Race #222
Marathon #16
2024 Race #1
2024 Marathon #1
Houston Marathon #2
For years I have run marathon after marathon, trying to get back to faster paces, trying to qualify for Boston but getting stuck in a plateau.
These years have worn down my mental stamina and my expectations for my performance.
I went into Houston working hard on that mental struggle with part of my warning myself to not get my hopes up too high and the other part remembering all of the fantastic, unexpected performances in the races in this build up.
After reading the race plan my coach gave me, I decided to go for it, to remind myself of the fact that someone with experience who has evaluated my training who believes that I can hit this pace.
We set off with perfect amount of time to get to our corrals. (We stayed on a hotel about a half mile closer to the start than last year.) I felt calm and ready to tackle the race.
Mom and I walked together until C corral, hers, and I continued to mine. I made my way up to about halfway between the 3:40 and 3:50 pacers since my goal was a 8:30-8:45 pace which would result in a 3:43-3:49 marathon A minute or so later we started the walk to the actual start line.
With perfect weather, mid 40s and clear sky, I started and felt cautiously confident in my ability.
For the first several miles, I made sure to keep my pace within the range my coach gave me which meant that I looked at my watch more often than I have in most recent races. I didn’t obsess over it. Instead, I would glance down to either double check that I was running the pace I felt or to check the pace when something else changed, like it feeling too easy or after I had to pass someone going not quite the same pace.
I also, with the second water stop around mile 3, attempted to grab a drink while still running. In the past, I haven’t had much success. I wanted to try again since I knew I would likely run out if I relied entirely on my one bottle. Surprisingly, I had success! I didn’t drink all of it but I also didn’t make myself choke or spill it all over myself.
Near mile 8, the half marathon split off and the course became much less congested.
Around mile 9, those doubting thought attempted to creep into my head. When they came, my first thought was surprise at the fact that it took them so long to show up. Then I slammed the door shut hard by reminding myself that my coach said that I could do it and I felt really good.
Those thoughts never showed up again.
About a mile later, I pulled out my ziplock baggie of fruit snacks to grab some fuel, the plan for every other mile. I had counted them before putting them in the bag and thought that I might run out just before the end of the race. This, I also planned to grab a gel at the two points the race offered. (I had already grabbed one.) when I put the bag back, I left it unzipped because it had been a little difficult to open. Unfortunately, the hen of my shirt somehow got ticked below the bag, making the bag pop out when I adjusted my shirt.
Ugh!
I turned to see what looked like half of the gummies on the ground. I considered just leaving it there but fueling is so important so I doubled back a couple steps to grab it and keep going.
I’m surprised that this didn’t bother me as much as other things like this have. I just kept going, thankful that I at least had some of them left.
When I grabbed the bag again at mile 12, I made sure to zip it up before putting it back just in case it happened again … and it did! I didn’t loose any gummies this time but definitely rolled my eyes at myself.
Thankfully, I managed to figure out how to put the bag back in my waist pocket successfully.
At mile 13, we encountered the only significant hill. Thanks to my coach, I knew this was coming. We headed up a bridge with a similar incline to the on Hilton Head. I prepped for a slightly slower pace but ended up feeling so good that my pace didn’t drop nearly as much as I thought it might.
Through the next seven miles I kept up the same routine, hitting the prescribed pace, taking Gatorade at the water stops, and taking fuel every other mile. (I did have a couple minor snafus like forgetting to take fuel once and missing a cup because the volunteer was looking away but nothing significant.)
As mile 20 approached, I started to get a little bit nervous because, according to the plan, that’s when I would, if I felt good enough, start to pick up the pace. I felt nervous because I felt great and couldn’t get out of it. 😂
I didn’t look at my watch through this section. Rather, I pushed the effort level as much as I thought I was capable of after switching from my audiobook to my running playlist. I discovered from the races earlier in this cycle that this provides so much motivation.
While the first 20 miles felt like they passed relatively quickly, the last 6.2, even though *spoiler alert* managed a faster pace felt like they took forever.
Every so often I wondered when things would start to feel difficult, usually on the slight rollers but the wall never came. I also, good-naturedly, wondered while we had to have these insignificant incline changes in the last 6 miles when I wanted to go faster.
Although I never hit the wall, the pace finally felt challenging around mile 24. At this point, I could definitely start telling myself that I was almost done.
I don’t remember when I looked at the cumulative time but I knew when I did that I had a high chance of making my goal. This definitely got me excited.
Since my watch had gotten off of the official distance quite a ways back, I had roughly estimated when the finish would actually come but then we made a turn and I saw the finish line much closer than I expected. I broke into an actual sprint. I could not believe how much I still had left in my legs.
I finished and stopped my watch, thrilled to see it display a time of 3:46:16, smack dab in the middle of the range my coach had given me and, what I thought at the time, my third fastest marathon.
I could not wipe the smile from my face.
While I slowly made my way into the convention center to get my bag and the post race goodies, I pulled up the race page on my blog to double check. Imagine my surprise when I saw that I ran 3:48 at Twin Cities back in 2014. For years, my brain has convinced me that I ran 3:43. That meant that I just ran my second fastest marathon time ever and my fastest marathon in nine years!
I felt so happy, relieved and confident. So many good feelings.
Over the next hour or so while I waited for Mom, I retrieved my bag from gear check, picked up my shirt and mug, changed into the race shirt and sweatshirt (it felt so good to take off the sweaty sports bra), and grabbed the HEB provided breakfast before heading to the Starbucks at the hotel next door.
Mom finished slower than she expected but faster than last year. More importantly, she finally broke through the significant mental block that has plagued her since Atlanta in 2020. That’s a huge accomplishment.
I loved this race and cannot wait for what comes next.
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