I just got back from running the Austin marathon this past weekend. This was my second marathon; the first I ran at Phoenix two years ago in a disappointing and painful 4:45.
I arrived in Austin on Saturday afternoon and headed over to the Expo for packet pickup. The traffic into that place was murder, but the pickup went smooth. After a quick sandwich, it was off to drive the course. There are lots of turns on this point to point course and there were about three to four cars I could tell were doing the same thing. It was kind of funny watching us all get turned around. There was nothing too alarming on the course – no major climbs and the downhills were as I had expected – slight grades with only a very few quad busters. After that, it was off to the grocery store to pick up dinner and then to the hotel for check in. I stayed at the SpringHills Suites (a Marriott property) on I35, which is about 7 miles to the race finish line and about 7 miles to the airport; a perfect location (albeit completely lacking in charm). Given the traffic situation at the Expo and a prediction of bad weather, I set the alarm for 3:45am, hoping to arrive at race parking in time to get on one of the first shuttles at 5am.
I didn’t sleep at all Saturday night, so was more than ready to get up when the alarm went off. I hopped into the car and onto I35, where I was immediately confronted with icy conditions, including accidents and police cars/fire engines everywhere. I slowed to 35 mph and made it to race parking without incident. Turns out, there were only a few compulsive souls arriving at that time, so there were no traffic problems and I boarded the third bus out. Note, there were tons of buses, and I never heard any complaints about the shuttle service. The ride took a little longer than expected due to freeway and other road closures. On the way, we saw lots of crashed and overturned cars. Our bus driver, however, got us there safe and sound by about 5:30-5:45am.
Upon arrival, we learned that the race start had been pushed back to 7:30am. The temps were hovering around 28 degrees and it was drizzling, so they were kind enough to let us in one of the Motorola/Freescale office buildings. Unfortunately, with all the runners coming in and out (we still had to pee in the outside porta potties), the building stayed just about as cold as it was outside. Around 7:00, I dropped off my clothing bag and stood in line for the last potty trip.
I lined up at just behind the 4:30 pacer group at 7:25 and by 7:30 or so, we were off. My race plan (developed with my coach, Mike Ricci) was to run in 4 5-mile segments and one 10K at the end. My plan called for me to break down the segments as follows: 52-55, 50, 47, 47, 60. The first 4 miles are a slight, barely perceptible uphill; miles 5-16 are slight downhill with a few small rollers, and miles 16-26 are net downhill, but with more rollers. As it turned out, I ran the following splits: 52, 50, 47, 47, 61, for a final time of 4:18 (official results still have my chip time the same as the clock time; I hope they fix this). The first 5 miles were at an easy pace, and I steadily increased pace through the first 20 miles. (I didn’t wear my HR monitor because I didn’t want to freak out if the numbers were high and also because I didn’t want the strap to annoy me.) That was the most fun 20 miles I’ve ever run. I had great tunes on my MP3 player, plenty of company (including some real Texas hotties), and even some spectators braving the bitter cold and damp. I walked the water stops to make sure I got the nutrition I needed and also because quick walk breaks seem to go a long way towards improving my overall endurance. I alternated the stops with water, powerade, and gels. The gels were sitting kind of hard on my stomach early on, so a couple of the scheduled gel stops, I simply drank more water. I ended up consuming 6 gel packs for the race. I did drop a full glass of water on myself at around mile 17, which provoked guffaws from a few of the spectators.
Miles 20-26.2 were the hardest. Mile 20 included a patch of concrete (most of the race was on asphalt), which battered my tired legs. By that time, the cold had also started to get to me and I felt my muscles really tightening up. I ran to the end, though, inspired by the other racers around me who I knew were struggling just like me. Instead of feeling relief that the end was finally there as I had in Phoenix, the finish line this time was a source of great joy and feeling of accomplishment. I trained hard for this race and ran as smart a race as I was able. Major, major kudos go out to Mike Ricci, who put together the perfect training plan and who got me to the start line uninjured and capable of running well. Thanks also to all the folks on this site whose kind words of encouragement helped keep me going during those times when training or my life in general wasn’t going so well. This marathon was fun, and I know I’ll run even faster next time:)
I arrived in Austin on Saturday afternoon and headed over to the Expo for packet pickup. The traffic into that place was murder, but the pickup went smooth. After a quick sandwich, it was off to drive the course. There are lots of turns on this point to point course and there were about three to four cars I could tell were doing the same thing. It was kind of funny watching us all get turned around. There was nothing too alarming on the course – no major climbs and the downhills were as I had expected – slight grades with only a very few quad busters. After that, it was off to the grocery store to pick up dinner and then to the hotel for check in. I stayed at the SpringHills Suites (a Marriott property) on I35, which is about 7 miles to the race finish line and about 7 miles to the airport; a perfect location (albeit completely lacking in charm). Given the traffic situation at the Expo and a prediction of bad weather, I set the alarm for 3:45am, hoping to arrive at race parking in time to get on one of the first shuttles at 5am.
I didn’t sleep at all Saturday night, so was more than ready to get up when the alarm went off. I hopped into the car and onto I35, where I was immediately confronted with icy conditions, including accidents and police cars/fire engines everywhere. I slowed to 35 mph and made it to race parking without incident. Turns out, there were only a few compulsive souls arriving at that time, so there were no traffic problems and I boarded the third bus out. Note, there were tons of buses, and I never heard any complaints about the shuttle service. The ride took a little longer than expected due to freeway and other road closures. On the way, we saw lots of crashed and overturned cars. Our bus driver, however, got us there safe and sound by about 5:30-5:45am.
Upon arrival, we learned that the race start had been pushed back to 7:30am. The temps were hovering around 28 degrees and it was drizzling, so they were kind enough to let us in one of the Motorola/Freescale office buildings. Unfortunately, with all the runners coming in and out (we still had to pee in the outside porta potties), the building stayed just about as cold as it was outside. Around 7:00, I dropped off my clothing bag and stood in line for the last potty trip.
I lined up at just behind the 4:30 pacer group at 7:25 and by 7:30 or so, we were off. My race plan (developed with my coach, Mike Ricci) was to run in 4 5-mile segments and one 10K at the end. My plan called for me to break down the segments as follows: 52-55, 50, 47, 47, 60. The first 4 miles are a slight, barely perceptible uphill; miles 5-16 are slight downhill with a few small rollers, and miles 16-26 are net downhill, but with more rollers. As it turned out, I ran the following splits: 52, 50, 47, 47, 61, for a final time of 4:18 (official results still have my chip time the same as the clock time; I hope they fix this). The first 5 miles were at an easy pace, and I steadily increased pace through the first 20 miles. (I didn’t wear my HR monitor because I didn’t want to freak out if the numbers were high and also because I didn’t want the strap to annoy me.) That was the most fun 20 miles I’ve ever run. I had great tunes on my MP3 player, plenty of company (including some real Texas hotties), and even some spectators braving the bitter cold and damp. I walked the water stops to make sure I got the nutrition I needed and also because quick walk breaks seem to go a long way towards improving my overall endurance. I alternated the stops with water, powerade, and gels. The gels were sitting kind of hard on my stomach early on, so a couple of the scheduled gel stops, I simply drank more water. I ended up consuming 6 gel packs for the race. I did drop a full glass of water on myself at around mile 17, which provoked guffaws from a few of the spectators.
Miles 20-26.2 were the hardest. Mile 20 included a patch of concrete (most of the race was on asphalt), which battered my tired legs. By that time, the cold had also started to get to me and I felt my muscles really tightening up. I ran to the end, though, inspired by the other racers around me who I knew were struggling just like me. Instead of feeling relief that the end was finally there as I had in Phoenix, the finish line this time was a source of great joy and feeling of accomplishment. I trained hard for this race and ran as smart a race as I was able. Major, major kudos go out to Mike Ricci, who put together the perfect training plan and who got me to the start line uninjured and capable of running well. Thanks also to all the folks on this site whose kind words of encouragement helped keep me going during those times when training or my life in general wasn’t going so well. This marathon was fun, and I know I’ll run even faster next time:)