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!!
(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!
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| Screen shot from the finish line video. Note to Frank: you can stop running now. |
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| Bonnie took this photo about 100 meters from the finish line. |
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.
