Rock 'n' Roll Dallas

It's been quite some time since I've posted. The real excuse is I haven't felt like being on the computer, but now that work has started up again, I am forced to get on this thing. Josh and I had a wonderful Christmas with our families and a Happy New Year with our supper clubbers. It was so great to have some time off from work!

I'm in a pickle b/c I can't decide if I'm going to run the Rock 'n' Roll Dallas Half Marathon. The pros are that I'm already in shape so wouldn't have to train as hard, I really enjoy the training, it would keep me in shape, and March is a great time of the year for a race. The cons are that I've enjoyed the time off from training, Jan and Feb will be cold running months, and this race won't have as much hype. But, I know it would be fun and another great experience.

If you have any thoughts about this, please pass them my way. If you want to run/train with me, even better.

Sunday Details

What a race! Here are the details of the half, starting with Saturday night, and a video of pictures is below. If you don't want to read it, I had a great time, couldn't have asked for better weather, and am proud to say I ran the whole thing.

-I went to bed around 10:30pm. I had no problem falling asleep, but I woke up about 3:50am to go to the restroom and then I couldn't fall asleep for about another 45 minutes or so. That was frustrating. I kept thinking about the race and how excited I was to run in it.
-We left at 7am and about 6 minutes into our drive to the AAC, I realized I had left my Gu at home. So...we turned around. That was not good b/c I wanted to have enough time before it started to walk around, use the restroom, etc. Josh was good at keeping me calm. We still had plenty of time when we got there, so in the end, it was okay and I was very thankful to have the chocolate Gu.
-The weather was perfect: 50 degrees and cloudy.
-At about 7:50am I lined up in my corral. There were 5 groups, A-E, and depending on how long you thought it would take you to finish the race, that is which corral you were placed in. All half marathoners and marathoners lined up together. I was in group B.
-The guns went off at 8am and there was smoke and confetti that shot up in the air. That might have been one of the most memorable moments for me b/c everyone started cheering and the adrenaline was pumping. It definitely put a smile on my face.
-And I was off. Luckily, after about 50 yards, I saw Josh. I was so happy that I got to see him in the beginning. He makes me smile.
-I felt like my pace was good but that I needed to control it so I didn't get tired too fast. We started off downtown and made our way to Uptown.
-At mile 3, I saw some familiar faces. Stacy Mitchell and Lara Pringle (Aggie Chi O's) were cheering me on and had made a sign for me. That was motivation I tell ya!
-After that I have to say miles 3 and 4 were pretty much a blur.
-Then I got to mile 5 and as I'm running I hear "Jamie!" It was my wonderful husband. I had no idea he was going to try to find me during the race; I just knew I'd see him at the start and finish. He had driven and parked his car near the course that went through Highland Park, walked to the street we were running on, had only been waiting for about 4 minutes, and then he saw me. Good thing I was wearing hot pink.
-At that point (mile 5), I saw the clock was around 47 minutes, so I knew I had a good pace. I also took the time to enjoy my first Gu.
-Then we crossed 75 and headed toward Greenville and the M streets.
-I can't even begin to tell you how many people were lining the streets (throughout the entire race) to cheer on people they knew and didn't know. It was so awesome that so many strangers were there to support you and they definitely helped me push through it.
-I felt like we ran on Matilda for 2 miles. It may have been close to that b/c when we crossed back over 75, we were into mile 9. At this point, we had run on a few hills, but it wasn't that bad.
-Around mile 10, I took my second Gu, and I am not sure if it had anything to do with this, but I got this wave of adrenaline and started running faster. From there on out, the rest of the run was on Katy Trail, which is flat land.
-As we were approaching the finish, there was Josh again, with his smile on and his camera out. You'll see a lovely picture of me in the video.
-I finished strong and entered the Runner's Village. It was so good to be done, and I will never forget it.

My final running time was 2 hours and 1 second, which means I averaged about a 9 minute, 9 second mile. I am thrilled with that time. My goal was to be around a 9:30 mile, so to beat that makes me appreciate all the hard work I put into it for 12 weeks.

This is it

Tonight is my last workout before Sunday's race - running 3 miles. Friday and Saturday are both rest days which I am more than happy to do. I can't believe it is THIS Sunday. I am gradually preparing myself: I bought a new shirt to wear, bought my chocolate Gu (which by the way is the most bearable flavor so far), made my list of things to do, and am ready to go to the Expo to pick up my bib. According to The Weather Channel, Sunday's low is 50 degrees. If it stays that way, it will be perfect weather.

The Trot

Every year I look forward to Thanksgiving day not only b/c of the food and spending time with family, but b/c of the Turkey Trot. This year marked the Dudowicz/Womack 5 year anniversary of running the 8 mile race. This year we made the horrible mistake of waiting in line for the bathroom about 15 minutes before the race started. When we were all done and went to line up, we were in the way back with the 3 mile runners and walkers. It took us about 10 minutes to cross the start line and when we did, we were still walking b/c it was so crowded. That's when we had to start weaving in and out of people...that's always interesting. This year was also the first time Josh ran with us (he ran the 3 mile). About a mile into it, he decided to stop, so we took advantage of that and gave him our jackets. Thanks pack mule! Even though we got off to a slow start, we still did really well and I am so thankful to be able to run with the Dudowicz sisters every year! Here's a pic Josh took - Shelley (a friend of Leah's in the Texas gear) runs the 3 mile each year so meets up with us before the race.









I also wanted to share with you that the half is less than 2 weeks away. I am ready for it but am anxious. I've been very diligent in my workouts and know I can run the 13.1 miles, but I still get so nervous before the race begins. It has been so much fun and so rewarding training for it. What I've enjoyed the most is running around White Rock, yoga on Mondays, and the challenge of getting better and better with each run.

Honey Stingers

Last week I went shopping at REI for Gu replacements to try on my long run yesterday. I decided to try energy chews - I got a couple packs of Honey Stingers and a pack of Luna Moons. I took the pomegranate flavored Honey Stingers with me to the lake and they were delicious! You are supposed to have 5-10 chews every hour, so I had 5 at :45 and 5 again at 1:15. I am not sure if they had the same effect as the Gu, but I do think they gave me a little kick. The only problem with them is the size of the bag compared to the size of the Gu packet. If you are looking to try something new, I highly recommend these - even if you're just going hiking, biking, etc., it's good to have that boost of energy.

My next step is to buy a running belt so I don't have to carry my chews and energy drink whilst I run.

Goal Achieved

Yesterday I finally accomplished a goal I've had for a while now: I ran around White Rock Lake. The weather was perfect and it was crowded. I love seeing other people exercise whether on foot, on a bike, or in rollerblades. The course is about 9.1 miles, and being that I had to run 9 miles, it worked out perfectly. It was also my first time to try Gu. I wouldn't say that was a good experience. I had the tri-berry flavor, but couldn't finish it off - I probably had about 75% of it. But that 75% really helped me push through and finish. I think this weekend I'm gonna try the Gu Energy Chomps instead. Hopefully I can stand it and it has the same effect.

Another thing that got me through the run was the whole wheat bagel and banana I ate about 2 hours before I ran. I highly recommend eating these before your next long run. Last week before I ran 8 miles, I tried just having coffee and a protein bar and my stomach was not happy with me.

If you have any running routes that are 8+ miles, please share. I like to change things up.

Stinky

Our nephew, a.k.a. Stinky, was a skunk this year for Halloween. We got to have lunch with all of the fam on Saturday for Josh and Jason's birthdays. Happy 30th to my old, wise husband and happy early birthday to Jason!

Here are some pictures of Noah is his costume: