Houston Half Marathon - Run

After making it to the start line (late), Stephen and I started our race. It was really crowded, so we wasted some energy weaving in and out, trying to get to some open space. At this point, we were in the middle of downtown, surrounded by tall building and stagnant air. I made a comment that I wished it was cooler (forecast showed it was supposed to be high-50's, but it was actually high-60's at that point). I also noted that the first mile clicked off at 8:13 -- too fast. But I felt really good at this point....and I thought to myself, "Maybe it wasn't actually that fast and my GPS doesn't have good signal being surrounded by these tall buildings." Stephen asked if I wanted to drop the pace off a bit, but I told him I felt good so figured we'd keep at it.

The first five miles averaged sub-8:20 and I was starting to think maybe I was better prepared than I'd given myself credit for. But I also had a nagging voice in my head saying, "Don't let this be your best tempo run ever....you have 13.1 miles to do today and can't just quit cause you're tired!" I usually feel pretty beat by the end of a 30 minute tempo run, so I didn't want to hit that wall!

In the fifth mile, I could feel that I was starting to fade a little. I figured it was a good time for a Gu, so I ate one hoping that I could keep my pace up. That mile and the next clicked off at 8:30 -- I was definitely starting to feel it and only about half way done....uh-oh! Just before the turn-around, I said to Stephen, "At the turn-around, you should just go. I'm fading. I'm trying really hard, but it's just not happening." I knew I'd started too fast and was going to suffer!

We turned about 7.5 miles in and that mile came in at an 8:44 pace....jeez, this is gonna get ugly! I took a second Gu at mile 9, hoping it would hit me and I could finish out strong. Part way through that mile, I hit a dark place. I'm absolutely certain it was mostly (probably all!) mental....I know once I hit the 10th mile, I'm supposed to give it all I have left for the remaining 5k....but given how much I was hurting at this point, I couldn't imagine hurting more! So during my little mile-9 pity party, I told myself I could slow a bit and then walk through the mile 10 aid station....that mile was a miserable 8:53.

When I got to the aid station, I walked the entire length of it, drank two glasses of water, and told myself to get my shit together and start running again....that mile, with my long walk break, came in right at 8:50. I wanted to finish strong and try to go sub-1:52, so I pushed as hard as I could for the remaining miles. They weren't fast and they weren't pretty....and I didn't quite make my sub-1:52 (granted, that was my stretch goal, so I'm really not disappointed).

As I was running those final few miles, I was trying to think of what it was that made it so I couldn't go faster. My breathing was under control and my HR, though high, still seemed to have room to go up a bit. I'm pretty sure I just didn't have the muscular endurance to turn my legs over any quicker. And I'm hoping that with time and more training, I eventually will be able to do so.

In hindsight, I would have gotten there well over an hour early so I had time to warm up and figure out what "race pace" felt like. Granted, at the time, I really had no idea if I could actually hold 8:30's throughout the race, but I suspect that if I'd started out more conservatively, I wouldn't have faded so badly on the second half..

That said, I think this was a good learning lesson for me. I also think it's probably the first race where I've gone out too hard and had to deal with the ramifications of it....I'm always the type to be ultra conservative and have huge negative splits (which is also not the best way to pace a race). I think knowing that my HM race pace is around 8:30's gives me a good starting block for the next race. And it's better than wondering if I went too easy or didn't leave it all out there....I definitely left it all out there today!

After crossing the finish line, all the pain of the race caught up with me and I went into this weird, "Is she crying? Is she hyperventilating? Is she laughing?" state. It took about 20 seconds for that to pass and then we headed out to stretch, drink some water, and eventually get some chocolate milk.


Muscular endurance to keep the legs turning over at the rate I wanted them to go. I'm hoping that with a structured run build between now and January that I'll be able to see some improvements.


I'm not sure I can really blame the RD, but I wish there had been someone to direct traffic in the morning -- it would have made for a less stressful situation if we'd been able to get parked faster.