9 on the 9th Race Report

Thanks to Nancy for a great race! I have never ever ever even attempted to run 9 miles so I knew this would be a challenge, but I thought I would give it my best.

So I slapped on my extra red hot lipstick (in honor of our Race Director) my amphipod hydration belt with watered down Gatorade, my Garmin and my mp3 player. I wanted to run a route I had never covered before so I decided to start at my favorite location at Benbrook Lake and run most of my mileage on a horse trail that goes around the lake.

Texas was so beautiful today. The temperature when I started out was around 50 but rose to around 60 degrees by the time I finished. So it was plenty warm for shorts and a short sleeve technical shirt.

I took off slow and steady to be sure to finish all nine miles. The first 1.5 miles were on asphalt to get to the trail head. I felt great and was really enjoying listening to Phedipidations. I made it to the trail and ducked in under the trees. What a day! My legs felt so strong. I'm so glad I did a couple of crossfit leg workouts this week. It really made a difference. Up and down a slow rolling trail I went. I expected to see a lot of horses out today, but saw none on the way out. I had the place to myself with the exception of all the red birds, hawks, robins and the little scurrying animals in the brush. The trail was nice and smooth with just a handful of rocky sections. I even had a couple of water crossings that I had to walk around since they were particularly marked with deep horse tracks. By mile 3 I started to sip my drink and pop Cola Flavored Caffeinated Shot Blocks. My plan was to have one block at each mile and sip my gatorade sparingly.

Around mile 3.5 I got to the remote control airplane airport, operated by the FW Thunderbirds Club. I got to run and watch the loop-de-loops and the death spins of the cool scale model planes. I ran a little past mile four and at my turnaround found a bathroom and a water fountain so I stopped and used both. After a couple of minutes I was off again back up the trail with just a little tightness in my right quad. On the way back I walked a few times to eat my blocks and drink but kept the walks short. I also stopped to give the right-of-way to three horses and riders that came up over the hill. I drank in my last view of the calm lake and turned to get back on the asphalt for the last 1.5. I picked it up a little and my quad was sore but I kept pushing. I knew I was going to make it. And I did!

To think one year ago I was face down on an operating table getting a broken off piece of herniated disc fished out of my back with subsequent fusions. I would have never thought I would be here today in this beautiful place with this perfect weather running 9 miles. Wow, God does good work.

Thanks Nancy for the challenge. I finished.


Time: 1:50:27
1st - 11:54
2nd - 12:25
3rd - 12:45
4th - 12:23
5th - 12:15
6th - 12:35
7th - 12:16
8th - 12:21
9th - 11:29