Houston Marathon - RunMarathon

This was my first marathon and, boy, did I learn a lot. I felt that everything was going perfect up until mile 15 or 16. I was within a minute or two within my planned splits (which would have had me finish at 4:40). But, the newness of running long distances must have caught up with me as my legs started to burn. Nothing too bad, but it got worse as the day went on. Around mile 20, I started to struggle to go 10 minutes without taking a 1-2 minute walking break. I also started to feel a little dehydrated as my mouth was dry. I finally was able to finish (with a little motivation from my sister who surprised me by showing up and running the last 1/4 mile with me).

Not sure what went wrong. Obviously, I should have started slower, but I wasn't that much ahead of my planned times. I think that the fact that I'm still a relatively new runner that is still building a base for long distances likely had as much to do with my performance than anything.

I tried to stretch, but my legs would not cooperate very much. I just tried to drink a lot of water and take my time going places.


My legs. I felt as though I was conditioned enough to finish and I think my nutrition plan kept me with decent energy. The main thing that limited my performance were my legs and perhaps my ability to deal with the lactic acid build-up over that amount of time.


Although I have a little bit of disappointed in my time on this race...this was my first marathon and I'm elated that I was able to finish. 2 years ago I was 60 lbs heavier and had hardly exercised. I am now a triathlete and a marathoner that still has plenty of room to improve. I am 75% sure that I'll do another marathon and will likely do the Houston one again.