Dallas Half Marathon Recap 2025

This race felt SO special. I have this belief that every time we accomplish a goal, we climb a “confidence ladder” that makes us feel even MORE confident that we’re capable of accomplishing new things. It’s kind of like a drop in a bucket, small, daily tasks that add up over time. And every time we get a new one, we build confidence in our abilities to accomplish anything hard.

This race felt less like a drop in a bucket and more like a 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup poured into the bucket. It was significant for me!

I ran this exact half marathon last year. It was my first “I’m back to running after having kids” half marathon, just to see if longer distances felt fun (it did) and if I could get a big personal record (I did) and break an hour and 45 minutes (I didn’t).

I decided to take a stab at the same race again this year, running the BMW Dallas Half Marathon in mid December so I could do the same course, the same hills, the same time of year…and try to break that 1:45 mark.

Training this time around felt WAY more intentional. Last year I used the Nike Run Club app, which is an awesome way to attempt any distance for the first time. Having a coach in my ear, a checklist on my phone app, and tracking the progress on my app made it very manageable.

I wanted to step up to the next level this year, so I read several running books and fell in love with Matt Fitzgerald’s research and writing. I followed one of his 80/20 half marathon books (I feel like I’ve talked about this a lot, so sorry if I’m a broken record!), which prioritizes using active recovery days (aka running for recovery) at a very, very easy pace and low heart rate. 80% of all my runs were at this super slow (almost painfully slow!) pace.

And then the other 20% of my runs? They were at moderate to high intensity. And since my easy days were SO easy, I was able to really send it on the high intensity days. Those days always felt full of anticipation, and a bit scary. In a good way.

The Day Of The 13.1

Dallas weather, you crazy SOB…

Last year was warm, drizzly, and humid.

Me: “I hope this year is COLD! I would so much rather it be TOO cold than warm like last year.”

Weather gods: “Granted.”

It was about 30 degrees with a wind chill of 18 degrees!!! The north wind was sending gusts of 25 MPH, which felt like icicles piercing my skin. It was COLD!

Ok, random but wonderful fact: I slept SO well the night before this race. I was really careful to limit my caffeine the day before, so I fell asleep easily at 9:15 pm and got 8 solid hours of sleep.

I woke up at my parents’ house when my alarm went off at 5:15 am, quickly made my black coffee, bagel with peanut butter and honey (^worst picture ever, but that was my breakfast), and half a banana. I ate all my food and drank water until 6:00 am, and then cut myself off from water for the next 2 hours so I wouldn’t have to pee during the race.

My dad drove me to downtown Dallas at 6:30 and we got there right at 7:00. We chatted (me very nervously! I was so nervous/excited!) and talked about the race plan, the wind, how that might impact my strategy, etc. I love getting to spend time with my dad. He dropped me off near the starting line and wished me good luck before driving over to mile 3 where he was going to cheer me on a bit later.

I was shocked at how empty the starting line area was just 60 minutes out from the start time, but then I wandered over to the Dallas Convention Center and figured out why…

Everyone (myself included) was hanging out in the convention center before the race. It was so snuggly and warm in there! I found a quieter hallway and did some stretches and drills to warm up my body. The convention center bathrooms were open, so I didn’t even have to use a portapotty on this race. Win!

Around 7:40 am I went outside, spent 10 minutes alternating between a slow jog and a few strides, and then got to my corral at 7:50 am.

Mile-By-Mile Race Recap

Since I loaded into the corral at the last minute, I was closer to the back than I would have liked. When the starting gun went off, it took me about 4 minutes to get to the start line. The first mile was congested, per usual, but instead of panicking and trying to get around people, I just kind of let the river of people carry me.

(I have this video I play in my head during the first mile of a race. I’m tubing down the Guadalupe River in New Braunfels and the water is just carrying me at whatever pace it wants, and I’m just floating along. I imagine that the river is doing all the work and I’m retaining all my energy for later miles.)

My plan was to go about 8:10 for the first 6.5 miles (which are uphill) and then bring it back at a negative split (7:45s) for the 6.5 miles back home (which are downhill), hopefully finishing at a sub 1:45.

I glanced at my watch after the first 2 miles and saw I was ahead of pace, despite trying to slooooow it down. Typical for races.

Last year I went out way too fast and kind of bonked at the end. One of my big goals this year was to pace smarter.

I felt like I was pulling it back more on miles 3 to 4. It felt like a manageable pace, and I was trying to imagine picking it up a lot faster for the ride home at miles 7 to 13. I knew I had more to give.

This race was an entirely different feeling in my body than last year’s half marathon. The 80/20 running plan really worked! The analogy I’ve heard, which really clicked for me, is that previously I was running on a 4 cylinder engine. And I could give it as much gas as I could, but the reality is that engine just doesn’t have the power to pick up speed and sustain like a bigger engine. Training miles and miles and miles at a low heart rate zone built my engine up from a 4 to a 6 cylinder. I just felt so much more powerful this time around.

My breathing didn’t feel labored. My legs felt awesome. My lungs felt so strong and limitless. It was the coolest feeling!

I saw my parents and my 98 year old grandfather at Turtle Creek (mile 3.5) and I saw both my sisters on Greenville Ave (mile 8). Those moments were the ultimate energy boost!

At the 10k mark I realized I had set a new 10k PR, which made me VERY excited to race the Cap10k next spring in Austin and see what I’m capable of.

The second half of the half marathon was very fun. I had the wind at my back, my legs felt good, and I was running at a slight downhill.

I got a stitch in my side from miles 9 to 12, which tells me that I still have some fueling strategy stuff to figure out.

I passed mile 12 and realized that even if I walked the last mile, I’d hit my goal of sub 1:45. I almost cried I was so happy. It just felt so GOOD to be running in this stronger body. I’m me, so I said a little gratitude prayer to my legs and lungs and then emptied the tank for the final mile.

There was a really loud cheer about 100 meters out from the finish. I later found out it was my dad who was cheering and filming me! (He’s the best.) I only had a small kick left in me at the finish but felt SO good crossing at 1:40.08, my first time finishing a half marathon at a sub 8 minute average pace. (7:39 average pace if we’re counting, and we definitely are!)

Running in and of itself isn’t ending world hunger, changing global warming, or altering the political climate. It’s not the most selfless activity in the world. It’s literally just tens of thousands of humans running in a big circle for fun.

But I couldn’t help but feel that this matters right now during the training process, goal setting, and race day. I don’t know exactly why just yet.

I do know that the “confidence ladder” I was mentioning at the beginning builds to something bigger. I went up one rung on the ladder with this race. I don’t really know what’s at the top, or what exactly it is I’m supposed to do when I get there, but I do believe that humans are meant to grow, develop, and strive for bigger things. We’re hardwired for growth. And this is my own unique path for growth right now, and I’m meant to be following it.

The hardest part about running (or any personal goal) is remembering it’s ok to do it. It’s ok to take up time and space, take time away from motherhood, claim hours and hours to get miles in, pay race entry fees, and love the process.

It’s pretty fun to think of the things that light us up. The goals we have and the ways we want to grow and develop as humans. All of those little goals matter, even if we can’t see the end result or reason yet.

(And it’s kind of funny to be saying that right in the middle of the process, as I’m living it out, because I haven’t gotten to the “end result” yet and I don’t really know why any of this matters.)

So I’m just saying this in faith: your goals matter. If you want something, it’s yours. Go for it.