Hot Chocolate.... MMMM

I've been training since November 2011 to run The Cowtown Half Marathon in Ft Worth at the end of February. As part of my training regimine I signed up for another run this past weekend in Dallas called the Hot Chocolate. The race was a 15K and I was thrilled to have my best friend Christina join me! I had a sleep over at her sister's house the night before since she lived so close to the sight of the race. We had to get up at 5:50 am to prepare for our morning run... I can't imagine how early I would have had to wake if I were driving from home!

We were warned via email from the Race Chairmen the night before that the weather was going to prove to be a pain in our side. 25 mph wind gusts and temperatures expected to be 28 with out the windchill is definitely not our "ideal" run weather.... especially with the mild winter we've had to date. But, Christina and I were both head strong enough to brave it. We layered and layered and even had hand warmers that proved to be GREATNESS! Highly recommended!!!

I finished the race in 1 hour and 23 minutes... averaging 8:47 per mile. Much better than I had expected.... I guess I can blame it on the idea of chocolate at the end of the race. They had a Ghirardelli chocolate fondue fountain for a post race treat that included rice crispy treat, pretzels, marshmallow, apples and a banana. I never would have guessed apples with chocolate would have been so delicious!

Here is Christina and I after the race! Not my favorite picture with Chrisitna's eyes shut... but it was the only one I got with her and I had to post it! I'm so proud of her!!!!
























Danny was able to bring the kids out to cheer me on. I was so happy to see their smiling faces at the end of the race. What a lucky momma!  And luckily the kids were able to play inside the building in bounce houses.