Houston Marathon January 18th, 2009

Houston Marathon, January 18^th, 2009

Training for Houston began with many hot and humid runs at Barton Springs last summer. Senor Cruz and I dedicated ourselves to base building over the summer. We met each morning 5 days a week in the early morning hours. It was dark, it was hot, it was humid. However, it was not sunny, which was helpful. We slowly and methodically built up our mileage. The running was slow and easy, just putting in the miles. We ran on the soft dirt trail of Lady Bird Lake. After each run, we cooled ourselves in the magical waters of Barton Springs. We often saw Ruth and the Team Rogue runners doing the same. We admired their dedication to their training as they were putting in some serious mileage. We hoped someday we would be running as much as they were. We knew though that it takes time. We were firm in our commitment to run and slowly build the base. We eventually worked up to running 6 days a week. Also of note, we became morning runners. The heat and humidity of a Texas summer forced us to do so. It certainly was an adjustment. I often found myself quite tired in the early afternoon, not so much from running as from lack of sleep. However, over time this worked itself out. Soon I was getting to bed earlier and jumping out of bed at 5am eager for my run.

September rolled around and it was now time to start up our marathon training with Rogue. Eric, Cindy, and I all joined the same Tuesday morning group. Our coach Scott was new to us. We quickly got to know Scott and were pleased to have another great coach. Scott is easy going, knowledgeable about running and training, and a lot of fun to be around. We were all happy with the choice. Eric and Cindy were both training for Austin and I for Houston. I quickly found Peter in our group who was also training for Houston. He was the only other runner, who was training for Houston, in our semi-small group. Another new to us person is Emily. She was also training for Austin. Peter and Emily have become great friends and terrific running partners.

The months of training have gone well. We ran the IBM 10k in October. This race was a huge success for me. I ran it in 48:12 which was a personal record by 7 minutes. I felt extremely confident after this race. In November, Kiki and I traveled to Monterey, CA to run the Big Sur Half Marathon with my youngest brother Patrick. It was to be his first half marathon. He had a great race, finished strong, and is now a runner. I was extremely proud of him. I also ran the race and had another PR, running it in 1:51:59, which was a PR by about 6 minutes. The race was a bit tougher than I had thought it would be, due to various issues, tight legs, weather, wind, etc…but I learned a lot and ran a good race.

A week or two after the half marathon I was hampered with a left hamstring issue. When it became apparent that it was an issue, I immediately went to Advanced Rehab to have some work done. I took a week off from running. I began the process of working through an injury. Weekly I went in for work, daily I did my homework so to speak and worked on the hammy. The TP Massager became my best friend. The hamstring improved with time and I did not miss any runs after taking the week off. Although it improved, it was always there, some weeks were better than others were. A constant reminder that I needed to stay on top of it. Which I did.

The holidays came and went and before I knew it, I was 3 weeks out from marathon day. I knew from the beginning of training that I wanted to do a two-week taper. This lined up well with how our runs and the holidays fell. I had an excellent 18 mile run two weeks out from the marathon. The following week I had another good 10 mile run. The taper worked for me, enough time to recover, but not so much that I went crazy.

Pre-Race:

Kiki and I packed up and drove to Houston on Friday. Checked into the host hotel. Walked over to expo and packet-pickup, checked out expo. Expo was so so at best. Not too exciting. Got a few Houston marathon souvenirs. That night we walked to a great Vietnamese restaurant. It was outstanding, glad we went there. Had a great night of sleep Friday.

Saturday, slept in, got up and went for an easy run. Started and ended at the finish line for the marathon. Did an out and back. Run felt good. Visualize finishing strong.

Breakfast in the hotel. And then out to drive the course. Glad we did this. Good to get a sense of the course and where we will be running. Back to the expo in the afternoon to see the short film, “Running for my Father.” The film was made by a guy named Cody that I vaguely know from the Runner’s World forums. We actually happened to run into him Friday evening as we were heading out for dinner. It was a pleasure to meet him and we enjoyed his film. Coming back into the hotel from the Expo I ran into Brian Sell, I introduced myself and got to chat with him for a couple of minutes. Great guy. He loves Texas.

Caught up with Peter and his wife Elisabeth Saturday afternoon at the expo. Then back to the hotel to rest. That night we went to a dinner with them at Angelo’s. Restaurant which was good, food was great, service was ok. The company was fantastic. We had a great time hanging out with them. Had we not had a marathon to run the next morning I’m sure we could have stayed many more hours. However, we did indeed have to get up the next morning and run.

Race day:

Up at 4am. Ate my usual pre-long run food. Showered, got dressed, all the usual pre-race stuff.

Coach Scott and Cindy drove in from Austin and met us in the hotel lobby. It was great to see them. I really appreciated them taking the time, getting up at 2am, and making the 3 hour drive. That was really above and beyond the call of duty. (Thanks guys.) Peter and his wife Elisabeth also met us in the lobby. Saw a few Rogues. Looking around the lobby it quickly became apparent that it was warm out. As nobody was wearing any pre-race warm clothes. We chatted it up for a few minutes, took some pics, last minute pit stop, and then it was time to head to the start. Huge bonus being in the host hotel, as it was just a couple minutes walk to the start corrals. We said our goodbyes to Kiki, Cindy, and Scott and headed over. We were in the Red wave, which was the first of the two wave starts. The waves started 10 minutes apart. We got to the red corral moved our way up towards the 4 hour pace group and readied ourselves for the start. Kiki, Cindy, and Scott walked by the corral and gave us some cheers and we cheered back. Feeling good, ready to run.

The race started on time at 7am. We were off.

The first couple of miles we just took it easy, ran with the crowd and got going. The roads were crowded by not terribly so. We had plenty of room to run and most around us were going the same pace. We passed runners when we had to, but we were never dodging or darting through the crowd. This was good. Each wave had marathoners on one road, and half marathoners on a separate road. The two would merge around miles 2 or 3. This definitely helped congestion.

At around mile 3 the 4 hour pacer came running up on us at a quick pace. Someone, Peter I think, asked him what pace he was running. He said he was 40 seconds to a minute behind and needed to catch up. He was running 20 to 30 seconds faster than he should have at that point. The guy was a complete nut. Running with his pacer balloons he looked like a crazy man. We let him go and dropped back. We talked with many of the runners that had been pacing with him and they were pissed. They knew he was going out too fast. We encouraged them to let him go and run their own race. Which they did. I later saw the pacer around mile 20 all alone, dragging ass like a complete idiot.

The first 3 miles we ran easy, then around mile 4 we got into our pace which was a 9:00 minute mile. It felt good. We were cruising. We carried small water bottles with us to avoid the crush of runners at the first water stop. This worked great.

Around mile 7 we hit a water stop and Peter and I got separated. I didn’t know if he was ahead of me or behind me. I thought he was behind, so I took it slow for a couple of minutes after the water stop, but never saw him. I got back into my pace and kept going. Thinking, well this is pretty early in the race to lose each other. Soon though I saw him up ahead and slowly made my way back to him.

Around mile 9 the half marathoners split off from the marathoners to head back to downtown. We had lost Elisabeth around mile 4 as she made a pit stop. She later caught back up to us just before the split. We gave her a cheer on her way back to the finish.

At this point in the race things are feeling good. However, it is warm, it had been humid, and now the sun was coming out. Holding our pace was fine, but you could feel the sun on you and knew that it was going to keep getting warmer. We made the right turn onto Main St. near Hermann Park. This was the first point on the course where Team Kiki, Cindy, and Scott planned to meet and cheer us on. They were there and were giving us big cheers. It was great. With the heat building, I asked them to get us water bottles and have them at the next point on the course where they planned to meet us. Although there were water stops every 1.5 miles, sometimes it is nice to just have some water with you. I was also taking S-caps, two per hour, and gu’s every 4.5 miles. With the heat I didn’t want to solely rely on the water stops.

The next 6 miles went by Rice University and some excellent neighborhoods. Folks from a church were out cheering and sprinkling holy water. A huge crowd at one intersection all had cowbells cheering us on. There were people with sliced oranges and bananas. A lot of people out on the course through here cheering us on. It was much appreciated. Peter and I ran near each other really more than together. We were pretty much focused in on putting in the miles. We had a long way to go.

At mile 15 I hit the porto-potty to relieve myself. It was quick, it was good. Peter kept going, but I eventually caught back up to him.

We got to the Galleria area around mile 16 and again Team Kiki, Cindy, and Scott were there. This time with the water bottles I had requested. They had both water and Gatorade. I took water, Peter took Gatorade. Very much appreciated. They were again cheering loudly. Great to see them.

Through miles 16 to 20 things were decent but getting tougher. We ran up Tanglewood Dr. which was a neat neighborhood. Great crowd support. Huge houses. We then made the turn onto Woodway and headed towards Memorial Park. We were getting closer, but still had a long way to go. 8 miles. Around mile 20 in the park things were definitely tough. Working hard to keep pace, pretty much running water stop to water stop. Walking through the water stops to get as much fluid as we could. It was hot. I knew now around mile 20 that with 6 miles to go getting under 4 hours was going to be a stretch. But, I wanted to keep it as close as I could. I just kept on cranking away. It was not fun. Again Peter and I were running near each other rather than together. As I slowed down at a water stop he would catch up. We’d run together for a bit, I’d pull ahead. We were not talking except for a quick how are you feeling/doing etc… At one point trying to cheer him on, make him laugh, whatever I said “fuck marathons” he didn’t laugh. I think he just agreed.

Around mile 22 again Kiki, Cindy, and Scott were there to cheer us on. They had water if we needed it. At this point I didn’t as I was just running from water stop to water stop. We had 4 miles to go. Just trying to push through.

Now we were onto Allen Parkway, downtown is insight, each mile is tough. There are two underpasses along Allen Pkwy, presenting us with two hills. They were not welcome. Just tried to make the best of it and get down and up them.

One of the things that helped to provide some perspective during the race were the medical aid stations. The stations were placed throughout the course. Near water stops. They had display signs with the current conditions. Around mile 9 the sign read that the conditions were Green Flag. Run as planned. This was in regards to the weather. At mile 20 the sign read Yellow Flag, Heat caution or something to that effect. I thought this was a helpful addition to the race. It let me know that it wasn’t all in my head. That it was hot out. It was also a useful reminder that hydrating was needed.

At some point towards the end of Allen Parkway Peter’s wife was there cheering us on. I never saw her, which is funny as there were not that many people on this section. Apparently she was right there and I just chugged on by. I was getting pretty focused on finishing this thing.

Now into downtown, we’ve got about 1.2 miles to go. Time to push it through to the end. Not looking good for sub 4, but I’m going to try and make it close. It’s funny as at this point in the race 1 mile still seems far. All you want to do is be done. We make the turn onto Rusk and it is a straight shot to the finish. I’ve got a mental marker of a construction crane to know where I’m at, I spotted this on my run on Saturday. It helps. With a few blocks to go I pick up the pace and take it home. The crowds are huge in the last block. Out of the corner of my eye I spot Team Kiki, Cindy, Scott, I give a thumbs up as I push through and finish strong.

I’m done!! Marathon number 2.

Finish time: 4:01:09 PR by 27 minutes over Austin last year. I’ll take that.

One minute later Peter crosses the line. We get some finish line photos and head into the convention center. We are wiped out. Peter is not feeling too good, so he lies down on the ground. He’s hungry. I tell him I’ll get him some food. I head over to the food line and get him some food. Luckily it doesn’t take too long. I get back, give him a plate of eggs, potatoes, and sausage. I eat one sausage. The rest looks extremely unappealing to me. Peter however enjoys it. With Peter feeling a bit better after food, we get our finishers medals, and shirts. We see David and Amy from Rogue and chat with them. We see Daniel from Rogue and talk to him. Then head over to the reunion section where Team Kiki is waiting for us.

It was a tough day, a good day, a hot day.

Houston is an excellent marathon. One I would recommend to any runner. The crowd support is fantastic.

Goals:

When training for the marathon began in September, my goals for this season of training were targeted towards both running my best time possible in the race and testing myself in training. I wanted to reach a maximum mileage of 55 miles and have several more 50 mile weeks. I wanted to incorporate a weekly medium-long run of 10 miles or more. I wanted to PR in my 10k race and my half marathon race. I also wanted to break four hours in the marathon.

Results:

One week at 55 miles.

Five weeks at 50 miles.

Medium-long runs of 12 miles weekly

10k PR of 58:12

Half Marathon PR of 1:51:59

Marathon PR of 4:01:09

A huge amount of thanks goes to my wife Kiki. She again was a fantastic support crew. Without her help, doing all kinds of little things, food, logistics, etc…it would have been a much tougher weekend. Thanks hon.

Again, Cindy and Scott. Thank you. It was very cool to have y’all there.

Peter, you rock man. You have become a great friend and an excellent running partner. Peter if nothing else is consistent. When we were leaving the expo together on Saturday, with his race packet in hand, he mentioned the fact that after he had run Houston the year before he had sworn he would never run another marathon. And here he was one year later running Houston yet again. As Peter was lying on the ground in the convention center, he sat up, and as he shook my hand he swore to me that he would never run another marathon again. Well we’ll see about that.

Senor Eric Cruz we put many many miles in this year. It has been great. I know you will rock it out in Austin.