Watch Time: 1:57:52
Official Time: 1:57:48
Pace: 8:56 min/mi
Comments: I really wasn't looking forward to this race, if I am being completely honest. I have been running much more regularly since the Walt Disney World races last month but I certainly haven't been training for anything specifically. The promise of a chilly start didn't stoke my enthusiasm much either.
But it's the fifth time for me on this course so I felt a little obligated to put in the effort. So I was up early and (sorta) ready to go with the starter gun at 7:00 a.m. this morning.
The plan was to tackle it pretty much how I did the Dallas Half Marathon, keep it slow over the first half and up the pace on the second half depending on how my legs felt. The complicating factor being the big-ass hill on mile nine and the other, smaller, climbs through the end of the course.
As usual, I found myself wanting to surge forward at the start and needed to make a conscious effort to hold it slow and steady as we got going. I might have overdone it on mile two but, for the most part, I kept it above the 9-minute-mile mark through the halfway point. Mostly I ignored the Garmin and focused on cadence; short, shallow steps with high rate of turnover.
After the Stockyards I let myself start to pass folks some but still didn't open it up for real. I noted that I hit the 10K mark at just over one hour (1:00:38) so I knew a sub-two-hour effort was in the cards.
Then it was time for the hill on mile nine and I was in no mood to brook any sass from it today. I really focused on beating its ass today. I turned in the fastest mile to that point in the race, so I consider my effort pretty successful.
From there on out, I tried to stride the downhills and focus on reeling people in on the flats and elevations. At the end I felt I had run a strong race but didn't feel totally wiped out and exhausted like in years past. Could I have done it faster? Possibly. But running it in control like this was really what I hoped to accomplish.
Conditions
Hour: 7:00 a.m
Surface: concrete
Weather: clear
Temperature: 34 degrees
Humidity: 79 percent
Wind: calm
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Shoes: Saucony Triumph ISO 4
Injury update: Tightness in my right hamstring.