Cowtown Half: Never Too Old...

So this race happened at the end of February....and I have been terribly remiss in taking the time to record my story in this blog.  I love sharing my stories with you, but I write these stories in large part for myself.  They serve as a great reference for me - a reminder of where I've been, a way to look back at the good times, and a way to see the challenges I have overcome as well.  I can't not record this story because this race was a huge milestone for me.  I have had this goal of running a sub 1:50 half marathon for myself for many years and had all but given up on reaching it.  But this is the year of the #PRincess and of being fearless, so why not just go for it?

The Cowtown Half Marathon is one of my favorite, not-to-miss races.  I ran my first Cowtown in 2009 and have experienced just about every condition and scenario possible.  Freezing cold, wind, heat, humidity, even snow and ice...Cowtown has delivered all of these in the last eight years.  I have had painful races.  I have had strong races.  I have run the early miles of Mr K's marathon with him.  I have sprinted to the start line from the worst traffic ever.  Last year was especially challenging as my legs felt heavy and disengaged from the very beginning.  I still don't know what went wrong that day.  I trained diligently for the race and I was rested and ready to go.  Maybe it was the cold? It was my 50th half marathon and Mr K made a shirt for me with a huge 5-0 on the back.  I enjoyed all of the cheers and compliments that I got along the way, so that made the race fun.  It was also pretty amazing to see snow on the ground, but the running itself was less than stellar and I felt lucky to finish in 2:01:30.  I remember hanging out with all my friends post race and Stude (The Encourager - remember him?) was celebrating a new half marathon PR.  He looked at me and said "See MK, you are never too old to PR." I wasn't so sure he was right about that, but those words stuck in my head.

Traditional pre-race photo with Irene, John, Mr K, and Mama C (photo: Mama C)

Mr K and I learned our lesson many years ago and opted to spend the night in Fort Worth rather than take our chances with the traffic on race morning.  Our hotel was near mile 11 on the half marathon course, so we were super close to the start/finish, allowing us to have a stress free race morning.  We met up with Mama C and the gang for a few pictures before heading to our start corral.  I had such success running the first 10 miles of the 3M Half with the 1:55 pace group and I was hoping to use a similar plan here at Cowtown.  It is just kind of nice to let someone else handle the pacing for you during the first 10 miles or so of the race.  Unfortunately, Cowtown did not have a 1:55 group so I was hoping to stick near the 1:50 group (because I ran 1:50 at 3M this did not seem out of reach).  Cowtown is a harder course than 3M, so I was not sure how feasible this plan was, but I was going to give it a shot. I was just behind the pace group when the race started, but they took off quite a bit faster than I felt like I should go - so I watched them slip away.

I knew this course quite well, which certainly played to my advantage.  I was running a bit faster than I did at 3M, but I also knew that there was a killer hill at mile 9 so it might be smart to bank some time while I could.  The weather was not ideal with temperatures near 60 with high humidity and some wind, but I tried not to let that get into my mind.  I made it through the first 5K in 26:18 with an average pace of 8:25.  I was running largely by feel and did not have the pace displayed on my watch, only heart rate, distance, and time.  I was getting my paces when the mile splits chimed and I was happy to see them stay fairly consistent.

The traditional Mark O. photo

There were some small hills between the 5K and 10K mark, but I was ready for them.  Steady and smooth all the way up!  The splits were still coming in very consistently and I just tried to hang on to it as long as I could.  I crossed the 10K mark in 52:43 with an average pace of 8:27.  Almost halfway! My favorite part of The Cowtown is when we make that right hand turn onto Exchange Avenue right before mile 7.  Anyone familiar with Fort Worth knows that Exchange Avenue takes you right through the heart of the famous Stockyards.  There is such an energy boost her as the crowds are usually pretty thick and the street makes a bit of a downhill.  There was a terrific band here this year too and my feet entrained perfectly to the beat of their song.  I love it when that happens!

I regained my focus as I passed out of the Stockyards.  Things were about to get real.  As in, we were quickly approaching the mammoth hill known as the Main Street Bridge.  I hadn't done a lot of hill training, so I wasn't sure what this race was going to bring.  I knew that things get tougher as we approach mile 9 and there isn't much relief until the downhill after mile 11.  I also knew that my pacing was about to get real in that my game plan (suggested by Stude - The Encourager) was to get over the big hill and then hammer the pace until the end.

I always count the light posts as I climb that big hill.  It just seems easier that way, much easier than looking all the way to the top.  This hill is pretty sneaky too as just when you think you have made it to the top, it turns a corner and goes up just a little bit longer.  I love all of the cheerleaders on the hill - they are just amazing!  (Special shout out to Anne Barnwell for giving me a shout out.  It is just so nice to hear your name during a tough part of the run.)  Huge deep breath as I crossed mile 9 and climbed the hill.....here....goes...nothing.

I felt like I was running hard, but I was worried that it was not hard enough.  Just keep pushing, MK, see what you can do!  I didn't know if I was on pace for a PR, but I felt like I could come pretty close to my time from 3M Half.  There was a bit of wild desperation in these final miles, I gotta tell you. I soon got some reinforcement as mile 11 came in at 8:11 - my fastest so far.  It might not feel faster, but it was!  I crossed the timing mat at mile 11 in 1:33:15 with an average pace of 8:27 - I am nothing if not consistent!  I knew that there was a pretty good downhill between 11 and 12 and I worked hard to make the most of it.  It paid off too because that ended up being my fastest mile of the race at 7:55.

Post race and post burger with Mama C and Irene

The end of this race is just so tough mentally.  You can see that you have made it back to the grounds of the Will Rogers Center, but they make you run all the way around it in order to get to the finish.  So darned close....yet still a mile or so away.  I spotted the 1:50 pacer somewhere between mile 12 and 13.  Could it be?  Is this even possible?  I locked on him like a laser beam, knowing that if I could pass him I would have my long awaited sub 1:50.  I really had no idea if I could catch him, but I sure was going to try! Just. Keep. Running.  I could hear the race announcer now and I knew that we just had to turn two more corners. Catch that pacer, MK!!

And I did catch him, just before mile 13 - and I kept him behind me like it was my job.  The finish line was in sight now.  I had no idea what my time was, but I sprinted as if every single second counted - because it did!  I am not sure I have ever run that hard in my life, I'm not sure where that even came from.  My watch read 1:49:58 - I (thought) I'd done it!!  I was so worried that the official time would have me over the 1:50 mark, but it didn't - the official time was even better at 1:49:55.  I could hardly believe my eyes.  After all these years, it finally happened...and on the most unlikely of courses in the most unlikely weather.  For six years my half marathon PR stood as untouchable, and now I'd scored my 2nd half PR in as many months.

Believe your watch, MK! That just happened.

All this to say: never give up on yourself, never stop working for your goals, never stop trying.  I've been a runner for almost eight years now, I thought that I'd hit all my big milestones.  I had plateaued in a serious way, I thought that PRs were not for me.  But you just never know what you are capable of until you push your boundaries.  You are never too old.

Be fearless.

Love the Loop 15K: #PRincess

To say that the 2016 running year is off to a good start would be an understatement.  I don't know where much of this speed has come from, but I'm going to keep on with it as long as I can.  My personal records (PRs) were aging at an alarming rate, but I was able to update my 5K and half marathon PR in January.  When I saw that Dallas Running Club (DRC) was offering up a 15K for the February club race, I knew that I had to seize the opportunity.  My 15K PR was from January 2010, another kindergarten age record!  I'll never forget that race, I very quietly closed in on Mr K and just almost overtook him at the end - but he beat me by a couple of seconds.  That has to be one of my most favorite race stories.  The 15K is a distance that I really enjoy and I try to race them when they show up on the local race calendar.  I have come close to my 15K PR on several occasions, missing it by about 45 seconds last April.

Once I signed up, I reached out to Stude (remember him, he is the one who has "encouraged" me to run as fast as I can in the closing miles of my last three half marathons) to see if he had any advice for racing a 15K.  He threw out some pacing suggestions and a HUGE chart full of numbers and data (swoon!) based on my race time from the 3M Half.  According to the numbers, a 15K PR was well within my reach.  I was interested in putting this to the test as I was starting to wonder if my PR from 3M Half was a bit of an outlier as it was run on a known fast course.  Turns out, Stude was planning on being there too to run the 5K and would provide "encouragement" in the final miles of the race.  I gotta tell you, I was somewhat terrified when I saw this message from him but I was up for the challenge!

The race weather gods have been smiling upon me this year and they provided more great running weather for us with temperatures around 40 degrees at the start.  The race was a sellout at just under 1,000 runners - a Dallas Running Club record!  Safe to say the new "Love the Loop" concept was a hit.  And speaking of loving the loop, I had a serious home field advantage going into this one as Mr K and I typically do our long runs on this loop around White Rock Lake.  I knew it inside and out so there were no surprises.  I planned to follow Meb's "run only one mile at a time and worry only about what needs to be done for that mile" advice until I saw Stude (The Encourager) then I would just run like hell to keep up with him.  I got off to a good start and settled into a good pace hanging out in the 8:20s for the first four miles.  There was a nice hill at mile 3, but I had just done hill repeats on it the week before so I felt very familiar with it.  Home field advantage for the win!

Post Race PR Smiles with Shantel (Pic: Stude)

I picked up the pace a bit starting with mile 5, the wind was at my back and I tried to use that to my advantage as I knew I would turn back into it soon enough.  I picked out a few runners in front of me and kept them in my sight for most of the race.  I hoped to pass them before the finish line, if everything went according to plan.  Miles 5, 6, and 7 were in the 8:10 range - so far, so good!  

As I approached the mile 7 marker, I saw Stude (The Encourager) waiting, it was about to get real, y'all.  I had just run the first 7 miles in under an hour and I knew that the PR was in the bag if I could keep on working for a couple more miles.  Stude was super helpful and set a brisk pace for us, reminding me to keep it even as we ran up the big hill by the spillway.  He even attempted to block the wind as we headed towards Winfrey Point.  Oh sweet Winfrey Point, I have had my share of battles on this sacred stretch of White Rock Lake.  Mile 8 came in at 8:02 and I was totally good with that considering the hill we just climbed.  Just over 2 miles to go and I was fairly certain that I might die!

Smiling as I spotted Stude at mile 7, it was about to get real (Pic: Stude)

I started to pass some of the people that I'd been following during the race and that provided a great boost to me.  I worked hard to stay ahead of them and not let them leap frog me at the end.  It was somewhere in here that Stude mentioned our pace, but I tried not to think too much about it. Sometimes knowing how fast I am going makes my brain go "Wait!  We don't run that fast!!!"  My watch was chiming ahead of the mile markers as I was not doing a great job with tangents and mile 9 showed 7:46.  At this point I knew that I was going to have a huge PR - finish strong, MK!  Be fearless! 

I was searching for a glimpse of the finish line and it was obscured a bit by a bend in the route.  I knew that just seeing it would help me finish strong and I was getting desperate when I finally made the slightest turn and saw it.  Oh. Thank. Heavens. I glanced at my watch and saw 1:16-something and made it my goal to cover those remaining yards before it got to 1:17.  I hit the finish line in 1:16:56 - I did it!

Finish line celebration! (Pic: Stude)

Three races, three PRs, and one new hashtag: #PRincess. (Thanks for that one, Stude).  Somehow I have caught lightning in a bottle.  To say it is exciting would be an understatement and to say that I'm fired up for running would be an even bigger understatement.  I'm not sure how I got here, but I am not going to take it for granted.  My recent success has only made me hungry for more and I'm inspired to work even harder.  Let's see what else these legs have in them!

3M Half Marathon: Be Fearless

Once I recovered from Redman 70.3, I noticed that I was feeling so strong - strong enough that I considered upgrading from the half to the full at the Cowtown Marathon coming up at the end of February.  I knew that I was strong and I felt like I only really needed a couple of 20 milers in order to be ready to run a marathon.  I was really close to pulling the trigger on that, but I told myself to wait until after the Dallas Marathon Half before making any decisions.  Not only did I want to see how that race went for me, I wanted to be around people who were marathoning to see if I "felt" it. I had a great race that day, running negative splits with a super strong finish. It turns out that it was my fastest half marathon since the spring of 2013.

I felt like I was on to something with the speed work I had been doing in the weeks leading up to the race, and within a few minutes of crossing the finish line I had my answer.  Instead of going longer, I wanted to see just how fast I could possibly go.  I had signed up for the 3M Half Marathon in Austin earlier in the fall and having a fast race there had become my new goal.  At the end of last year, I ran across the quote, "Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire." This has become my mantra in 2016. Whenever I felt myself feeling nervous about the race, I reminded myself to "be fearless."

Most appropriate race day calendar quote ever. 

I ran the 3M Half on my birthday in 2014 and I had a really good day there, running it in 1:56:16.  It is known to be a fast course and the race adopted the slogan "downhill to downtown." Some of my best races have come on point-to-point courses with a net downhill (see Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon).  I became even more fired up for the race when I broke my 5K personal record (PR) on January 9, a couple of weeks before 3M Half.  That PR was nearly 4 years old and I was starting to think that it would live forever.  Just seeing that it was possible to get a PR after all these years of coming close but falling short really gave me hope.  My half marathon PR was a strong one (1:51:36) and I have not even come close to it since I set it way back in 2010.  Yep, my half marathon PR is the same age as a kindergartner.  I had really started to believe that it was a fluke and had started referring to a half I ran in 2013 as my "modern PR" - and even that one was getting dated!  I was not sure what to expect going into 3M Half, but I would be happy with anything under 1:55.

I looked forward to the weekend because it is a great opportunity to visit Austin and to spend some time with friends.  Mr K and I enjoyed the drive down, stopping in West for some treats and enjoying abundant sunshine.  We saw Oklahoma friends Vicki and Gene at the race expo and we also enjoyed a post race celebration with them. We had pre-race dinner with Mama C, John, Irene, and Dewbs.  Drum was also in town for the race (spoiler alert: she KILLED it), and while we were in a lot of the same places, we never saw each other.

Has there been more perfect race weather?

I was thinking of the race as two separate races.  My plan was to hang with the 1:55 pacers until mile 10 where, if things were going according to plan, I would drop them and run the last 3.1 miles like a 5K.  Once again, I had been "encouraged" by Stude to run the last 3 miles at a sub-8:00 pace (this is getting trickier, it was only the last 2 miles at the the Dallas Marathon Half - I'm afraid of what will happen in the next race...).  Race morning went very smoothly (unlike the last time we ran 3M, right Mama C?) and I was able to find the pacers in the corral and slip in behind them.  We got a solid start and I could hear them talking to other runners about their strategy and what to expect on various parts of the course.  They also seemed to know many runners in the crowd and this gave me confidence in their skill as pacers.  I got lucky because they were solid and I stuck to them like it was my job.

The pace they set felt really good to me.  I never felt like I was chasing them, but at the same time they pushed me ahead on occasion.  A good pacer is worth their weight in gold!  The weather was utterly perfect with temperatures in the 40s, with mostly calm winds and plenty of sunshine.  This was one of those "no excuses" races where everything is so perfect, you have to go for it.  Remember what Meb taught me at the Dallas Marathon Expo?  He told us to run one mile at a time and focus on what needed to be done for that mile. As I crossed the mile markers,  I set an intention for each new mile and worked hard to meet my goal for that mile.  Be fearless.

Post race selfie with Mr K

Around mile 7 or 8 the pacers checked in with a pace update and it looked like we were running at least 30 seconds ahead of 1:55.  This was great news to me as I planned to get ahead of them at the end, but I also know that if I did not I could still get that sub-1:55 goal that I had for the day.  This is such a fun route and the spectators are just awesome, especially on such a beautiful day, I was enjoying my run.

Sometime during mile 9 I found myself a little ahead of the pace group and it felt good, so I decided to stick with it.  I slowed a bit for a drink just before mile 10 and then it was go time.  I took a deep breath and reminded myself to be fearless. A girl next to me said "it is a 5K now" and I told her that she must have read my mind.  Someone from the crowd jumped in with her and she took off like the wind.  I had no idea how fast I was going as I did not have the pace screen up on my watch during the race.  I just focused on running that mile hard and I knew that I would get a pace update when I crossed mile 11.  I was very encouraged when that mile came in at 7:54 on my watch.  I was doing it!!  I still had no idea what my finish time would look like, but I was starting to realize that I was going to do better than I expected.  It was somewhere in that mile that a person on a bike called to another runner that she was at least 100 yards in front of the 1:55 pacers.

Post race smiles with Mr K, Mama C, John, and Irene (Pic: Dewbs)

Mile 12 had a nice downhill as we crossed onto the University of Texas campus and I took advantage of that momentum the best that I could.  So close now, don't lose focus MK! Be fearless.  Finally I crossed mile 12 and saw 7:48 on my watch.  Ho. Lee. Smokes.  This was really happening!  Time to dig in for that final mile - and it was a tough one!  There is just the slightest uphill as you round the bend and head towards Congress Avenue, but it might as well have been a mountain after all of the downhill running in the proceeding miles.  I started to hear the announcers and the crowds and I knew that I was getting close....but it felt like forever.  I later saw that mile 13 was 7:33 - no wonder it felt like forever.  I am glad that I had no idea what these paces were as they were happening because I probably would have freaked myself out.  By this point, I knew that I was most likely going to beat my kindergarten aged half marathon PR - but by how much?  I picked out a few people in front of me and to passed them as I made the final approach to the finish line.

I crossed the finish line and stood there in utter disbelief.  I did it. I DID IT!!  1:50:59  I wanted to tell everyone in the crowd around me "Hey!  I just broke a 6 year old PR!!"  I kept looking at my watch and then at the official results to make sure that it was real.  If there is one thing that running has taught me, it is to never say never...but I gotta tell you, I was starting to lose hope on this one.  I had essentially conceded that while I planned to run for a long time, I was probably not going to be getting any faster.  I thought that maintaining my current speed was a good enough goal.  I don't know what has changed in me since Redman, but I feel as if I have a renewed love of the run.  Not only do I feel physically stronger, I feel like I have a whole new mental game going on. Maybe I needed something to reignite the fire from my earlier running years? Maybe surviving something as challenging as Redman made me stronger? Maybe it was in there all along?  I suppose it doesn't really matter as long as I keep believing it.

Be fearless.