Dallas Marathon

Sunday, December 9, 2012.

I ran a disappointing half marathon 4 weeks ago in San Antonio which was suppose to be a buildup for the Dallas Marathon, my Boston qualifying race. Heat and humidity were high that day and I told myself to race smart based on the conditions no matter what...but I never listen to myself! What's that saying, "teach what you preach."

I went to bed around midnight, but as usual I couldn't sleep until 2:30 from nerves and excitement. Woke up at 4:30 to get ready and headed downtown with my mom. I signed her phone up with the runner tracking when we got there. I told her I'm going to pace for a 3:05 finish, gave her my splits for certain mile markers and the last thing I said, "If you don't see me finish by 3:20, something went wrong." I said goodbye, hit the porta potty, and lined up in corral A ready to go. Temperature was a warm 68 degrees, 90% humidity with little wind. All morning I was unsure whether to pace for a 3:05, 3:10, or run based on effort. I decided to go for 3:05 with no regrets.

Plan was simple:
Miles 1-13:       7:10 - 7:15 pace
Miles 13-26.2:  7:00 - 7:05 pace

Miles 1-6 (7:09) (7:08) (7:10) (7:11) (7:10) (7:10)
First 10k was awesome. Felt fresh and light despite already dripping sweat from the humidity. A few small hills but nothing too crazy to slow my pace down. The temps were suppose to stay around 68-69 degrees all morning which had me worried but I kept pushing through. After 3 miles, I ran with a huge group of runners at my pace which was a great experience and helped me stay at even splits for the first 6 miles.

Miles 7-13 (7:12) (7:19) (7:09) (7:13) (7:07) (7:03) (7:10)
Miles 7-8 there was a slight hill with a couple turns in the neighborhood, but I made up the time on the downhills at miles 11-12. There were a group of runners who I talked to and they said they had planned on 3:05, but they slowed down to 3:15 because of the humidity. My heart rate was low with no heavy breathing and I was relaxed so I pushed past them staying on goal time. Ton of crowd support and I enjoyed every step with no pain or fatigue. This is what I wanted, the feeling of just starting to run at the half way point. At 13.1 miles, I was at 1:34 and on pace to finish the marathon in 3:08. This was fine because I wanted to pick up the last half even though I was a minute over my goal time for the halfway.

Miles 14-17 (7:10) (7:14) (7:20) (7:22)
I turned on the east side of White Rock Lake into a nasty headwind with lots of open space. I gave the same effort but the pace was slipping slowly. The more I tried to run a 7:05 pace, the worst I felt. I looked around and the lake water was moving quickly my way. I have been running and talking to 3 other guys for a couple miles working together, but I noticed they were struggling in the wind as well. At mile 16 my legs felt good but my stomach was aching, like the vomiting feeling I had in San Antonio. This came out of nowhere and I was thinking back to why. I took the Gu's every 55 minutes, same flavor and same strategy as in training. The night before I had the same pasta and sauce with the same glass of wine as I did for the Big D Marathon in April and last year for the White Rock Half. We did eat a little late, 8:30pm, but was it the food? The wine? Humidity? Running effort in the headwind? The more I thought about it, the more my mind was wandering and I felt sicker as I ran. I couldn't comprehend what the problem was and didn't want to blame the humidity.

Miles 18-20 (7:42) (7:45) (8:23)
My stomach was hurting and if I threw up, I knew I would lose all the electrolytes and fuel I have been taking prior. I slowed down the pace to settle my stomach hoping it would go away and looked forward to see my sisters before mile 19 with my electrolyte drink. I was happy to see them but I was not feeling well and the humidity sucked. I grabbed my drink, made a sad face, and down the road I stopped to get sick right before the "Dolly Parton Hills." Shook it off and I decided to run easy up and down the hills to hopefully have a good finish. I wasn't giving up but I wasn't going to just quit and feel bad for myself

Miles 21-26.33 (8:22) (8:11) (8:43) (8:31) (8:43) (8:20) last .36 (7:09)
After mile 22, I turned to Swiss Ave where there was a slight downhill to the finish. I didn't pick it up as fast as I could because I felt nauseated, it wasn't worth it...I didn't want to throw up again. At mile 23, I was creeping up to someone walking, but he picked up the pace to run with me. His name is Ian and he ran a 2:52 in Boston, and there he was running to a 3:19 finish with me. We talked about past marathons and how we can't win them all. It was a huge mental boost to run with him to the finish line and I know I helped him too. The more we saw the crowds growing, the quicker we ran together. He finished 5 seconds ahead of me and I finished 3:19:15.

He waited for me and we thanked each other for the help and good luck in the future. I walked over to the fence and thought back to the race about why I'm getting sick all the time. I felt devastated and couldn't believe how quickly it turned for the worst within a couple miles. There were many 'what-ifs' and I realized I was not ready to race a 3:05 marathon being sick or not. I exited the convention center and saw my mom waiting for me. I busted out in tears walking to her because I know how much she wanted this for me. I felt like I failed and it was comforting to have her there to lean on. I calmed down and she told me she was getting worried because I was cutting close to 3:20. She mentioned the times of runners ahead of me and what she heard from others. Many times were slower overall from the humidity and some suffered on the headwind similar to me.

I want to run the Dallas Marathon again in 2013. The crowd support and the organization of the race is exceptional. Next year I will focus more on what I am capable of than being overly optimistic for a specific time. I will build up some strength training, diet better, and have a solid base of running (especially in humid conditions) before I start another 18 week cycle of marathon training in August. I would never imagine attempting to Boston qualify when I ran 4:36 at the Austin Marathon 3 years ago. Getting to Boston was a life long dream and I feel like I am rushing it too fast. I want to enjoy these races more, of any distance, instead of having a burden to finish a certain time.

Overall: 140 out of 4867
Age Group: 21 out of 325

RnR San Antonio Half Marathon

Sunday, November 11, 2012. It has been 7 months since the Big D Marathon. I ran a 25k in May, a couple of relays, and some small races in between to keep my legs moving. The San Antonio Half is a buildup for the Dallas Marathon in 4 weeks. This was suppose to give me an idea if I am ready to conquer the qualifying time for Boston which is 3:04:59, a 7:04 pace. Going into the half today I was feeling confident and prepared to run a PR to better my time of 1:27:22.

Race day morning we were a little tired from the previous night driving back from a wedding in Georgetown. The temperature was 72 degrees and increasing with high humidity. We arrive an hour before gun time to loosen up and get ready for a warm race. The plan was:

Miles 1 - 6.2,     6:45 pace

Miles 6.2 - 10,   6:30 pace

Miles 10 - 13.1, 6:30-6:15 pace

Adrianna and I dropped off our stuff at the bag check and said goodbye to line up in our corrals. Waiting for the start, I realized I forgot my gels and freak out. (I only use orange mandarin gels because it's the one flavor that doesn't upset my stomach.) Luckily, I got a peanut butter GU from a volunteer and I hoped for the best.

Miles 1 - 3 (6:37) (6:41) (6:40)

Gun goes off, super crowded! Weaving in and out of people, I realize I am running 6:05 for the first quarter mile. I slow way down and start coasting to a respectable pace feeling good. Legs feel fresh and heart rate low through the first 3 miles.

Miles 4 - 6 (6:38) (6:48) (6:43)

Passed the Alamo followed by a slight increase in elevation. I was expected to slow the pace down and planned on running faster after mile 6.5 on the downhills of San Pedro and Main Ave. Chatted with a runner who planned on finishing around 1:26 and I felt relieved because this is the group of runners I needed to be with.

Mile 7 (6:56)

I cross the 10k mat at 41:47 and felt awesome. Confidence kept growing and I was on pace even though I took the first 5k faster than planned. This is when the heat came and I decided to take the peanut butter GU with halfway left. It tasted awful but I forced it down in hoping to give me that boost I needed and to leave me with enough energy to kick it to the end.

Miles 8 - 10 (6:49) (6:56) (7:07)

Mile 8 the sun was shining, temperatures increasing, and a slight breeze at times. I caught up to David who organizes a running group in San Antonio and we talked for a minute. He planned to finish 1:30 but I wanted to finish faster so I slowly drifted past. At mile 9.5 I saw Staci which was a relief but I was hurting. I tried to crack a smile but something didn't feel right. My energy and glycogen levels remained low and legs heavy. The GU did nothing for me. At the next water station, I slowed down to make sure to get some gatorade. At this moment, I realized beating my PR is gone and I would be happy with under 1:30.

Mile 11 (7:59)

This is the time I felt sick to my stomach. I never felt this feeling ever in the previous 3 half's before. I started wishing I had my own gels as planned. I tried to not let this bother me but at the water station I had to stop running and grab some water to sip for minute and cool down. David and others passed me, so 1:30 was out of reach. I decided to take the rest easy without giving up at the same time.

Miles 12 - 13 (7:36) (7:47)

I was feeling horrible with less than 1.5 miles to run and way worse than my marathon in April at the wall. I couldn't believe it. The Alamodome was in sight and the crowd was growing in size as I neared the finish but I couldn't run faster. My pace suffered and more runners were passing me as time went by. I thought back to my previous half's where I was flying the last 2 miles feeding off the adrenaline and crowd support. Anytime I tried to pick up the pace though, my stomach was making noises and felt sick.

And the last .1 (14:25)

As I turned the corner with the finish line less than 125 yards away, I couldn't hold it in and threw up...twice. I'm not going into detail, but I knew it was the lack of gels, heat, and over hydration. As I stood there for 20 seconds with my hands on my knees I was in shock and tearing. The past 14 weeks of training seemed useless and my Boston qualifying marathon in 4 weeks seemed out the window. The medic rushed over and he helped me walk to and across the finish. I felt depleted and drained. I finished 1:33:03, a great time but slowest of the 4 I've ran.

After the race, I realized I needed to be more realistic than optimistic. What's crazy is that these are the exact words Rod Dixon spoke 2 days before at the Expo. I should of planned for a hot race and slowed my pace down accordingly without forgetting my gels. I always harp to others and teach them to never do anything different on race day because you do not know the outcome. Well, I tried a new gel which killed my stomach, add the heat, and this all ruined the last 5k for me. We are never running this race again even though next year they pushed it back a week because of the conditions. Now it's time to focus the next 4 weeks for the Dallas Marathon.

Overall: 153 out of 16372

Age Group: 19 out of 719

Big D Texas Marathon

Sunday April 15, 2012. This was my first real test race to get a feel of how my training was going if I ever want to run the Boston Marathon. I ran 3 marathons prior, but nothing as serious as this. Three and a half months of training building up to 685 miles.

Made it to the race about 45 minutes before gun time at 7:30am. Adrianna was running her second half marathon which started at 8am as well. Went to the restroom and we had plenty of time to get loose and warmed up. Headed to the start line and lined up roughly 10 feet away from the start. Small race with 689 runners and weather around 65 degrees. I was planning on pacing the first 10k around 7:20, then pick it up to a 7:05 through mile 20, and hang on to have a strong kick to the finish. My ideal goal was anywhere sub 3:20. My paces:

Mile 1 7:03
Mile 2 7:27
Mile 3 7:20
Mile 4 7:11
Mile 5 7:17
Mile 6 7:21
Mile 7 7:13
Mile 8 7:12
Mile 9 7:13
Mile 10 7:12
Mile 11 7:06
Mile 12 7:09
Mile 13 7:16
Mile 14 7:21
Mile 15 7:31
Mile 16 7:13
Mile 17 7:19
Mile 18 7:23
Mile 19 7:42
Mile 20 & 21 16:04
Mile 22 7:23
Mile 23 7:09
Mile 24 7:17
Mile 25 7:24
Mile 26.2 9:12

The first mile I did my best to pace my own race as around 25 runners took off ahead of me. I slowed down after the first mile and quickly found my groove. After the 10k marker, I felt relaxed and in the zone. I passed 3-4 people, and when I pushed the pace at mile 11, it felt difficult to push 15 seconds faster. So I tried to increase my pace every mile slowly but the hills in the neighborhoods and the bad weather were getting the best of me after mile 14. I was running in no mans land for the majority of the race catching up to a few people, making small talk, and kept moving. Quite lonely at times with little spectators and only interactions at the water stops.

Mile 19 I was nearing the end of the west side of the lake, and headed to the notorious hills. Right before mile 20, there was a sharp right turn from the lake, then quick left turn up this massive hill a little over a mile long. This was where the half and full merged together for the last 10km of the race. I was hitting the wall hard! Halfway up the hill, Kelsi and Brian were there with my electrolyte drink which helped give me a boost but didn't last long. Pace suffered and I even forgot to do my split for the 20 mile marker.

I caught up to a marathon runner, chatted about the hills, and wished each other good luck and carried on. I wanted to have a strong finish, so I pushed the pace as hard as I could. The last 5 miles felt like an eternity. I kept looking at my watch seeing the time go by slowly even though I picked up the pace. At mile 23, I got a surprise to see Kelsi and Brian again!! I was happy to see them and I immediately forgot about the pain in the legs and arms and kept running as hard as I could. Thinking I have one mile left, I see the 40km marker and realized it's 1 1/2 miles. I hit the wall again! But I kept pushing and pushing until the last 400 meters to where I was in a dead sprint to the finish. I can hear the cheers of the crowds and finished 3:13:12.

My legs were dead. I crossed the finish line and immediately dropped to my knees. Took a good 10 minutes to even make it out of the finish area. I have never been in so much pain but never happier about a finish before. 27 minute PR from my previous race in San Antonio in 2011. Adrianna also finished her half with a 8 minute PR. Great day of running for both of us. :]

Overall: 15 out of 689.
Age Group 25-29: 3 out of 59.