Before the race starts I kept thinking maybe I should go to the bathroom one more time..na there is a big line...I'll be fine once I start running. So the race starts and I see 3 porto-johns with no line...ah what the heck might as well get it over with. So after my really quick stop I decided to try to make up some missed time. Probably a mistake but not too bad. My right hip started hurting at mile 3. I could tell it was going to be a long race. At the start of the long downhill my knees felt weak so I ran a little slower than I usually would. Then it's on to the mile of up hill :). I did make it up the hills in 8:05 not bad for those hills. I made it thru the first 3 hills with little issues, then on the 4th hill at mile 7 my calves felt like they were going to cramp so I decided to walk part of the hill to stretch out my calves. From that point on I was sore. Mile 8 my legs got really sore, I actually thought I wouldn't be able to finish. And at mile 10 they were even more sore (although I didn't think that could happen). I was looking for someone to run with so I wouldn't walk but everyone was running faster than me :(. I kept telling myself to keep an even pace, don't worry about getting passed. Finally at mile 12 I decided I would be able to run the rest of the way so I gradually picked up the pace. I wasn't able to sprint to the finish line but that's okay. Jeff decided to come out and cheer me on right before the finish line, it was good to see him. He was laughing after the race cause he said I looked pissed when I saw him.

The week leading up to the race get a massage before the race. Go to the bathroom again before the race. Other than that it was pretty good. Oh don't walk at all!!!

No more running but I did stretch a lot while chatting with friends. Breakfast after.


Very, very sore legs. As I sit here now my legs are screaming at me...not good. should have taken an ice bath.


This is a GREAT race. A difficult course but a good one. The water stops keep my mind off of the hills!

A quote from the man that took first place “Those hills were much more difficult than I thought they would be,” said Malakwen after finishing first in 1:04:48. “We train on hills all the time outside of Nairobi, but these were harder. I didn’t know Texas was so hilly.”

And a quote from the woman that took first place... Neither did Jackie Rzepecki. The 27-year-old lives in Michigan but was raised in upstate New York where she trained on hills all the time. “This is—by far—the toughest course I have ever run,” she said after winning in 1:19:48.