That was utterly terrifying and I regret having joined you (comments welcome)

Dallas Skyline Half Marathon trip/race report

TL;DR: Just squeaked in under sub2 goal for 3rd best half time! Great race, and would heartily recommend (under favorable weather conditions). Given its size (806 half finishers), was well manned in terms of mile markers, water stations, and route designations, and a good number of people out cheering. Seemed like lots of local runner communities that knew each other so it was a fun atmosphere with free beer at the post-party as well as water/gatorade/granola/bananas. Thanks to @Neon Cactus for his favorable review prior too.

IMG_0849.jpgContext: Long overdue trip to visit good friend V. Originally supposed to do Ultra Expedition’s Tacos y Cervezas Trail Run in May 2020, but we all know how that turned out. V had moved to TX in 2019 and I hadn’t seen her since being her bridesmaid (with her sister B) in November '19, plus had never gotten to meet her 2yo DD, A. And I’d never been to TX as an adult, so multiple checkboxes to be ticked. I would be running the half, and V, her DH C, B, and B’s DH B2 were planning to walk the 5k pushing A in a stroller. They also picked up my bib the week before. Had pored over the course in prior post, and looking at the weather in the days prior, was planning to really push for sub 2.

Flew into DFW late Friday night (a very compact airport!), and as expected, stayed up til ~11:30 (which was 12:30 for me with the time change) chatting and catching up. C had gotten a cold, so was planning to stay home with A, but the other 4 would head out at 6am for the 7am start. Prepped my gear (short sleeve shirt with mesh at lower back, shorts, running cap, Saucony Endorphin Shift 2) and nutrition (mini bagel +PB & Honey Stinger waffle for pre, Honey Stinger chews for during, Nuun tablet + water for post) and went to bed for some not very good sleep.

Race: Ended up leaving a bit late, so kinda anxious on the ~30 min drive out while eating PB minibagel and some water. The others graciously dropped me off as close to the start as possible before going off to find parking. Jog/walked to start, arriving ~6:50–enough time to scarf the waffle, slather on sunscreen, and do a bit of dynamic stretching. No corrals; there were pacers for 1:45, 2:00, 2:15, and so on up til 4:00, so I just clumped in with the 2:00 and 2:15 pacers who were standing next to each other. The half would be starting first, with the 10k soon after, and then the 5k at 7:15.

Weather was perfect (T54/D44) and felt good starting with the 2:00 pacers, almost easy (foreboding music), but it felt just a little crowded so ended up sprinting ahead into the empty pocket just ahead of pacers. This is the one part where the planning wasn’t so good, as the 10k lead came in pretty soon after (pushing a stroller! amazing), with a biker clearing his path, so I imagine it wasn’t so great for him trying to maneuver between the half runners, and it was a teensy bit annoying having to bunch off to the side. Settled into a too fast groove through a residential neighborhood just south of the Trinity River (mile1: 8:51; mile2: 8:43). Up and down over a bridge for a mile (40ft up/down; mile3: 8:46) then along the north side of the River (mile4 8:45). All the while keeping an eye on the pacers behind and feeling okay. There was a group of us that seemed to be keeping the same pace, which was nice, but also kept getting passed by a handful of people, which was worrying. Not til later did I realize those were probably the leaders of the 10k, which was screwing with my head.

Then up another bridge (Strava segment says 32ft over .32 miles) and down a nice ramp (where I tried to build in a time buffer; ~50ft/.33miles) to get to the Trinity Skyline Trail (mile5: 8:57). Then there was a 2 mile out, 2 mile back section along the trail. The trail is quiet, peaceful, and well-paved, and would likely be a wonderful long run route, but ugh, not fun for a race. Thankfully it still wasn’t too warm and was cloudy, but I can imagine it would be sweltering with no shade on a hot day. Mentally it was hard too, because you could see how far out the turnaround was, so just kept thinking, there’s so much more to go… But props to the people who came out onto the trail just to cheer, and the volunteers manning each of the turn/detours. It had rained the day before so there were a couple muddy spots, but race crew (or maybe the construction crews who were also working) had thoughtfully placed cones around the big puddles. This is also where the smaller race size was nice, because even though people were going in both directions along the trail, it never felt too crowded, or like we were going to run into anybody. Though there was one small stretch where we had to go off the paved route and into the grass.

Not surprisingly, this is where the fade started. Had been running through the previous water stations (maybe every 1.5 miles?), drinking about ¼ of the cup, but missed the one at the start of the trail and started to get dehydrated. Also took a chew around mile 6, which was too sweet and dried my mouth out even more (mile6: 8:42; mile7: 8:54; mile8: 9:00; mile9: 9:12). Walked through the water stations at ~mile 8 and 9.5 Then… time to go back up the nice ramp we had come down earlier. It loomed large, and I just ended up making the decision to walk it (also took another chew while walking). Figured it would help conserve energy for the finish, and the body was also just not going to make it (mile10:10:09).

1682372045653.pngOnce that was done, it was a mental game, just telling myself to put one foot in front of another and keep going, though I definitely wanted to stop. Temperature was also starting to creep up a bit here (T62/D47). There was a bit of a nice downhill off the bridge, then into residential neighborhoods again. And here we joined back up with the 10k and 5k routes, so started passing some of those walkers. Got passed by the 2:00 pacers just before mile 12, and there seemed to only be one other person with them. They did say they were going faster than pace, so even though they were passing us, we could still get a sub 2 (which is weird to me, but okay). Walked through the rest of the water stations, but kept plodding along (mile11: 9:13; mile12: 9:19; mile13 9:26). Again, there were a couple of us keeping around the same pace. At the 13 mile marker, watch said 1:58. Didn’t think there was much left in the tank, but really wanted that sub 2 so just dug deep and went for it. Official chip time: 1:59:40 🎉🎉 (and heart rate appears to have hit 201bpm 😱 at the finish)! Gasped my way to a nice cold water bottle and beautiful medal to stretch and take in the Dallas skyline.

Tracked down V, B, and B2, who had gone off in search of coffee and walked back to the car, parked a leisurely ~10 min walk away. We didn’t end up partaking of the beer since you had to finish it there and we had Dim Sum plans with C and A afterwards, but I’m sure it would have been good. Drank the nuun/water in the car (very gross dried salt all over my skin), then a very yummy dim sum brunch afterwards.

Other stuff: Rest of the weekend was very chill, most of the adults ended up napping when A did and we just hung out and caught up with each other. Of course had to have Texas BBQ and fried chicken at some point: it was good, but I’m also not enough of a connoisseur to know if it was excellent or not. Didn’t end up really sight-seeing, but I’m okay with that. Flew home Sun afternoon and taking it easy today (legs and surprisingly core still kinda sore). Will probably do 2 shorter easy runs this week and an easy 6mile on Sat before repeating last week’s plan next week in prep for the Providence half on the 7th. Biggest take home is to not go out too fast (which I had definitely learned before but clearly didn’t know how to implement). Still going to race it, but given Dallas, will be okay if things end up slower (since there will be more elevation).

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Congrats! Great job! I feel like going out too fast is the perennial problem of amateur runners - I do it all the time too 😅 And just look at Boston - even the fastest marathoners in the world sometimes go out too fast! So you're not alone, and congratulations on managing a very solid time despite that!
 
Amazing job!! Great running and congrats!! That is one of my current racing goals (the sub two half). I am happy for you!!!
 
Providence Half Marathon Trip & Race Report

TL;DR: Yes! Pulled off 2 sub-2 half’s in ~2 weeks and am (finally) done with races for a bit. It was a lot hotter than expected, but a great race–super fun atmosphere, beautiful backdrop, easy to get to the start/finish, and lots of crowd support (seemed quite a few runners were Brown students, so plenty of cheerleaders for them). Combined half (3080 finishers) and full (1644), so mid-size race? A little hilly but mostly slow rises except right at the end (to quote the runner next to me, “who thought it was a good idea to put this here?”). Water stops weren’t quite where they were supposed to be (according to website) and a little hectic (though this ended up being a plus as it forced me to slow down at each of them). After party was great, with lots of local vendors giving free samples and beer. Would definitely recommend (though see also @xjillianpaige's race report).

IMG_0937.jpgIMG_0934.jpgSaturday: Took Amtrak into Providence; exited the train station right into race start staging area (quite convenient). Took some pictures then headed downtown. Grabbed lunch at Friskie Fries (fries with every sort of toppings you could imagine) followed by boba en route to bib pickup. Waffling between poutine or chili-cheese, but ended up going with the latter, their signature. J&L both went with pulled pork + slaw.

Bib pickup was easy with pre-emailed QR code, located at a former bank(?). We were there towards the end of day 2, so not crowded at all. Appreciated that the giveaway was a zip-up hoodie with thumbholes in the sleeves and zips for the pockets (and a nice light blue color) instead of a race shirt (think it was a sweatshirt for the full). Goodr and On were there, plus a range of fuel options. We wandered a bit more in downtown Providence, through a local street fair to Roger Williams Park for J&L to collect Nat’l Park stamps, and found some RISD students selling their wares where I picked up a “NY Rats” print🐀. Circled the State house for some pictures then headed to our airbnb. Backstory: we had found this dirt cheap listing but it seemed a little sketchy: a converted former nunnery with unclear listing details. We figured, at least there are 3 of us, and worst case scenario, we’ll find an alternate hotel room last minute. It did exist, and was indeed a little sketch, but good enough for what we needed (essentially seemed like a hostel/SRO), and had all the essentials, plus 2d/2n lodgings ended up being cheaper than food (though I don’t think any of us would have been willing to stay there on our own). A pro was that the airbnb was in walking distance to Federal Hill, so we headed there for a carb-loading Italian dinner. Pretty classic choices: aglio e olio, cacio e pepe, and gnocchi + meatballs for me, J, and L. They had a cute (and pretty tasty looking) drinks menu for May 4th, but we decided alcohol was not conducive to racing and opted for coffee & desserts from Pastiche instead (though the desserts ended up being lunch the next day since we were stuffed from dinner). Prepped everything and headed to bed around midnight.

Sunday: Up at 6a; got ready and had a Honey Stinger waffle + 8oz water ~7a. Gear: Moana Half rD shirt, shorts, running cap, Saucony Endorphin Speed 2s (w/ ~12 miles on them). Super easy to grab an Uber to the train station ~7:15a and got there right before 7:30 to catch the marathoners start. Tried to meet up with @xjillianpaige but too many other pre-race things going on so didn’t manage it. We dropped our stuff off at gear check, sun-screened up, and headed to the corrals. J&L were in D, I was in C (seemed like A&B were the two corrals for the full, and C&D were the two for the half). It was quite crowded in the corrals, and people were kinda just squeezing in through the fences, so a little claustrophobic. Had another Honey Stinger waffle at ~7:55, then we were off at 8 (chip start ~8:04a).

Had tried to line up with the 2:00 pacers, but there were just too many people in between us, and in an effort to not start off too fast, I let them go. It was definitely hotter than expected (T/D at start: 61/40), and shade was in and out, so settled in to what felt like goal pace. First couple miles were along Canal St through residential/downtown Providence, before we hit India Point Park and rounded the Narrangansett Brewery, then headed north (M1-9:00, M2-8:55, M3-9:23, M4-8:54). Water stops at M2 and M4 (maybe?). Then a ~1.5mile straight shot north along Blackstone Blvd. Lots of cheerers in the median park between the two lanes of the boulevard (which looked like a great running path), and it was a nice distraction to watch out for the leaders coming down the other side (as well as walkers who had opted for the 6:30 early start) (M5-9:06). Then a ~2mile loop through Pawtucket. Think there were a couple water stations along the way (not always on the same side of the route, not sure if I like that or not; also all the water station cups were mini plastic ones, again not sure if that’s a pro or con), and I continued to walk/jog through them. Hill I was most worried about was right at middle of course ~6.5mi, but someone wisely placed a water station right in the middle of it, so I grabbed two water cups and took a Honey Stinger Strawberry Kiwi gel while walking up the hill (M6-9:13, M7-9:06).

Then back south along Blackstone Blvd before detouring out to the Seekonk River ~9mi. It was beautiful coming at it (runner next to me stopped to take a picture), but a pretty steep downhill. Nice to build up a speed buffer, but toes were definitely not happy with me (may need to buy a bigger shoe size next time) so tried to heel-strike down the hill. Here was the one biggest error, someone had put the 10mi marker ~0.3 miles early. I had my watch so knew it was wrong, but don’t know if that threw some people way off. Continued along the river back to India Point Park (another steep-ish downhill ~11mi) then retraced route back to downtown Providence (M8-8:53, M9-8:54, M10-8:47, M11-8:57).The marathon route had joined back with the half at this point and lead marathoner passed me ~12mi. He looked pretty good, not gassed at all (impressed!). Was pretty happy with myself too, definitely felt like nearing the bottom of the tank, but much better than two weeks ago. Until that dang hill at Smith St, heading up towards the State house. Looking now at the route, we apparently did run down it at the start, but I had no memory at the time. Debated walking up it, but just put my head down and chugged up. 13mi marker was just at the top of the hill, so dug in and sprinted towards the end (M12-9:11, M13-8:54, 0.24mi-8:16). Finished with official time of 1:59:11 (29 seconds faster than Dallas)! T/D at end was 69/38 (7* warmer than Dallas, but 9* lower dew point) and HR hit 199bpm. Haha, my pictures at that last stretch do not look pretty, but the finish line shot is nice.

Finish2.jpgIMG_0948.jpg
We grabbed some medal and post-race shots with the state house and enjoyed the after party drink and food samples (Good Dogg has some tasty hard seltzer flavors). Again tried to to meet up with @xjillianpaige, but then realized I dropped my card holder with DL/CC/cash at some point while wandering the after party 😱. Poor J&L helped me retrace steps, wandering around everywhere, asking at a bunch of the tents, but just when we were finally ready to give up, someone at the ID check tent suggested we ask at the DJ booth, and someone had turned it in there!!!! 🎉🎉 That feeling was better than finishing the race (joking, not joking).

After all that excitement, went back to airbnb to shower/change/have dessert for lunch. Since the RISD museum is free on Sundays, we headed there for a bit, then up around the Brown campus, finishing with Korean fried chicken and boba for dinner before calling it an early night since we had a 5:30am Amtrak the next morning back to NYC.



Final thoughts: Successful race and trip! And super happy with performance the last couple weeks. Definitely did better at starting slower this time (and the lower humidity didn’t hurt). 3rd and 4th best half marathon times (out of 16), and this makes it 10 states (+DC) that I’ve run at least a 15K race in. As mentioned previously, have been continuously training for something since June last year (and had run the Cherry Blossom 10M two months before that): Chicago Marathon (Oct), MW Dopey Challenge (Jan), PW Fairytale Challenge (Feb), then these two. No races on the docket for now, so am happy to pull back and maintain a baseline and see what’s next.
 
What a great recap and congrats on your race! My recap will not be nearly as thorough because I emotionally blacked out around mile 3 and went into survival mode. 😂 I am no good in the heat!

Enjoy your well deserved rest!
 
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