We now return to (somewhat) regular programming....

The last time that I laced up my shoes to race was March 1, 2020 at the Cowtown Half Marathon. I probably didn't have any business running that far on that day as it was only two weeks after my first ultra marathon at Black Canyon and I just wasn't recovered. I ended up walking the last two or three miles of the race with that same hip and knee pain that plagued me in the later miles of the 60K at Black Canyon. It was my personal worst half marathon time, but hindsight being what it is I'm really grateful to have been out there that day. I remember the crush of people during the post race celebration and laughing and talking with friends while being covered in sunshine. None of us had any idea what a stark contrast our world would be just two weeks later.

March 1, 2020 - my last live race

I kept myself entertained well enough during the remainder of 2020. I enjoy racing, but it is not the reason that I train and I stayed plenty active running, cycling, and swimming once the pools opened up again in June. I enjoyed having the fitness to go after any potential adventure or virtual race that came up. I rode my road bike all summer and ran trails once we started meeting up socially distanced in groups again. I signed up for TransTexas in July and I virtually ran and walked almost all the way across Texas before having to shut it down just a couple of weeks and less than 100 miles from the end. I ran the Dallas Half Marathon virtually on December 12 and had one of my strongest half marathons in a couple of years. I felt great, it was a great day - until later that night I noticed a tender spot on the top of my foot. Things seemed better until I went out for a run the following Tuesday morning and had to shut it down and limp home after 3 miles. It would appear that I had a metatarsal stress fracture, I found myself in an incredibly nerdy flipper shoe throughout the holidays and I did not run for 8 weeks.  

All smiles after my virtual Dallas Half - if I only knew

I've never been more thankful to be a triathlete and poured myself into swimming and cycling while I was not able to run. I joined up with the Coeur Velo live cycling workouts via Zoom and it was one of the best things to happen to my cycling fitness. See? There is always a silver lining if you keep your mind open! I'm still enjoying these workouts super early on weekday mornings and the structured long trainer rides on Saturdays got me through until the weather got nice enough to ride outside again. I am thankful for the community that the Coeur Virtual Cycling Club has brought into my life. The swimming and cycling kept my fitness nice and strong and I even got a little bit of a jump on training for my next big race - Ironman 70.3 in Des Moines coming up this June.

Coming back from a stress fracture is not as easy as they make it sound. I started limited running in February and slowly rebuilt from there. After a various tweaks and pains (not in my foot) related to a compromised gait, I finally started to feel like myself again. I wanted to put a race on my calendar and the Cowtown Half on May 8 worked out perfectly. It would give me something to aim for and would be a good benchmark on where my running is heading into the last block of training for my 70.3 in Des Moines.

After 60 weeks.....race day was here. I've run 13 miles more times than I can count, but I felt the familiar pre-race jitters as we drove to Fort Worth early Saturday morning. I was not expecting a fast race, but I was hoping for a healthy race. It would be my longest run since the injury in December and I just wanted to cover the distance without any pain other than fatigue. The course was modified from the usual course, we ran in reverse with some new sections that I'd never seen. The Cowtown Half is a challenging race to begin with, but they promised us even more hills in this edition.

Start lines these days are very anti-climatic. It is common for a race to give you a start time and you simply walk up and cross the line when it is your turn to go. Erik and I walked up together and then we were off! I watched him disappear into the distance as I settled into an easy pace to start the race. It was my hope to run a relaxed pace and then kick it up at the end if I had anything left. Spoiler alert: this did not happen. 

If felt so good to be running in a live race with other people! I made sure to thank every police office directing traffic and as many of the volunteers as I could. Miles 1-5 were my fastest then things started to slow down from there. I think that it was a combination of the humid weather, the strong winds, the course, and my rusty mental racing game. Sundance Square and the Stockyards are my favorite parts of the Cowtown course and we were through them by mile 6. I also noticed that I didn't feel much wind during any of the early miles, which told me we would have to face it eventually - likely in the later miles. And we did! I started to walk up some of the hills at this point, thinking that it would save me some energy for the flat stretches.

Around mile 9 we entered a park and it was my least favorite part of the course. The path was long and somewhat narrow, the air was heavy, and there just wasn't much to see. I think that this is where my rusty mental game started to get me as I lost focus through here. I was ready to be done! I was also reaching past my longest mileage in months and I know that my endurance isn't quite where it needs to be. I stopped to walk out a brief but sharp side stitch when my Coeur teammate Christa ran by and called out to me. It gave me a boost and I got back to it. 

There was one more long and steady hill to climb and I hiked up it with as much purpose as I could muster. It is amazing how much better I felt knowing that the hills were done and I was able to pick up the pace in that final mile. I found myself with a huge lump in my throat and tears in my eyes as I crossed the finish line. I looked around and tried to take it all in and feel the moment. We have all been waiting so long for these moments that feel so "normal" to return. I will never take a start or a finish line for granted again. Not only were races cancelled for a year due to the pandemic, I was physically unable to run at all just a couple months ago. I am so lucky that I GET to do these things that I love so much! 

The post race hangout was not quite the same, but it was nice to see so many faces that I haven't seen in person for so long. I cannot say enough positive things about the Cowtown race officials and their attention to detail to provide a safe racing environment for us. I'm so appreciative that they made it happen despite the delay on the calendar and the multitude of other challenges I'm sure that they faced. It was the perfect "comeback" race for me and provided closure and a fresh start to the gradual return of normalcy. 

Next up - Ironman 70.3 Des Moines. My first 70.3 since 2018 and I can't wait!