Chevron Houston Marathon

Chevron Houston Marathon by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

I had been trying to decide whether or not I should run this race.  I signed up for it way before I even thought about doing a Half Ironman.  I wasn't going to run it actually, but I was still training for it in-case I changed my mind.  That's exactly what happened.  As the race day got closer and closer, I started wanting to run it more and more.  But I hadn't done that much work since my last marathon.  I didn't do any long runs between the marathon and the end of November and in December, I had a terrible 16 mile run (due to bad hydration) that really messed up my confidence. 

In January, I was suppose to have 2 long runs... One was 16 miles and the other was 18 miles.  Before the 16 mile run I was scared that I wouldn't be able to do it.  But then I ran it with NO PROBLEM and actually didn't even feel tired afterwards... I actually wanted to keep running.  Then the 18 mile run came and I pretty much felt the same way... it was easy!  WTF?  That's what made me decided to go ahead and run the marathon.

I asked Kevin what time I should go for.  To my surprise, he said 3:36-3:41.  Considering the fact that I'm in the middle of my Half Ironman training, I thought he was going to say something slower, but to be honest, I really didn't want to run slow.  Honestly, I wanted his permission to run fast, so I was glad when he gave it to me.

Before my 1st marathon, I was really nervous and excited and going nuts basically, the hours and days before the race.  This time it was completely different.  I really didn't feel anything (except insomnia) beforehand.  The night before I figured out my hydration schedule and adjusted my iPod play list by adding some songs and shuffling some things around, and that's about it.  That night/morning I started eating french toast every 2 hours at 1am and I tattooed my hydration plan on my arm and tried to get a little sleep.

Race day was suppose to rain, but it was also suppose to be warm.  I prefer to run without a shirt, but I packed 2 in my race bag just in case.  Before I checked the bag, it wasn't raining and it wasn't cold, so I took off the shirt I had on and put that in the bag and decided to go without a shirt.  I forgot to bring my carrying case for my glasses, so I was scared they'd get broken when I checked the bag, but I didn't have a choice at that point.  I never run with my glasses on, I prefer the tinted running shades instead.  As soon as I checked the bag, I went outside and stood in line to pee.  As I was standing there, it started rain.  I was thinking "oh shit... I should have just worn the shirt".   It was getting close to the start time so I just did my stretching while in line. 

When I registered for the race, I hadn't ran a marathon at that point, so I wasn't sure how fast I could run.  I told them I thought it would take me 4:30 to finish (and that was being optimistic).  They put me in the slow group because of that.  The week before the race, I emailed them asking if I could move to the fast group based on my San Antonion Marathon time, but they said "once you get placed, you can't move to another group, unless it's a SLOWER" group.  That's bullshit.  So after I pissed, I went to my slow group start area.  In front of my group, there was about a 1/4 - 1/2 block gap with race personnel and then there was the fast group.  Before the start of the race, I just ran through the race people to the fast group.  My bib was blue (= slow) and the race group bibs were red, so the race people immediately knew that I wasn't suppose to be in the fast group, so they tried to stop me as I ran and they where saying stuff like "sir, HEY, sir.. your group is back there".  I just kept running and once I got to the back to the fast group, I just weaved myself into to middle of the pack.

Then the race started.  The gun went off, but it took me a few minutes to get to the start line.  When I finally got there and started running it was congested as HELL!!  Here's what my plan was:

8:30/mile pace for Miles 1-3
8:20/mile pace for Miles 3-12
8:10/mile pace for Miles 12-26.2

My first mile was about 9:00, but I didn't care because there was nothing I could do about it... there were just too many people to fit on the road.  AND there were SO MANY FUCKING WALKERS!!!  If you're going to walk, why sign up to be in the FAST GROUP?  I'm talking about withing the 1st few miles, so I'm damn sure that they didn't get a cramp that quick and ALL of the walkers were either fat or old, so again... why did your fat/old ass sign up to be in the fast group?  They're messing up the paces of the people who actually RUN marathons!  Damn...

Anyways, I just tried to weave in and out of the other runners and get to a place where I could focus on running my pace, rather than focus and not getting tripped or running into someone's back.  Eventually, I found that place.  The miles went by and it was pretty easy actually.  It was raining off and on, but it really didn't bother me.  It did bother my Garmin watch though.  It always acts up when it gets wet.  I'm just glad that it didn't completely lock up on me because I couldn't remember how to reset it.

Eventually, I started getting a little tired.  My hydration plan was way off in the beginning because I wasn't exactly sure where the water stations were going to be when I made my plan.  Later in the race, I got it back on track, but I wasn't sure how much damage had already been done. 

There were alot of people on the streets, so I decided to use them.  What I learned running the San Antonio Marathon with a pace group was to have fun and use the crowd.  Interact with the crowd.... talk to them... get them hype... feed off their energy.  So that's what I did.  If someone had there hand extended, I gave the "high-5".  When I got tired and the crowd wasn't making any noise I'd say "Come on!!  Wake up!!!  Make some noise!!  Give me some energy!!" while rising my airs in the air (like football/basketball players do when they want the crowed to make noise) and they responded!  And it worked!  I'd feel energized and start running faster.  I really had a good time running this marathon.

So as I got to the end, my thighs and calves started to cramp and I'm thinking "not again!".  That's the same shit that happened in San Antonio after the 21st mile.  I was going so good up to that point and then my race was ruined after that.  I didn't want that to happen again, so I tried to just keep drinking Gatorade and water whenever I could.  Luckily, this time it didn't completely lock up like it did in San Antonio, so I just had to run through the pain.  I hit "the wall" at mile 25.  My legs went completely numb and I was thinking "oh shit"!  But at the same time, I knew what it was like from hitting the wall in San Antonio, so I didn't get too excited about, I just told myself "so what, KEEP GOING!!".

That last mile was long as hell... my Garmin watch said I had exactly 1 mile left, but then I saw a sign that said "1.5 miles to go" and I'm thinking WTF!  Let me rephrase the 1st sentence of this paragraph... "That last 1.5 miles was long as hell".  It really did seem like it took forever to get there.  I wish I would have been able to see the finish line ahead, but like so many other races that I've ran (this is my 9th race by the way), you have to make a turn at the very end and THEN you'll see the finish line.  I really tried to run my ass off the last 1.5 miles because I was ready for this shit to be over-with!  I crossed the finish line and flexed... it's like my trademark.  Then I went to get my medal and post for the post-race photo.  While in line for the photo, my legs started to lock up.  After I picked up my race back, they were almost completely locked up, so I went straight to the massage area and got a quick 10 minute massage.  After that, I met up with Eri and we went to the race results area to pull up my official time on the computer... 3 hours, 41 minutes, 39 seconds!  My NEW PR!!  Not bad for my 2nd marathon.  Beat my 1st marathon time by about 13 minutes. 

When I got home I checked my Garmin and saw two things:
1.  The 1st mile was my slowest, the last mile was my fastest!
2.  I had run 26.5 miles instead of 26.2!