Week 11: 19 Miler: To Cedar Hill & Back

I have to be frank; this is the first distance in our training that has scared me.  19 miles.  That's a long way.  That's the distance from Ovilla to the Dallas Zoo!

This week Omar couldn't make it, so it was Mike, Disan & I.  This route was 1/3 uphill, 1/3 (relatively) flat, and 1/3 downhill on the return.  This was our first run truly into Cedar Hill, where I work.

We had a cold front come through on Friday/Saturday, so we had some rain over the weekend and some cooler air had fallen into place.  The temperature was a crisp 47 degrees at the beginning of our run with hardly a cloud in the dark Texas sky.

We ran up Cockrell Hill Road to Johnson Lane, then turned north on Duncanville Rd.  This is a beautiful stretch of road that sits on the Cedar Hill/ Desoto city limit line.  We cut west on Parkerville Rd, passing Village Tech.  We passed over the rushing waters of Little Creek, then turning north on Joe Wilson Rd, and passed two runners (Annette & Mary) from the Cedar Hill running club, out on a 10 mile run (who are also training for Dallas, albeit at a slower pace.

We cut left on Pleasant Run on our journey towards the mall, which I included in case Omar was running late or if one of CHRC's members' David wanted to join us for part of our journey, as he is training for Dallas as well, but the half marathon.

We took a restroom break at Uptown Village, conveniently located halfway through our run.  That stop took about 5 minutes, right around sunrise, and we realize we won't be able to pause our watches during the marathon.  One of the best things about running through Uptown Village is the music.  No matter how early you are there, there is some upbeat music playing that lifts your running spirits.  We did a loop in the main drag there, then circled the perimeter of the mall, crossing the Uptown Village Bridge (one of my favorite parts) on our journey.  We exited the mall on Cedar Hill Rd, and, we passed a few more runners from the CHRC training group, then sped north on the long flat stretch towards downtown Cedar Hill.

We followed Old US 67 into downtown Cedar Hill, introducing Mike to Babe's chicken restaurant (in the old City Hall building).

This was the peak of our run, elevation-wise.  We followed the old Country Day on the Hill 5k route down Houston St, the split to the left at the Tidwell Bridge.  

This is when I really turned on my jets.  My goal was a positive split and I was determined to bring everyone along with me :)

We passed neighborhoods and debated the safety of the new Red Oak Creek Trails.  We passed Angela from CHRC, on a lonesome 16 mile journey herself.  After a few dogs violently attacked the fence, we finally approched Joe Wilson Rd where we would follow our orinal path out into Cedar Hill.

Running down Parkerville this time was like a new experience.  Everything we couldn't see the 1st time was now in our field of vision.  Pastures on both side of the roads and the overhanging trees are a calming sight.  

We heard screeching of tires ahead, which focused our attention back to the road ahead.  Shortly after a Corvette calmly passed us, and I for one felt relieved for sure. (Duncanville Rd has almost no police patrols and no driveways, so drivers speed up to 70mph on it until they hit the bumps in the flats.This guy was probably drifting on the turn.)

We headed back south on D'Ville Rd going through a flat where concrete barriers lay to the sides, leading the mind to wander what used to be.  

We crossed Little Creek and Disan and as usual Mike took off uphill on the approach to Bear Creek Rd.  I managed to enjoy the cows gazing at me while I slowly caught up to them.  At this point, I came to a realization: they pace me on the uphills and I push the pace on the downhills, and together we have made each other better & faster!

On our downhill decent on Duncanville Rd, we passed the Ovilla City Limits sign.  I raised both hands in a momentary show of victory, knowing we were well on our way to finishing in a very good time.  We turned left on Johnson Ln, and navigated the rolling hills.  Within a mile, we were approaching Cockrell Hill Road, We turned right with only about 1.25 miles to go.

I turned on the jets again, knowing this was downhill all the way to the finish.  Disan's incredible competitive spirit couldn't resist the challenge, and soon he was on my heels.  It was Finland vs. Mexico, all the way to the finish.  We would take turns leading the way, and I got a side stich after running 7:22 for a good quarter mile.  I slowed down for a while, as did he, and we picked up our little race around Greenwood Dr.  I put the pedal to the metal around Westlawn Dr. and never looked back, and finally beat Disan.  Mike finished about 2 minutes later, with very tired legs.

My end result was 19.4 miles in 2:47, which put us at a 8:37 pace!  That puts us at 3:45 if we could maintain that for another 7 miles (which I doubt)!

Week 2

This morning we set out for our first 13.1 mile long run.  Oh, we're just doing a half marathon this morning.....

We ran a new route, crossing over I-35 into Red Oak, Tx. and back up a gravel road in which we didn't encounter a car for at least 2 miles.  It was a difficult run, but the marathon will have a large uphill grade 20 miles in, so I wanted to simulate that as much as possible on our training runs. 

This morning we had a police officer waiting for us at the park.  I guess he finally picked up that we meet there on Sunday mornings, but he didn't have anything to say this time.   He just stayed in his patrol car and watched us.

Crossing over the I-35 bridge is a neat feeling, running outside of our normal boundaries and catching a good breeze and view.  Later we ran south on the I-35 access road, for some reason that always gives me a Forrest Gump feeling!

Disan really wanted to accomplish his PR for 13.1 miles so we really pushed it at the end, starting at the Ovilla Cemetery, reaching a pace under 7:00, then running a final lap around Heritage Park to get that extra tenth of a mile we needed!

The Choice We Made.

We have a small group of runners here in Ovilla, Texas that have decided to run the 2015 Dallas Marathon together.  We've been running 6-12 miles on Sundays nearly every week for about 9 months now.  Danny Stanley, who is the newest of our contingent, was actually the initiator of the idea!

Danny recently survived a minor heart attack, had a stint put in and fully recovered, and really understands what is important in life, and lives life to the fullest.  If Danny thinks it's a good idea to run a marathon, it probably is!  Danny has run the Dallas Marathon before and finished around 4:45.

Disan is our "natural".  Disan partys hard all weekend and then gets up early on Sunday and  runs 10+ miles with us most weeks.  He grew up in Chihuahua, probably close to the area where the "Born To Run" area describes.  He flies up hills while we all slow down.  He probably has the most potential out of the 4 of us.  He has run the Dallas Marathon before, but is unsatisfied with his finish time, around 4:45 as well.

Mike is a missionary that lived in Brasil for the last 18 years.  He has never run a marathon before.

I started leading the long distance section of the Run Ovilla Club when Heather took it over.  I ran the Cowtown Marathon in 2013 and finished at 4:45 as well!

Running a marathon changes you.  We as a group will not be the same men as we were when we signed up.  We have set a goal of 4:10.  We are following Competitor Magazine's training plan.  We will conquer this time!