So I was trained. I did the plan, the best I could. I ran the miles. I stretched, I lifted, I rode the bike. And it was finally the last week. That's when Mother Nature hit us. Hard.
Snow. Lots of it. We had to close school and stay home with the kids for the Monday and Tuesday before the race. And the forecast for the race was sketchy at best. We were supposed to get more snow later in the week. This is an oddity for North Texas. We get snow, sometimes ice. But its a sometimes. Not the foregone conclusion of winter weather when you live north of the Mason Dixon Line.
This pushed much of my last week of running inside. I did Tuesday and Wednesday on the treadmill and was lucky enough to do my last 2 mile run outside. I was focused on the weather during this time, I was also in the throws of Taper Madness. This, to me, was a lot of focus on my plan. How I would run out of the gate and what I needed to think about during the run.
The roads got better and the temp was back in the 40's by Wednesday. But the forecasters called for more snow on Thursday. It didn't come. Nope. It came on Friday. During the day at work, the rain slowly changed over to snow. And it kept coming and coming and coming.
At this time, the Cowtown was making decisions about weekend races. For the Cowtown, the 5K and 10K go off on Saturday Feb. 28 while the half and full marathon go off on Sunday March 1.
There was already talk of cancelling the races when the cowtown started putting out notices that they were working with local authorities and the weather service to determine whether or not to cancel races and the expo.
I tweeted on Thursday that I had completed my last run and was resting for Sunday's Marathon. Then on Friday, an NPR Reporter contacted me and I did a phone interview for a story on the weather and its implications on the marathon. I spoke eloquently for 10 minutes waxing philosophical about the ups and downs of watching the weather during this time and hoping they make the best decision for the safety of the runners. When the time came, they took a 5 second soundbite. Thats it. 5 seconds.
We listened to it that evening as the snow came down and we ran out to the new Pizza Hut in our neighborhood to get dinner. My wife couldn't help but laugh as I sounded so dam pompous like I'm a seasoned veteran runner who's been at it for years. But that's what you get when they take a 5 second clip from 10 minutes of talking.
The Cowtown people did cancel the 5K and 10K on Saturday and they also delayed the Expo opening. The temp was supposed to get above 32 sometime on Saturday which was our only hope for a Sunday race.
On Saturday morning, the snow didn't look like it was going anywhere and we had a birthday party to get to around 11. The party was only about 25 minutes away, so naturally we left an hour early. Took our time and got there safely. The roads were melting and I was more hopeful. The eternal optimist never gives up. Eyeing the roads and temperature and forecast, I was sure it would go on.
After the party, the roads were much, much better. I was able to go the speed limit, the roads were mostly fine, just real slushy.
We ran other errands and it was while we were stopping in at Old Navy when the news hit. We got the e-mail that the Marathon was cancelled and that the Half would go on. I was destroyed.
The journey began in June last year. It started off as a journey of self-improvement. Then it turned into a journey of challenges. First with the half-marathon in Dallas, then with the focus turned to getting into that elite club of runners who have run the full. I was ready to break that barrier and jump feet first into the realm of the less than 1% of runners who actually run a marathon.
Nope. Not yet. Devastated, I stayed in the car as the madness set in. Frantically searching for other races to join so that the 20 weeks of training didn't go to waste. They didn't cancel the half marathon. The thing is, I understood. It was the logical decision to make. The 2nd half of the course winds through parks and neighborhoods. There is a lot of shade in that part of town, snow takes longer to melt in the shade. And They were still letting the marathoners run the half. So, at least, there's that.
We finished our errands and headed home. I laid out my things for the early morning rendezvous with my friend so that we could park together and meet up with other running friends.
Starting at Will Rogers, we parked the car in the garage and headed up to the expo which was open early since it was about 35 outside and many runners were hanging out in there talking about the weather. We met up with others we knew were running, one of them, my friend from Houston. And with about 15 minutes left, we headed to the corrals.
The Fort Worth Marathon sets its corrals up a little different from Dallas. In Dallas, it was one long corral set into 3 parts and it felt like they were all let go at the same time. In Fort Worth, for the Cowtown, they had more of a wave start. Every corral started in waves. The first corral, then the 2nd five minutes after the first, then the 3rd Corral 5 minutes after the 2nd. I like this way to start as long as you're with the correct group. I was assigned to Corral 4 and my running mates were assigned to corral 5.
As I inched closer to the start, it occurred to me that I would start about 5 minutes ahead of them and our time would be off. All of my work to this point had prepared me for a Full Marathon and I felt as if there was no accomplishment for me to earn today. I had already run a half and I had been running distances greater than 13 miles at least 5 times since then.
I did want to run a 10K in 51 minutes to see if I could qualify for the Houston Marathon. Or I could run the half in 2 hours. So I set my mind to that and was off. The first trouble I had was that I was at the back of my corral, which meant I was behind everyone and I had to bust out moves like Barry Sanders running down field. That made it difficult over the first 5-10 minutes. We hit the Trinity Trails and there was a lot of snow still on the ground. As runners, we attempted to find the wet spots instead of the snowy spots and keep our traction.
Knowing I needed to run about 8:15/mile, which I had never done for a long run, I was at my first mile with 8:15. This was even with all of the traffic dodging I was doing. So I kept on, found my sweet spot and pushed forward. Miles 2 and 3 were at 8:06 and 8:00 respectively, so I was feeling good about my time, but starting to wear thin on strength. I knew this wasn't a good idea. To go after a time I hadn't trained for, but all of this energy was pent up in me, I felt like it had to get out. I needed to release it. Taper Madness had gotten to me the week before as I was running short distances and watching the weather hoping for the best.
Miles 4 and 5 were 8:23 and 8:21. Still respectable and with the other miles, I just needed to hold pace to reach my goal. Again, as in the other race, I realized my mapmyrun app was off with the mileage compared to the race. I hit mile 6 in my app at 49:15. But I hadn't gotten to the mile 6 marker for another minute. I knew it was going to be close. Crossing the mile six marker I knew I had to push for another 2 tenths of a mile to get a time. I did. 52:17. So I didn't reach my goal. But I did get a Personal Best on a 10K here. Remember, 7 Years ago, I ran the 10K at Cowtown and ran 1:10:00. I was in much better shape now.
After I crossed the 10K line, I took off the push, caught my breath as I ran through the scenic stockyards and headed up Main Street. I could see the huge hill that led into downtown. And it was daunting. I was running along calculating my finish time would be under 2 hours which was still real good. Then it happened. The Train.
As running events go, I know there is coordination with the city, the medical staff, volunteers and so forth. I never really thought about needed coordination with the Railroad. I guess they didn't have it. Because at mile 8.2, there is a train track and I could see the train coming. I was about a tenth of a mile away. I sped up briefly before realizing it was futile and hit the breaks to walk. Hoping I could walk up to the track and as it passed, I could take off again without actually standing around. That didn't happen, and all of us were just standing around. As the train passed and time ticked on. This was crazy.
Then I saw one of my running friends. And we promised to meet up at the end. He took a pic of me in front of the train.
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| Hey, whats up, we're in a race and stuck at the train. |
The hill into downtown was brutal. I started the hill at 8:00/mile and finished it at 10:00/mile. Got through downtown and was computing the times in my ear and realized, it would be close to a 2 hour half-marathon for me, but I needed to keep pace. Damn train!
I spotted the tower at the Will Rogers Complex and knew I wasn't far. We made it back to University, then the course kept going, wrapping around the entire complex to the finish. I finished strong and coming up right behind me was my running buddy who started in the corral behind me. He clearly didn't get stuck by the damn train.
Got the shirts, and obligatory pictures, we headed back to the expo to regroup.
When I finally checked my time, 1:59:45 was my official time! I did it, broke 2 hours for a half cutting about 5 minutes off my time from Dallas.
We walked the expo a little, got the coupons for merch at Lukes Locker, And had a beer. Ran in to all my other running friends, swapped stories, and headed home.
But something was missing. I mean other than that extra 5 minutes I lost due to the train. I didn't get to run the full. What I trained for was still ahead of me.
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| Me and my Training buddy and running partner |
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| Me and my friend who took the pic of me at the train |
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| Me and my Running buddy from Houston. |
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