2011 Houston Marathon

Last weekend, I finished my 9th marathon & my 7th Houston marathon on a hot, rainy Sunday morning.  All of the neighborhood runners decided to catch a limo downtown & it’s fun to hang out with everybody & avoid the fiasco that is downtown parking.  I love that we have the George R Brown Convention center to hang out in before the race- getting our gear ready, stretching, waiting in line for the bathroom, checking our bags & eating a quick breakfast.

The weather was predicted to be AWFUL- thunderstorms.  We started out with panchos & my mom was carrying extra shoes in case we needed to change out shoes & socks (didn’t have to luckily!).  I didn’t carry my camera this year since hubby actually had it in Hawaii.  One of our friends came out around mile 19 to share some brownies & she caught a few good photos of us running (oh- bad form with the heel strike!).

Mom had her camera with her at the snack/drink stops, and luckily most of the rain was just on & off drizzle throughout the morning.  I just kept telling myself it could have been worse- either worse storms or all heat & no rain.  It was one of the tougher races I’ve run recently- we drank tons of water & I was back to pouring cups of water over my head by the end to cool off.  I grabbed my camera from mom at the last stop & dropped my fuelbelt for the last 4 miles into downtown.   The clouds were still lingering over the skyscrapers, but I was thankful they had re-routed the finish line for a much more straight shot this year.

I actually finished in just under 5 hours- so I was very happy with my finish on a brutal day.  I think it’s probably one of the only negative splits I’ve ever done in a marathon- usually the second half  (specifically the last 8 miles) are slower & I take more frequent walk breaks.  Our pace the first half was super-slow & I really hope the Houston marathon considers going to more than a 2 corral start to ease congestion the first 5 miles.  As you can see, I was soaking wet at the finish & my poor skin paid for running 26 miles in the rain

Not too shabby!  We generally walked through most of the water stations to get a drink & have a snack, plus met mom at 3 places out on the course for a slightly longer stretch & refuel stop.  I didn’t walk any significant portions, except maybe once or twice on the hills of Allen Parkway on miles 24.

They have a cool new graphic this year that shows you all some fun stats based on your numbers.  Check it out- I passed 126 runners in that last 1.4 miles- I was racing to the end!

We had our annual post-race party again this year at my dad’s house and there were 7 of us that finished the full & and 2 half-marathoners.

I was stuck with a slightly comforting little bottle of wine I’d picked up on Friday since my husband was frolicking around Hawaii without me while I was left at home running a marathon without him.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: My “Year of Marathons” is off to a good start- can’t wait until Nashville in April.