Event: Wellstone’s Dallas White Rock Half Marathon
Place: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Date: Sunday, December 9, 2007
Time: 9:00 AM
Goal: 7:26 Pace for a PR

Age: 54
Weight: 148

Goal Event: Chevron Houston Marathon, January 13, 2008

Div: Male 50-54
Bib: 6929

Race attire: Asics shorts (black) and Cowtown Marathon short sleeve shirt (yellow), Boston Marathon 2006 cap Asics 2020, a\Thorlo socks, Garmin 305 and backup Nike watch.

Weather: Start, 49 degrees, slight rain, NE wind at start, overcast.
                End, 42 degrees, temperature kept going down to mid 30’s by the end of the day.

Friday – December 7, 2007, Lets go to the Races!!!!

The weather predictions for Sunday’s run has been all over the place for the last week and the latest prediction is for a 52-55 degree start with slowly declining temperatures that will reach 50 by the end of the day.

We left for Dallas at 3:45 PM with hopes that we could miss the rush hour traffic in Downtown Dallas. We stopped at Panera bread and picked up more awesome Cinnamon bagels.

Our plans are to meet Henry (henron) and Marj at 6:00 and attend the Texas Shindig. It will be nice to see them and have an opportunity to visit. Even though we have met in Boston (where they have graciously held a brunch on Sunday morning, the day before the Boston Marathon) we have never had a chance to get to know each other. Tonight’s meeting will be a real treat.

Traffic was not as bad as expected so we were able to pick them up at 6:00. After navigating around downtown we managed to park near TGI Fridays where the Shindig was being held.

The food, music and company were great. We had a good time talking and listening to the music. Even a little dancing was in order….we were the only ones out there…maybe we scared all the other dancers away…hehe

After a few hours we strolled around the West End (the old warehouse district). At 9:30 since we were about to turn into pumpkins we decided to call it a night.

Saturday – December 8, 2007

Saturday morning came early so I was up and running an easy 2 miles on the Motel treadmill, then off to a breakfast of waffles and juice.

With breakfast out of the way we headed over to the Expo to get my bib and a few odds and ends. I think we were there a few hours before we left and went to the Lewisville mall to mess around.

Paul (pfriese) and his wife picked us up at the motel and escorted us to the Ribs house for dinner and a chance to meet up with more boomers. Henry and Marj, Paul and DW, Linda (dromedary) and DH and the illustrious Ribs and family.

The food and companionship was second to none. Ribs took special care preparing a marathon meal that would give us an edge on race day.

The food was great but the entertainment was even better. Rib’s son is preparing for a piano recital so we had a special opportunity to be his audience. His performance was superb.

Almost as exciting was the candle fire on the porch: I’ll just leave it at that…..

Communicating on the CR site is a lot of fun but when you have a chance to meet in person it makes the relationships much more personal. I truly appreciated and enjoyed the opportunity.

As the evening came to an end and we stepped outside the air had a chill not present when we arrived. It would prove to be a sign predicting tomorrow’s temperatures.

I prepared all my running clothing for the race before going to bed but I was still confused as to what to wear. One more chance to watch the weather forecast was in order. Well, the forecast changed again. Now the weather “person” informed us that the cold front was coming in earlier than previously predicted (gee, what a surprise). Now it appears that the morning temperature will be in the mid 40’s, NE winds and a 70% chance of rain. The daytime high would be in the morning as the temperatures would slowly decrease during the day. I don’t recall seeing such a slow moving cold front. The current temperature was about 55 degrees while just south of Dallas it was still in the mid 70’s.

The changes in the weather forecast made me decide to skip the singlet and go for a short sleeve shirt and maybe my wind breaker.

Sunday – December 9, 2007

I was up at 4:45 AM and ate a couple of bagels and drank some water. Then it was time to check the weather; 49 degrees and rain approaching.

There a lot of Ardmore runners attending the race today, much more that the usual 2 or 3. In particular a few of my running partners are running today. Tim and his wife are staying at the same motel as my wife and I: Tim will follow me to the American Airlines Center. We left at 6:45: the drive was only about 15 minutes. Since we took the back road we missed all the traffic. Even so, 50% of the parking was already claimed.

Man, it is cold out; it feels a lot colder than the 49 degrees that is reported.

Soon, my wife and I found a comfy spot on the hard floor near the doors that lead out to the starting line.

After a few stops at the men’s room it is nearly time for the marathon. I stood next to one of the doors and watched the marathoners exit. I hoped I would catch some of my friends but no such luck.

After the 8:00 AM start of the marathon I roamed around the hallways releasing nervous energy.

I targeted this race for a year with the hopes of a PR. Not only a PR but a significant improvement.

My best was here in 2005, 1:39:12, which lead up to my first BQ in Houston, January 2006.

Since I am training for another Marathon PR at Houston I need today’s race to validate my marathon training.

My goal is aggressive, 1:37:30, roughly a 7:26 pace. My most recent half marathon, The Half, which I ran a few weeks ago produced a 1:39:24 and was under tougher conditions. My second goal was to get under 1:38 and finally any PR would be OK.

As race time approached we walked to the starting line. I squeezed my way into the running crowd just about 15 feet from the start. I was wearing my Boston Marathon wind breaker. I knew I didn’t need it but the blustering wind was really cold. My wife usually stands just outside the corral so I can give her my jacket but this time it was too crowded, so she said she would be at the end of the crowd and on the right side of the road. When I run by I can give her my jacket.

The race started late, about 10 minutes, so when the gun sounded we were off. I quickly tried to home in on my pace, within 30 seconds I saw my wife but for some reason I kept my jacket. I just didn’t want to slow down and the weather felt a bit like Boston 2007 (where I wore the same jacket) so I though I would be OK. At least that it was I told myself.

Part 4 - The Race, and we are OFF.

Splits:

Mile 1 – 7:23, I am already warm, so I will zip and unzip my jacket to stay comfortable. A runner notices my Boston jacket and asks me about today’s goal. He moves on.

Mile 2 – 7:17, I really don’t need this jacket and I am very frustrated with myself. I knew better. I need to slow down a bit.

Mile 3 – 7:14, I feel good about my pace, it seems easy, but I need to back off a little and find 7:25.

Mile 4 – 7:30, I am familiar with the course and some challenging hills are coming. A runner passes me and we talk about the weather at the 2007 Boston Marathon.

Mile 5 – 7:35, The hills are a bit tough but not too bad, even so I loose a little time and have to pick it up.

Mile 6 – 7:22, Back on pace and it feels good. My jacket is a real pain, and it is wet from sweat. I sure wish I could get rid of it.

Mile 7 – 7:32, We have made the turn to the right and my focus is to get to Swiss Ave. If I can hold my pace all the way to that point, which is about 4 miles to the finish, I am home free.

Mile 8 – 7:26, As we cross intersections the wind howls and it feels quite cold. At about the 8.25 mile mark a girl runs by on my left and says “Bill Rogers is behind you” I said “What”, she repeats, “Bill Rogers is behind you”, and then she moves on. I think, wow, I am ahead of Bill Rogers, hehe, that’s neat. So I begin to think, hum, he will be on my right, probably with a few other runners, chatting. When he comes by I will run with them for a while and say hi. Another minute or so goes by and where is Bill? I keep looking. Finally the group begins to approach me on my right. As they go by, I notice he is running along the right hand curb. No one is running with him. A few runners say hi. For a fleeting moment I think, wow, I’m going to get to run with Bill. That was the fastest second in history. He zoomed by like I wasn’t even there. What an incredible stride. I just kept watching him as he faded off in the distance. For a moment I though, “what am I doing here”? Seeing him run, while I was running really emphasized his speed. I will never forget this moment. To awesome for words.

Mile 9 – 7:22, I am definitely colder and the pace still feels good. The Garmin has been displaying an average pace of about 7:23 during most of my splits so I feel like a sub 1:38 is definitely in the making. Just get to Swiss Ave. I have not seen the Mile 9 marker. It feels like Mile 10 should be approaching. I sure hope I am not getting confused. I need Mile 10 to be coming soon.

Mile 10 – 7:33, Ah, there it is, Mile 10. I sure would have been disappointed if this was Mile 9. What happened to Swiss Ave.? It should be here by now. I need to pick up the pace. My average still looks good.

Mile 11 – 7:31, OK, another slow one, pick it up. I can taste the finish line.

Mile 12 – 7:17, Yeah, an up tempo pace, toward the end of the race, I feel really good. I wish I could shed this jacket.

Mile 13 – 7:02, Ok, I really feeling good, PR here we come. A lot of people are calling my name.

Mile .1 - 6:59, I can hear the crowd, my pace is under 7. Excellent. As I cross the line I look at the clock. 1:38:55. HUH? What happened? That is not near the pace I though I was running. No wonder it felt so easy. Well, maybe the Chip time will confirm my pace. The Garmin sure doesn’t.

Summary: I stayed around long enough to see the official posting. My chip time was 1:38:46, a 26 second PR. No complaint for the PR but my performance was sub par based on my current training.

I knew better than to use the Garmin for a race: I knew better than to wear my jacket. Today, I knew better, just didn’t do better. I appreciate the PR but I also feel like I missed a great opportunity. As I get older PR’s will be scarce so I am a bit disappointed. Also, I needed a better performance to validate my plans for Houston.

So, we shall see how this all pans out.

Even so, I still had a great time: the whole weekend was a blast: I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. I am lucky I can run. And, where else could I have run a half and watched Bill Rogers zoom by?

Oh, Swiss Avenue…Well they changed the course…I should have checked the Map…another one of those…”I knew better”.

For more Boomer and Race pics click here. 

Finish Time: Clock 1:38:55, Chip 1:38:46, 7:32 pace

Final results: Division – 13/206

Gender – 240/2288

Overall – 286/5217