I Couldn't Believe My Eyes!

The Dallas Running Club is one of the oldest and biggest running clubs in the nation. It was founded by Tal Morrison in 1967-patterned after the New York City Running Club-and had 20 members with dues set at $3.00 a person. Fast forward to 2012 and the DRC has over 4,300 members and while dues have gone up, it is still a good value for the money. A great perk of membership in the Dallas Running Club is that there is typically a free club race on the first Saturday of each month and Saturday, April 7 brought the Tal Morrison 5K/15K -- named in honor of the DRC Founder. I love DRC Club Races because 1. Hello--Free!! and 2. It is a laid back and friendly atmosphere--kinda like an extended running family.


Hanging out with Mark & son Cairo

I was excited about the chance to try another 15K, it is a favorite distance for me and I have raced two of them already this year. I know that my fast racing days are numbered around here with the summer heat looming, so I feel a little bit of pressure each spring to get "one more" good shot at various distances before the heat sets in. Fact is I have to slow down in the summer, I don't like it one bit--but that is just how it goes for me. I told Erik that I was just going to go run as hard as I could and would see what happened on the other side. The weather was not the best but certainly more bearable than some recent mornings had been.


Cairo delivers the knock-out punch!

We got there early enough to score a close parking spot and were able to hang out around the car until time for the race to start. It was a smallish race by DRC standards, I'm guessing about 500 runners were there for both of the races with most people running the 15K. After the Star Spangled Banner (I love that part of DRC races) we were off...and running! I felt great at the start, but knew that maintaining that pace would take alot of work. The aide stations were few and far between for this race (3 total) and I was so glad when I finally made it to the first one just before mile 4. The course was an out and back, which sometimes I think is harder than just looping the lake (one loop of White Rock is almost a perfect 15K) and the turn around did not give me the same mental boost that it usually does. I was closer to an "oh man, I have to run all that way back" whiny sort of mental state. I feel like I was the most tired in the 2nd 5K of this race although my splits do not reflect that at all. I wanted to just slow down and walk so badly, but I knew that my pace was on target for that PR goal, so I kept on pushing. My mantra being "do you want to be fast or do you want to be comfortable--because you can't be both at the same time."


Erik and I enjoy the view

I knew that the big hill by the spillway would be coming near the end of mile 7 and I tried to keep an even pace for the mile leading up to it. That hill never gets any easier and it always comes near the end of a race--but I got to the top and focused on running strong all the way until the end. I knew that the PR would be close, but I gave it everything I had once the finish line was in sight. Annnddd....at 1:20:00 I fell about 30 seconds short. Dang. I will be quite honest, I felt pretty disappointed at first because I knew just how close I had come and how hard it had felt. I tried to remind myself that my PR came on a perfectly cold January day in which I had an epic battle with Erik at the finish line. I couldn't mope around for too long, there were too many frunners to see, pictures to be taken, cheering to be done. Erik and I talked with his friend and his family for a while before we headed back up to the camphouse to check the results and look for more friends. When we went inside I checked the results on the wall....blinked twice....and looked again...somehow I had managed to win 1st place in my age group! I jumped up and down and rushed off to find Erik so that he could verify what I saw. I have placed in a few 5Ks before, but never anything longer and nothing above 2nd place. I simply could not believe my eyes, I really thought that there must have been a mistake with the timing--no way that just happened!! I claimed my medal with a huge smile on my face,and you know....I suddenly felt alot better about that missed PR.