2016 Fort Worth Cowtown Marathon Complete

I was a little worried going into this for I knew the weather was going to be warmer than I wanted it to be.  Last year all races were cancelled due to icy conditions, except the half marathon.  I was lucky that is the one I happen to register for.  So grateful that didn't happen this year.  I ate something I never have had before because I didn't realize I had ran out of bananas.  I usually eat half a toast with almond butter and bananas.  Instead I ate almond butter sandwich and hoped for the best.  Eddie drops me off and we take Dash with us.  She of course sleeps all the way there in my arms and is super cute!

Our Team Running Junky met at 6:30 for a group picture before race.  We had both half and full marathoners on our team.  Super proud of all the ladies for finishing strong.

The weather started at 55 degrees and by the time I finished it was in the mid 60s.  I was able to stay with the 3:25 pacer, but lost him at mile 16 and got ahead of him.  I never saw him pass me after that so not sure what happened to him.  It got a little lonely after that and there wasn't that much crowd support.  I turned up my music to keep me motivated.  My right hamstring was started to get tight and worried it would cramp up but never did.  Around mile 19 my stomach was starting to feel squeeze and hoped it wouldn't get to the point I would have to find a porta potty, but it calmed down.  I went through 2 packs of margarita flavored energy chews bloks.  It has sodium which seems to help with cramping.  I drank my 6 oz coconut water I carried on my belt and would hydrate with water and Powerade as needed along the way.

At mile 23, my pace really slows down as the heat is starting to get to me.  My goal now is to finish at 3:30 and by looking at my time on my Garmin, I think it's possible.  This is a hilly course and miles 10, 11, 15, 18, 22-26 were a struggle.  I told myself, I would not go crazy and try to PR because I didn't want to hurt myself before Boston marathon coming up.  Besides, I was using this as training for the crazy hills on the Boston Marathon course.  I'm so competitive with myself every time I run.  But I have Boston in a couple of weeks and need to focus on that.  There was a woman that was my rabbit, who would pass me and then I would pass her.  We did this from mile 18 on and kept supporting each other.  Once I saw that I got to 3:29, I passed her and she told me to finish strong.  I tried my best to finish at 3:30, but couldn't seem to sprint the end like I usually do. It was hot.  My offical finish time was 3:30:42 (my Garmin shows a few seconds off), but I'll take it!

 The best part is seeing my mom, Noah, Dash and Eddie twice on the course to cheer me on.  Love my cheerleaders!

Finished at 3:30:42 and got 2nd place in my division out of 84 women in my age group, came in 76th place out of 480 women and there were 1252 total timed runners for the full marathon. I’m happy with that!!