the dallas half.

do you see me?! clearly i'm one of the front runners...haha

last november during the san antonio half, i convinced my parents to do the dallas rock n roll half. back then march seemed like forever and a day away... well, that day came rather quickly... and now i'm proud to say my parents are members of the 'half marathon club'!

i arrived in dallas on fri, the 13th and my parents (who drove from houston) picked me up at dfw. we then checked in to the adolphus hotel. and then we walked to the convention hall to pick up our race packets. we wandered around the booths and found a few things to buy... i'm collecting pins and pint glasses. the pins are small and fit on a bulletin board...the glasses are useful.. duh. mom found a few things and dad might have too, but i think he mostly was bored!

ok, technically this is the shot glass... but i couldn't find a pic of the pint glass... i've now done 3 rock n roll events: san antonio, dallas, and chicago...



these are big longhorns outside the convention hall... there were tons of them! and they were all different... they were pretty amazing... i let my mom take the pics and this is what she sent me... i would have done it differently, but whatever... i scouted online for better pics, but couldn't find any...


i did get a good laugh at this pic... seriously, the butts?! nice, mom.

the adolphus is a gorgeous old hotel and it also happened to be the official hotel for the race. it's beautifully decorated and oozes old timey luxury... they had an oriental flair and i loved the lamps and vases in the lobby and rooms (so much so i took pics!).

Rediscover the grandeur of the past, where Lone-Star legend meets 4-Diamond luxury, at The Adolphus hotel. As the cherished standard for luxury accommodations since Missouri beer baron Adolphus Busch opened its doors in 1912, this baroque masterpiece stands today as the Grande Dame of downtown Dallas hotels. Step inside and be swept away by our imperial European charm. Amid regal Flemish tapestries and an ornately carved Victorian Steinway once owned by the Guggenheims, you can sense the aura of the famous guests who’ve preceded you – from Babe Ruth and the Vanderbilts to U2, Oscar de la Renta, Donald Trump, and Queen Elizabeth II. Become part of the legend at this storied Dallas luxury hotel, where today, every guest is royalty.





on saturday, we wandered over to the original neiman marcus which was a block or so from our hotel. mom collects alligators since the lake house has them and well let's face it my family (myself included) are a bunch of collectors!! so she found this jay strongwater allie and she decided she needed it...

it is a very blingey beautiful allie...

after neiman's, we wandered over to the DWA - the dallas world aquarium. mom loved it, dad liked it, and i pretty much enjoyed about 10 minutes of it... if i'm being honest... it was just way too crowded. way way way too crowded. and way too many little kids. and i thought it would have more fishies. there were tons of birds. that's ok, but i thought it was an aquarium... i looked for some good pics on the internet... there just weren't really any... i mean the birds and fish and stuff were pretty, but it was just too crowded for me to enjoy... and then later that evening, we joined my aunt and uncle for dinner at a place called mi cocina. it was very loud, very crowded, and everyone kept having to repeat themselves and say hunh?! it was good food tho... and then it was early to bed as the race was the next day!


a swam swims right on over the two ginormous manatees...


terrible pic of me... ugh... but posted anyways

sunday morning. we all woke up, got ready and went for a 13.1 mile run/walk. i started in an earlier coral than my parents so i didn't see them until the end. it was a chilly morning and i ran with my light jacket until about the 6th mile. we went up turtle creek drive which is v. old dallas money and absolutely gorgeous homes. it is a beautiful street lined with trees, big homes, and a big creek. and then we went around other streets both commercial and residential... and more beautiful homes. it felt like i was on a home tour! around mile 6.5, i saw my aunt and uncle cheering for us... that was nice! i felt pretty good the whole way though i admit i hadn't really trained very well (and i'm paying for it in soreness now!!) as i've been too busy traveling and being lazy... but that said, i still had a good time for me- i thought it was a pr, but it wasn't... in any case, i think the asthma meds i'm on def helped...so who knows, maybe the doc is right, maybe it really will help my running!?




yeah, hiiiiiiiiiiii...i'm such a dork.


running...running...ok, maybe just joggin...

i crossed the finish line feeling good... tired... feet hurting, but good! i then went to the fences along the race course to stretch and see if i could see my dad and/or mom on their way to the finish line. about 5 minutes after i got to the fences, there was my dad! man, my dad is a FAST ass walker. he wasn't kidding. my mom and i thought he was full of shit when he said he'd be able to keep his walking pace (about a light jog to most people!) the entire time. but he did! he slowed down around mile 10, but he was still super fast. he finished in like 3:52ish and i was 3:45ish!!


look at my dad go!!


check out that power walk!!!

i met dad close to the finish line and then we walked back to the fences area to wait for mom. at some point, my aunt and uncle joined us and we all waited for mom who we expected to be about 30-45 mins behind dad. we found her about an hour after dad and cheered her towards the finish line... she finished in about 3:42... she had been so worried about meeting the 4 hour time limit. i couldn't have been more proud of her so i sneaked back in to the secure runner area and we grabbed a finisher picture together. it was truly awesome!


woohooo! another medal for my collection!


awwwwww dad!!!!


who woulda ever thunk that me and mom would be standing at a finish line after both doing a half marathon?!?!?!


preeeeeeetttttttttty....so sparkly....and prettttttttty!!!

my dad says he had no fun and won't do another. my mom said maybe... so who knows?! as for me, i have my next half next month on whidbey island in washington!!