Dallas Hot Chocolate 15k Recap

The Hot Chocolate racing series sure didn’t disappoint!
It lived up to the hype 10 fold.
The amount of participants, the traffic (haha), the swag, everything.

I was even more excited because Honey Stinger paid my entry fee so I could represent them in this race.
I love love love them and I am so thankful that I get to promote and share the honey stinger love! Shoutout to the Hive!

My last race recap was months ago. If you’re a runner you know the itch we get to race again immediately following the finish of our current race... literally an hour after crossing the finish line we are on our phones googling the next race. Haha! What’s wrong with us?

I’m now 100x more excited for the Irving marathon in April! 

If you read my last race recap (the Blue Red Run) you kind of know what goes through my head during the process of race day. 

Knowing Dallas HC was a HUGE race, I was slightly intimidated because big races means elite runners which means I’m going to run my ass off and possibly still be in the back. BUT on the other hand, these types of races are challenging and make us runners better. It’s a love-hate. 

Midlothian Run Club Meet Up Pre- Race (Side note: why are guy group pics so awkward?)

So the race begins and I’m running with a fellow Midlothian Run Club member, Marty. (Shoutout midlo) We started at a 7:48ish pace so I was feeling pretty good about it. - My goal was to run 8 or slightly sub 8 pace the whole time- I was COMFORTABLE there. We get maybe a mile in and I look down at my watch for my pace and it says “7:30”. “slow the heck down Tori you need to last this whole race..” but I was feeling great. If we want to become better runners, or just better human beings, sometimes we have to get out of our comfort zone.. and freaking run faster. (Marty of course quickly left me in the dust and ended up finishing with a 7:08 pace I think. Dammit Marty great job.) 

I did what I always do when I race - Pick a girl out that’s ahead of me and not lose sight of her. She’s my new pacer. 

There were probably 15 girls in between us. She was up there a ways..

We have 6 miles left. 

I was getting antsy to get up there right behind her. I passed 2 girls which took my pace down to a 7:05. I absolutely knew I needed to slow down. But I couldn’t let her get away! 

This is going to sound lame but every time I get to this point in a race (and believe me it’s every race) my dads voice pops into my head.
He used to always tell me before my cross country races to “be patient and pick them off one by one”. 

So I took a deep breath, played it cool, and kept my pace around 7:20-25. Still feeling solid. And fast. 

Then comes the hills. If you’ve ever ran in Dallas you know you’re going to have hills on the course at some point. I love hills.
We had to run so many hills, bridge runs, stadiums, etc in all my soccer/cc days that I actually enjoy them because I’m kind of good at them. (I guess all those miserable runs did pay off) I use those opportunities to pass people during races. 

A few more picked off. 

This led us to mile 5. Over halfway done! There’s a table that looks like a hydration station. “I could use some water”

WRONG. 

Holy whiff of whiskey in the face. That’s right.. you can actually stop and take a shot of whiskey at mile 5.
Now I’m just wondering.... Do people really do that? Yikes. 

Since we are over halfway done I start to pick up the pace. Just by a few seconds. Still staying patient. I can see about 5 girls between me and my deemed pacer girl. 

I passed 4 with one mile left. 

Since I’ve been hauling ass my legs are tired so thinking about passing someone else plus hoping no one passes me makes me think I may have started off a little too fast. 

Then comes a glorious hill with about 800m left. (Who says that?) Thank God! I close the distance on the last girl with that hill and pass her with 600m left. All without losing sight of my pacer. 

My deemed pacer finished about 5 seconds before me.

For once I listened to my dads advice. (Jk) 

What a great race! I can’t wait to go back next year. 

The Hot Chocolate 15k/5k racing series is a MUST run people. 

Finishing Stats: 
1 of 304 in age group
29 of 3343 female overall
118 of 4755 overall

Finisher Mug: Actually had hot chocolate & it was delicioius!

Finisher Medal is def one the of the coolest (or should I say sweetest) ones I have!

Now my focus goes back to my marathon training. It’s  starting to get really REAL with TEN WEEKS left until race day. Holy moly. My second marathon is quickly approaching and I couldn’t be more excited. My road to BQ has just begun....

Who else has an upcoming race? What distance? 

Anyone else running the Irving Marathon April 27th? Would love to meet up pre race for a pic!