Cowtown Half Marathon

When Ryan and I first got married we sat down and established what we like to call our "Bucket List". Being in a fresh new chapter of our lives, we decided this was the perfect time to create such a wide array of endless possibilities. Of course we have our list of things we would like to do together, which mostly involves things like travel and adventure, but then we got to thinking about our own personal goals. Number 17 on my bucket list...

"to run a half marathon"

...what?!

One of my best friends/bridesmaids Elizabeth was the first to inspire me on this crazy idea. She ended up running her first half in Dallas and kept me posted throughout her training. Of course when I get an insane idea in my head it usually ends up staying there until I do something about it. I was telling my best friend Megan about my temporary lack of good judgement and explained to her how I was toying with the idea of running a half marathon. Fearing her response, I waited as she laughed out loud on the other end of the phone. "Great!" I thought, even my best friend thinks this is out of my league. Well Megan stopped to explain that her and Shelly, (one of my other best friends/bridesmaids) had been wanting to do one as well!! So it was decided and I was going to be held accountable (unfortunately) by my friends.


The training process was grueling and pretty much what I expected. Megan and Shelly were able to train together in Ft. Worth (and prepared for the hills that were to be in the race) while I trained in beeeaaautiful Lubbock, Texas where the closest hill is a nice 35 minute drive!

Not being a distance runner (in any sense of the term) I had no idea about shoes, socks, strategy, ANYTHING! I unfortunately learned the hard way that not only are the shoes crucial, but so are the socks....

So here we are, the night before the race feeling good. Carb filled dinner- check, bib number- check, gu-check, beans-check (don't ask), protein-check, what could we say...we were ready.

The race was intense and much more than I expected! 20,000 people filled downtown Ft. Worth to compete in various divisions of the Cowtown Marathon. Megan, Shelly and I started out great...waving at pictures, cracking jokes, feeling good.

Mile 10 hit and man those hills I neglected to prepare for were sure taking a toll! The low point for me was when a man dressed as the Chick-Fil-A cow ran right past me. I mean, he was in a
COSTUME for crying out loud!! All jokes aside, the run was extremely rewarding. I finished the race in 2 hours and 21 minutes and 20 seconds which was 9 minutes better than my goal! I was extremely relieved not only to have the race behind me, but also the endless training that came with it.

It was so nice to have such

amazing friends to go through the pressure with!!

Best of all we got to have a

fun weekend after the race full of food, pedicures, dinner & drinks! Elizabeth even drove in from Dallas to join! It was such a milestone and now I can always look back and say I've done it....and will most likely NEVER do it again!