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.