Rock'n'Roll Relay Recap

The family drove in Friday night with dogs in tow.  We slept in a little Saturday morning, and got to the Expo about 10:15 - perfect because it wasn't too crowded yet!  Picked up our race packets and got in a little shopping.

Bought a tech shirt that I think is SO cute and can't wait to wear, and although I struck out at the RunningSkirts booth (got some great advice and found out I'm ready to go down a size, but need to stick with plain black vs. the cute prints for the "slimming" effect), I did find a SkirtSports skirt on sale at the Luke's Locker booth that I'm excited about.  Did a lot of window shopping and tasting, too.  Everyone in the family ended up getting something new - I love discounts at Expos!

 We decided to leave about noon because there were massive amounts of people arriving and it was hard to move around.  Took the dogs to the dog park in the afternoon, and rounded out the day with an early pasta dinner at Buca di Beppo.

Up Sunday morning at 4:45am to get ready.  Out the door by 5:45 to head to the DART station, and on our way on a train at 6:12.  We walked to the convention center from the DART stop and took advantage of the real bathrooms and warm/enclosed area close to the start line (did I mention it was a very cold & windy day?).  Dad and I made our way to the corrals about 7:50, and after seeing us cross the start line, Mom & Rob hopped back on the DART to go to the exchange point at Mockingbird Station.

This was a rough race for me.  I was definitely not as prepared as I could have been, physically, and I was not really mentally/emotionally "there."  Mix that with the grueling and hilly first leg of the relay, and it was not my best race by any means.   I ended up walking way more than I had planned, and certainly more than I would have liked.  I was really, really, glad that we were running the relay and not the "whole half."

Although it was difficult - especially that last steep hill at mile 7 just before the transition - it was still a fun race.  Running through downtown was cool, and I loved going through Highland Park and seeing all the fabulous homes.  Can I blame my slower second 5K on that - I had to slow down in order to gawk at the mansions...?  I pushed my way up the last hill, met Rob at the top in the exchange zone, and then he was off and running and I was done - wuhoo!!!  After I received my relay medal, Mom and I walked to the Mockingbird DART station to ride to Fair Park and the finish line to meet up with Dad & Rob.

Quite possibly the highlight of the race itself had absolutely nothing to do with me actually running - members of the UT (University of Texas) band were standing on the steps of the CottonBowl (just before the mile 13 marker), playing favorite UT band songs!  It was awesome to see and hear - and definitely provides a stop-gap for my current longing for football season.

We all met up at Fair Park after Dad & Rob finished.  After snapping some quick pics with our medals, it started to sprinkle, so we made a beeline back to the DART station and headed home.  All in all, a great weekend!

Race stats (per Garmin - no official individual leg results):

• As usual, I forgot to turn off my Garmin after the exchange.  I turned it off a minute or two after finishing, so the time is a little off, but I hadn't moved very far at all, so the distance should be pretty spot-on.
• 7.28 mi; 1:39:34; 13:41 min/mi avg pace