58F, 100%, NNE 13 mph and raining, sometimes steadily. This is a small but popular New Years Day marathon that fills up in May or June each year. It was my first marathon, and today was my fourth time running it. It is organized by Steve and Paula, a couple of hippies who do things just a little differently, and a little better in my opinion. It is held in Kingwood, Texas, on the Northeast side of Houston, run as four loops on park trails. As a result, Steve has to keep the numbers down (700 for both the full and the half, I think about 400 for the full) from what an open road race could handle.
This race attracts a lot of BYU types, because most years it is a non-Sunday alternative to the Houston marathon and half. Both sides of the half marathon today were won by BYU freshmen. The male winner, Jacob, rode out with Wade and I. He was a standout high school runner in the area but has decided not to run at BYU. This was his last race before his mission in Italy later this month. The half started 15 minutes after the full, so it took the leaders a while to catch us. But honestly I don't even remember when Jacob passed me -- he said he called my name but I didn't hear him, must have been the doppler effect. He borrowed our friend Linda's bib, so it was a bit awkward when they tried to award him the first-place medal. But this race is relaxed about that sort of thing, they just changed the bib name in the computer and gave him the win. The women's half was won by a girl from the Sugarland area (southwest Houston) who runs cross-country at BYU. I don't know her but I had heard about her, so I said "Go Cougars" when she passed me halfway through the second lap, made her break her stride I think.
Wade swore off marathons after his second (a near-hospitalization drama at St. George 2010), but he has been training well this last year and got a special dispensation from his wife to enter this one, although she refused to come out and watch him suffer. (My family had no such issues.) He had high hopes for a good time but it didn't pan out for him, his legs gave out and he got an Achilles problem, so he limped out the last lap. But I stepped right up and got that 3:49 he was hoping for.
I knew going in that I was off. My heart rate during training has been higher than expected, and even driving to Kingwood this morning after a reasonable night's sleep it was in the 80s instead of the 50s. After Richmond I decided that no matter the speed I wouldn't run at more than 165 bpm and I held to that. I knew immediately that I wouldn't be running 3:30 today when the first mile came in at 8:14 and I was already up to 163 bpm. I ran right at 165 through 22 miles, then couldn't hold it any longer without risking throwing up. Not that I was overly concerned about that, but there were lots of friends and family watching me at this local race and I didn't want to make too much of a spectacle out of myself just for a couple of minutes' improvement on my second-straight non-BQ qualifier. I still held 155-160 through the final 4 miles, just didn't race it like I hope to do on a good day.
Given the rain, I made a game-time decision to run without socks. I have been having trouble with my left sock slipping down into my shoe and I figured that wet socks weren't going to offer any more protection to my feet anyway, not to mention the extra weight. My game-time decision based on razor, rock-solid logic worked out about as well as most Houston sports lately:
I had a contingent of 6 family members cheering every time I came around on a loop, plus my nephew and his wife and their kid were out on the course. Knew quite a few runners as well, so I really can't complain.
I took EFS at miles 5 and 10, did not attempt it at 15. And for those who are dying to know, I took one small swig of pickle juice at mile 15, very nasty stuff but I had no cramping so it must have been good for me.
I'm not going to dig the splits out of my Garmin, I haven't looked at them myself, there really isn't any good information there. Here are the two most relevant numbers: 2574 and 164, miles and weight at the end of 2012. For 2011 those numbers were about 3300 and 157. Plus, most of my 2012 miles were junk miles, run at 140-150 bpm instead of 130 or 165, it finally caught up with me. I'll try something different for the Boston cycle, probably fewer and faster miles; if that doesn't work it may be time to move on.
Steve and Paula outdid themselves on the finisher medal this year, 3.3 pounds of golden glory, an outline of the U.S. with Texas superimposed in proper proportion:
(My hands are curled back as a balancing mechanism.)
It was a fun day despite everything, and a day to remember my blessings. May 2013 be happy and prosperous for all of you wonderful bloggers. | 