Houston Marathon – Race Report

This year was much less stressful than last year. The weather was not in doubt. It was cold and sunny, so no last-minute dithering over whether I would need rain gear. Second, I wasn’t on the brink of bronchitis, so my mood and energy level were good and I wasn't having breathing troubles.

Dan dropped me off at the convention center and I had plenty of time to get ready, check my bag and even use a real restroom, instead of one of the port-a-cans. I waited until the last possible minute to go outside because the skyscrapers create a wind tunnel effect, making it feel colder than it really is.

I found the 4:30 pace group and stuck with them for the first few miles, concentrating mainly on not tripping over anyone because the pack hadn’t spread out yet. I swear I don’t know how people run the really big marathons like New York and Chicago, where the packs never seem to thin.

By around Mile 4 I was able to find my own pace and moved ahead of the 4:30 group. Between Miles 6-7 I kept pace with a guy who was trying to get a sing-along going and joked with the spectators, trying to get extra applause. Watching his antics kept me entertained for a couple miles, but I lost him after awhile.

When we passed the Palmer Episcopal Church between Miles 9-10 I made sure to get in a good spot for some of the holy water they were splashing on the runners. It’s a cute tradition and with still so far to go, anyone’s blessing was welcome.

Crowds were good through West U, and it was nice to see the folklorico dancers out. I was glad to get to the halfway point, though, and turn toward the Galleria. By now the part of my brain that had been arguing with me about whether this was a good way to spend my Sunday morning had finally shut up and I could just focus on getting the miles done. I was glad when we finally turned onto Woodway, though. From here it was a straight shot to downtown, down my old running routes.

The belly dancers were between Miles 19-20, as usual, and I was very happy to reach the Clif tent around Mile 21 and get a Clif Shot and some Clif Bloks. My hands were cold, making it hard to find things in my pack, so the easy calorie boost was welcome.

Dan met me between Miles 22-23 and I handed off some of my cold-weather gear I no longer needed. I stopped soon after Mile 24 to stretch my legs (hip acting up) on some stairs for a pedestrian bridge over Allen Parkway. And after that, no more stops, no excuses.

There’s always a horrible “so near and yet so far” moment when you turn onto the final approach to the finish line. You can see it several blocks away, but at this point, it seems like no matter how many streets you cross, it never gets any closer. This is always an occasion for me to mutter a lot of WTFs, but finally, yes, the finish line is there. I heard the beep as I crossed the mat, I remembered to stop my watch, and I immediately found it was a lot harder to walk than run.

I got my picture taken (I probably look stupid in it since I don’t photograph well) then I staggered into the convention center to get my medal, pick up my bag, and get my finisher’s shirt and cup. The finisher’s shirts made me happy because they had actual girl-cut shirts for female finishers. I hate huge shirts, and even a men’s small is too big. But the women’s small was perfect and so cute!

I found a nice place to spread out my towel and ice my legs with my instant cold packs. I called Dan and he told me where to meet him, but long runs cause temporary brain damage, so I just pretended I knew where he was and figured I’d have to hope for the best. Since my cold packs were still cold, I gave them to a nice young couple who had been stumbling around and watching me enviously.

Then I headed outside and started walking. Poor Dan! It’s a good thing he’s done the marathon before too, or I would’ve never gotten the amount of patience I did from him. I wandered a bit before finding a sunny spot and calling him. I read the street signs (thank goodness I could still read!) and he told me to stay where I was until he found me.

After a hot shower and some Indian food, I started getting my brain back and Dan’s original instructions made perfect sense. He later said he thought about telling me he was on the north side, but figured I was in no fit state to understand the concept of "north." "I probably would've cried," I said.

I noticed they’ve already opened registration for next year’s marathon. I’m conflicted about whether I should sign up early or even sign up at all. Each year I swear not to sign up again because I’m around so many sick people in December and early January that I end up spending Christmas and New Year’s in a state of paranoia. Running San Antonio in November would actually be a more sensible option. But marathons are funny things. No sooner are you done than you find yourself wanting to sign up again, no matter how much pain you were in at the end.

Well, no need to make a decision today. I’m glad I finished, glad I did better than last year, and glad the pressure is off and I can turn my thoughts toward other things.

Done!

Finish time: 4:25:44. It's a significant improvement over last year, but still a good ways off what I think I'm capable of.

I'm not dissatisfied, though.

More later. It's nap time.

A Fun Day

For many years it has been my annual tradition to take the Friday before the marathon as a vacation day, go to the Expo and do some shopping. The fact that my birthday always falls on or near marathon weekend is an additional reason for this fun tradition.

I started my day by sleeping in until 8:00. I read the morning news over coffee, checked up on things at the office and handled a few work-related matters, then got dressed and headed downtown.

I got to the Expo at 11:15. I picked up my race packet, got my chip tested, got one of the two shirts I’ll be getting this weekend (I get the other after I cross the finish line) and explored the Expo. I hadn’t had breakfast, so I made sure to hit the Clif Bar booth for samples. I was disappointed that there was no Smoothie King booth, but there were two rice companies with booths and I ate a lot of rice. I also ate a mini Lara Bar. It was okay, but I still prefer Clif Bars.

I browsed the sale clothing from the various running shops, but didn’t find anything I just had to have. I bought a couple of new running caps though, and some socks and an amphipod pocket. I have two amphipods already, but they’ve been missing since I moved last August, and I’ve really missed having one for short runs.

I signed up for Bayou City Outdoors' newsletter and entered a drawing for a weekend in Marathon, Texas (near Big Bend). I picked up race info on upcoming triathlons and next November’s San Antonio Marathon.

When I could find nothing else of interest, I left the expo and went to one of my favorite resale shops. I found a lot of good stuff there.

Then it was off to PetSmart to stock up on supplies, using one of my gift cards from Christmas. And since PetSmart is next to a Barnes & Noble store, I browsed the books and found two I liked, using another of my Christmas gift cards.

Walgreens was next on my list, where among other things, I got some instant cold packs for after the marathon. It was great last year to be able to ice my legs immediately after getting my finisher’s medal and shirt. It speeded my recovery and made me feel very smart.

And finally, since Friday is Grocery Day, I went to Central Market and Rice Epicurean, where I filled up on samples and did the shopping for the week.

I got stuck in traffic on the way home due to a stalled cement mixer on the freeway, but that was the only down spot of my day. I got home and put all my loot away, visited with Dan and read blogs and emails.

Tomorrow I’m going to do laundry and maybe go for a morning walk to my new secret trail. I’ll get all my gear together for the marathon, so I won't be scrambling for anything tomorrow night. Dan and I are going to a wedding in the afternoon, but we’ll be home early and hopefully I’ll be tired and able to go to bed early. If not, no big deal. I’ve done runs of over twenty miles on just three hours of sleep, so I’m confident my body will be up for whatever I tell it to be up for on Sunday.

One more day!

Last Long Run

I did my last pre-marathon long run yesterday—twelve miles. It was the distance I had planned for this weekend from the outset of my training and I was nervous that I might not be up for it. Sometimes after I’ve been sick for a few days, my body seems to forget how to run. I plotted a route that would keep me close to home in case I wasn’t up for the distance, but everything went just fine. I was a little tired toward the end, but that was just the lingering effects of having spent three days with a fever and not sleeping well. I had no sense that anything was really wrong. It’s funny how after seven and a half years of distance running, one learns to know the difference between different kinds of tired and different kinds of feeling “off.” One develops a sense of when it’s a cause for concern and when it’s just a bad day.

The marathon is next Sunday, so my plan for the week is to exercise as I normally would this week, Monday through Thursday, mostly bike and elliptical with maybe a short run with no time pressure on Tuesday or Wednesday. Friday is my usual rest day, and Saturday will be a rest day too.

I’ve scaled back on the herbs and vitamins I was taking when I first got sick, since all that C was giving me a sore throat. But I’m continuing to take everything on a reduced scale, and I’m hoping that this little illness has put my immune system on the offensive so I won’t pick up anything new before next weekend. Last year I was on the cusp of a bronchial infection the day of the marathon and it affected my ability to enjoy the race and led to a very long recovery period afterwards. Hopefully I’ve escaped that fate this year and I’ll be able to tap into the fun and excitement of participating in Houston’s biggest road race of the year.

One week to go!

Dodging a Bullet

I usually post for New Year's but instead I’ve been incommunicado. Or rather, I’ve been sick. Sick and terrified that it would keep me out of the marathon, which is less than two weeks away. I figured if I didn't say it, it wouldn't be so.

It started when I spiked a fever Sunday night, completely out of the blue. The heat and chills, joint and sinus pain were bad, but what scared me was the cough. Once something settles into my lungs, I’m out of commission for up to a month, easy, and it wouldn't be the first or second time a bout with bronchitis kept me from the marathon at the last minute.

Holidays are a sucky time to be sick since the doctors are all on vacation, so for three days I fended for myself, dosing myself with every vitamin and herbal I had in my home arsenal and putting an extra clove of garlic into every bowl of soup. I ran a fever nearly the entire time, dripped and sneezed like mad, and am expecting my thank-you note from the Kleenex Corporation any day now for all the product I used.

Luckily the lung congestion turned out to be non-sticky in nature, and by today I was pretty sure it was only my sinuses that were the problem. And I do mean problem. It's no fun to wake up at 4 am feeling like your eyes and brain are about to pop out of your skull from your head being squeezed in a vise. It's the sort of pain that makes you want to cry, but since you know crying will make it worse, you don't. No bravery, just pure self-preservation.

I went to the doctor today and she confirmed I had a sinus infection and gave me meds. She also said my lungs were on the mend and to keep doing what I was doing. Yay! She gave me pain meds for the next couple days so I can sleep while the antibiotics get a handle on my sinuses, which is a relief-- no more waking up at 4 am and wishing someone would just beat my brains out and get it over with.

Since my temp has been normal since mid-morning today, I guess that means I can’t stay out another day from work. I would dearly like to and I think it would hasten my recovery, but I’ve only got one other person on my team this week because I let the other two have extended Christmas/New Year vacations. Dumb move in retrospect, but I was operating on the assumption that I would be there since I’m almost never sick, and even more rarely am I too sick to go to the office. I don’t believe in managing by exception, so. . .

At any rate, I’m feeling much better tonight and I might even go to the gym tomorrow after work and walk or do light elliptical work. It’s scary how you can get so used to being active that you feel bad when you’re not.

Here’s to dodging a bullet, and to a healthy 2008!

Last Long Run!

I needed one more run over 20 miles to get ready for my January marathon and as of last night I was still undecided whether it should be today or Christmas morning. Even though it had been less than a week since last Sunday’s 19-miler, I went with today, based on the following:

• Rain predicted for both days, but Christmas would be colder.
• Fewer people around on Christmas, which isn’t a good thing when you’re female and running alone for 4-5 hours.
• I might feel pressured to hurry on Christmas and cut my run short.

My plan was to circle the campus 3-4 times while waiting for the sun to come up and then make a decision whether or not to head toward Rice University and Montrose. Weather.com predicted scattered thunderstorms, so when I saw the dark clouds to the west after sunrise, I assessed how I was feeling and decided that my brain was up for the tedium of staying close to home and doing campus loops, so I would be close to shelter at all times if a really bad storm blew in.

I’m happy to report that the reports of rain were greatly exaggerated. Although I did get rained on for the last nine miles, it was mostly gentle showers and drizzling. What made this a hard run was that many of the university walkways are of that pebble-encrusted concrete that becomes slick when wet. It messed with my stride and made me have to concentrate on my footing a lot. The other hard part was resisting four decades of being told to get in out of the rain! I’d be trotting along in the rain, feeling fine, but my brain would be screaming at me, “It’s raining! Go home!” But I couldn’t go home. Once I hit the halfway point, I was committed to finishing the run. I couldn’t go eleven, fifteen, or eighteen miles and then call it off and try to do twenty in three days. So no matter what the weather did, I had to keep on unless it became dangerous.

By the time I finished my run, the rain had passed and the sun was starting to come out. And thanks to the wind and the miracle of wicking running gear, my clothes dried super-fast and I never felt soggy. I had run 22.5 miles and felt pretty good about it.

From here forward, it’s taper time. Look for me to start getting grumpy as I have to cut back on yummy food to accommodate a reduced exercise schedule!

Grumpy and Paranoid

Dan is sick and I'm a nervous wreck. I cringe every time he coughs, I run around after him sterilizing light switches and doorknobs over and over. He kept rearranging things in the grocery cart tonight until I felt like screaming, "Quit TOUCHING everything!!!"

I'm four weeks from the marathon and if I get a chest cold now, it's a good possibility that it'll turn into bronchitis and I won't be over it on marathon day. It'll be $100 down the drain if I can't make the race.

This is the main reason why every year I say I'll never sign up for the Houston Marathon again. December and early January are inevitably a time when I'm surrounded by sick people at work and at home and I can't enjoy the season because I'm so busy avoiding people and trying not to touch anything.

Maybe I'll go be a hermit in my studio apartment for the next month.