Tackling the Big D White Rock

My first half marathon experience was a real treat. The plethora of people, the smell of rubber soles, and the pre-race celebrations was amazing. Last weekend I drove up to Dallas to run the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon. I stopped by Austin where I was accompanied by some close friends (Charanya and Ganesh) - both Team Asha runners. I planned to run the race unofficially since I missed out on registration but my friend Sharanya fell ill and couldn’t run the race. So I ran with her bib number, which meant that I was Sharanya Rao for the day!

The pre race setting was perfect. Sharanya had made reservations for us at the race hotel- Hyatt Regency downtown. The drive up to Dallas with Charanya, Ganesh and Supratim was a lot of fun. We listened to some Hindi music (mostly Rock On and Ghajini), gossiped some and ate rubbish! We stopped at this place called Italy, Texas and hogged on Dairy Queen- perfect pre-race eating! Packet pick up was a breeze; Charanya got away with being Sharanya and picked up her race bib which I needed to run with. Staying at the Hyatt was very convenient as they had free shuttles to the race start/stop location. After a lengthy discussion about a place to eat, we decided that eating close by was the best option. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant inside the Hyatt. The oven baked veggie pizzas were delicious. Ganesh and I were on super hydrating mode, we both had about 4-5 glasses of water over dinner. (Although their wine list was incredibly tempting) Before we slept Charanya was awesome enough to pin up the bib to my Asha t-shirt and attach the race chip to the shoes. I was all set, now all I needed to make sure was that I get enough sleep! I never sleep well the night before a cricket match and I was afraid the same would happen the night before the run. After fighting off heater noise, blocked nose and warm conditions inside the hotel room I somehow managed to get about 5-6 hours of sleep- just enough to keep me charged.

Pre-race breakfast came in the form of two horrible tasting protein bars and 1 gu shot right before the start of the race. We took the free shuttle which got us to the start/stop location (American Airlines Center) in quick time. We met up with some of the Asha Dallas volunteers/runners. It was nice to touch base with another Asha chapter. The White Rock race served as a target race for majority of their runners, so they were well prepared. Charanya and Supratim waved Ganesh and I goodbye close to the 2.10 pace group at the start line. They were then headed to Asha Dallas’s mile marker 9 water stop where they would be volunteering/cheering/serving water. I must say Asha Dallas’s water stop was awesome, more about that later. Now breakdown of the race-

Mile 1-3: I started the race with Ganesh, he would be my pace-setter for the first three miles. Being a new runner I always need a pace-setter as I run the risk of starting off too fast. I enjoyed the steady 10 minute pace for the first three miles. It helped me warm up my legs, get my hands moving and get used to the conditions- it was incredibly overcast . 5K time- 30 minutes.

Mile 3-6: I parted ways with Ganesh just past the 3 mile marker. I was running alone, trying to get through the traffic. I must say I need to get used to running through hundreds of people, sometimes it slowed me down and I had to run off course to overtake them. Thanks to my watch I was able to keep a tab of my pace. This 3 mile stretch was by far the most comfortable for me. I was cruising, at 10K my clock had approximately 56 minutes and I felt good. (Salt tablet at 10K marker)

Mile 6-10: It was after the 10K mark when I started to feel the effects of the overcast conditions. The humidity was getting to me, left side of my stomach started to cramp (I had a salt tablet), I was sweating profusely (something I don’t do a lot) and felt a little zapped. For the next four miles I decided that I would grab Gatorade/water at every water stop to make sure I was over hydrated. I initiated conversation with a couple of random runners to keep myself distracted. Just before mile 9 the left side of my left knee started hurting. It was probably my ITBs- a problem I have had in the past. I changed my stride ever so slightly to help with the pain, it worked for a while. I finally saw the Team Asha water stop just past the 9 mile marker, it was awesome as they had a live band playing Hindi movie songs- it really got me excited! I quickly stopped as Charanya helped me have a gu shot. At the 10 mile marker I was doing good time, I had 1 hr 28. The previous week I had run 10 miles in 1 hr 26, given the conditions I was only off by 2 minutes which was great. I was all set to finish strong, little did I know J

Mile 10- Finish: I had some more stomach stitches, my left knee pain picked up, the running route wasn’t very good and I was really tired. Instead of picking up pace (my plan was to finish the last few miles at 8 minute pace) I had to slow down as I just didn’t have anything left. My leg (barring my left knee) felt great, it was just that the bad running conditions finally caught up with me. The narrow running road increased the wind velocity, we were running into very STRONG winds and it required me to work harder, something that I couldn’t. I should have got onto someone’s slipstream but I didn’t think of it. I was well in time for a sub 2 hr finish, which was my goal. Hence I was content with slowing down to 10 minute/mile pace and finishing comfortably. I was gasping for breath and realized that speeding up could affect me adversely. I was very glad to see the finish line about 500m away, I gave it all I had and sprinted to the finish line. I finished with a time of 1:58:47; I was pleased with it given it was my first race and the weather conditions.

The guy who finished immediately in front of me threw up as soon as he crossed the finish line, to be honest I too felt like that. I picked my finishers medal, t-shirt and cape with a huge smile and a sense of achievement. I thoroughly enjoyed the run, only that my left knee was hurting a little. I was dehydrated, I was cramping up, and I had a few more salt tablets and some banana to help me with it.

All in all it was a wonderful experience. I am fairly confident that with a little bit more training I can easily shave a few minutes off that time. I thank Sharanya for giving me the opportunity to run instead of her. Special thanks to Ganesh and Supratim for pacing and cheering respectively. Lastly big thanks to Charanya for making the whole experience ever so easy! J

Plan ahead: I want to do a couple of long runs- 12 miles and 14 miles. I would like to squeeze in my usual middle of the week short 3-5 mile run. My next race is the 3M Half Marathon Relay (Jan 25^th) after which is my target race (Feb 1^st) the New Orleans Half Marathon.

Till next time, Run Vishwas Run! J