Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The Race Report!!!!

We gradually made our way closer to the starting line. As we got closer I got a little more excited. Soon it was our corral's turn at the start. Ready set GOOOOOO!!!

And we were off.

The start of the race was pretty fun. We were having a pretty good time. Gill and I were chatting back and forth as we were going. Within the first couple of miles we came across a couple of idiots riding their bikes in the middle of the street full of runners. Of course I had to get after them about being there. I don't think that it did much good, but they got out of the road at the next street. I realized right away that my Star Wars jersey from Primal Wear was perfect for running. There are deep pockets on the back that actually go below the waistline of my shorts and that kept all the stuff that I was carrying from bouncing around. I would definitely recommend Primal Wear jersey to runners doing the marathon.

Gill started having some pains in his feet pretty early on. These were the same pains that he got near the end of the Detroit marathon that he ran about a month earlier.

It was a fairly cold morning, but I had ditched my sweatpants at the gear check and was wearing a sweatshirt, hat, and gloves. We reached the Alamo at mile two and decided it was time to take of the sweatshirt and reveal "The StarWars Runner"!!!!

Things were going pretty good we were maintaining around a 10 min/mile pace and it felt really pretty good. There were several kids along the route that looked pretty bored. So I started making an effort to give them "five" as I was running by. The kids really seemed to enjoy this and it would bring a smile to their face.

A little while later Gill started his own variation of this by trying to get the HOT women spectators to give him high fives.

We were following our race strategy of walking through the water stations. Gill seemed to notice some benefit to this compared to how he ran the Detroit Marathon. Gill and I ran in the general vicinity of each other for about 10 miles and then he had to slow down/stop because of his foot. One minute he was there and the next time I looked back and I couldn't see him. I continued to do well and maintain the 10 min/mile pace. I did have some groin area pain and some pain in my toes, but I was able to run through the pain.

I met up with Jill and the girls around mile 14 and still felt good. I ditched the sweatshirt and gloves. I told the girls to hold out their hands and give the runners "five" as they ran by. I should of had Arin and Rachel run with me for a short way. I was really nice to see them and I was glod to get rid of the stuff that I was carrying. It was shortly after mile 15 that I started to have problems.

The support on the back half of the course was not nearly as good as on the front half. I started listening to the ipod in this area. It was around mile 18 when I started wanting to stop and walk more often, but held off through about mile 20. I finally reached mile 20. This was the point of the unknown. I had previously only run 20 miles so this was all new territory for me. It was around mile 20 that I remember my thighs really burning. On the bright side the groin pain was gone and so was the pain in my toes. It was also around this time that I noticed I was running slower than the 10min/mile pace that I had been maintaining over the first half of the race.

I remember passing the mile markers around mile 23 and I could see the Tower of the Americas in the distance and the Alamodome, but they never seemed to get any closer. I definitely knew at this point that it was all mental. I will have to remember to do a better job of creating mental images or repeating a mantra to myself as I run these last 6 miles. I finally made it to the Alamodome and was running on the side and I turned the corner to head up the dreaded hill that was just before the finish line. I had toured the course before the race so I was aware of the hill. I am not sure yet if that was a mistake or a smart thing to do. The hill was not horrible but the location was!!! The cool thing about this was that there spectators lined all the way up the hill and around the corner to the finish line.

I made it up the hill and rounded the corner to see the finish line. My running became easier since I just came off the hill and I knew that I would make it to the end. I was not able to muster the energy to have a big finish, but I was just happy to cross the finish line. The clock time was 5:15 minutes and my chip time was 4:45 minutes. I crossed and got my medal. I was most surprised by the fact that I just wanted to cry. This was really surprising to me. I walked around the finish line area drinking water and trying to keep loose while I waited for Gill.

I kept looking for Gill, but had not seen him cross. I was becoming more and more worried that he had not been able to finish. I had no way to get a hold of him as he did not have his cell phone (this is one thing that I would change next time - I would make sure that we have a back-up communication plan.) I finally spoke to my mom and had her look him up online. She said that he had not yet crossed the mile 24 split and 1.5 hours had passed since the split at mile 20 (I think). I thought that He had come in off the course and I now I had to go and find him. A few minutes later mom called and said that he just crossed the 24 mile split. This made me feel a whole lot better. Now I waited around for him to cross the finish line. He finished in 6 hours and 15 minutes.

One of the things that I realized from this race is that there are so many variables that can go wrong when running such a long distance that it is just amazing to finish. It would be nice to set a new personal record with each race, but there are just too many possible issues that can cause you problems during the race.

I DID IT!!!!

May the Force be with You!!!

Chad

1 comment:

MarathonChris said...

Congrats again on finishing your first marathon!!! You did an amazing job. It was great meeting you both before and after the race! It is great to have your family there to support!

Now to figure out what your next race will be! :0(