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<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">It was a fun weekend, meeting CR folks Henrun and Marj, Mr. & Mrs. pfriese, Mr. & Mrs. wa5yom and of course Spareribs and Mrs. Ribs. All of us ate well at the Rib Cage, and enjoyed each other’s company by swapping bon mots and race stories.</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">I was rather nervous about doing this half marathon. First, I heard it was going to be cold (by So. Cal. standards) and was worried about the asthma doing me in around mile 10 like it did last year at every HM. Second, I sprained my ankle in mid-July (so bad that I heard it snap and crunch when I fell) and couldn't run at all for 8 weeks so I cross trained and did physical thereapy (PT) like mad. I had only started running again on Labor Day weekend but I could only run 3 times a week since I was still doing PT. I wore a splint for the first three weeks.. I had to cut back from doing the full marathon to the half marathon. All my long training runs seemed extra slow to me. I was nervous about being ready.</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">But everything turned out fine. No asthma attacks. The weather was fine, just like a wet spring day in upstate New York. My formerly injured ankle held up just fine. All the cross training and long runs paid off.</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">Fashion (ha!): Nothing sexy like some of you folks, just basic long sleeve white tech shirt, black capris leggings, red track jacket. And of course, the camelbak full of H20, Gu, and asthma meds.</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">I was happy to see Henrun and Marj at the start line. I didn't know anybody at this race other than my friend from our So. Cal. running club; he ran the full marathon so he started at 8am. Luckily he saw me and hollered hello. My hubby and I hollered and waved back. That crazy man was wearing a singlet and shorts!</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">As for the race, Henrun is right, it wasn't very hilly. There were supposedly hills around miles 4 to 6, but I couldn't tell. I heard some people complaining about them. I was oblivious because I kept looking down. There were a lot of potholes and puddles along most of the course so I was being extra careful.</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">People are very nice in Dallas. The folks running next to me were friendly, and if they bumped into me or anyone else, they were very polite about it. Some spectators offered us tissues and all the folks on the side were full of cheers. I heard a lot of cowbells too (they were handed out at the Expo). The race bibs had our names printed on them so complete strangers were calling out our names as we went by, encouraging us to do well and hang in there.</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">The race course was pretty well organized; regular water stops starting at mile 2 and they had plenty of water and gatorade. I saw a lot of portajohns too. I couldn't tell you if the mile markers were on target or not but I didn't hear anyone mentioning them being "off".</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">I just did my usual run/walk routine. It was wonderful being able to keep up with Henrun for the first part of the race because he had an excellent pace and gave me lots of encouragement.</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">I got a little dizzy around mile 10, but some caffeine Gu cured that. As I ran as fast as I could for the last 2 miles, I got a bit teary eyed as I came in near the finish because I successfully faced down all my worries out there. Henrun said I came in before him at 2:24, which is a PR for me.</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">I missed the post race party since I had to find my husband. We walked back to the hotel and caught a flight back to L.A. Post-race reunion area was not well organized because security blocked off areas and made it hard for people to get around.</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">I like doing these destination races and will plan on doing a few more in 2008. Hope to meet more folks in cyber-running land. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Very Happy"></span></span>
