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.
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