Big D Texas Half Marathon PR! Race Report of 2:16:58!
It may not have been the smartest thing that I've ever done; however, I went to Dallas on Sunday, ran the Big D Texas Half Marathon and came home with a new personal record of 2:16:58.20. But it wasn't my best run by any means.
I'm still struggling getting completely relaxed and getting my cardio and quads into sync. More to work on though!
The tough course put together by Lewis George of Mellew Productions, who handles all of the races of the Cross Country Club of Dallas, was one that included parts of the November White Rock Half, James Thruston Racing's New Year's Day Five-Mile Run as well as the State Fair of Texas 5K. It was fairly hilly as far as Dallas and Texas goes, especially the first five to six miles.
I ran the initial 10K in 1:02:50 and passed the halfway point in 1:06:09, a 10:06 per mile pace.
However, the back half took me 1:10:47, including the last three miles of 11:08.50, 11:13.09 and 11:06.98. Mile 10 I reeled in a 10:18.52 mile, but I couldn't sustain it to get me closer to 2:11.
Because I waited until race day to register, it was pricey for a half. But Lewis George really knows how to put on an excellent event.
The only criticism that I have is that the water stop at mile 8 (one every two miles) was long and closer to the mile 9 point than back at mile 8 and as the temperatures started to increase, it hurt me a little down the stretch. (The conditions were much like the Marine Corps Marathon: cool at the start, a very high sun with no clouds and increasing temperatures.)
Otherwise, it was a chip timed event with a timing mat in front of the finish line to allow for a public address announcer (Lewis himself for the marathoners) to call out everyone's names. Nice touch! (If anybody needs a P.A. announcer, I'd love to get into that after having done basketball, baseball and football for years.)
Like the "November" Half that George manages for CCCD, he gave out a dri-release shirt to all registrants. The post-race spread was pretty good, but was just a tad bit shy of that put out by the Bellaire Trolley Run on Saturday. Police protection on the course was also superb: something very important in a city the size of Dallas. Additionally, most of the officers were very, very supportive.
Somewhere around mile 11-12, I almost broke down. No, not physically but emotionally rather. I came face-to-face to the spot of my worst day ever as a parent back in mid-to-late September 2003.
Waverly had just run her first 5K (and still her best) at the Klein HS Bearkat Bash 5K. Three weeks later, she wanted to do another so we planned a weekend in Dallas that included a trip to the State Fair and, I think, Six Flags the next day.
During the run, she got to the point late in mile 1 that she just flat out said, "No, she wasn't going to try" or something to that effect. I didn't respond well to that. And instead of saying, "OK, honey, let's just try to brisk walk it as fast as we could," I was childish in the way that I handled it and we ended up going right back to Houston.
It is a day that I wasn't proud of and still am not. In fact, when I was talking to Waverly on the phone on the way home, I was crying because I remembered the pain from that and how I could have totally lost her respect as a father that day forever.
NOTES: I finished my 8th race of a half marathon or greater in Texas this season to currently be in second place behind Robert and Juanita Espinosa of Seguin in the inaugural "Love The Half" Challenge put on by Coppell's Paula Robertson. Those who had completed the five-race requirement were able to pick up their fleece pullover or vest.
I'm still struggling getting completely relaxed and getting my cardio and quads into sync. More to work on though!
The tough course put together by Lewis George of Mellew Productions, who handles all of the races of the Cross Country Club of Dallas, was one that included parts of the November White Rock Half, James Thruston Racing's New Year's Day Five-Mile Run as well as the State Fair of Texas 5K. It was fairly hilly as far as Dallas and Texas goes, especially the first five to six miles.
I ran the initial 10K in 1:02:50 and passed the halfway point in 1:06:09, a 10:06 per mile pace.
However, the back half took me 1:10:47, including the last three miles of 11:08.50, 11:13.09 and 11:06.98. Mile 10 I reeled in a 10:18.52 mile, but I couldn't sustain it to get me closer to 2:11.
Because I waited until race day to register, it was pricey for a half. But Lewis George really knows how to put on an excellent event.
The only criticism that I have is that the water stop at mile 8 (one every two miles) was long and closer to the mile 9 point than back at mile 8 and as the temperatures started to increase, it hurt me a little down the stretch. (The conditions were much like the Marine Corps Marathon: cool at the start, a very high sun with no clouds and increasing temperatures.)
Otherwise, it was a chip timed event with a timing mat in front of the finish line to allow for a public address announcer (Lewis himself for the marathoners) to call out everyone's names. Nice touch! (If anybody needs a P.A. announcer, I'd love to get into that after having done basketball, baseball and football for years.)
Like the "November" Half that George manages for CCCD, he gave out a dri-release shirt to all registrants. The post-race spread was pretty good, but was just a tad bit shy of that put out by the Bellaire Trolley Run on Saturday. Police protection on the course was also superb: something very important in a city the size of Dallas. Additionally, most of the officers were very, very supportive.
Somewhere around mile 11-12, I almost broke down. No, not physically but emotionally rather. I came face-to-face to the spot of my worst day ever as a parent back in mid-to-late September 2003.
Waverly had just run her first 5K (and still her best) at the Klein HS Bearkat Bash 5K. Three weeks later, she wanted to do another so we planned a weekend in Dallas that included a trip to the State Fair and, I think, Six Flags the next day.
During the run, she got to the point late in mile 1 that she just flat out said, "No, she wasn't going to try" or something to that effect. I didn't respond well to that. And instead of saying, "OK, honey, let's just try to brisk walk it as fast as we could," I was childish in the way that I handled it and we ended up going right back to Houston.
It is a day that I wasn't proud of and still am not. In fact, when I was talking to Waverly on the phone on the way home, I was crying because I remembered the pain from that and how I could have totally lost her respect as a father that day forever.
NOTES: I finished my 8th race of a half marathon or greater in Texas this season to currently be in second place behind Robert and Juanita Espinosa of Seguin in the inaugural "Love The Half" Challenge put on by Coppell's Paula Robertson. Those who had completed the five-race requirement were able to pick up their fleece pullover or vest.
posted by WalkSports.com | 9:55 PM
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