Knock! Knock! Who's There?

My sister and brother-in-law!!!! That's who! What a surprise that was. On Friday, Courtney and I went down to pick up our registration packets for the Cowtown. Then Hubby came and escorted me away to Johnny Carino's for my pre-race pasta. When we got there, what to my eyes did appear? But my sister and her husband sitting at a table waiting for us!! It was so awesome! I was shocked and so happy they made the drive down! We ate wonderful food at Carino's and then went home. My sis helped me make cake pops for the baby shower I had the next day.

Cake Pops!


The next morning we got up early... like 5:20 am! Crazy! And headed to the Cowtown in downtown Fort Worth, TX. I got to eat a wonderful jelly doughnut for my Race Day breakfast! It was great. There were sooooo many people there, over 20,000 participants this year. Traffic was terrible and it was hard to get anywhere. Courtney, Phil, and I had a hard time even getting into the starting area for the half marathon. There was just too many people. Finally we hopped the gate because they were already starting to start the first corral of racers. Our corral didn't even start until 7:45, about 15 min. late. I'll try to link a video of the start of the race that hubby took on our camera. We were all so revved up and ready to go.

10 Miles Down!


The race was awesome!! It was a beautiful day, started out a little chilly, but it was sunny and got plenty warm for running 13.1 miles! Courtney and Phil really helped me keep my pace. Courtney did amazing-- she was pure adrenaline and competition and seemed to have a wonderful time! Being there with so many people running in the same race is an awesome experience. We had a great time and I was so glad to get to run with such great friends! How did I do you ask? Well I'm glad you did. My goal was to finish in 2 hrs. and 30 min. as you know. But I totally beat it! My time ended up being: 2 hrs. 17 min. and 22 sec. I had a 10:29 min. pace and placed 146 out of 256 for Females 18-24 yrs. old. It was so awesome! And I'm proud of myself for this accomplishment. I'm officially able to check off one of my New Year's Goals!

Courtney and I with our Finisher Medals!


I decided that I really like this race. At the end I felt like I had just floated through-- not literally because it was hard and I was definitely tired and sore-- but it just went so much faster than I expected. And it felt so good! I think I will defintely be doing more half marathons in my future. I'm so glad I'm discovering this at age 23 when I have many more years to be able to race! I can't wait! Thank you for all of your support and encouragement during my time of training. I appreciate all of you so much! I'll post a few more race day pictures now. Enjoy!

Bananas are good to prevent muscle cramps


Ice cream is ALWAYS a good snack!


Until next time...