13.1 Dallas- October 26th

This Saturday I will be running half marathon #5! This is the most excited and confident I have been going into a half marathon. Marathon training will do that to you, so thankful for that! So super excited to have my dear friend Katie running with me. This is her very first half marathon and I couldn't be prouder of her! Several people have mentioned wanting to come out and support us so here are all the details on the race.

13.1 Dallas-

Race start time- 7:00AM (yikes, so early!!) at Dallas Performing Arts Center.
Cheering locations- Looking at the Course Map I have listed some good spots to cheer and an estimated time to get there before us according to a 7am start time and 10 min pace. If you get there before the time listed you should not miss us. If you are worried you have missed us, feel free to call and check where we are. It is super easy for us to answer our phone while running, just be prepared for a short, out of breath chat :)

• 7:15am: Cole Park- 4000 Cole Ave, Dallas, TX 75204...Just past mile 2, the course loops around the park so it is easy to see runners twice if you stand on the park side of the street. Stand on east side first and then cross over to west side after runners pass. 
• 8:00am: Exit hwy75 at Mockingbird, go west on Mockinbird toward SMU. Take a left into the neighborhood south SMU. Park as close as possible to race course to prevent having to walk far. Race will be south of Princeton Ave, along Byron Ave and Abbott Ave. The course map doesn't specifically show the cross road from Byron and Abbott. I am sure it will be easy to see, there should be police cars/volunteer cars blocking off the race streets.
• 8:30am: Map of Katy Trail... I would suggest trying the Fitzhugh access point. Feel free to reference the Katy Trail map to look for parking and entrances. 
• 9:30am: Finish Line! For parking I would suggest 7-11- 1722 Routh St #100, Dallas, TX ... it will be a little bit of a walk to the finish line, but it is free parking. You will only be able to enter from the Woodall Rogers side of Routh. Ross Ave will be closed for the race course. Finish line is at Dallas Performing Arts Center. You will be able to hear and see where all the commotion is coming from.

After the race we will be STARVING and ready for food!! We would love any and all of our supporters to join us for brunch/lunch. We will decide where to eat after finishing, I'm sure we will be craving some fatty high calorie meal, yum! 

Thanks in advance to all of our supports and cheerleaders! We couldn't do it without y'all! 

Full Marathon Training: Week 9

Well as always, I can make it through the first half of train with such ease. It is the second half of the training that is challenging. Not only does the mileage step it up but I get exhausted.  5am wake ups 3 to 4 times a week can get exhausting. My body was physically exhausted and incapable this last week to actually get myself out of bed. I have learned in the past that wearing myself too thin and running on top of that will only hinder me more in the long run. Listened to my body and took the time to get more sleep. Here is a recap of the few runs I managed to wake up for.

Thursday- 5 mile run with Jill. 57:31 overall time. Paced out at 11:32. IT band has been giving me more trouble that I would like. I do realize that it is totally preventable if I was to stretch and foam roll like I am suppose to.
Friday- .82 miles. Knee was bothering me the whole time. Couldn't take the pain, so I stopped and walked back home.
Sunday- 9.14 miles with Katie. 1:38:54. Paced out at 12:06. Good cool sunny afternoon run. Cut our run a little short to make it to a meeting. So excited to run with Katie for her first half marathon next Saturday!!

Full Marathon Training: Week 7 and Week 8

Week 7:
Monday- 5 mile run followed by sprints. 5.69 miles total. Little nervous getting started since Saturday's run was a little tricky. The run felt good and seemed to pass fast. Despite that, my pace was a lot slower than i thought I was actually going. Did a new 5 mile route and enjoyed it. I had forget how nice it is to switch up the routes!
Tuesday- Lazy day :(
Wednesday- 6 miles. Walked first and last mile. Ran mile 2 and 3 straight (11:34 pace), 3 minute recovery walk, ran 4 and 5 straight (10:36 pace). Crazy how there was a good min difference in pace.
Thursday- 4 mile run with Jill. 11:10 pace. Skipped some of our walks. Felt good to have a fast run.
Friday- Lazy day :(

Thankful for running friends.

Saturday- 14 miles. Furthest distance to date. Ran White Rock Lake. Overall paced 11:25. Finished in 2:39:55. 5-1 intervals for first 9 miles. Got a little off on the last 5 miles, did a lot more walking than I would have liked, but I made myself keep going. The weather all morning had been Texas weather to say the least. It was suppose to have been a beautiful, cool morning, which it was not. Until my last 0.2 miles, then the cold front blew in, literally. Never seen or felt anything like it. I thought I was going to blow away! The cold wind came in from across the lake, the sky got dark and it started to mist, just what I needed to help me push through and finish. Since it was raining and extremely cold, I jumped in the car immediately after finishing my run. Not a smart move! Walking it off is very important and stretching even more so! As I was driving home I could feel the muscles in my legs tightening up, not a very pleasant feeling. After getting home and stretching there weren't many aches. Only ache I had was in my right shoulder, a odd pain for having ran 14 miles, but I'll take it.

Week 8:

Monday- 5 miles plus sprints with Jill. Paced at 11:37 including all the walks in between my sprints. 5 miles paced out at 11:08. Love running with Jill and I hate that I am almost always running late to get to our runs. Let me just tell you, waking up at 4:20am sucks. But the feeling after the run always fantastic and well worth it.

Waking up sucks.

Tuesday- Lazy day :(
Wednesday- 6 miles. Walked first and last, ran middle 4 miles. Run paced out at 11:43. Really good pace for an afternoon run in the sun. After thinking about it, despite how much I hate running when it is hot and sunny, I need to do it. When I run the full the majority of the run will be in the sun, better get use to it now, otherwise it might kill me on race day.

Post run feels so good.

Thursday- 4.5 miles. Suppose to be a 5 mile run, but my run keeper paused unexpectedly and then didn't un-pause when I thought I had. That is one of the most frustrating things when running. Not knowing where the turn around point was, I just picked a place to turn around. Sadly, it wasn't the correct half way point but I let it be.
Friday- Lazy day :(
Saturday- 15 mile run. Paced out at 12:05. Did 5-1 splits pretty much the whole way. Started at Heights and ran up to Chisholm trail, looped around a neighborhood and then meet up with Jill at Jack Carter pool for the last 5 miles. Those last 5 were challenging. IT band started bothering me and wouldn't let up. Walked a couple times when it wasn't a walk. But ran the last most of my run intervals. Very thankful for Jill meeting me to finish my run. So nice to have someone talking to me and running with when all I wanted to do was stop. Foam rolled and took an ice bath when I got home. Holy moly, it was COLD. Getting in was the hardest part, felt like I was hyperventilating. So good for me though, thinking I might make it a habit after my long runs.