"By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail"

The Texas Half Marathon - Dallas

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Location:

Springtown,TX,USA

Member Since:

Feb 02, 2009

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

Firsts:

  • First marathon - White Rock, Dallas, December 2005 (4:01)
  • First BQ - St George, 2007 (3:20)
  • First Boston - 2008 (3:30)
  • 1st Place Clydesdale - Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon - 4/2007
  • 1st Place Ultracentric 6-Hour Champ 2007 - 38.75 miles
  • 1st Time Leading Pace Group, Cowtown '09 (3:39:41)
  • 1st Place Overall, Porcupine Promenade 5K (20:10) - 4/2011
  • 1st Trail Race. Grasslands Half Marathon. 1st Overall Masters (1:53) - 3/2013
  • Leadville LT100 MTB '16 - on a mountain bike, but the toughest challenge, so far!

Marathons Run (27):

  • Dallas White Rock ('05, '07,'09,'14)
  • Chicago ('06, '08)
  • OK City Memorial ('07)
  • St George ('07,'09,'11)
  • Waco Miracle Match ('07)
  • Ft Worth, Cowtown ('08, '09,'10,'11,'12,'13,'15**)
  • Boston ('08 '09*, '10, '13)
  • Park City ('08)
  • San Antonio Rock 'n Roll ('08)
  • Steamboat ('09)
  • Utah Valley ('10)
  • Houston ('12)
  • * - PR

Ultras (3):

  • Ultracentric 6-Hours ('07 - 38.75 mi)
  • El Scorcho 50K, Ft Worth (('08, '09)

PRs:

  • 5K - 19:27 (6/2008)
  • 10K - 41:49 (5/2008)
  • 15K - 1:04:14 (9/2011)
  • Half Marathon - 1:33:12 (1/2011)
  • Marathon - 3:19:47 (Boston 4/2009)
  • 50K - 4:35:53 (7/2008)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Keep injury-free.

2016 Races

Ft Worth Cowtown Half Marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

Be age-group competitive for many years!

Have fun running!

Make some great friends along the way!

Personal:

Married to the same wonderful woman since March 1988. 3 adorable kids.

Look for me at www.facebook.com (I'll be your friend)

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Asic Nimbus 8 Lifetime Miles: 502.00
VFF Trek Lifetime Miles: 98.10
Kohls Asics Lifetime Miles: 234.74
Asic Trailshoes Lifetime Miles: 82.36
Nike Air Lifetime Miles: 10.00
Saucony Lifetime Miles: 508.16
Brooks Ravena Lifetime Miles: 117.75
Asic (orange) Lifetime Miles: 83.75
Race: The Texas Half Marathon - Dallas (13.1 Miles) 01:33:12, Place overall: 30, Place in age division: 3
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.0013.1113.11

I had another great run this morning in Dallas. I got up at 4:15, got dressed, drove 40 miles to Darin's house. Ate a banana and a piece of toast with honey and peanut butter for breakfast. Got the race at about 7:20 (8:00am start), picked up out bibs and event shirts, jogged a little and at about 8:01 we were off.

The weather was great. It was supposed to be about 45 at the start so I wore shorts, a singlet, and gloves. Not much wind at all.

The course circles White Rock Lake in Dallas, and has a few excursions back and forth through some various trails to make up the 13.1 mile course. For the most part it is flat. A few small ups and downs, and a .2 mile climb at the finish.

Before I started I was thinking that I would try to run around 7:00/mi for as long as possible. (my PR run at White Rock in December I ran about 7:08/mi -- so I figured with all the training I've been doing and the ideal weather conditions, I should at least try to beat that) (I also wanted to see if I could beat Darin and Dave, who both finished ahead of me at White Rock -- we're very evenly matched--on any given day, any one of us could win our little 3-man race)

After dodging a few walkers and joggers during the first mile, I managed a 7:03 -- it felt comfortable, so I picked it up a little and settled in with what I felt was a good pace. At about mile 5 Darin and Zachary (Darin's 17 yo son) caught me, and started to pass me -- as I settled in behind another guy..who I guess was slowing down without knowing it. So when D and Z went past, I decided to stick with them. About a mile later, I found myself ahead of them again and from the lack of breathing noises and foot pounding, I must have put a little distance between us (I never look back in a race).

At about mile 9 Zachary came flying by - he must have went from 7:00s to 6:30s -- I knew he would probably finsh ahead of me, so I wished him luck.

The last 4 miles seemed to take the longest. I was determined to maintain the pace. According to my Garmin I was at about 7:02/mi. I passed about 4 people in the last mile and finished that final .2 mile uphill climb feeling pretty strong with a 1:33:12 (NEW PR!!)

Zachary finished about 30 seconds ahead of me, and Darin, then Dave finished within a minute or two behind me. Today was my day.

It turns out I placed 3rd in our AG!!!! (which put Darin and Dave 4th and 5th..out of the hardware)

I took home a glass plaque that says "Age Group Winner".

It was a great day here in Texas - as I write this it's about 75F outside! I need to get outside and enjoy this little taste of Spring.

Splits:

7:03,6:49,7:08,7:10,7:03,7:01,6:54,7:03,7:08,7:10,7:07,7:10,7:05, (6:40/mi last .2)

According to my Garmin:

13.20 miles/1:33:12 

AP: 7:04

Asic Speestar - Boston'09 Miles: 13.10
Weight: 192.00
Comments
From timp on Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 16:05:09 from 66.167.50.219

Awesome job, Marc!! That sounds like a well run race.

Enjoy the rest of the day. It is beautiful here in GA as well.

From Tom Slick on Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 16:19:37 from 69.171.160.49

Congrats on a great PR, AG win and a super overall time. All that training is paying off......29 days till the Cowtown full Mary!!!!

From Smooth on Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 16:27:34 from 67.2.97.114

YAY!!!! You did it!!! You PR'd!!! 3 = alive. 2 = easy. 1 = certain. Your PR time is VERY GOOD indeed! And you made it look so easy!

CONGRATULATIONS on an EXCELLENT performance! It was definitely your day to beat your competitions and your buddies! AWESOME! AWESOME! AWESOME! Yah, all your hard work pays off! Cowtown pacing will be a piece of cake for ya! :) :) :)

From MarcE on Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 20:13:53 from 204.16.82.120

Tim - Thanks, Tim. I did. I went out and washed the cars, and helped the boys build some skateboard ramps.

Slick - Thanks. Yep, 29 days and counting!!! Bring it on..I'm going to try to run long on Monday at MP (8:24--I need to start getting a feel for the pace)

Smooth - Thanks! You're so sweet. What numbers do I want to avoid? :)

From Teena Marie on Sun, Jan 30, 2011 at 00:39:28 from 67.2.102.13

Holy Smack!!!! What an AWESOME race for you!!! You nailed that baby!!!!

So happy for you.

Congrats on the well deserved 3rd place.

You rock! (I have no idea how you kept that pace with 2 uphill miles at the end) :)

From DaleG on Sun, Jan 30, 2011 at 01:27:58 from 67.2.65.133

Holy cow, Marc!!! Very impressive performance. You have an amazing level of endurance. Way to PR AND take home some hardware.

From Andy on Sun, Jan 30, 2011 at 08:19:19 from 208.54.5.78

Great race! It is good to have training partners that are so close to your fitness level. Sounds like a fun rivalry.

From MarcE on Sun, Jan 30, 2011 at 16:02:50 from 204.16.82.120

Teena- thanks! (it was 0.2 miles of uphill at the end...2 miles would have killed me! :)

Dale- Thanks, Dale! It's definitely more fun now that I'm able to run fast (for me) again!

Andy - Thanks! It is a fun rivalry. We're not elites (and we know it), but it is fun that we can compete with each other so hard (even in training runs), and once in awhile one or two of us takes home some hardware. Next race is Cowtown Marathon at the end of Feb - Darin and Dave will be going for BQs (3:35 and 3:30), while I'm pacing the 3:40 group -- I better not beat either or them on that day.

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