So once upon a time we signed up for the four seasons challenge and we kicked that off by running the Big D Half in April of last year, then slowly completed the Hottest Half in August and then we decided to skip the Tyler Rose Half in October since wedding stuff with Beth was wrapping up and we were busy!  Well, that’s only three halfs and that last sentence says FOUR seasons challenge.  The last race happened to be just two weeks after completely The Louisiana Marathon.

Which worked out perfectly because we were sad that the Louisiana Marathon meant that we would no longer have a matching number of halfs that we have run. 🙂  Yes, we are nerds like that, but you are reading this so you apparently still like us despite that.  Teal being the awesome friend and running buddy that she is still wanted to come and be there for the race.

Since so much time has gone by I don’t have a play by play of this to that mile for you (you’re welcome for that).  It was a chilly morning and the race was small enough that I was able to sit in the car with Teal for awhile to keep warm.  But when I did make my way to the start line I found a fellow DFW frunner, Caron! We both love getting to see her at races and talk with her!

I had time for a quick potty break and then headed back to the start line to wait for about five minutes.  Then we were off and almost immediately ditched my zip up hoodie I had been wearing to stay warm which I found in the same place I ditched it after the race. Yay, small races! The first 3 miles were an out and back so that you hit the 3 mile mark right when you were running by the starting line again.  It was fun getting to see the leaders of the race early on and admire them for their speediness!  I also hadn’t really run in this area particular area of Irving so I was checking it all out, and trying to decide if I was running too fast or at a pace I could maintain throughout.

Like I said it was a small race so at right around the halfway point I saw Teal! My Runkeeper was at one point ahead on mileage and then got behind.  Around here a fellow racer asked me where I was mileage-wise and I think I said around mile 6 and then 30 seconds later there’s the 7 mile marker! 🙂  Ok, it might not have really been a full mile off, but when I saw the 7 that’s what it felt like. Ha

During this race I got to run by my husband’s office building though no one was in there…..it was still fun because it made me think of him.  In the last half of the race some of the miles were done on the Campion Trail which is where Teal and I did a couple of training runs while we were getting ourselves ready for Louisiana Marathon.  It was here I saw a fellow Private Training Zone member who asked me, “What are you doing?!” “Running a race!” Haha.  Always great seeing a familiar face!

The last two things that stand out to me about this race was as I was making my way over the bridge back towards the Irving Convention Center to the finish line the course here had blocked off one lane for runners so that cars had two lanes to themselves.  This suburban was heading in the direction towards me and another car pulled up beside the suburban, rolled the window down and yelled “WHY ARE YOU DRIVING SO SLOW?!”  Pretty sure I immediately rolled my eyes.  Can we all just take a minute to shake our heads at the yeller?

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Thanks for sharing in that moment with me!  I also applaud the slow suburban driver as they were simply being a cautious driver! As I got myself over the bridge and under the highway I saw Teal again! Teeeeeeeal!! She was telling me, Push! And you got this!  But I didn’t feel like I had that much give left.  Maybe that’s due to my lack of running between Louisiana and this race? Ha, but what I had I left out on the rest of the course.  Then there was the finish line!  Not only did a bring home a shiny medal from my 16th half marathon, but I also brought home a shiny new PR at 1:55:02!  I finished 13th overall in my age group.  So crazy that my half marathon PR stood at 1:56:39 since I ran my very first one in December of 2010 then December of 2012 I beat it at Dallas Marathon and come back to beat that in February 2013.  Running can be a crazy thing!

Tied at 16th again!