White Rock Half Marathon Race Review

Yesterday, I completed by second half marathon! I ran the White Rock Half Marathon for the second year in a row. All this past week, I had been hearing weather reports that it was supposed to be raining and cold. Fabulous, I thought! Sure enough, it rained all all day Saturday and into the night and continued on Sunday. I am sure many people decided not to run because of the weather, but I did not let it deter me. Here is my race recap! Warning, this is long and detailed, but if you just want to know how I did, you could skip to the end! But if you want to hear the "story", read on!

I fueled for this race with a homemade bolognese pasta dinner cooked by my wonderfully talented and sweet husband. He slaved in the kitched all afternoon to create a delicious and carb loaded meal for me. He has promised to do a guest blog on it, so be on the look out for that! It is sure to be entertaining! It really was so good!

I went to bed around 11:00 (after finishing the Hunger Games in less than 24 hours by the way! Crazy, but good, book!). I could NOT sleep! I thought I was going to go crazy. I seriously think I got about 3 hours or less of sleep. My mind was all over the place. Maybe reading about teenagers fighting to the death is not the best thing to do before needing sleep...  Anyways, 5:20 am came and I was up and getting ready!

For breakfast, I ate a banana and a sandwich thin with peanut butter and had a little bit of coffee. Eric and I headed to Fair Park in the rain. He definitely was a trouper and I am so thankful for him being so supportive of me and my running. He had a back back full of warm clothes and gear for me. 

We got him a poncho on Saturday to keep him dry and he took his big golf umbrella. The back back is under the poncho.  I feel bad for all the spectators. It had to be miserable!

Luckily, Fair Park opened some of the arenas for people to stay warm and dry in. We waited around in the dryness for a while until it was time for me to head down to the corrals. I wore shorts, a short sleeve dry fit shirt, and a Brooks running waterproof jacket which we bought last minute on Saturday at REI. Seriously the best $70 spent. I wasn't sure if I wanted it because last year I got hot (even though it was like 40 degrees) and took off my long sleeve shirt, but it was not raining last year, so I didn't know what to expect. I ended up wearing the jacket the whole time and it kept me as dry as I possibly could be. I also had an ear warmer and gloves.

About the start - it was very crowded! I was supposed to be in A3, but couldn't even get into my corral it was so crowded. Once the race started and people started moving, they let us in from the side and I started with the right group. The beginning of the race is not very exciting and kind of dull as you go through some not so nice areas surrounding Fair Park, but I was just happy to be starting and running, so I was running at a good pace. By the way, I train by using my iPhone app imapmyrun and I have it speak to me every minute and tell me my distance, average pace and current pace. This is just how I always have trained. I don't listen to music at all. Probably because I run in the neighborhood with Ollie and I just like to be aware of my surroundings. Anyways, I am used to hearing these statistics and this race, I actually could not hear it. Since it was raining, I put the phone in my waterproof pocket and could not hear because it was loud and then it got wet and I am actually not sure what happened. It got off the program and I basically ended up running this race blind, not knowing my pace or mile I was on or anything. 

The Half Marathon course goes from Fair Park down Swiss Avenue and into downtown by the Arts District.  You run by the AT&T Performing Arts Center which is really neat and then into Uptown. Right as we entered Uptown, it started to rain. I had actually just taken off my jacket because I was getting warm. As I was taking my jacket off, I guess a camera man thought this was exciting footage and ran along side with me filming this whole ordeal! Once I got the jacket secured, I looked at him and smiled. I hope it made the race footage! :) I liked running through Uptown because I see a lot of apartments, restaurants, and bars that I go to all the time. So we ran all the way down McKinney Ave and turn on Turtle Creek Blvd. At this point, it was pouring rain and my jacket was back on and stayed on for the rest of the race. Once again, bless that jacket!

As we ran down Turtle Creek, I was feeling good, just trucking along. I actually felt great the whole race. There were a few hills that I had to push on that I got a little tired on. Running blind without my iphone app was definitely different. I didn't know what mile I was on or my pace and I was just running. I knew my mom and dad were going to be between mile 6 and 7 in Highland Park, so I started to get excited about seeing them. I am so glad I was looking because my mom missed me, but I saw my dad. My mom was a little bit ahead of my dad to alert him so he could snap some pictures.  I looked and saw him standing on the sidelines, "Dad!", I yelled. I am not stopping and he's trying to take a picture so he is running along with me and he is like "Stop so I can take a picture!", so I pause and smile and kind of pose!

It was so great to see him at this point! It gave me some energy to push a little harder! By this point, I was completely soaked. I think I took another Gu here too. (I took one before the race as well.) I paused at most all the aid stations and drank water. Towards the end I took a couple glasses of gatorade. At I didn't even stop at the last station because I didn't want to waste any time!

So, through Highland Park we go. Lots of spectators which is nice. Then we went enter the M Streets and at some point the full splits from the half. We head down Greenville towards Fair Park. I kept looking for my friends Kate and Lauren at this point, but we have decided they must have just missed me and gotten there slightly after I passed. I guess I was running fast! :)  We ran all the way down Matilda Street, and turn and then eventually end up on Live Oak for the end. I will say the end of the race is not exciting, it is kind of industrial and not pretty, and there are not as many spectators. I got some energy at the end and it was flat and felt like my pace was good. Again, I have no idea how I am doing though. I feel like I am running well, but really am not sure. My goal for this race was under 2 hours. I just kept pushing through, I never stopped to walk or anything.

As we neared Fair Park, I keep looking for the 12 mile marker that I know is there. Once we get to that, I know I am in the home stretch. (Side note, I wish there were mile markers every mile. I don't know why they wouldn't have them??) Once I passed the 12, I just pushed it. Pushed as hard as I could and ran. As we turned into Fair Park, the crowds were there cheering us on. I pushed and pushed! I saw Eric and he shouted my name, which was a great encouragement. As soon as I saw the finish line, I gave it my all and sprinted (well as fast as you can sprint after running 13 miles) and crossed the finish line! I think my first words were "Thank God".  I went over the side to catch my breath for a minute and then headed to the runners area to get dry and warm. Inside, I got my medal (yay!) and took a picture (gross!) and got some water. I stretched for a minute. There was food and beer and stuff but the lines were already so long and all I could think about was Eric outside alone in the cold, so I got my finisher shirt and some pancakes from a guy that was passing them out and headed outside into the cold. I found Eric immediately and put on dry clothes. 

So as for my time I had no idea. Eric said when I passed the start, it was 8:15. The clock at the finish line said 2:10ish when I finished. Based on those calculations, we concluded that I finished under 2, somewhere between 1:55 and 2:00. I was so excited! But once the race results came in, my official chip time says 2:01:09. 69 seconds past my goal. I will admit, this crushed me when I saw that. I really thought I did it, but I guess the results say differently. I still don't get it because it says my clock time is 2:05:17, which I don't understand if I started 15 minutes in and ended 10 minutes past 2 hours, according to the time. My clock time should be like 2:25:00?? Am I crazy here? I could obsess about this, but I am trying not to.

I did not reach my goal of a sub 2 hour half, but I did do well. I pushed myself the whole race and ran in conditions I am not used to. It was raining the whole time, I did not have my app to tell me my pace and I basically had less than three hours of sleep. Based on those factors, I am happy with my time and know that the next race, I will most certainly beat it.

Overall, I think the White Rock Marathon/Half is a great race and I would recommend it to anyone! It is a race the whole city comes out to cheer for (when it is not raining). It is a large race so they are trying hard to accommodate all of the runners and it is going to be crowded and busy just because of the magnitude of the event. This was my second year and I am pretty sure it is now a tradition that I will do every single year.

So this is getting long, so I will cut to the celebrations! I met up with Kate, Lauren and Katie, took a shower and got warm and we headed to State & Allen to brunch/lunch and drinks! (Eric had to go into work - yuck!) We finished the day at The Nodding Donkey and then I came home and went to bed early!

Cheers! Thank you to everyone who came out to cheer and celebrate! (and yes, I am that girl that wears her shirt and medal all day after a race!)

I am looking forward to the next one!