Texas Triple

Well, the short form is: I did it!

Before I even went to Texas, I had asked the race director if I did two marathons and a half marathon, would that still count for a triple? Yes it would. My primary reason for this is that it is an 8 hour drive home from Dallas, and I didn't know if I would have to work the next day. So the original plan was always to run 2.5 marathons.

Day 1 went ok. It was really hot late in the race so I walked more than usual. I made a mistake with my knee so my ACL tightened up alot after I stopped running. A slight cause for concern.

Day 2 went better. I figured out what to do about the knee. It seemed a bit cooler. I got done a little bit faster. My left toe was seeping blood out from under the blister pads. I knew there was a blister but I didn't know how bad and I left it wrapped up since it doesn't hurt too much. I had another blister on the bottom of my foot. This was because the sock from the first day stuck to the show insole, and since I only had one sock on, my foot took a beating. I fixed this problem for day two, but still, that blister occasionally screamed at me.

Early morning day 3. I'm sitting in my hotel room, dressed for the race and packed. Should I go? I felt like I could do a half marathon, and I came all the way to Texas to run a triple. So, lets do it!

I get to the race and look up the race director to tell here I am only doing a half. But as as soon as she saw me, before I said anything, she blurts out that if I run a full marathon, I'll win the women's triple division and be awarded a really cool trophy. It was a really cool trophy. The race director really wanted me to have it. But my mind was already made up about only running a half. I didn't think I had another full in me.

So that is how it went down. Since I only had a half to do, I ran almost all of it at 11:30 pace. I'm really pleased that I went to the race and did day number 3. Excellent. I got done while it was a cool 78F. Then a stop at Starbucks before heading home.

I am happy to be me and happy to be a marathoner. I watched many Southwest airplanes land and take off since the race was right nest to Love Field. I decided I prefer to be running than couped up in an airplane. I'm 60 years old and I can run multi-day marathons about as good as I could 5 years ago when I first started doing it.

Hummm.... now I need to think about what is next!