Cowtown Half: Go Big or Go Home

The Cowtown Marathon and Half Marathon always brings great excitement and even some anxiety in our house. Cowtown is Erik's chosen marathon each year so it is more than "just another half marathon" for me because I am always so excited (and focused) on him and his race goals. We have had many misadventures in the Town of the Cow over our four years of running the race. Things like 25 mph freezing winds, epic traffic jams that led me to kicking Erik out of the car on the freeway, and 75 degrees with high humidity. There was just something about that race that never lined up right for us. However, I had a feeling that this year would be different....like we would finally conquer all of the little mishaps and issues of the past.


One more year & the star is complete!
(Thanks to Erin for the picture)

Fort Worth is a bit of a drive from our house and since the race started at 7:00 we decided to get a hotel room in "over there" so that we could get a little more rest and maybe stress a little bit less about the traffic. We enjoyed a casual afternoon at the race expo and a delicious dinner at a great Italian restaurant called Mammamia's on Magnolia Street in an interesting little section of town. I am certain that the wait staff thought we were such pigs since we ordered so much food. But wow...it was so good.

When we awoke we found a near perfect forecast in the upper 40s with a little bit of a breeze. It looks like my pleas to the Race Weather Gods might have worked this time. We headed out to the race and ended up catching some of that famous traffic, but it wasn't as bad as it was in the past. I had just enough time for a pit stop and to hurry up to my starting corral. I was hoping to meet up with the 1:50 pace group, but I cut it too close to the race start to find them.


Erik and Drum

I have been focusing on running consistent races with solid negative splits since the beginning of the year, but I decided to approach this race with a different strategy. I wanted to just go for it...run it as hard as I could...and see what happened. I believe that the words were "epic blow-up or epic finish, but epic either way." My ultimate goal was a new personal record (PR)--anything less that 1:51, but my secondary (more realistic goal) was 1:55. I was familiar with the course and knew that I would need to bank some fast splits early on to make up for the huge hill between 8-9 and then the rolling hills from there until the finish. This course would make negative splits very difficult, but since I had adjusted my plan I was okay with that.

I got off to a great start and soon found myself running beside frunner Derek, who was running the full marathon. We chatted here and there and I kept him in my sight until somewhere around mile 6. He ended up having a great day and finished his marathon in 3:49--meeting his goal of sub 3:50. I was enjoying the beautiful day and just working hard to keep the paced pushed and consistent. We passed through the famous Stockyards between mile 6 and 7 and I tried my best to capitalize on a big downhill in this section. The scenery and crowd support was great here too--definitely one of my favorite parts--and I recorded my fastest mile of the day at 8:09. I was both shocked and thrilled to see that number come up on my watch. I debated slowing a bit to save energy for the big hills, but decided to just keep on going for it and put these good miles in the "bank" for later on in the race.



The course took us around a few more streets before we were facing the biggest challenge of the day...the Main Street Bridge is a steady hill that seems to climb straight up for almost a solid mile. I knew that I would need to dig in and keep a steady pace going as I scaled this monster. I noticed that there were 8 light posts lining the bridge and I focused on counting each of them as I passed them (1,2...4-halfway!...6, 7...almost there). I also knew that my friends Stacy, Gretchen, Fiona, and Greg (aka Ninja) would be somewhere at the top of the hill cheering---I used that "peer pressure" to my advantage, I couldn't have them see me looking like I was slowing down or struggling. They were right by the 8th light post and I slapped a quick high 5 and passed them my arm warmers which I had stripped off a couple of miles earlier. Seeing them there really helped me get a solid kick the finish the hill and get back to my steady race pace.


Total Exhaustion

We passed through Sundance Square, which is also a good spot for energy and crowd support and then the full marathon course went off to the left and we took a right heading towards the finish. I thought about Erik and wondered how his race was going, I just had such a good feeling this year so I just KNEW that he was having a great time where ever he was. A few more hills and I could feel that my legs were starting to tire, but I felt driven and kept on pushing the pace. I knew that my top goal of 1:50 would be very difficult to meet at this point, but I was not ready to give up just yet.

There was another big downhill somewhere in mile 11 and again I worked hard to use it to my advantage. It was around mile 12 that I realized that my legs were spent and that I had given all that I could on this day. I am a perfectionist and often look back on races wondering "did I really do my best" or "what if...". It was at this point I had a chat with my inner perfectionist--"note how you feel right now...you have given all that you can....do not look back on this later with regret...". The fatigue and soreness that I felt for several days after was also a good reminder that I had done my best.

I rounded the corner at the finish and found myself running next to a wheelchair racer. I admire the heck out of these athletes, especially on a challenging course like this one. The crowd was also admiring them as they were going nuts and it gave me an extra push to finish strong. I was quite happy to see my finish time and even more happy to see my mile splits. I was thrilled to see that I kept all of my miles under 9:00 minutes, especially with those big climbs in the second half of the race.

Official Result 1:55:18
46 out of 469 in my age group


I made my way into the runner's area to get some food and drink and pick up my finisher shirt. The Cowtown has grown and improved with each year and the level of organization in the post race area was terrific. The shirts were also very cool too--it is rare that you get 2 beautiful tech shirts for a half marathon. I milled around a bit before heading off to my car to get my phone and get updates on Erik and our other friends. On the way out I ran into my cousin Brandy, her husband Colby, and daughter Hylan. I was so excited to see them because I knew they were there but was unsure how I would find them. Colby ran his first half marathon and did really well, I'm so excited for him. I am sad that I didn't have my camera because we didn't get a picture together.

As I was heading back to the race I saw Corina as she was finishing her half marathon. Soon enough we had reunited with Marci and Erin and staked out a place near the finish line. The word from the course was that Erik was looking so solid and strong. Michelle (Drum) would be meeting up with him at 20 to accompany him in to the finish line. It was such a comfort knowing that someone would be there with him to give him a firm push and help keep him focused on his goals.


Kelly, Erin, Marci, Corina, Me waiting for Erik

We had a blast cheering in half, full, and ultra runners while we waiting on Erik. There was alot of picture taking and laughing and before I knew it I saw Erik and Drum on the horizon. Drum had a big smile and waved and laughed as she passed....Erik looked very focused and was not quite as cheerful.


Home Stretch!!

There was no doubt that he would be smashing his PR and it was starting to become clear that he would break 4:20 also. I was so proud of him as we ran parallel to the race all the way to the finish line. He was plum worn out, but very happy as he crossed the line in 4:17:15. More pictures, a rest for Erik, finishers shirt, and we were ready for the post race celebration.


Post Race Rewards

The rest of our gang was waiting for us at the Magnolia Motor Lounge, home of thick fried bacon, huge burgers, chicken and waffles, and good beer. We enjoyed the sun and our friends and celebrated every one's race day successes. Looks like my good feelings were right this time...finally, success in Cowtown.

(Thanks to Corina, Erin, and Elizabeth for the pictures that bring this blog to life!)