White Rock Lake

Yesterday, after my training course ended around 5pm, I quickly got into my running gear and drove to White Rock Lake in Dallas. I got there around 5:45pm which would give me just enough time to run around the lake before the sun set - hooray!

It was sunny and warm - temperatures in the low 70s - but really windy. There is a footbridge on the north end of the lake and while I was running on it I almost felt like I was going to be blown off. It's not so easy to run in those conditions, but I handled it well.

It is a really pretty part of town. In the 5 years that I lived here, I did not come down to the lake once (OK, I went to the Arboretum which is on the lake, but I never came down just to be at the lake). I was trying to think about why I never did and then I remembered - I didn't run back then and we didn't have kids (there are a lot of playground areas around the lake).

The trail around the lake is very runner/pedestrian friendly. Trashcans are all over the place (you can see my rant about trashcans on some of my long-run posts), and there were about 5 or 6 water fountains!

Actually, seeing the water fountains made me realize how far I have come in my running - and confidence of going longer distances. A few months ago when I was preparing for my 9 mile "long run" I purchased my Amphipod water belt so I would have water on my run. Yesterday was also a 9 mile run and I had no issues running without a water belt (I didn't take it with me on my business trip). I did have plenty of water and some Gatorade in the car for after the run, but I knew that I'd be able to make it without water if there were no fountains.

Another thing I realized - I am definitely a morning runner! It took me a while to get in a groove yesterday - the first 30-40 minutes were really tough. Also, I find I focus better throughout the day when I run in the morning...it was not easy sitting through the training course without my morning run. I hope I'm OK today!

I finished the 9.3 mile loop of the lake in 1:39:27 - a bit under an 11 min mile pace. I'll definitely be running here again the next time I'm in Dallas!