January 19, 2025: The Chevron Houston Marathon


Good morning, Houston Marathon! 

A goal: negative split, no time goal.

B goal: sub 4:45 finish. 

C goal: same-day finish, un-injured. 

After dropping off a bag of dry clothes at gear check, inside the George Brown Convention Center, Bonnie and I walked toward the entrance to Corral D, just past the Houston Astros baseball park, Minute Maid Park. Heeding advice to get to the corrals early, we arrived around 6:45 am, well before the corral closed at 7:25 am, but around the time that the elite half-marathon race was beginning. 

The wind was bitingly cold. Fortunately I had brought my cold weather running gear, including mittens, a skullcap to protect my ears underneath a running cap, and a Hot Hands warming pad tucked into a pocket of my long running tights. I wore three layers: bottom layer was a favorite comfortable shirt from my first trail race in 2015, a long-sleeved shirt from the Publix Atlanta Marathon Relay in 2024, and a bright yellow classic Atlanta Track Club shirt for my top layer, that I was given on Global Running Day about 10 years ago. Before Bonnie and I parted, I assured her, "I've got this." I remembered some December workouts in Atlanta under similar conditions, including a lonely workout on a track, running into a strong wind. I was so glad to have that recent memory, because the conditions today were not as rough as that evening about a month ago. Along with quiet confidence and realistic goals, I carried 6 gels to take at miles 4, 8, 12, 15, 19, and 23, and a 23-ounce bottle of Nuun. 

Corral A started at 6:55 am. Before Corrals B and C started, at 15-minute intervals, the master of ceremonies asked the runners to sing "Deep in the Heart of Texas". I'm sure that I learned the words in elementary school in Texas, although they were long forgotten, but began with 

"The stars at night, are big and bright (clap clap clap clap), Deep in the Heart of Texas..."  

I think it was too cold for most of the runners to sing even if they had known the words, and the MC gave up on this idea by the time that my group in Corral D was approaching the start line. I had lined up behind but to the side of the 4:45 pace group, but somehow lost them as we began to move forward. Now that the sun had risen, there was enough light for me to put on sunglasses, which immediately helped to protect my eyes from the wind. Easing through a funnel before the starting line, everyone around me began running. I warmed up with some high knee steps to get into a normal running motion, then I crossed the starting mat at 7:39 am, to start my 10th marathon.

Through the first 5K, I kept telling myself, "Patience". Within a few minutes, we had crossed Buffalo Bayou and under Interstate 45, heading westbound on Washington Avenue. I missed the first water stop, but that was why I was carrying my own hydration, although I intended to supplement with water / Gatorade at the water stops. I had to be deliberate about getting to the left side of the road in advance of the 4:30 and 9:30 walk breaks, but was happy to see that I was not the only one in my corral using a run / walk interval. Miles 1 and 2 were 11:13 and 11:04, exactly on plan. The wind wasn't too bad once we began moving, and then was at our back when we turned south onto Heights Boulevard / Waugh Drive, crossing the Bayou again, then through the intersection with Allen Parkway, which we would see again in mile 24. I finished the first 5K in 34:25. 

I was still in easy run / walk mode for the next 5K. We turned west onto Gray Street, with lots of fans cheering for us in a commercial district. After mile 4, we entered the River Oaks neighborhood. I remembered coming here once in college with a friend, whose father was a physician, well-known as one of Houston's wealthier neighborhoods. This is where I first noticed the famous live oaks of Houston, lining the streets, providing shade in the summer, and undoubtably a windbreak for the runners today.  In this stretch, I saw a woman to my right wearing a "Running City USA" jacket, and called out to my fellow Atlantan. Her name is Yvonne, running the half-marathon in Houston with 30 second run / 30 second walk intervals, as training for pacing the 3 hour group in the Publix Half Marathon in Atlanta in early March. I don't think that we had met before, but it was nice to chat for a moment, which coincided with my own walk break, before I moved ahead. Turning right on Kirby Drive, the route gradually became more commercial again, with more fans lining the roadway cheering us on. Around this stage, I was running near a person in a lobster outfit, one fan calling out "You were just passed by a crustacean!" My plan was to reach the 10K mark around 1:08, in fact I crossed the mat at 1:08:30. As far as I was concerned, that was perfectly on track. 

After the Interstate 69 underpass, we turned left onto Bissonnet Street. Some of the street names were familiar, having grown up about 100 miles from Houston, but I never really got to know the city well, as my Houston-area relatives (and my Mom's current home) all lived in Clear Lake City, a distant southeast Houston suburb. Soon it was time to take leave of the half-marathoners. I did a quick assessment of myself: feeling good from head-to-toe, not even very cold, deciding that my life choice to run the marathon was a solid decision for today. Around 7.8 miles in, the marathon group turned right. I was pleased to see that at least a third of the runners had turned with me, so it wasn't going to be a lonely day. Up ahead was the Rice University campus. I had visited once as a high school student, but it would have been expensive for my family, and once I had received a scholarship offer from Texas A&M University, that was where I was headed. I did meet some Rice University graduates when I was a graduate student at Stanford. From their account, they had a wonderful academic experience and developed a strong social bond. For myself, I had a great academic experience at A&M. Although I felt a bit like a misfit throughout my college years, I did have some good friends in college, although I didn't keep up that closely with them post-graduation. We turned onto Main Street, with Hermann Park to the left in the distance, and Houston Medical Center buildings ahead. This brought back memories from when I was four years old, my brother was in the hospital for a prolonged stay. My parents were very worried (although he recovered) but what I remember most from that time is visiting the giraffes at the Houston Zoo, and spending a wonderful summer with my cousins and aunt and uncle in Clear Lake City. Turning right onto University Boulevard, I could see the Rice University stadium up ahead. The Rice Owls had a perenially bad football team - the Rice students proudly embraced their sports mediocrity, as a prerequisite for undiminished academic excellence. 15K mark at 1:41:59. 

My stats showed 10 miles elapsed at 1:48:33. I was aware that I was easily running sub-11 minute miles, but had run nothing faster than a 10:31 to this stage. "Patience" was paying off, as was "Relax and Glide" followed by a smile. At some point we crossed into the town of West University Place, a small enclave that has somehow managed to remain independent of the City of Houston. There were quite a few fans waiting for friends and family members in this stretch. We turned right onto Wesleyan Street, heading north. I was expecting the wind in my face, but in fact it wasn't too bad by this time of the morning. The 20K timing mat registered 2:14:29 elapsed. I had just ticked off my first sub 10:30 miles, perhaps a little early to be speeding up, although I did not feel that I was pushing the pace at all.  

By this stage, I realized that I had been running on a "buzz" from a prolonged "runner's high" for quite some time. Or maybe it was a "flow state". In any case, it was wonderful to feel like I could run forever at this easy pace. I had practiced that a few times on long runs, although had not felt such a strong buzz on training runs in this cycle. Before reaching Interstate 69, we turned left onto Westpark Drive. Up ahead, I could see an overpass, over a railway line. This is the single "hill" on the Houston Marathon route. There were signs posted, providing encouragement and advice on how to run this hill. I laughed to myself, this was no more difficult than a typical ridge in metro Atlanta. Many runners around me were walking, to save their energy, while I just shortened my stride and ran past. The walk break signalled as I reached came off of the overpass. Up ahead was a short out-and-back. I slowed down to make the turn, checking to see if anyone was directly behind me. It was a little tight for me, would have been difficult if I had been running more quickly. Turning north onto Newcastle Drive, I crossed the half-marathon mat, at 2:21:30 elapsed. My plan had been 2:22 - 2:23, so I was committed to a sub 4:43 finish if I was going to negative-split this race. 

At this point, I felt great. I literally felt like I had just completed an easy warmup, even though I had been out for more than 2 hours. I just had a half-marathon to go. That thought gave me a lot of mental strength. Was their any wind? Maybe, but the wind was just another competitor. Thanks to Chris McClung, Des Linden, Kara Goucher, Coach Carl Leivers, and of course, Bonnie Youn, for getting me into a good headspace for the second half of the marathon. I was still enjoying the continuing effects of anandamide from the runner's high. We ran along a feeder road for the interstate highways, near the cross of Interstate 69 with the Interstate 610 loop. We were now running past the famous Galleria Mall. Back in the day, this was famous as the location of the only ice skating rink in the state of Texas. I never went, but remembered hearing about it from other students. I noticed that some runners were beginning to flag. I was just beginning to speed up, albeit cautiously. But now I was knocking out sub-10 minute miles. After passing Post Oak shopping center, we turned left onto San Felipe Street. I reached the 25K mark at 2:45:27.  

We turned right onto Tanglewood Boulevard, into another upscale Houston neighborhood. The miles were ticking off easily. I just kept with the steady pace, running just under 10 minute miles, noticeable in part by the rhythm of every other walk break coinciding with a mile marker. It was sometimes difficult to see the mile markers, but the kilometers were more clearly marked, which is actually the official marking strategy for a Gold Label race. To this stage, I had taken all of my gels on schedule, taking liquid at every water station. Before I knew it, I had reached the intersection with Memorial Drive, at the far northeast end of the course. Turning right, the rest of the race was westward, heading back toward downtown Houston. I passed 30K at 3:16:18. 

Wow, just 12K to go! I remembered running a 12K in just under 1 hour several years ago - and injuring myself in the process - so put that thought aside, remembering to "Relax and glide" followed by a smile, as I ran past multi-million dollar estates on my left. At one point, I passed the 4:45 pacers. Wow, they had definitely gone out too fast, otherwise I should have passed them around the half-marathon mark. Mile 19 ticked by, then after crossing under Interstate 610, the mile 20 marker appeared, around the time that I passed the 4:35 pacers. I think they were probably on the right pace. 3:28:37 elapsed, 10K to go. This is where I can tell if I'm going to have a good finish, or not. I felt stronger today than I had at this stage in my 20-mile or 22-mile training runs, knowing with confidence that I could finish the 10K well under the 75 minutes needed to make my goals. And obviously I was beginning to realize that I might be in better-than-4:35 shape. In this part of the course, in Memorial Park, someone had mounted speakers on the side of telephone poles, playing the Foo Fighters hit "My Hero". 

"There goes my hero, watch him as he goes. There goes my hero, Ordinary."

Yes, ordinary me was having a heroic run today. I passed the 35K marker at 3:46:38. 

Just 7K to go! We passed through a couple of big tunnels in the middle of Memorial Park. There was another set of speakers, playing Green Day's "American Idiot": 

"Don't wanna be an American idiot, one nation controlled by the media, 

Information age of hysteria, it's calling out to idiot America."

Just what this closeted rebel needed, a little subversive music deep in the Heart of a Red State, one day before the inauguration of a ..... "Frank! Get back on track! Relax and glide, follow with a Smile!" I had just knocked out miles 21 and 22 in 9:35 and 9:36, for my fastest miles of this race. Then I nearly collided with another runner who was turning around to grab a free beer offered by a fan. No harm, no foul.  

Near mile 23, we turned onto Allen Parkway, for the final ~5K dash to the finish line. Perhaps I should have taken a sip of that beer, because I realized that my runner's high was now gone. My legs were beginning to feel tired. But I took positive energy knowing that I had not felt this strong in the last mile of my 22-mile long run. Thank you Coach Carl, for setting up the perfect taper! I thought that I was slowing down just a tiny bit, but that was OK, I was still running 10 minute miles. Quite a few people were gathered along the side of the road to cheer us on. Shortly after beginning of the Allen Parkway stretch of the race, I saw a group giving someone medical attention in the median of the roadway, with an ambulance on the other side of the median. I hope that their condition wasn't life-threatening. I noticed the 38 kilometer sign: just 4.2K to go. For a moment, I considered how amazing it was that I can run 38 kilometers, more than 23 miles, indeed was certain that today I was going to make it to 42.2 kilometers / 26.2 miles. I passed the 40K marker at 4:18:03. 

I was tired, but for the first time ever in a marathon, I never reached the stage where I was bargaining with myself that I'm never doing this again. I briefly wondered if I could finish in less than 4:30, but realized that I would need to run 5 minutes per kilometer. I can barely do that in a 5K race on fresh legs, and today that was unrealistic. I settled with the knowledge that I was smashing my goals for the race, even the ambitious thought of being in 4:35 shape. "Just don't fall" I told myself. I decided to take the walk break leading up to 4:20, approaching the underpass for Interstate 45. Soon we were in the heart of downtown Houston. My watch sounded the alert for the walk break leading up to 4:25, and I decided to walk for that one last time. As the watch signaled for me to run again, the face of the watch went blank. What?! Did my watch quit on me? Oh well, it didn't matter, at least I wasn't quitting.  

It was a straight shot to the finish line, although still several blocks away. I spotted a sign to my right, "1/2 mile to go". Remembering how Coach Carl would say, "that's two laps of the track," for me, just 5 minutes to the finish line, even though my legs were now really tired. I knew that I could run the marathon distance today, but a 50K would have been too much. "1/4 mile to go," or just one lap! In my track workouts, I had I tried to find another gear, as I had visualized many times running a strong final lap. Today, as I passed the 26 mile sign, I didn't manage to speed up, but was satisfied to just keep doing what I had been doing all along. I didn't have my watch but I knew, just 2 minutes to go. "I can do this, I AM doing this!!" The road took a slight curve to the right, and in the distance I saw the finish line. Crowds were lining both sides of the road, cheering loudly. I tried to look for Bonnie but didn't see her in the crowd. The left half of the street was empty of runners, which must have been the half-marathon finishing chute, but a man was running up and down that lane to encourage the fans to cheer for us. 

Crossing the timing mat, and I was done! Big, big celebration on achieving my goals! Without my watch, I wasn't quite sure of my time, but was certain that I had finished between 4:30 and 4:35. In fact, my official time was 4:31:41. That was 2:10:11 for the second half marathon, an 11-minute negative split!! 

Here's the finish line video. 

(I crossed just after 4:31 on the video time clock, 5:15 on the course time clock.)

Oops, I began celebrating a couple of steps before reaching the first timing mat! But today it didn't matter, I was thrilled to have run a great race, and to have fulfilled both my A and B goals! 

Screen shot from the finish line video.
Note to Frank: you can stop running now. 

Bonnie took this photo about 100 meters from the finish line.

Writing this account 2 weeks later, I'm amazed at how quickly I've recovered. I felt a little sore for the first day, but by mid-week, my body did not feel like I had done anything unusually difficult. 

For my 10th marathon, this is probably the one I'm most proud of. At the beginning of the training cycle, I wasn't too sure of myself. I'm certain that it helped me that I took any idea of a personal best off of the table, so that I wasn't disappointed when I started out slowly. 

Obviously this isn't my last marathon! I'm certain that I have a faster race in me. I just need more time to continue to train, adding more months of injury-free training. 

training for the Houston Marathon, concluding with the We Are Houston 5K on January 18, 2025

Coach Carl Leivers wrote a 17-week training plan to get me ready for the Houston Marathon. Overall training went very well. There were a few workouts that were substantial struggles, although I covered the miles. At first I was disappointed, but then I realized that the struggles were because I was experimenting with nutrition, walk breaks, and even mental training. 

Nutrition: I was looking for an alternative to gels, and tried carrying "That's It" bars instead of gels, both offering ca. 100 g of carbohydrate energy. In a 16-mile run on the Silver Comet, I hit the wall after ca. mile 12. Afterwards, I realized that the "That's It" bars, while a healthy snack, didn't provide the sugar quickly enough, being tied up with healthy fiber, etc. I switched to gels for the remaining runs. In a 12-miler recovery run, I discovered that caffeinated gels triggered a "poop" response. Not good for a successful marathon! Switching to non-caffeinated gels avoided that problem. 

Hydration: This consistently went well. I drank a bottle of Nuun each day leading up to quality workouts (speed work, long runs), and carried a bottle with me on long runs, sometimes even bringing two bottles and making a quick switch at the car at the halfway point. On my 22-mile long run, I managed to nurse a single 23-ounce bottle of Nuun to the end. 

Walk breaks: Originally I had hoped to only walk through water stations, located about every 1-1/2 miles on the Houston course. After a difficult long run with walk breaks every 15 minutes, I decided to go back to a comfortable 4:30 run / 0:30 walk rhythm. Perhaps I could have managed slightly longer run intervals, but I was accustomed to the 4:30 / 0:30 intervals, plus very easy to do the marathon math on a 5-minute cycle. Coach Carl strongly endorsed that plan, as using a familiar interval formula would reduce race day stress. 

Goals: When I registered for Houston Marathon, I was hoping for a crack at another personal best (sub 4:24:07). But about a month before the race, I realized that I was realistically not quite in shape to make that attempt, without a serious risk of "blowing up" before the finish and having a difficult experience. The last thing that I wanted was a miserable experience, one that might cause me to "retire" from the marathon distance. 

My A goal was a "negative split due to a cautious start." If I were to finish thinking that I might have run the earlier miles a bit faster, that was exactly the positive motivation that I would need to keep me interested in training for and running a future marathon. 

My B goal was a sub-4:45 finish. I felt that I was probably in shape to run 4:35, but a sub-4:45 finish would be my second-best marathon performance. 

I decided on these goals far enough ahead of race day where I was completely comfortable with that goal several weeks before race day. 

My C goal was simply to finish un-injured, or "Same day finish" as Des Linden joked, when she was interviewed before the Olympic Trials in February 2024. 

Mental training: I had several mantras in mind, but before race day, realized that "Relax and glide" and following that thought with a "Smile" was the way to go. 

On the morning of Saturday January 18, Bonnie and I ran the We Are Houston 5K together. It was Bonnie's first race since before she injured her knee in October 2023, and a celebration of her long comeback. For me, it was at speed-walk pace, so didn't really wear me out. A couple of hours before the 5K, I stepped out of the hotel for a short shake-out run, and a couple of strides. I didn't think I needed it until I was outside, and realized that I successfully burned off some nervous energy. 

And on Saturday afternoon, Bonnie and I attended the live show for Des Linden and Kara Goucher's podcast, "Nobody Asked Us." It was a great show, featuring their recollections of the Olympic Trials in Houston in January 2012, with Shalane Flanagan, Des Davila (before her marriage), and Kara Goucher winning the three spots to represent the USA in London. The question-and-answer session was both informative and funny: course tips from the host, Chris McClung, at 47 minutes elapsed; and at 57 minutes elapsed, "What if you have to poop?" Kara had definitely thought about this question ahead of time! Listen to the podcast to hear her answer, but it's: "I'm definitely pooping my pants ... with 200 meters to go, and you're in the fight ... are you pulling over? No you're not!" Des has a different strategy. 

There was question about the weather, which was promising to be unusally cold for Houston, with cold wind blowing from the north. The advice: "The wind is just another competitor. The wind is affecting everyone, not just blowing on you." Chris noted that miles 12 - 18 of the course were northbound, into the wind, just to prepare for that. 

After a light dinner, and laying out my race kit, we went to bed around 8:00 pm, for a 3:45 am alarm.  

summary of running in 2024

I realized early in 2024 that I was falling behind with other writing projects for work. Once I got out of the habit of blogging after races, it's been difficult to get back onto it. And going forward, I will probably blog less frequently, and shorter accounts. 

Also, I was in a bit of a running funk after the challenge of the Publix Marathon relay. The good news is that I never stopped running, at least short distances with various running groups, including social runs with the Monday night Atlanta Running Meetup group, Wednesday evening with Tucker Running Club, and Thursday evening with the Atlanta Track Club-Beltline Run Club. I consistently ran a few miles on weekends, whether it was a race or an outing with Bonnie. That helped me keep in shape when I got out of the funk in mid-summer. 

Here's a quick summary of 2024 from March through the end of the year: 

March 9: Members' 10K in Smyrna, 56:28 landed me in Wave D for Peachtree Road Race. I ran 5 good miles, but fell off the pace at the end.

April 20: South River 15K. 1:39:35, ran the first 10K as planned in 56 minutes, but after a short walk break, couldn't pick up speed for the last 5K and walked / jogged to the finish.

May 18: Kirkwood Spring Fling 5K. 27:50. I acquired a side-stitch approaching the 3-mile marker, but still won an age group award, which was a gift card to a local bakery. 

* I began working with a nutritionist in early June, to work on getting my weight down. The nutritionist pointed out that what worked a decade ago, running off the weight, would no longer work because my body was now accustomed to running. Her prescription: eat more protein, more green vegetables, less fruit. Within the first few weeks, I noticed that my clothes fit better with less overall inflammation. Weight has only dropped a few pounds, but in general I feel better. One unexpected benefit is that my sleep has improved. 

June 8: Superheroes for Seniors 5K in Lilburn. 27:34. Ran more consistently, with a good finish and another age group award. 

June 17: Monday Nighter at the Garage 10K, a hot evening at 92 deg F. 1:03:55, 3rd place age group. 

June 29: Chuck Singleton 5K in Doraville. 27:10, another warm evening, 84 deg F. Won my age group among 5 men ages 60 - 64. 

* July 1 resolution: self-wrote a training plan for The Race Half-Marathon on October 5. This was pre-training for a possible marathon at the end of 2024 or early 2025. 

July 4: Peachtree Road Race 10K, 75 deg F at the start. 59:44. Big slowdown in 2nd half, with a lot of walking in mile 5.

July 20: Westside Beltline 8K, 73 deg F and very humid at the start. 45:27. Four good miles, slowed down in the last mile. 

August 3: Decatur DeKalb 4 miler, 37:12. New strategy: very cautious start, progressive race. Not a particularly fast time, but it was fun to pass people in the last mile of a hilly race. 

August 10: Vinings Downhill 5K, 25:37. 73 deg F. Cautious start heading downhill, but ran another progressive race, and finished with my fastest 5K time since turning age 60! 

* Around this time, I reached out to Coach Carl about possibly training for the Houston Marathon on January 19, 2025. He felt that I had enough time to train, but recommended increasing my long run distance in "pre-training". 

August 17: Atlanta's Finest 5K, 25:19. 72 deg F. Ran 3 miles before and 3 miles after the race, for 9 miles total - longest distance run in a day since April. And the time was a new post-age 60 personal best! 

September 2: Big Peach Sizzler 10K, 53:33, 70 deg F. This was a mano-a-mano race with Brian Minor - I outran him this time! 

September 7: Firefighter 5K, 25:48. 68 deg F. Ran 4 miles before and 4 miles after the race, for 11 miles total - longest distance since late February. 

* Houston Marathon training officially began on Monday September 23, after a 14-mile easy run on Saturday September 21. Unfortunately I missed the first speed workout on Wednesday September 25, washed out due the advance of Hurricane Helene. Fortunately Bonnie and I escaped the worst impacts of this storm, although we discovered a leak in a door frame that required a repair, fortunately with minimal water entering the house. 

September 28: Winship Cancer Institute 5K, 26:25. I challenged the students in my CHEM 203 section to run the race with me, offering to donate $1 for every student that registered and ran, and $1 per mile for every student who outran me. I did warn the students that I didn't plan to walk! I outran all but 4 students. That left me obligated to donate only $27, but I donated a little more. I'll definitely do this with the students again next year! 

Oct 5: The Race Half-Marathon. See the race report, which was a letter to Coach Carl. 

Oct 20: The PNC Atlanta 10-Miler. 1:34:57, however I'm most proud of my progressive race strategy. I jogged the first five miles in 49:35, then gradually increased my tempo and ran last last mile in 7:51, to finish the second half in 45:22. Someone that I passed in the final mile (who I didn't see) told me afterwards how fast I was moving as I zoomed past him. This was my second 14-mile total day

That concluded my race schedule for 2024, as I totally focused my running on marathon training, for a flat race. Normally I like to run races through a marathon-training cycle, just to benefit from a supported and protected course, however I saw little benefit to running on hilly courses when I needed to build endurance on flat tracks. 

October 5, 2024: The Race Half-Marathon

Dear readers, 

It's been awhile since I've written a blog post! I've been busy with writing projects for my real job, and while I didn't intend to put aside the blog for more than 6 months, that is what has happened. 

After the disappointing marathon relay in late February, I was in a bit of a running funk. I continued running about 4 days a week, but wasn't doing long runs, so totaling no more than 20 miles total per week. In spring I had a series of races where I had trouble completing the distance: a 5K where I was exhausted after 2-1/2 miles, a 15K with 10 good kilometers but when I tried to pick up the speed, I was deflated within the first couple of minutes. Peachtree Road Race, 10K, was good for 4 miles, but the second hill after the famous Cardiac Hill defeated me. I walked for awhile, but picked up the pace in the final kilometer to finish a few seconds under 1 hour. 

I began working with a nutritionist in June. Weight Watchers wasn't working well for me lately, or maybe I wasn't working well with Weight Watchers, but in any case, it's been helpful to try a different approach. It turns out that I had made so many changes when I lost weight 11-12 years ago, including introducing running exercise after two decades of sedentary living, that my body was now conditioned to running, so that I wasn't going to lose weight just from the exercise alone. Somewhere else I had read "You can't outrun a bad diet." I've made a few small changes, mostly shifting to more lean protein and green vegetables and cutting back on fruit. I'm down 6 pounds in 4 months, which I think is good and sustainable progress. My running has also improved. In August I set a couple of post-age 60 personal bests in the 5K distance. Maybe I'll write more about those in a later post, but not today. 

After the Peachtree Road Race on Independence Day, I set up a training program, mostly adapting what Coach Carl Leivers had written for speed workouts for me a year ago, and gradually increasing long runs, with the goal of The Race Half-Marathon today, three months later. By September, I was thinking seriously about the Houston Marathon in January 2025. I had wanted to wait until after today's race result to commit, but when I counted up the weeks, I realized that the marathon is only 15 weeks away, and that I needed to begin training without further delay. I reached out to Coach Carl in early September, and started a marathon training program with him two weeks ago. Fortunately the half-marathon build had served as decent pre-training. 

The rest of this post is from an update that I sent to Coach Carl earlier today. I realized having written up a note for him, I already had the rest of a blog post ready to share! 

_______

Subject: week 2 report, and mostly about The Race this morning

From: Frank McDonald

To: Coach Carl

"Hi Carl,  

This week has gone well, as I’ve been able to complete the workouts as written. The speed workout Tuesday night seemed to go as I hoped: First rep was an easy track mile in 10:48, then aiming for a 10 min / mi marathon pace, I had no trouble with 9:55, and with more effort got to 9:08 for half-marathon pace. The one deviation from the workout was that I walked a lap (4:03) before resuming easy running for a mile in 10:49, then 9:51 and 9:03, and one lap walk to cool down. The last running lap I had to consciously pick up the pace in the final lap to get below 9:15. 

 

I was thinking that I shouldn’t have taken the walk lap, probably gave me too much of a break, and it should have been a clue that I had to work in the final mile at “half-marathon pace”. 

 

Nonetheless I set out this morning with the goal of a sub-2 hour finish. I started just behind the 2:00 pacers. By my watch, I thought they were several seconds per mile too fast, but their timing seemed to line up better with the mile markers. I ran about 50 feet behind their scrum, and after seeing someone in that group take a fall, I thought that it was a good move to stay out of the crowd. Intuitively the pace did feel a bit fast for me, and my heart rate was in the 150s by the mile 1 marker, closer to threshold than was probably wise, so I was wondering if I was able to maintain the 9 minute / mile pace for 12 more miles. At the mile 4 marker, I was still able to multiply 9:09 x 4 and realize that I was only about 10 seconds fast, and that my brain was working properly.

 

After an hour, somewhere after the 6 mile point, I began to have more trouble going uphill. I had leaned on my mantra “relax and glide” going uphill in the earlier miles, but now I was definitely beginning to slow down. But I felt that the goal was still in reach until past the 8 mile marker, when I finally gave into the temptation of an unscheduled walk break.  

 

From that stage, it was a grind to the finish line. On a couple of occasions, I caught a second wind and passed some people who had gotten ahead of me during a walk break, and I ran fairly well in the last few blocks including some uphill running, but it took me 2:07:06 to get to the finish line. Consolation was a 3rd place age group award, and I outran another 62-year-old man that I know from the Atlanta Run Meetup – although he was expecting a ~2:10 finish when we had talked during a group run on Monday evening, and that’s exactly what he accomplished (2:09:57!). 

 

I had a lot of time to think about this on the drive home. While I probably could have picked a more modest goal, say running 9:30 min / mile pace from the beginning, perhaps with a sub-2:05 goal, I did want to find out what I was capable of doing, and I was willing to take that chance. But I didn’t connect the extra walk break that I took in the Tuesday evening speed workout with today’s outcome, until well after the race. Overall, I think my biggest mistake may have been going into The Race with only Plan A. I didn’t have Plan B or Plan C. If I had been prepared with a Plan B and C (negative split by any means possible, for example for Plan B) I might have slowed down after the first mile when I saw that my heart rate was already higher than expected. I did have a negative split in mind but that was part of Plan A, i.e. the fantasy was to pass the pacers in the last half-mile. 

 

I hope you find this account amusing as well as informative. I’m tired but uninjured, and looking forward to the brisk walk recovery tomorrow morning. My confidence about running a marathon in 15 weeks was a bit shaken by mile 10 this morning, but on the other hand it was useful to get a reality check today, while it is still very early in training. 

 

The 10-miler is two weeks from tomorrow. I had not set a goal time for that race. And the goal now, is to do whatever you think will be most helpful on that day to build for the Houston Marathon. 

 

Best regards,

Frank"


There it is, a candid and reflective note that I've already sent to my coach. 

February 29, 2024: Leap Day 5K

Last night at dinner after a Tucker Running Club group run, Judy Tennell mentioned that she was running a Leap Day 5K race on the Eastside Beltline. That sounded fun, I thought. I normally don't put any significance on events such as Leap Day. But four years ago to the date, Atlanta hosted the 2020 US Marathon Olympic Trails, so I guess it was a good day to commemorate with a race. Once it was clear that I could finish the today's work by mid-afternoon, I registered, 5 or 6 hours before the start of the race. I needed only a 15 - 20 minute drive from work to park near the start, so I arrived early enough to pick up my bib without a wait, and then warm up with a few drills and dynamic stretches. 

With fellow Tucker runners Judy Tennell and Tiffany Haney.
This was taken after the race, holding our medals!

At the announced start time of 6 pm, most runners were still on the New Realm Brewery patio overlooking the Beltline. After nearly 10 minutes, the race organizers brought the group of runners to the Beltline, exactly 80 people (based on finishing numbers), and explained the route and the process for the run. Originally I had thought it would be a timed start, and was wondering how we would work our way around the other Beltline walkers / runners / bikers / rollerbladers / scooter-riders during our race. The organizer announced "It's a time trial. Line up, and as I record your number, you'll begin running, one at a time." That made sense given the narrowness of the Beltline, and sharing the trail with others who probably had no clue that some of us were running a race. I began walking toward the back of the line, and was probably more than halfway back when I finally took a spot in the line. We slowly stepped forward, then I could see that runners were taking off one at a time. Then it was my turn! On his laptop the organizer typed my bib number "282", and as he hit the return key, said "Go!"

A popular bar and restaurant on the Eastside Beltline Trail

In line, ready to run as soon as I reached the front of the line. 

I took off like a shot. After a moment, I realized that I was running faster than I had in awhile, and checked my watch to see a 7:50 min / mile pace. "Too fast" I thought, but since we were running north, downhill, I decided to keep going at a quick clip. Around 2 minutes in, I caught up to Judy who had started ahead of me. "What did you get me to sign up for?!" I said as I passed her. I was working pretty hard. After about 4 minutes, I recognized that this pace was unsustainable for much longer, and I deliberately slowed down. I probably did that just in time to avoid over-exertion with 2-1/2 miles still to run. Around 5 minutes elapsed, a couple of people with dogs stopped to talk ahead of me, on the right side of the Beltline which was out of our way, except their dogs began running around aggressively, so I had to navigate around that dog fight. Around six minutes elapsed, the first runner came back having turned around at 1 mile, near Monroe Avenue. With the out-and-back course, it was fun seeing people that had started ahead of me, some running quickly such as Jacque Hartley, and others who had started near the front but were taking it very easy, all cheering each other on as we passed. Around seven minutes elapsed, two bicyclists riding wheelies (on the back wheel only) were coming toward me. The one in the middle of the lane, closer to me, seemed to have less control over the front of his bike. He managed to straighten it out at the same time that I was darting over to my right. Such is life on an early spring evening on the Eastside Beltline. (It will be downright crazy in summer.)

Approaching a green cone marking the turnaround point on the side of the trail, I followed the other runners in making a 180 degree turn, which was pretty tough to manage while trying not to slow down. Immediately after the turnaround, I felt my left shoelace come loose. Within a few seconds it was slapping around wildly. We were now running south-bound and uphill, which would last for the middle half of the total race distance, about 1.5 miles. Mile 1 alert sounded at 8:15. Even though I was running uphill, I didn't feel that I had slowed very much. I briefly thought about pulling over to retie the shoe, but in a 5K race, I felt I couldn't afford the time, after I had run so quickly to this stage. I just hoped that the shoelace wouldn't trip me up. Arggh, if I had only felt this good running uphill in the half-marathon on Sunday! Shortly after passing New Realm Brewery, where we had begun the race, the Mile 2 alert sounded, around 17 minutes elapsed, so 8:43 for mile 2. Even though all of that mile had been uphill, I had run faster than my goal half-marathon pace of 9:09 per mile. 

I ran the last 2 miles with the left shoe untied. 
What's annoying is that I had carefully adjusted the tongue and
re-tied the laces on both shoes about 5 minutes before the race. 

My heart rate had stayed around 160 beats per second, probably thanks to the crisp 50 deg F temperature. But as we continued to run south and uphill, I could feel myself finally slowing down, now in the 9:20 min/mile pace. "Just hold on, only 1 mile to go." Running through the John Lewis Freedom Parkway underpass, where a drummer was providing solo entertainment, I began looking for landmarks, since I heard that the second turnaround was at the Highland Avenue bridge. Ahead of me were two women runners at approximately my pace, and I managed to keep up with them. Then, one of them, Jessica Rudd, took a walk break. Jessica is a little faster runner than me, and she runs many more miles per week than I do, but .... if this race was the final few miles of Jessica's long run, then maybe I had a chance!  Making a gentle right turn, seeing the old Parish restaurant under re-construction on the left side of the trail, the Highland Avenue underpass came into view. Another green cone marked the second turnaround. Jessica was walking the turnaround, so I was going to pass her, but she was also watching out that she wasn't in anyone's way. But a woman, not in the race, walking her dog, was coming from the south. We were about to occupy the same spatiatemporal location. Fortunately she slowed down a little, I slowed down a little and made my turn pretty sharply. I might have turned a foot or so before reaching the green cone, but more importantly, a kinetic two-body collision was safely averted! 

At 21:30 elapsed, heading northbound once again, and downhill, I tried to pick up some speed, but I couldn't move as quickly in this direction as I had in the first mile. Then I realized that Jessica was right behind me, drafting off of me. I began picking up my pace, not so much hoping to lose Jessica, but I was worried that she would pace off me and then kick past me 100 feet before I reached the finish line. By the time I had cleared the Freedom Parkway overpass, I was running 8 min / mile pace. I could tell that I was opening a gap on Jessica. Since making the turn, people that I knew were calling "Go Frank!", followed immediately by "Go Jessica!". But then the interval between cheers increased to a couple of seconds, then 5 seconds, then I could no longer hear anyone cheering for Jessica. I took a quick look at my watch at 24 minutes elapsed, and saw that my heart rate was red-lined, over 180 bpm. But with only 3 minutes to go, I kept moving quickly, just focusing on form so that I might continue at the current pace with less effort = lower heart rate. I didn't check in the moment, but Garmin records showed that my heart rate dropped to 170 bpm, around the same time that I picked up a burst of speed. 

I didn't look all the way around, but I no longer saw Jessica and it seemed like there was no one close behind me. I was tempted to slow down, but since this was a time trial, I had no idea how I was doing relative to someone who had started far ahead or far behind me. Then I heard footsteps rapidly advancing on me from the right. A women drew even with me, wearing the distinctive yellow with blue accent Boston Marathon jersey. "OK, she's really good, don't worry that she is passing you." She pulled ahead, but I think I picked up my pace a bit more. Mile 3 alert in 8:44, 25:40 elapsed. If the course was true, I was only one minute from the finish, and from the landmarks, that seemed about right. I kept pushing myself, the sign marking the right turn for the finish line just off of the Beltline came into view. I made the sharp right turn, a few more steps, and I was over the finish line. A staffer from the race company recorded my finish, officially 26:38. I was winded, but recovered quickly. That was a good race - but it showed me just how hard I currently have to work to run a sub-27 minute 5K. 

People began to congratulate me. I assumed it was simply because they thought that I had run a good race. But then Jacque Hartley showed me the results on her phone: I was 3rd place overall master. Technically I was the fastest senior master (age ≥ 60), but since master is better than grand master is better than senior master, I was ranked in the more prestigious master group. 

It was fun to win a medal, but what made me really happy was seeing that no one older than me outran me. It was close, however: a 68-year-old man who had started and finished a couple of minutes before me, ran a chip time of 26:47, just 9 seconds slower. He was awarded the first place grand master award. 


18th overall out of 80 finishers

Positions 12 through 24, so you can see where I rank among other mortals.

My own stats from Garmin


February 25, 2024: Publix Atlanta Marathon Relay (first half)

The Publix Atlanta Marathon weekend began for me on Friday evening, February 23, when I joined several hundred members of the Atlanta running community for 2.23 miles, in memory of Ahmaud Arbery, who was murdered four years earlier during a run. Wanda Cooper-Jones, Ahmaud's mother, spoke briefly, as did a few local officials and leaders of Atlanta running clubs, including Tes Sobomehin Marshall. It was a solemn evening, and was important for me to join in solidarity, noting the worst consequences that can occur when racism goes unchallenged. I ran my miles at an easy pace, chatting with a few other runners along the way, during a final shake-out run. 

Wearing the shirt from the Run with Maud 5K race in May 2023
Wanda Cooper-Jones, Ahmaud Arbery's mother
Tes Sobomehin Marshall,
founder of runningnerds and co-founder of The Race
Walking to the Beltline from our gathering spot 
at the Lee + White development
On the Beltline trail

On Saturday, Bonnie and I woke early to go to the Expo at the Home Depot Backyard (adjacent to Mercedes-Benz Stadium), and to cheer on the 5K runners. The temperature had dropped from the mid-60 degrees on Friday evening to the low 40 degrees, but the skies were clear and the atmosphere was festive. The first part of the race was the USATF Masters 5K Championships, for runners 40 and older. My age group was won in 18:19 (5:54 min / mile pace) with last place in 21:42, nearly two minutes better than my all-time personal best (23:30 in 2018). I was really impressed by the 70-74 men's winner, crossing the finish line in 19:30. 

Atlanta skyline continues to rise. 
The race expo was in the white tents below the new Hilton hotel. 

Masters championship women's start

and finish, April Lund in 16:58

Masters championship men's start

Jay Stephenson won, followed by Luke Mortensen,
but their times haven't been published,
although I think they were both under 16 minutes. 

Then the "mass participation" racers began arriving. Quite a few of the people that I knew were also registered to run the half- or full-marathon races the next day. I've learned the hard way that it's better for me not to run two races of any length on consecutive days. After most of the runners had finished, we walked over to the expo. It wasn't extensive and I wasn't tempted to purchase anything, but we had a bit of fun. The highlight was Brenden Minor winning his heat amongst the 4-year-olds in the 50 meter dash. In fact, as we jogged together to the beginning of his race, Brenden wasn't slowing us down at all. I said to his father Brian "It's not gonna be long before he's outrunning both of us." 

 Beverly Minor making the same turn to the finish line that 
Brian and I would make the next day. 

Brian and I posted our collective goal time.

Brenden Minor joined us for his Championship pose

My goal time was 1:59:59, hoping to reprise my performance in the Thanksgiving Half, on a course that ran much of the same general terrain. Brian and I had run three training runs, including each-half of the marathon course (as published a month ago), and also three races as part of our training regimen. In the past week, I was feeling more confident. Perhaps that was after the second time I had taken the black currant potion and was convinced that there were some benefits. If I could run my part in sub-2 hours, Brian then had a good chance to bring us to the 3:59:59 team goal. 

Sunday morning, race day! I woke up shortly after 4 am, before my 4:30 am alarm. I had a light breakfast and oatmeal and blueberries, and cappuccino. I mixed up a concoction of a new product that I had heard in an ad, "2Before", which is black currant for antioxidants and caffeine as a stimulant, dissolved in a few ounces of water. I had tried it in a few recent workouts, both of which had gone well. Since it was supposed to work best if taken 1 hour before competition, which was to begin at 7:15 am, I waited until 6:15 am on our drive downtown to drink it. We parked without difficulty by 6:30 am, walked to the Backyard, and I began looking for the porta-potties. They were close to the end where the runners would gather for the race, but hidden behind tents and a large Publix truck, so it took me a few minutes to find. I got in line at 6:45 am, and wasn't too worried about the line at first, but at 7:11 when the National Anthem was playing, I was still waiting, although now very close. I was in the porta-potty at 7:15 sharp when Ronnel Blackmon sent wave A on their marathon / half-marathon journeys. 

Let's see if this works better than beet juice
(which I gave up on years ago).
At least this product tastes much better. 
Not as nice as Centennial Olympic Park,
but apparently the track club can no longer schedule events there. 

I was planning to run with wave C, where the 2:00 pacer was said to be located, but having to push through the crowds already gathered in waves G, F, and E, I was fortunate reach wave D. No problem, I thought. Unfortunately, I had left with Bonnie my gloves, handwarmer, and a half-bottle of Nuun that I had intended to carry for the first 6 - 7 miles. Somehow in the rush from the porta-potty to the start line, I lost my (inexpensive) sunglasses that were perched on top of my cap. I texted Bonnie that "I have everything essential, I'll be OK" and then put away my phone for the start. Ronnel Blackmon started our wave, I had an opportunity to give him a high-five as I crossed the starting mat, and we were off! 

Race route: similar to the first half in many respects,
but the new start-finish location required losing 2 miles on the old course.
I think they did successfully discard a few of the more challenging hills. 

Before we had started, I had tightly retied my new shoes, a pair of Brooks Hyperion Elite 4. That purchase was after seeing an ad that C. J. Albertson had endorsed. Albertson made an incredibly strong push in the last two miles of the USA Olympic Marathon trials earlier this month, and just wearing the shoes made me think about the prospect of running a negative split today. But half-a-mile in, I noticed that the left shoelace was flopping around, the shoe was feeling loose, so when I found a safe place to pull to the side, I had to stop and retie. That was a 10-second break that I wasn't planning on, but at least I didn't have to remove gloves, although my fingers were already frozen. Still, I managed to get to the mile 1 marker in 9:39 (+39 ft, - 12 ft). Good start to a negative split race, and I had plenty of time and distance to trim that down. Mile 2 proceeded along Marietta Street, and then made the left turn onto Piedmont Avenue, following the long-standing start of the marathon route. Approaching the mile 2 marker, I remembered that there would be a water stop. I had intended to take a gel right before starting, but in the haste I had forgotten to do so, and anyway I didn't have any water to wash it down in the starting corral. Here was my chance: I pulled out the first gel, was still squeezing it down when I reached the water stop, but accepting both water and Powerade, I was able to finish and wash down the first gel without a problem. Mile 2 in 9:01 (+20, -62), and a walk break! Now things were going in the right direction. 
I received quite a few compliments on the shoes this morning! 

This year's race route trimmed about a mile by turning right onto Ralph McGill, instead of heading all the way to North Street. I remembered a steep downhill, and took good advantage, although was careful to stay out of the way of a Kyle Pease run duo, who rightly wanted to bank some time on the downhill. Of course pushing uphill is the tough part, and I passed them a moment later. A turn onto Central Park Drive put us back on the old route. They saved the uphill section for us, thank you very much. Then a left turn on Highland Avenue, and the mile 3 marker, 9:09 (+71, -58). I crossed the 5K timing mat at 29:01. I was expecting closer to 28 minutes, but again, I figured I had time to make up the gap. 

Turning right onto Jackson Street, then left onto Irwin Street, I looked around as we passed through the middle of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park. This road wasn't as historical as the traditional route on Auburn Avenue, a block to the south, but trimming a couple more north-south blocks was probably required. Approaching the intersection with the Eastside Beltline, I walked through the water station. Mile 4, 9:17 (+40, -46). That walk break probably kept me from another 9:09 goal pace mile. Still, I wasn't concerned. Running up Lake Street was nice, renamed to Austin Avenue after crossing Elizabeth Street, passing the Horizon Theatre where we attended several plays last year with two other running couples, Alice and Tom Pate, and Caroline and Paul Dunn. There were quite a few spectators on the streets as we ran into Little Five Points. Mile 5, 9:16 (+48, -52). Hmm, I should be going a little faster. Turning onto Moreland Avenue, we were running gently uphill, so I just shortened my stride, tried to maintain consistent form, and concentrated on midfoot strike, where the Supershoes might give me a little more bounce. But these were a little different from the Adidas Adizero: they were light and felt good, but I never did figure out what part of my stride gave me an advantage from the carbon plate. Maybe it's just supposed to be the whole shoe experience that helps. Too bad I had only one run in the shoes, 8 miles, where I did establish they were very comfortable and definitely half-marathon suitable. Left onto Freedom Parkway, which was slightly downhill, then right onto Highland Avenue, heading uphill. Thank goodness there was a water station was coming up, as planned. I opened my second gel and began consuming it about a minute before seeing the water station, so that timing was perfect. Mile 6, 9:25 (+49, -42). 

Now I did need to make up some time, since I knew that the next two miles were almost all gently downhill. Soon I crossed the 10K timing mat at 57:52. So the 2nd 5K was 9 seconds faster. I was now a minute behind my plan, and needed to pick up the pace. But as I've heard in other sports, you don't try to make up a deficit all at once. "One mile at a time" or "Run the mile you're in" were my mantras. There were more crowds near the intersection of Highland Avenue with Virginia Avenue, I ran the tangent perfectly, and was now making good time. This was where Brian and I had started and finished our course run two weeks ago (free street parking, compared to the official start-finish area downtown!). At the right turn onto Park Avenue, the mile 7 alert sounded, 8:57 (-59 feet). By the way, my watch was just a few seconds ahead of the posted mile markers, so I was glad that my watch was closely aligned. Park Avenue began with one speed bump but once we crested that, we were running gently downhill once again. Crossing Monroe Drive, heading into Piedmont Park, I soaked in that this was always my favorite mile in this race. I wondered if there would be a Mimosa Station this year on the bridge. There wasn't, although there were plenty of spectators. The memorable sign was "I just finished a Netflix Marathon!" Once we were in the park, we had a little out-and-back that I had not remembered from previous years. I guess it was a good place to get the distance precisely correct, without the limitations imposed by the street grid. I took advantage of the out-and-back to scan for faces of people that I knew, but didn't recognize anyone, which was a bit of a surprise. Turning south past the bridge, we came to mile 8, 8:51 (+7, -76). With elapsed time of 1:13:34, I could definitely cover 5.1 miles in 46 minutes, after all I ran the Jerome Scales 5 Miler last month in less than 44 minutes. 

Sadly, mile 8 was my fastest mile today. I took a walk break before leaving the park at the water station. Then we were up onto 10th Street. I knew that this would be nothing but uphill, but that really took my breath away today. I remembered in my Thanksgiving PR half-marathon 4 years ago, I bargained successfully with "Fatigue" settling onto my shoulders. Today I tried to talk Fatigue into flying away, but while it loosened its grip, I was still carrying some of Fatigue's weight. Actually I think it was the 20 extra pounds I'm carrying that was to blame, and I couldn't get that to disappear for the next few miles with a mantra or some wishful thinking. Left onto Juniper Street, still going uphill, but no surprise here. The surprise was that I finished mile 9 in less than 10 minutes. 9:59 to be exact (+98 ft uphill). I told myself, it's just a few blocks to go before the turn onto 5th Street, one more uphill to reach Peachtree Street, and then there will be some nice downhill into the Georgia Tech campus. I picked up some speed once we crested Peachtree Street, made the quick right and then quick left at West Peachtree Street, congratulating myself on running both of those tangents quite well. Up ahead was another water stop. I took my last gel within a block of the water station. The first thing offered was a piece of banana, which I happily accepted from a volunteer. I began to peel it while simultaneouslyaccepting a cup of water, and fumbled the banana. Oh well, I probably didn't need the fuel, but it would have been nice to taste a bit of natural fruit. The Georgia Tech students greeted us loudly as we approached the left turn onto Techwood Drive. It was as if Taylor Swift was running 50 feet behind me, the young women were so exuberant in their joy! I picked up my pace, approaching Bobby Dodd Stadium, with the mile 10 alert sounding on my watch at 1:32:54 elapsed. 9:21 for mile 10 (+31, -81).

OK, I can definitely run a 27 minute 5K. I just wish I didn't already have 10 miles on these legs. And turning right onto North Avenue, it was uphill, just like it was in the Hot Chocolate 15K three weeks ago. For this race, we continued straight past Luckie Street. Still uphill. My watch, which resets pace per mile at each mile marker, was reading 11's! I pushed myself, but after making a right turn on State Street to get to Tech Parkway, we were heading uphill. By now my watch was showing 10's, still too slow. But turning left on Wallace Street, looking uphill toward Marietta Street, I lost my resolve to keep running. 

An unscheduled walk break. 
I had fumbled away the 2 hour finish. 

But then I realized that I can't slow down just for myself. Every minute I add by walking or slow running is a minute that Brian has to try to make up. I didn't want to let down the team, so I pushed myself forward as best as I could. Marietta Street is uphill. Normally this CAN be the triumphant final mile for the half-marathoners, but this year, we still had more than two miles to run. Mile 11, 10:28 (+81, -8), elapsed time 1:43:22. C'mon Frank, surely you can tick off an 8 minute mile. Go for it! But running uphill, even a gentle uphill, I was lucky to keep the pace under 10 minutes. My heart rate had been redlined for awhile now, but I didn't feel too badly, but my legs were heavy. We passed Centennial Olympic Park, I took in the sight of the left turn that used to take us the last 100 feet to the finish line, but not today. Finally, we reached Ted Turner Drive, for the first of 5 right turns to the finish. Mile 12, 9:56 (+47 feet), 1:53:18 elapsed. But I knew that Martin Luther King Drive was at the top of the hill, and then it would be downhill all the rest of the way to the finish. Here is where I thought, once again, that I might pop out an 8 minute mile. But not today. I did manage to speed up a bit, but so did everyone else around me. Right turn onto Mitchell Street, I was gasping for air, trying to take advantage of the gentle elevation drop. But it was too gentle to make much difference. Bob Wells of the Atlanta Track Club rode by on a bike, cheering me by name. I waved and said "Thanks Bob" surprisingly strongly. Maybe I can push a little more, I thought. But it just wasn't possible. I think that I was now moving close to goal marathon pace speed, but there wasn't going to be enough left in my tank to claw back any time. Turning onto Northside Drive, it was uphill at first! Arrggh, I knew that was the case, but didn't expect it to hurt as badly. Mostly psychic pain that I was forced to slow down. Here the signs were pointing marathoners to the right, half-marathon straight ahead on Northside. I asked about the "marathon relay", knowing we were going straight, wondering if I should stay to one side or another of the lane, but didn't receive any extra information. I saw the mile 26 sign: 2 minutes to go. Then the 13 mile sign, 1 minute to go (9:20, -30 feet descent). 

From this map, I thought that I would hand the relay bib to Brian,
standing somewhere to my right, before I crossed the finish line.
It wasn't even sure that I should cross the finish line, although
probably it wouldn't hurt as long as I had already transferred the bib.  

I turned right through the open gates of the Backyard, and began to unclip the bib belt holding the shared relay bib. I knew from the course map that the relay exchange zone began soon after making the last turn, but had never received clear instructions on exactly how that would work, despite asking. What was worse, yesterday when we tried to rehearse, we had figured out that Brian would be to my right where I would pass the bib. But my mind was so addled by this point that I was looking to .... my left. There were cones separating the left lane, I figured it was for the marathon relay (turns out it was for the full marathon finishers, coming up just a few minute behind me). I was insanely holding up the bib and belt, scanning the crowd to the left for Brian. I never saw him, and just kept running fairly quickly toward the finish line. That mistake was 100% on me, it would have been different if I had been looking to my right. I crossed the timing mat, slowed down, looking every which way, calling "Brian! Brian!" Finally a volunteer, I think it was Donna Roberts, saw me waving the marathon relay bib in the air. I felt like it was high above my head, but in reality I probably couldn't raise my arm above eye level. Donna rushed over and escorted me to the right side of the finish area. Then I saw Brian to my right, waiting to begin. Due to my long wait for the porta-potty before the race, that was the first time that I saw him today. I tossed the bib to him. Actually, I probably dropped it with just a little forward motion, but it was just enough for him to catch. 

Right there, there was an opening in the fence, probably not intended for me to exit, but I stepped through before anyone stopped me. I saw the soft grass, and collapsed onto the ground, challenging Sara Hall's disappointment finishing 5th place in the Olympic Marathon Trials. Then I remembered to stop my watch, 2:04:11. Four minutes slow! I just lay there trying to absorb my disappointment, but people were asking if I was OK. "Yes, it was just too hard, too hard" I moaned. I was complaining about the race and my performance, but then I realized that one of the people asking was a medical person, and rightly she was concerned that I might be in serious physical distress. I had better stand up before people got so worried that they would take me to the medical tent. Once I stood up, I guess I didn't look like I was in mortal danger. It took a couple of minutes for me to realize that as a finisher, I should have actually walked left to pick up heat sheet or jacket and water. I slowly shuffled my way through the finish area. 

Not the run of a champion. 

Now to wait for 2 hours for Brian. Originally I was going to jog over just 1/2 a mile, where second-half marathoners would be completing their 3rd mile, but I was not up to that at all. I did manage to keep walking around slowly, to keep things from cramping up, and eventually found the recovery beverage and food area. I began to calm down. The combined 3:59:59 finish was still possible if Brian had a really great day. And most importantly, I wasn't injured or sick, just extremely tired. Eventually, as the time for Brian's finish approached, I walked to get a good vantage point for runners entering the Backyard from Northside Drive. At 3:59:59, I noted that Brian's tracker read 0.94 mile remaining. I wasn't sure how accurate the tracker would be, but the sub-4 hour finish was officially gone. 

Brian appeared about 5 - 6 minutes later. He definitely sped up when he saw and heard me shout his name, and I managed to catch him on video. Official finish was 4:07:06, so Brian also ran around 2:03. But when we checked mileage afterward, Brian had run 0.42 miles as a free bonus. So he did cover 13.1 miles in less than 2 hours, and with the disadvantage of the temperature growing much warmer over the second half. I caught up with Brian resting under an umbrella, came to sit down next to him, and said "What the hell did we just do to ourselves?!" 

Actually, Brian wants to do this again next year, with him running the first half and me taking the second half. That's probably what will happen. But first, I need to decide if I ever want to run again. 


(I'll finish this up with some editing, more photos, and links, but it might be a few days or even another week, so I wanted post this initial essential version this evening.)