Rock 'n Roll Dallas Preview
One week from today I will be running my first half-marathon of the 2018 running season! Although I somewhat considered doing the Cowtown Challenge (5K and Half) at the end of February in Ft. Worth, I just didn't feel I would be quite ready to give it my best shot. Personally, I don't like to pay $100-150 or more to run a race just to finish. My goal is always to perform well and of course try to set a new personal record. As I may have mentioned before, the winter months are NOT my favorite time to train or to race. I am just not a cold-weather runner. I have done better the past couple of years about keeping some consistency going throughout the winter as far as continuing to log miles and keep a base mileage intact, but my best running and best times do not happen in the winter. I get too tense and can never loosen up, my nose runs, I'm cold natured and wear too many clothes. Bleh. Anyways, I digress. The point is that I did not end up registering for Cowtown and instead set my sights on the Rock n Roll Dallas Half Marathon at the end of March. I missed this race last year as we were in L.A. running our first full marathon the same weekend but I have heard good things about the race and look forward to running a spring race right here in Dallas.
Since the weather has gotten warmer, I have been more inclined to put in more training and miles in preparation for this race. Typically Dallas has beautiful weather in late March and early April and the forecast is looking pretty warm for next weekend. Some people find 65-75 degrees much too warm for racing; however, this is my ideal temperature range. GIVE ME SUNSHINE!! LET ME SWEAT!! As long as the wind is not gusty as it sometimes can be during the spring, I am looking forward to next week's forecast of 85 degrees and cloudy. Of course it won't be 85 degrees when the race begins; more like 65 degrees which is absolutely perfect in my world.
The course takes us through parts of Dallas with which I am very familiar. We will run through some of my favorite parts of downtown and Deep Ellum, then part of the course takes us across the route we use for We Run the Trinity Tuesday/Thursday night runs through Trinity Groves and the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge so I know exactly what to expect there. We then go into the Kessler Park area and this is where it may get a bit hairy. Kessler Park is known to be very hilly and the elevation map for the course shows a very significant increase between about miles 7-11. I haven't been doing ANY hills training so I am a little worried about how I will fare on this section of the course. I am looking forward to running through another favorite neighborhood in Dallas, the Bishop Arts district although it may be tempting to stop for brunch at Gloria's or Cafe Brazil as we turn that corner! We then will run through the neighborhood I used to live in, north Oak Cliff around the Lake Cliff Park area. I absolutely loved living in this part of Dallas. I had many a lovely sunset run around Lake Cliff Park in the evenings after work in those days. In fact, we will run right past my old apartments as we make our way to the Houston Street bridge back toward downtown.
Ever since the Rock 'n Roll Half in Brooklyn in which I set my PR of 1:51, my goal has been to achieve a sub 1:50 half-marathon. That will require about an 8:18 average pace. Two weeks ago I did the Trinity River Levee Run 10K at an 8:00 pace, which is promising, and most of my training runs have been around 9:10-9:20 pace. Race adrenaline always shaves a significant amount off my training pace for my actual race pace so I am hoping that with good weather, a good taper week, and my chocolate cherry Clif shot at mile 9 I can beat those Kessler Park hills and snag that sub 1:50!
The scary thing about saying your goals out loud is having to admit to the world later that you didn't reach them. However, at the same time, saying your goals out loud to the world gives you an extra nudge of accountability that might be just what I need to push through a tough hill or that last mile at a negative split pace!
I'm really looking forward to next weekend. The excitement of race week is starting to build and I look forward to pushing my body to somewhere it has never been before!
See you at the finish line, hopefully with a new PR in the books!!