Houston Marathon 2012 Race Report

Um yep, I ran another marathon and have been so caught up with the rest of life that I forgot to write a race report (thanks for the reminder Kerri!).

I ran Houston again this year, and I was far better trained this year than last. I managed to stay mostly injury free, and I ran significantly more miles than last year. Interestingly, I ran more miles, but I ran every single mile slower (over a minute per mile slower!)...yet finished WAY faster.
This year I also ran for a charity...the Organization fo Autism Research. That also played a huge part in how hard I trained and how much I could endure on marathon day. I ran for my KK and for all of our sanity.

Anyway, so I was smart enough to take the day off on Friday before the race to hit the expo and do some shopping. I got a couple of things, but I had one particular find that I absolutely loved.

As is typical for January, Patrick had a tournament that weekend. So thankfully, my mom came up and helped me with the kids that Saturday. This was great because I had to take Larkin to a birthday party, during which I feel like I pulled a back muscle! Then I realized at 5pm that I did not have enough Gu Chomps to get through the race...and had to run to Academy in a hurry! Mom kept me sane, and I went to bed early ready for my early wake-up!

The morning went mostly as planned, but it was freaking cold!I had tons of throw away layers, but I debated what I really needed. I managed to head to the convention center with just a throw away jacket. We were a little late, but managed to meet up with Annie, Beth, etc. and got a quick girls picture.

Annie and company headed to the "fast" corral LOL!, and Patrick walked me to the B corral where we ran into Ginger! I am wearing not only my throw away jacket but also Patrick's soccer parka...it was COLD!

I feel like it took forever to get to the start line. Somewhere in there I abandoned all reason and decided that sleeveless and shorts was acceptable in 30 degree weather...I was freezing...as exhibited below.

I took off with the crowd around the 11:00 min/mile pace. My goal was to maintain that pace throughout. Considering that it took me 5hrs 25 minutes to finish last year, a pace of 11-11:15min/mile would get me in under 5 hours and that was my goal.
Goal 1: Beat my time from last year.
Goal 2: Come in under 5 hours.
Ultimate goal: Come in under 4:45.

Truth be told, I took off "too fast" according to my time goal. I was supposed to stick to 11min/mile with a preferred upper limit of 11:15min/mile. But I felt good, and it felt easy, so I just coasted comfortably. By mile 2, I was perfectly content with my sleeveless/short ensemble. It's also interesting to remember that last year, my knee hurt at 0.25 miles...it was a non-issue this year.

I hit the 5K marker in 33:25 with a pace of 10:46min/mile...oops, just a tad fast.

I saw Patrick right about then and told him I went out too fast. He said don't worry about it and settle into my pace. So I tried to slow down...but I don't think that worked because I hit the 10K marker in 1:07:16 at a pace of 10:50min/mile.

I saw Patrick again and told him I was still going too fast and that I was going to regret the pace...and he said "keep going, you only have 4 more hours". Crap...the idea of doing that for 4 more hours seemed unlikely, but I was set in that pace and just decided at that moment I was going to give it everything I had. I was going to try to maintain that pace for as long as possible, and then when things fell apart (as I was confident they would) then I would struggle through to the end and just try to get as close to 5 hours as I could.

I passed through Rice Village and saw my boss cheering, then I saw Patrick again who proceeded to run with me for a few minutes. He wanted to carry a conversation and while I was doing okay, I wasn't exactly in the mood to chit-chat, plus him running alongside me with a huge backpack bouncing around was really distracting. So I told him I was fine and sent him along. Then I picked up some Vaseline at the next medical tent because I was chafing (for the first time ever) under my arms. I don't wear sleeveless often...now I know why!

I hit the 15K mark in 1:40:41 at a pace of 10:48min/mile.

At this point I wasn't really sure how I was still moving at the same pace. I definitely felt like I could give it more, but at the same time, I didn't want to blow-up in the second half!
I hit the half marathon point in 2:21:35 at a pace of 10:48min/mile.

Now I was itching...itching to let loose. I knew I had more to give, but I had never made it to this point so strong. Last year, I literally hit THE WALL at like mile 7. This time, I was cruising, completely comfortable with my pace, definitely pushing a little, but always feeling like I had more to give (which apparently is what a well paced marathon should feel like).
I promised myself to hold back until I hit mile 20...then I was just going to give it all I had.
I saw Patrick up on an overpass "hill" around mile 16? Our friends Lauren and Aaron had apparently done their own sprint to get up the overpass to get there in time to catch me (my time projections were screwed up for everybody because I was going too fast LOL!). I was happy, but I remembered yelling at him "It's starting to hurt, but I'm too stubborn to slow down!"

And then I hit 25K in 2:47:30 at a pace of 10:47min/mile. I was still maintaining pace...but honestly, I probably had no idea that this was the case. I just knew I was feeling fairly consistent, and I wasn't completely miserable yet. 

Those next couple of miles flew by. I was literally just waiting to hit mile 20 so that I could push it. Really feel what it was like to leave it all on the course.
I hit 30K in 3:21:02 at a pace of 10:47min/mile. Still holding strong.
I saw them one more time just before my "go point". I was still feeling good. Where last year I stopped and half cried to Patrick and walked for several minutes...this year I smiled for a picture, kept moving, and said "I got it".

And I did...so I took off....ready to leave it all out there. Feeling strong, feeling like this was what I trained for, this is what I worked for, this was what I would do for my KK, for my family, for myself.

The wall wasn't really intimidating. My legs were getting a little heavy, everything was starting to ache, but I was ready for it. I tried to push, but it took quite a bit of effort to just maintain my pace...again, typical marathon feeling. But I tried to pick it up just a little bit. Man, it felt so amazing to be passing SO many people that late in the race. I started to cramp a little (calves were tightening), so I made sure to grab plenty of Gatorade. That salty goodness tasted amazing!

I hit 35K in 3:53:22 at a pace of 10:44min/mile...meaning I really was speeding up! Which again, isn't all that common in a marathon for your average middle-aged mom of 2 ; )

Somewhere in here, I did some fuzzy math and realized that I was definitely going to make it under 5 hrs...and that I was probably going to make it under 4:45...but could I do even better?
I was really feeling good, and then bargaining with myself that at mile 23 I would pick up the pace again, and then PAIN!!!

From one minute to the next, terrible, excruciating pain in my right foot toe area. I'm not sure how I didn't break stride/fall down/cry. But I kept going. I was confident that my toe nail was completely ripped off. I knew that if I stopped, I wouldn't be able to start again. I could not sit, I could not take off my shoe, I had 3 miles to go for my best time, and I was NOT going to quit now! I kept trying to rub my toes down to get the toe nail back on, but that didn't seem to help anything. All I could do was keep moving through the pain for a little longer. I hit the last aid station just before mile 25 and didn't even slow down...I spilled half the Gatorade on myself.

Again, I have to say that the support those last 6 miles of the marathon is freaking amazing! These people know exactly what to say. I say this because last year...at the back of the pack, these people said things like "just keep moving forward, you're going to make it!"...but I was in a different "time zone" this year, so I heard things like "don't stop now, keep up the pace, give it all you've got!". Because this year, I was in a different group...and I loved that.

Even given the excruciating foot (well, you know, and everything else that hurt!), I hit the 40K mark in 4:25:42 at an overall pace of 10:42min/mile...I was still getting faster. 

I skipped the last aid station...and I gave it everything I had. Honestly, it feels amazing to know that you finished a race and left it all out there. Over those last 6 miles, I pushed every uphill, passing tons of people as I went, I pushed at every chance. Last year, when I got downtown, I remember conserving a little barely half a mile from the finish to make sure I could still be running at the finish line. This year, I was ramping my pace up every inch closer to that finish line. I pushed as hard as I possibly could toward the end...I really didn't understand how close I was to finishing under 4:40...

I remember watching the TV coverage the next day and telling Patrick that I was absolutely sprinting to the finish...and watching the "Kenyan winners" running on TV and telling him "that's how fast I thought I was going"...he choked on his food...LOL!
But going down that home stretch, literally, the last 5 minutes of the race, I kept saying to myself (actually I was saying it out loud!) "Come on, come on, come on!".
And in the end I left it ALL absolutely out there. On that day, in those conditions, I could not have done any better.
I crossed the finish line in 4:39:37 at a pace of 10:40min/mile...and a 3 minute negative split.
The results would later show that in the last 4.5 miles, I passed 428 runners...and only 1 passed me.
I crossed the finish line knowing I had not only beaten my time from last year (by over 45 minutes!!!), broken 5 hours, but also broken 4:45.

 Then I looked down at my watch and saw that glorious 4:39...

And then looked over and saw Patrick and got emotional...oh my God, a feeling I will never forget. Utter exhaustion, complete pride, utmost satisfaction...my work was done...it was all worth it.

I limped my way into the convention center. It's always funny to me how you've just sprinted (or at least think you have sprinted), and then literally feet from the finish line, you can't seem to limp your way across a room. I went to find Patrick, but then he quickly had to get me back over to the medical area. He carried me on his back which was fairly entertaining LOL! I went to the podiatry area of medical and had some lovely areas of my foot drained. A few choice blisters, one of which was under the nail bed of my second toe. It hurt...but again, totally worth it!

The Texans were in a playoff game that day, so we were lucky enough to go have lunch and a drink with Lauren and Aaron while Mom watched the kids a little longer. I tried not to puke, limped around, and basically glowed and was in awe about how well it went. HOLY CRAP!

And then I talked to Mom and Dad...and they were so proud. I guess you could track my dot across the city, and "my dot" kept doing better than expected, so they got to watch me "outperform" my expectations all morning...and well, as a grown adult, those opportunities to make your parents proud are a little more rare...so it meant everything to me because it meant so much to them.

At the end of the day, I was still in one piece.
I was proud and exhausted.
My kids were happy to see me.
My exhausted husband had tracked me all over Houston and was equally impressed.
And I still knew that I wanted to do it again next year...and do it faster.

Because it's the one thing I do all year that is for me. It's my personal time, it's my chance to push myself. Training is my therapy, and when I can fundraise for autism research, it's even more awesome.

So I will keep doing it until I can't...and you'll keep hearing about it whether you want to or not ; )