I’m finally getting this done. The last few weeks have been a blur. I really enjoyed my time off at Christmas and got stuff done at home. But got no blogging done at all.

The Dallas Marathon was supposed to be my first full in December 2013. But a little ice storm kinda halted that plan, the race was cancelled 2 days before. The runners registered for that race were given a special discount price to register for 2014. So, the Dallas Marathon 2014 became marathon #2.

Training for this race was not as good as I had hoped. I missed some long runs and was just not emotionally in it. We had some loss in our family in the fall after moving in the summer. Things were crazy to say the least.

This was a large race, but very organized. I was impressed.

The expo was great, lots of vendors and lots of free goodies! Runners like that kind of thing.

We grabbed our shirts and bibs and did a little shopping. I bought new sunglasses and a FlipBelt. I broke the cardinal rule of not wearing anything new on race day. I ran 26.5 miles in a new FlipBelt. It worked out though. I’ll get a review of that up soon!

This was my view the day before the race. My foot had started hurting just a little bit, so I thought maybe I’d try staying off of it.

The phantom foot pain was in my arch, it started 8 days before the race. I was supposed to run 9 miles, ended up with 4. I was hoping it was just a fluke. It didn’t hurt all that week then started the day before the race.

I laid all my clothes out the night before. I always do this to make sure I have everything. I ended up not wearing the compression socks in the race. My shoes are 1/2 size bigger than I normally get and these socks are thin. My shoes were a little too loose.

When I bought these shoes I purposely bought a 1/2 size bigger because the last pair I bought seemed a little too tight. Now I’m afraid that’s what might be the cause of my foot pain.

Hubby drove me to the race, he dropped me off then he and Ally went to get breakfast. I met up with my group and we took pictures, stretched, used the facilities, twice. I’ve put a lot of miles on the road with these ladies, and about half of them are training to run their first full in New Orleans this month.

This girl is one of my best running friends. She doesn’t let me quit, she also blames me for her speedy pace. I’ll take it.

I headed over to my corral to get in my spot, stretch a little more and clear my head.

The race started at 8:05AM. When I signed up for this race, I had a lofty goal and sometimes life happens and those goals change. I decided to start with the corral I had originally been placed in. I wanted to see what I could do. I started out great, felt good. I was confident I could PR. My foot wasn’t hurting at first.

I did not carry water in this race, I decided to fuel at the water stops instead. I prefer not to have the extra weight while racing. We ran through Highland Park and the fire department there had a huge flag hanging over the street, it was amazing. This is a great course, you see lots of Dallas. Most of it was familiar to me.

I saw John and Ally maybe about mile 4-5, can’t really remember. I handed them my sunglasses. I would not be needing them. The forecast was humid, warm-ish and rain. I was actually relieved at the light rain that came periodically. I was not ready for the downpour that would come later.

I hit a BIG wall at about mile 15. My splits clearly show I started out too fast (rookie mistake) and paid for it later on. I saw John and Ally at 15 and 17 since it was an out and back at White Rock Lake. I stopped at about 16 at the aid station to have my toe wrapped. I was starting to limp from my toes rubbing blisters on each other.

The pain in the arch of my foot came about mile 18 or so. I was pushing through, my pace was slowing, but I would rally from time to time. The course was fun, there were tons of people out cheering but it was rough. I’m not gonna lie.

I was walking a bit at 19 so I stopped to take a picture.

My friend Lauren was meeting me at mile 20 to run with me. I have never been happier to see her in my whole life. I’ve only been running with her since summer. She’s my new hero! I was whiny, I was not a good running friend. It was starting to rain. I wanted to quit running all together. That whole wall at 20 that everyone jokes about, it’s real. It’s no joke. Looking back, if I hadn’t started out so fast I probably could’ve pushed through that a lot easier since I had a friend to run with.

Lauren ran as far as she could, right about mile 25.5 and turned around and ran back 6 miles to her car, in the rain. What a trooper. The rest of the girls were waiting at about mile 25.something. Alisha got me as far as she could, one of the girls got this picture. I am seriously telling Alisha I am never, ever, ever running a full marathon again. Like, I may never run again at all. HAHA. She just told me to run.

We kinda look like rock stars here.

It rained off and on the last 5-6 miles. Then it poured. I retrieved my medal and gear check bag in the pouring rain. Now I’m getting cold. Thankfully the Dallas convention center has covered roads all around it. Everyone was hiding under there. I called John and he was able to find me pretty quick. I changed clothes in the car. Something I never thought I’d do, but I was cold and wet. We got lunch and headed home. I did get a 9 minute PR, I’ll take it.

We got our 2013 medals after completing the 2014 race.

Marathons are no joke. You don’t go into them lightly. Most people can’t just get out and run 26.2 miles without months of training. It’s a hard race, even if your only goal is to cross the finish line standing up. I don’t walk away from a full marathon feeling good. I feel defeated. It’s weird, I wish I could explain it.

This is a good race, it’s not as flat as I’ve been led to believe. Chances are I’d run the half again. Not sure about the full.

Happy running!

Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1