2008 Houston Marathon

On Sunday I completed the Houston Marathon in a time of 4 hours and 52 minutes and 24 seconds. I some strange ways, I think it was my favorite marathon experience to date.

I wasn't expecting the set a personal record (PR) at the race but thought I should be able to beat my personal worst (PW) at the distance. During my first ever attempt at the marathon I purposely completed the first half slowly, thinking this would "leave some gas in the tank" for the second half; didn't really work out that way! Over the next two Houston Marathons I completed the first half, again purposefully, at different speeds, hoping to find the magic speed that would enable me to complete the second half strongly; again, no luck.

So coming into Sunday's race, I decided to revisit my original strategy, and take the first half slowly. Boston Rob had been advocating that I try to negative split (i.e., run the second half faster or at an equal speed to the first half) for quite some time, so why not try it. At my disposal was Lynette and Melissa, the self-proclaimed divas of negative splits. I believe Lynette went negative at last year's marathon and basically did the same this last Sunday; if ever there was a time to try a negative run, it was Sunday.

So the 2007/8 incarnation of the Yellow Blog (Lynette, Melissa, Jeanine, and myself) set out together, starting with an 11 minute mile and speeding up a steady pace of around 10 minute miles by the fifth mile.

Mile 1 - 11:02
Mile 2 - 10:22
Mile 3 - 10:14
Mile 4 - 10:39
Mile 5 - 10:08
Mile 6 - 9:50
Mile 7 - 10:15
Mile 8 - 10:15 (the last two are averaged out; forgot to hit the button on my watch)

Around here the fellowship of the negative split was thrown asunder by a need to wee. With Melissa and Lynette stopping to use the porta facilities, Jeanine and I continued onward.

Mile 9 - 10:04
Mile 10 - 9:59
Mile 11 - 9:48

Right around here, I lost Jeanine. She was looking for her husband, I was getting some water at and aide station, and she vanished! I looked around for a her distinctive green shirt/hat combo (stylish!) but seeing no sign of her, I carried on. Right around here was was usual bag pipes and holy water from the Catholic Church (some would say it's about as close as I get to a church these days, but it can't hurt, so I got my yearly dose of Holy Water). Onward I went.

Mile 12 - 10:00

Jeanine! There she was, bobbing green hat and all, about 100 yards in front of me. I caught her just before the half way point and off we went.

Mile 13 - 10:05
Mile 14 - 9:54
Mile 15 - 10:23
Mile 16 - 10:11

Somewhere between mile 16 and 17, I knew Eugene would (not) be stationed (he never shows, but always promises!). That, along with Jeanine on my shoulder, is probably all that kept me going at speed to mile 17; I was blowing up. My legs were burning, my heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest, all bad stuff. In a mile that I was quite proud of, pushing aside the demons telling me to walk, I made it to the 17 mile marker, and told Jeanine to carry on. She prophetically said we would probably meet again.

Mile 17 - 10:07
Mile 18 - 12:31
Mile 19 - 12:50

At this point, I had some chaffing issues (thighs folks, they rub; not good) and I got some vaseline from the medical tent. After applying it's lubricating goodness, I noticed a group of about four runners closely grouped, standing, on the right of the course. Turns out former President Bush and First Lady Barbara were on the side of the course ... and George was signing race bibs! I decided I couldn't pass on this opportunity (very out of character for me; must have been going loony at this point) and queued up to shake Barbara's hand (barely getting the vaseline off before doing so!) and got George to sign my bib. The former first couple have a house near the course and apparently turn out every year, though I had never seen them in years past. It was a pretty cool happening, and something that I doubt I will ever be able to duplicate. Though I was happy with the autograph, I was beginning to realize that I would have to maintain some dedication to the race to not set a PW. On the course, I was able to compute roughly what my watch now tells me; I had to average 13:03 over the remaining miles to not PW. Sounds doable, but the second half of the marathon (miles 20 - 26.2) awaited.

Mile 20 - 12:44
Mile 21 - 12:55

There was Jeanine again, in pretty bad distress. She had a bad calf cramp, and was walking with a noticeable limp. I stopped and walked with her for a bit, making sure that she understood a) she could still finish walking the rest of the course and b) whatever her time, she should be proud of her accomplishment. I left her with a "be safe, take care of yourself, I'll see you at the finish".

Mile 22 - 12:36
Mile 23 - 12:49
Mile 24 - 13:22
Mile 25 - 13:47

So there I was, with about 16 minutes to finish 1.2 miles. If I continued at my pace from mile 25, it would take me 16:32 to finish. Now I know, the next bit isn't going to seem impressive, but I was in serious distress, and I said to myself that I MUST do everything to not set a PW. Before the marathon I had read an article that said most doctors now believe fatigue wasn't a physical issue as much as mental; the brain surveys the body and regulates muscle activity in an endeavor to prevent serious injury. So I held onto to the fact that my pain was more so mental than physical and mustered a final mile 50 seconds faster than the last.

Mile 26 - 12:57
Mile 26.2 - 2:26
Total Time - 4:52:24

This put me in 39 seconds under my personal worse of 4:53:03.

Again, I know a final mile of 12:57 is not that impressive. But given my physical state, I was proud that I was able to muster that effort. With all my previous Houston Marathon times being bunched up (4:53, 4:39, 4:47), it's really no big deal if I PW by a few minutes, but I had a reasonable chance to avoid that, and I'm glad I made it happen. If this happens to be my last marathon, I can say I went out swinging (of maybe kicking) at the end. I've never really had to push that hard at the end of the marathon, so it was a new, and I guess, rewarding experience for me.

Jon, Chris (who set a PR), Melissa, Lynette, and Jeanine all finished, with everyone having good times (Jeanine did quite well when you consider how much walking she had to do). Actually, most of the HoustonFIT Yellow runners did well, with one even deciding, in the middle of the half marathon, to do the whole thing! Those of us who ran the Sunmart Ultra Marathon in early December seemed to finish at least a few minutes under what we expected, so perhaps that race is a bit much, a bit too close to Houston. However, a few minutes seems a fair trade for the title "Ultra Marathoner"!

This run brings to a close a long, eventful, 2007 marathon season. Though talk is already turning to the next running endeavors, I look forward to a few days of rest and relaxation before getting back into the swing of things.