I’m linking up with Amanda at Running with Spoons for Thinking Out Loud.

The Cowtown was two weeks ago, and I’ve been meaning to put a few thoughts out there ever since (procrastination at its finest).

The people I know…aren’t really athletically inclined, for the most part. So, when I tell them I did a half-marathon (my fourth), they are blown away. I immediately feel the need to tell them “I walked most of it.” Why is that? Even walking 13.1 miles in less than 4 hours is a pretty amazing accomplishment. I have to stop downgrading my accomplishments, even in my own mind.

Besides, I’m doing an ultra next month:  the Wild Canyon Ultra. The 25k, so, more than a half-marathon distance. And, you know what, I’m pretty proud of myself for even signing up.

Anyway, I’m through with the positive self-talk/mental lecture. Here are some of my thoughts from the Cowtown Race Weekend, where I did a 5k on Saturday, and a half-marathon on Sunday.

1—Taking feet selfies is hard.  (Is there a word for feet selfies?)

Clearly I need more practice. I see tons of cute ones, but this one kind of sucked. Oh, well. Note the wet asphalt:  it rained for three straight days before the race weekend, up to 45 minutes before the start of the 5k. It stopped until maybe 10 minutes after we finished and got inside the expo, then it started storming like mad. For about an hour. They had to delay the start of the kids 5k for two hours. Even better:  we were on the top level of the parking garage, and it took an hour and a half to exit.

Bonus:  this gave me plenty of time to film my interview for a school assignment.

2—There are a lot of crazy people here in one place. Like, a lot. But the pre-race energy is so phenomenal! The above picture is from Saturday’s 5k. Note the charmingly damp and dismal skies…

…and this beautiful-sky day is before the half on Sunday. There are even more crazy people! But runners are so friendly and helpful. Waiting the 45 minutes between the gun and the time our corral actually started became much lest painful.

Note to self:  get your act together next year, so you can start in a closer corral.

3—I still hate selfies, but our pre-race photo is a tradition. You can’t quite see the regret in my eyes yet.

4—Here we go through the touristy Stockyards part of the race.

I like this quiet, peaceful scene much more than the Stockyards on a weekend night:  full of drunks, tourists, and a crush of people. #nothankyou

5—THE hill.

Oh, how I hate this hill. It doesn’t look too bad in this picture, from about a mile out, but up close…mile 9 starts about 20 feet up this sucker. And it’s a pretty steep grade. Fortunately, it’s only about 1/3 of a mile to the top—I checked—but it’s a brutal 5 minutes (I may have been more motivated during this part and powered up at a fast walk, while mentally racing every person in front of me).

My refrain:  only four miles to go.

6—The rewards.

The things we do for medals. On the right is my half-marathon finisher’s medal. In the middle is my 5k finisher’s medal. On the left is my medal for completing two races during the weekend—the Cowtown Challenge. It’s a cowbell. Because Cowtown.