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