Half Mary Moms

Last weekend, my friend Holly and I ran the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon. The week prior, the weather forecast was all over the place. For most of the week we thought it was going to be warm, and were concerned about heat and dehydration. Race officials even ordered extra cups and ice. But at the last minute, the forecast changed to cold (w/ dropping temps) and rain. We put lots of energy into trying to pick out clothing that would keep us warm, but not hot, and dry. At the start of the full marathon, the temp was 47.
There were some good showers on the drive to the start that caused lots of anxiety, but we only had a few sprinkles during the actual race. We started the race wearing trashbags for warmth and dryness (lots of people do this, so we didn't look as weird as you think). After about a mile or so, we discarded them. After about a quarter of mile or so, we realized it was easier to run if you poked arm holes.
By the time we finished our half, it was 44. I read in the paper that the Kenyans (Kenyans always run/win marathons) complained about the cold. Note to Kenyans: Wear more clothes!

Because of the dreary weather, the jet flyovers at the start were grounded, but it was still exciting standing, huddled with thousands waiting the countdown to start. At one point, a blast of cold wind hit us, and the entire crowd squeeled, and then cheered, as if to say "What are we doing out here! This is crazy! Lets go!!"

During most of the race, the miles seemed to tick by. There were lots of spectators, despite the weather, and lots of interesting things to see along the way. People holding signs - "This seemed like a good idea in September" and "Toenails are for wimps". We saw a group running clothing items they had made out of Crown Royal bags. We added to the levity by wearing signs on our backs. We got lots of attention from other moms!

It was really nice this year to have a training partner and a running buddy on race day. Usually I run alone and listen to my ipod, but for many of the long training runs this year, Holly and I ran together. Chatting about new things we're cooking, how to get our children to behave and where we would live if we ran away from home made the miles go by much more quickly.

Here we are about mile 6 or so. My finish time was 2:19:35 I think, which is an improvement over last year, so that's good. I think it works out to a 10:39 pace, which is pretty good over 13 miles. I'm not really into racing and trying to go super fast, for the most part I like to just keep a steady effort and enjoy myself.
They had lots of neat tracking/results sites this year. Here are mine: http://www.runpix11.com/dwr07/21/finord.php?LastName=10060&lan=&aset=0
If that link doesn't work, you can go to Runtherock.com and put my bib # in on the results page. Bib #10060