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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Rock 'n Roll Dallas Half Marathon Recap - 3 of 3 (After Party)

After the race was over, we were STARVING! I think that I burned about 1900 calories during the run. That is just absolutely absurd!!! Like 1 1/2 days worth of food in just a 2 1/2 hour run! Crazy.

Anyway, we decided to go to The Original Pancake House in Plano. Miguel and I LOVE that place and go any chance we can! They make the best pancakes. They even make their own juices. So yummy!

Positive A and myself. Don't we look ecstatic!?!
My husband and my oldest son (acting goofy)
Our little family, minus my youngest son :-(
My BIL Danny, and his GF Rossilyn
Me lovin' on my son!
Me and my friend, Casey
Group shot!!!
My empty plate of food. I was STARVING!!!



Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Rock 'n Roll Dallas Half Marathon Recap - 2 of 3 (Race)





Goal Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
Actual Time: 2 hours 34 minutes 38 seconds
It's race day!
Wow! I honestly believe that this was just the PERFECT race to choose for my first half marathon! It was soooooo much fun! 

*CAUTION - Photo heavy!!!*

I woke up at 5:30 to start getting ready for the race. Positive A was gonna pick me up at 6:00.
I laid all my 'stuff' out the night before, b/c I'm super anal and didn't want ot forget anything. I do that for every race. Well, guess what? I forgot something. I forgot my CHIP TIMER. Of all things!!!
My race specific items!

I posed for a few pictures while waiting for Positive A. Hubby was awake and getting ready to wake the boys up to start getting ready.
A good luck kiss right before leaving the house!

 I hopped in the car with Positive A, and we were off! We went to go pick up my BIL next. In the car I ate a peanut butter sandwich on honey wheat bread, a banana and 20 oz. of water with Cytomax in it. 

We only live about 30 miles north of Dallas, so we thought we were leaving with plenty of time. We were following the directions that were listed on the race website for how to get to the parking area. Well, we had to get off one highway and onto another...that's where the traffic started! We could see the HORRIBLE traffic coming up, and we knew that it was all due to the race, so we exited before the traffic and found a completely different route to get to the designated parking area. We bypassed ALL of the traffic. It was pretty amazing. Glad I live around here and that we were able to navigate!

It was soooo cold out! The days before the race it was so warn out. 80's pretty much every day. I think I wore shorts on Saturday...I wake up Sunday morning for the race, and it's like 42 degrees out! I was going to wear a really cute skirt, but it was just too darn cold!

Once we got parked, the nerves started kicking in, but I made sure to snap a few pictures on our way to the shuttle to the start line.

We hopped on the shuttle!

Positive A couldn't wait! So, we all decided so go since we were standing there!

We asked some people standing by to snap a quick picture of us before the race started!
Danny was still in the middle of eating some GU!

 Look at this crowd of people! This is just a small bit of how many people were actually there!


Right near the start line, the famous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders were cheering everyone on! It was soooo cold. Those girls must have frozen their rears off!


 We were off, and running! I feel like I warmed up pretty quick and was ready to take my jacket off by mile 2. I was pretty worried b/c I hadn't run in almost 3 weeks due to the hip flexor strain that I had. I was nervous that I wasn't gonna be healed enough and that I wouldn't make it through the race. I felt the pain when I first started, but it was gone by the end of the first mile. I usually tire out pretty quickly and need fairly frequent walk breaks, but I was feeling pretty good! We ran the first 4 miles easily, and only stopped twice...for me to take off my jacket really quickly, and then to pose for a picture by some pretty flowers! Danny had already taken off on us slow runners!

The first 6 or so miles were pretty hilly. I was a bit intimidated, but think that I did pretty well considering I HATE hills and try VERY hard not to train on them! I really really enjoyed the first half of the race b/c we got to run through Highland Park, which is a really ritzy area of Dallas! The houses were HUGE and gorgeous! Just a very pretty well taken care of area.

Miguel and Colin (we left Brennan with my MIL b/c we didn't think he would behave for the length of time), my bestie, Casey, and my BIL's GF all parked at the finish line and rode the DART train to Mockingbird Station to see us. That was just over the halfway point (around 7.1 miles or so). I knew that they were going to be here, so I was really looking forward to getting to this point. We stopped and took a couple pictures!
I LOVE the sign that my friend Casey made for me!



I got pretty excited when we saw the 10 mile marker. I decided that for every race, I'm going to take a picture by the marker. I chose that one, b/c I had never run more than 10 miles in one shot!

My legs were starting to hurt at this point. Both hips were achy, but I kept pushing on. The world started end by mile 11! I was really sore. Positive A  decided to push on while I ran a  bit slower.
I look like a 'real' runner here!

Mile 12 came, and I thought I was going to DIE. At this point, I just wanted the race to be over!
Almost there!

I finally cross the finish line! I'm so excited and glad that it's over!
The best feeling in the world!

The bling!

Me showing off my BLING!

I found Positive A after I finished, but I couldn't find Danny anywhere! I wanted him to be in the picture with us!

Some random fun pictures after the race!

Yay! We found Danny and got a group shot of the first time half-marathoners!
 I feel so blessed to have such supportive family and friends. Even though I was injured right up until the race, I praise God for His goodness and for getting me through my first half marathon!

Since I forgot my chip timer, I went by my Garmin time. I forgot to turn it off after I finished, but after some figuring out...I've got my official time as 2 hrs 34 mins 38 secs. I'm SUPER proud of that!! My goal was 2 hrs 45 mins, so I beat my goal by over 10 mins!!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Rock 'n Roll Dallas Half Marathon Recap - 1 of 3 (Expo)

That way!
The time is here! It's expo time! I was super excited to attend the expo. I went knowing that I would spend some money, but I didn't care. It's my first half, and I wanted to enjoy every aspect of it!
Positive A and I entering the expo.

 Right at the entrance I had to stop for a picture!
Me, ready to rock!

My oldest pretending to be camera shy!
 We stopped by PF Chang's. The gave us some fortune cookies. They were fun b/c they had running fortunes.
Positive A's said 'Nobody ever drowned in sweat'. How fitting!

Shoot! I don't remember what mine said. Something like, 'If you want to have fun, run 400 meters, if you want to do something memorable, run a marathon'. Very fitting for me as well!
 I've never tried a Bondi Band, so Alison and I tried on a few different ones. Hers said 'Will run for CHOCOLATE!' Mine said 'Run like a Mother!'
Modeling a Bondi Band!
I bought this one!
 We met up with by bestie, Casey, who was working the Running Skirts booth. Is her outfit not the cutest?

Casey & I
I found my name on the sheets and sheets and sheets that were posted on the wall of runners!
Ooooh, look...there's my name!
 After we spent about 4 hours and hundreds of dollars at the expo, we decided that we were hungry. We stopped by Chipotle and looked through our goodie bags!
My race shirt.
We bought matching 13.1 blingy Bondi Bands!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Ready for Later Today!!!!




Yay!!! I meant to post this last night...but I didn't get home until pretty late.

I set up all of my half marathon items and am set for the race in a few hours!!!

Positive A is picking me up at 6:00, then we are heading to pick up my BIL. After that we are off to Fair Park!

My leg is still really bothering me, so wish me luck!!!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

w00t! It's Finally Here!!!


Yay! This Sunday, March 27, I will be running in my first half marathon ever! I'm soooo excited! I'm glad that I chose this half marathon as my first b/c this race series just seems like a lot of fun. There are bands every few miles along the course that are playing...and I LOVE music!

I've got a couple of awesome running partners that have been training with me. It's actually the first half for all 3 of us. My BIL Danny and my friend Positive A will be by my side during the run. 

My husband and my oldest son will at the race to cheer me on. We are leaving my youngest with his mimi, b/c he's only 2 1/2, and I don't think he will stay well behaved for that long. I'm planning on making my son a shirt that says something silly along the lines of...'My mommy ran 13.1 miles today, what did yours do?'. My friend, Casey, may be going as well and a co-worker will be there cheering on a few of us!

Unfortunately, I've injured my hip. I'm pretty sure it's a hip flexor strain, but it's been hurting for about 3 weeks, and hasn't gotten a ton better yet. I've been taking Motrin, Tylenol & Aleve, with minimal relief...but nothing is going to stop me from running the race! I can see the medal already...

Tomorrow Positive A and I are going to the expo to pick up our packets. I'm excited about the expo! We will see my good friend, Casey there. She'll be working the runningskirts booth. After the expo, we are going to drive the course, just to familiarize ourselves with it, and then pick up some lunch! 

I plan to take lots of pictures at the expo, and on race day. Stay tuned for a recap! I'll probably break it down into at least 2 posts, but maybe 3. I'm thinking about doing an expo post, a race post, and an after party post!

Wish me luck! I sure hope my hip lets me run! Happy running!

How many of my followers are running RnR Dallas?

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Motrin

Motrin. Motrin. Motrin. Motrin. Motrin. Motrin. Motrin. Motrin. Motrin. Motrin.

From now until Sunday!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Still the Same...

Nothing new to report here. Still have the pain. Still taking Aleve. Still can't run.
Boo.
Boo.
Boo.

Prayers please! RnR Dallas is only 9 days away...and I HAVE to be better by then!