR for me from my 2:19:41 here a year ago (I don't count the Texas Half time since the course was a half mile short).
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| Happy, but cold! |
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| The obligatory post race beer shot! |
Miles logged: 13.1
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