Houston Marathon 2011 - Becoming a runner

I got up around 4am. Marathon Day 2011 was here.
My goal all year had been to run a sub 3 hour marathon. And over the year, at age of 39, I had transformed myself into a runner. In the past I had run the Houston Marathon 12 times, but I wasn't really a serious runner. I didn't really study it or try to get drastically better, it turned into something I just did every year, often just to keep the streak alive. My training in the past was basically run 6 miles 2 or 3 times a week then run 8-20 miles on Saturdays starting in October to get ready for the January Houston marathon. Usually not keeping track of pace. Just very minimal training for a marathon. Many of those marathons were painful, because I'd get on the start line and try to go fast but then halfway through the race I was spent and a long way away from the finish, so I suffered. My best time I ever posted was in 2002, at age 31, 3hrs 12minutes- afterwards I went to the medical tent and got an IV for dehydration. The last 2 years my time was around 3hrs 36 minutes. My worst time was about 3hrs 53minutes- in one of the years where I didn't train much and had other interests going such as programming or cartooning.

But this year I was interested. My sister dubbed it my midlife crisis. I trained much harder. I started to love the sport and follow pro runners on Twitter and in the news. I started watching races and videos. I'd always wanted to run a a sub 3hr marathon. Whenever you meet a runner you compare PR's(personal records, the best time you've acheived). When people go into coaching or write articles on running, lots of times they include their PR to give them credibility. A sub 3hr marthon is considered the start of advanced marathoning. You gotta be able to average 6 min 51 seconds per a mile pace. For context, a sub 3 hr time might win you a small, small local marathon. But at big marathons with prize money, it ain't nothing, the winners are usually around 2hrs 10minutes, and are usually from Eastern Africa. But still 3hrs is the start of the next level. I'd always wanted to get there and I wasn't getting any younger. I knew I had to step it up if ever I wanted to do it. The time is now.

So, I started keeping track of everything. Marking off courses. Timing every mile. Learning about hard days and easier recovery days. Running intervals. Counting weekly mileages. Doing different paces. Running prepartion races. I started seeing the same local runners at the races. Seeing who I could beat and who could beat me. I slept more. Ate smarter. Drank only water. Ate veggies. No chocolate. No soda. Few desserts. I learned about heavier training shoes and lighter racing shoes. Did this for 9 months, and improved all the way.

But now it's here. Race day. Marathon Sunday. The Houston Marathon. Finally.

I'm nervous. After 9 months it was here. This was the test. Wouldn't you know it, the weather was iffy. There was actually talk all weekend of cancelling the marathon due to storms and lightning possible. They even put up crazy contingency plans in case lightning showed up, where we would all 22,000 runners would stop running and shelter under bridges or in parking garages. It was raining lightly now as I drove to downtown at 4:50am. Drawn to downtown like a magnet. But this weather was a bit of a kill joy, would I even get my shot? @a@%#!$!!

I maybe got 4 hours of sleep. Messing with this and that all night. Exactly what I told myself NOT to do. Painting stuff on my fricken t-shirt. I'm never doing that again. No one even said nothing about it. I painted "HOUSTON" on my shirt with a heart for the last 'O'. Cause this is my hometown. All I ever hear are transplants talking bad about the city- can't get out of here fast enough. Even my own old preacher(who I love) last week saying this really isn't where he'd choose to live. This city gets no respect. During the race, I thought people would yell out, "Damn right! H-town Baby!!" But I got nothing. Maybe I didn't paint it dark enough? At any point, I'm just running in regular shirt from now on because that gets me too jacked up and emotional. I need to calm down, conserve energy.

I got there early arriving downtown at 5:15 am- the earliest I'd ever shown up. In years past I just showed up late at like 6:30 am parked and went straight to the start line for the 7am start. This year, like I said, I'm into it.

I got easy free parking by Toyota center on LaBranch St just like I planned. I fiddled with stuff in the car, packed my check-in bag, and even read a bible verse (Isiah 20 I been meaning to look it up cause runners talk about it- oh it's where they get a song we sing at church. With the chorus "Run and not get weary". I never like that translation about even youth getting

tired, can't a young person wait on the Lord also? Anyway- I actually finally heard a translation I like... even as youth we get weary... i like that better) Then I took a piss in a Gatorade bottle while sitting nonchalantly in the car. This is my pre-race ritual. Partly cause I like peeing in stuff Howard Hughes style, but also if the porta potties are full I won't have to run with a full bladder. You've got 22,000 runners seriously hydrating, the porta potties lines are always super long. You can get shut out. Then I drank my Cytomax performance drink, it's like Gatorade, but supposedly burns slower. I'm not sure. I only take carbs before and during races and dress rehearsals, on training runs I usually take nothing to get used to the draining feeling, making your body burn fat. Suck it up. That's what some experts say- others say timing doesn't matter. What I discovered this year about marathoning is that: less is more. You don't need lots of fancy crap. You don't need to eat a ton, drink a ton. Just run. Don't need to have great shoes (you want light ones for the race- maybe always?). It's actually a sport for the poor. Actually most sports are. Especially sports with minimal equipment and access to fields. Who wants it more and all that stuff. What are you willing to do without? Deprive yourself of. This is a brutal sport. It's really more of a lifestlye. The pros live up in the mountains running up to 3 times a day. Eat little. Logging 100-140+ miles a week. The men weighing in around 130 pounds or less. Like one local Houston artist said, "Suffer for your Art." I like that. Anyhow, I'm ready now to leave the car. I pour my "Gatorade" on to the tree roots at the park. Good nutrients for the tree. Then lock up the car.

I walk about 5 blocks to GRB, I'm already in a stream of runners, all in a hurry to get to the start line, it's still dark, but not cold enough. The temperature is about 55 degrees, light rain, and about 100% humidity. This is warm and muggy for a marathon. In the 40's, dry, and no wind are best for marathoners, you don't have to work as hard. More drizzle. Are they gonna cancel this thing? Please no. But this is a bit draining. I wish I could just relax. If they let us run, it's gonna be a tough marathon.

I went into the GRB convention center. Runners everywhere. Stretching. Talking. Hydrating. Urinating. Lining up at the urinals(see, sweet Gatorade bottle). The place is huge like an airport hanger. Just runners everywhere in a hurry. Pinging around. Such odd people. All OCD. Am I part of this crowd? I walked way over checked my bag with my cell phone in it, the plan is to call my family when I'm done, tell them I'm ok. I usually don't check a bag. Too much congestion, just get me to my car. But this year during races I've found that a post race massage cuts down on the soreness, so my plan is to get one. So that may take a while, better call before all that. So now I'm ready, it's just me- no more clutter. I'm basically in underwear. Small running shorts and my painted racing tanktop(singlet). And wearing my 7oz racing shoes. Just slippers really. I walk past the weighers. I didn't want to do this. All throughout training I've dropping weight. I knew I was around 150lbs. The most I've ever weighed in my life was around 175lbs- probably during the 2 years I didn't run the marathon 2006 & 2007- hurt my ankle playing basketball. I know I've run the marathon at 165lbs. So like I told you. I'm in to in this year, I've done my training. But I didn't want to get on the scales right before the race and be like 155 lbs and blow my confidence. Have I been eating too much during the tapering training phase before the marathon, when you start running less to feel fresh for the race. But I decide to do the weigh-in any way, I wanted to know. I step on the scale it reads 146.5 lbs, Ahh hell yeah. I'm ready. (see this is the inverse of popular american sports, where it's all about bulk. It's an odd, brutal sport that demands you be light as possible, while putting in an incredible amount of aerobic training. I guess cycling is like it, and horse jockeys, but they don't do the running... Also boxing with the weight classes, and weigh-ins but that's lots of that smoke and mirrors, dehydrate and make weight then box at 20 lbs heavier 2 days later)

I try stretching in the GRB a little more, but I'm too nervous. What is the weather doing out there? I head to the exit even though it's like 6:05am still 55 min til race time. I can't take it i'm getting out there. I push on the door, damn feels like it's locked. There is like 20 exit doors all in a row. So I go down to the one next to the police woman and ask if I can exit here. She says, "Yeah, but no reentry." In my mind I'm think I've been training all year for this I don't want no friggin reentry. I push at the door it's hard as hell, finally it opens abruptly. Damn am I that weak- can't open a door? When the door swings open abruptly, it picks off one of the runners outside streaming all around the GRB Convention Center trying to get in. I say, "Sorry." But the lady was miffed. I hear the cry from the rushing runners, "Why can't we go in there?" And the police woman inside yelling, "Go around!" As the door shuts. I skip to the outside of the streaming runners. And get clear of all that congestion- into the streets. Get me to the starting line. It's still dark and drizzling, cold and wet to be in your undies and slippers in the middle of downtown Houston. But I'm on my way to the starting line where I've wanted to be all year.

Once I get to the starting line on Crawford street, close to Minute Maid Baseball Park. There are like 50 people at the starting line. Yeah I like this out here with the other lonely souls trying to get in a good position for the start. So I stretch there just 20 ft from the starting line. Then just sit there on the street with my back on the metal fencing barricade. Just trying to relax. Still antsy. I feel tired already. Mainly because thinking about the weather and them cancelling the race. Feels like the rain is picking up. Right there by the starting line there is a row of porta potties without much of a line. So I take the opportunity for one last stop. I hate running when you gotta pee. So this is sweet. I guess I didn't need the ol' Gatorade bottle after all. When I come out of the john, my gosh tons more runners. I weave in to get about 10 feet from the starting line. I see alot of the local runners up there. The usual suspects I've seen at the local races. We wait fiddling with our watches- i don't have a GPS watch- so i'm at the mercy of the mile markers. We're ready to go. This feels normal. Been here before. They must bus in the Elites to the front of the starting line so they don't have to deal with the masses. I see them stretching and warming up in a sectioned off area in front of the starting line. It's drizzling pretty good, still almost dark. But the race mc says looks like the lightning is gonna hold off and we'll be able to have the race. They say the prayer, sing the anthem, former Cougar and Rocket Clyde Drexler wishes us luck- he's running the half-marathon.

THE MARATHON FINALLY

We wait a few minutes, and then they sound the gun. And we're past the starting line in about 5 seconds and thundering down Crawford.

Mile 1 6.20 (minute per mile pace)

It's a good strategy to run a bit hard right at the beginning to get some running room and not be boxed in. But a bad strategy to try to hit a homerun early. Cause once your spent, it gets ugly. I hear the swishing of a million foot steps down Crawford. Everyone heading out into a rainy day but happy, ready for the adventure. I'm surprised at how fast some of the locals go out, but I see as they slow down a bit later they are just trying to get some running room like me. We get started going up the Elysian Water duct bridge, I see one of the African lady runners in a purple top stop in the middle of two streams of runners(marathon and half marathon), trying to fix her shoe up. The girl next to me says, "Ah man that's bad for her to be out so early." Then after the lady stands up, she takes off! Quickly out of site, effortlessly to the front of the pack. Later watching the news that night, I see she won the race. I finish the 1st mile in 6:20. This is too fast. My race plan was to be around 6:40 at the beginning. Like I said, to reach get a sub 3hr marathon you need a pace under 6:51 per a mile. In my training dress rehearsal I did that for 24 miles, averaging 6:44 and feeling great. So secretly I'd begun to lust for a 2hr 49min marathon which is like 6:30 per mile. So my covert plan was to go 6:30 to 6:40 starting out- foolish, do what you trained for, If you got something left at the end use it then. But 6:20 is too fast. In Novemeber I averaged 6:20 per a mile for a 15 mile race, and in December I averaged 6:15 in a half marathon, but the marathon is a different animal. A 15 miler or half marathon is kin to the 10K race, but the marathon must be treated with respect. Go slow at the beginning or be prepared to pay.

Mile 2 6.16

I'm crazy this is too fast. Haven't I learned anything? I'm already racing try to pass people. It's very hard to let people go by. This is dumb. I gotta slow down. Must respect the marathon. I already feel like i'm gonna pay for this. Don't feel super fresh today. But I'm in good positioning ahead of the locals that I'd like to beat. And behind some quality runners.

Mile 3 6.29

okay now I slow down and run mile 3 in 6:29 this is kinda where I'm supposed to be. I'm still dreaming of a 6:29 per mile pace(2:49 marathon), but really this is not the day/weather to try it. Really should be going to 6:40 per mile mode. But it's hard to reason with yourself after training hard for a year. It's hard to put limits on your performance. You want to do all you can. So my conversation is, "You know you can't do 2:49 today, you can already feel it" and I reason back, "But I don't want to give in or give up on it"... well then, "You're digging your own hole."

Mile 4 6.35

Well this mile gives me proof I can't do 6:29s all the way. I do this mile in 6:35. Is it a one mile blip? Or the new norm? I think it's true, this is where I am today.

Mile 5 6.35

Mile 6 6:37

More confirmation that 2:49 marathon ain't happeining. Another 6:35s and 6:37 miles. I'm coming up on 8th street in the Heights looking for my friend Bry... hmm don't see him, maybe the bad weather kept them home. Oh there he is with his son Eric on his shoulders. Good to see them. Eric looks at me like I'm crazy. He's right.

Mile 7 6:41

Just raining and slippery as we go up under I-10 freeway... Not a good racing day.

Mile 8 6:38

Mile 9 6:40

Half Marathoners turn back toward downtown. It's super slippery with the rain. THey put down sand but people are sliding all over making the Uturn. Us marathoners go on. The rain picks up, my shoes are heavy. I can feel blisters forming...

Mile 10 6.48

Ahh man got a great view of Sam Houston Statue on coming up on main. Sam Houston on his horse. Never noticed this view before. Must have my head up this year. I'm soaked. Wet socks and shoes. But still churning. But i'm slowing down.

Mile 11 6:45

More slowing down.... get close to the 6:51 threshold for a sub 3hr marathon. Got lots in of time banked up. Bu not feeling great... I don't want to cross the threshold.

Mile 12 6:44

Mile 13 6:40

Mile 14 6:39

Okay at the half way point, over the over steep over pass. Tired but on track for my dream of a sub 3hr time.

Mile 15 6:36

Get into the Galleria Area I'm doing better here!!

Mile 16 6:44

Down Post Oak, slipping a little bit...

Mile 17 6:52

I finish mile 17 and look down at my watch 6:52!!! Panic!!! We're at defcon 5 here. I'm slipping out of the under 3 hour marathon range. I got lots of time in the bank. But I know I'm slipping. Performance is dwindling. Have I blown my chance? Lost sight of the primary goal. Such a fool. I gotta somehow maintain and battle...

Mile 18 6:56

Just as I suspected, I'm cooked... battle man. Don't fall off the wagon here.

Mile 19 6:55

Holding steady... keep it up

Mile 20 6:56

Hit the wall at Loop 610 on Memorial Drive. Holding steady, working hard.

Mile 21 7:06

Memorial Park. Oh man, I'm really slipping. 6:51 pace seems far away... Suck it up. Save some of that banked time. This is not how I wanted to run this. Didn't want to 'Go out fast and hang on.' Like a boxer just trying to make it to the bell while getting whaled on...

Mile 22 7:10

Trending down. Hanging on. On the ropes. Stomach is gurgling as I'm coming down Memorial trying to get to Shepherd Drive.

Mile 23 7:15

Turn on Shepherd Dr... I'm doing marathon math here, which is the hardest math, fuzzy fuzzy logic at this point. Factoring in the fading performance. Adding up the slippage, leveraging my banked time from earlier in the race. My mind is playing tricks on me. Have I blown it? Now I turn on Allen Parkway. Look down the road and see the mile marker banner it reads 22?? No !!! I'm adding 7 minutes for each mile ahead, if the mile marker is 22 i'm not going to make.... Oh the wind blows the banner straight, it is mile 23. I still got a chance, but no time to spare. It's gonna be really close. I can't crater anymore!!!

Mile 24 7:26

This is a war. I'm dying out here. The Allen Parkway Up Downs destroy me. A 7:26. Ouch. My stomach is a mess. It says, "If I slip one more nasty gel or syrup down my throat. We're having it out right now..." As it stands I know I'm gonna have to pay the piper at the end of the race. A date with the porta potty has already been made. As my friend Bry says from our drinking days, "I've written checks my body can't cash."

Mile 25 7:16

Gut it out it's gonna be close... we're talking seconds here... but I can start to envision an end to my misery. As I've reached downtown again...

Mile 26 6:59

i give it everything i got. It's been largely a lonely run on a rainy day. Not too many other runners around. I've languished out here as usual. A top local lady comes blowing by me at the start of downtown- I watch her go, knowing that's what a smart race looks like. First time I've been passed in a while. I pull out the stops here. Open the flood gates and reserves and give what I got. Ohh I don't want to turn that corner to the finish line in front of George R. Brown Convention center and miss sub 3hr by a few seconds. Gotta give it now or I could be really sorry. "Run now, puke later," as the coaches at military school used to yell...

Final .2 in 1.24 (7:00 pace)

Finish off mile 26!! Just .2 miles left. Gotta finish it off... The street weaves around Discovery Green park, Left in front of GRB Convention Center... and I see it- the clock at the finish line counting at 2:57 and something. I'm gonna get it!!! I hurt but I smile. I'd dreamt of it. Now a dream come true. I don't let up, I run to the line. Thank You God.

THis is beautiful!!

I never thought it possible.

I'm a Sub 3 hour marathoner!!!!

THE AFTERMATH.... here we go again... MAN down!!

(Watch my 2009 video where i ran with my video camera.... the aftermath cartoon starts at about the 9min mark)

I get my finishing medal and tshirt and stuff quickly, I know from past marathons. That I got about 30 minutes till i'm hunched over and puking. I go right past the post race food. That's a bad scene for me.

I call the family and say, "I did it!" I'm pretty emotional. I've wanted this for a long time. I say I'm starting on my way home.

I foolishly get a massage cuz my legs are so tight and sometime that helps the recovery...but the guy didn't really do the massage hard enough. And he didn't use gloves. He was nice... but i'd wear gloves. And he wouldn't take a tip.

I got out of there and started ASAP for the car which is about a quarter mile a way. I get out of GRB convention center. And i feel the stomach start it's revenge. Ah crap. I hail one of those rickshaws with a bicycle driver cuz i'm not gonna be sprawled out on the concrete for this upcoming show, i gotta get to my car. When I puke I gotta lay down. I always said "how lazy are