Houston Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Houston, Texas
United States
Houston Marathon Committee
48F / 9C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 39m 54s
Overall Rank = 429/8290
Age Group = F25-29
Age Group Rank = 31/790
Pre-race routine:

The three days prior to the race I started to increase my water intake and slight increase in carb intake. The day before the race I focused on good carbs, had some whole grain spaghetti with lentils and some multi-grain bread for dinner and some regular popcorn with some salt (air popped) for a night snack. I laid out my gear, put my bib on my race belt, made sure my bottle was in the fridge. Took a shower and hit bed around 9:30PM. I woke up at 4:30AM, got dressed and sipped on some water. When we got in the care to drive to downtown around 5AM I ate a Cliff bar and sipped some more water. Once in the convention center I did some light stretching, used the restroom twice to be sure, and headed out to the start point wearing an old sweatshirt. About 10 minutes before the start, as I was in the first wave of two wave's of the 1/2 Mary runners, I discarded the old sweatshirt and got ready to run.
Event warmup:

Just some light stretching, slight jog on the way to the start line...not much at all. I made sure my G305 was on prior to the run and all ready to go. Made a little chit chat with runners around me, and laughed when one lady said, "I must be in the triathlete area...everyone has triathlon gear!" I was wearing BT socks and a Jack and Adam's visor that had SBR logos on them. :) We also all laughed when the boring mayor commented that "I think this city is the fittest city." Hahaha...Houston was #1 fattest city in America until someone else beat them this year, and I'm sure it's cause someone else got fatter, not that Houston got lighter!
Run
  • 1h 39m 54s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 38s  min/mile
Comments:

This was a great race! Not only was it well run, but the weather was perfect and I just had a great day. I only had some slight cramping in my left side between Miles 8 to 9 so I took a few more sips of my drink. I carried my own bottle of GU2O as that's what I train with (not Gatorade) and I really hate stopping or slowing down for water stops in a race that I think I can run hard (for the full marathon I think I can stop and grab some). So, I'm really glad I carried my own, and the bottle is in a pouch (Nathan water bottle holder), so my gels were in there too. I took at gel at mile 5 and mile 9. For training I would've waited till 10, but with this being only 13.1 and not longer and as hard as I was pushing it, I felt it necessary to take those two Gu's (Vanilla Bean, Tri-Berry) and I didn't need more than that. Adrenaline truly is my drug of choice and when I went through big support area or where someone was playing music it totally boosted my spirits. I love having my name on the bib because when I heard someone say "Go Brittany" or "Brittany you're doing great, keep it up" it really made me smile and encouraged me. I loved the little kids that had their hands out for high fives and made it point to give them some skin--maybe someday they will be healthy and run too. I did run by some donut place that smelled of donuts, and not being a donut fan (probably haven't eaten once since High School) it was gross. I often looked at my pace and had thoughts of, slow down you're going to fast, but I felt right, I felt in the groove, so I kept going. The last two miles it was pretty sparse people wise as I wasn't of course with the elites or really really fast age groupers, but I was with the fast age groupers. I found myself near a few high school cross country guys and a few women that appeared my age. I spotted some of the women ahead and made it a point to think, I can pass them, and eventually I did. The last .3 miles was great, people everywhere, and in that last 200 meters or so it became a full out sprint and with all the spectators lining the road and cheering, and as I was really kind of all by myself, I felt like an "elite" athlete and gave it my all through the finish (but made sure to smile, I want a good picture!!) and didn't look at the watch till afterwards. Mom and Dad were cheering for me, even though I didn't catch them at the finish--too many folks--and while I missed it cause I was focused, because there weren't a slew of people running in when I did, they did announce my name. I think that made my parents really proud. I got the finisher photo and headed inside. GREAT RUN, incredible PR of over 17 minutes off my last 1/2 Mary (granted, that one was in May and in Iraq), but at faster pace than I did the Army 10 Miler just in October. Totally thrilled with this race.
What would you do differently?:

Wear my under-armour spandex...I left these in the dryer at home. Woops. The shorts I wore were fine, I just felt more "cold air" than usual and kind of felt naked (I know some of you like that feeling, me- not so much).
Start my clock on time. I thought I heard it beep, but everyone else did. Didn't really impact my race though.
Bring a bag. I didn't expect bag check to be so efficient and organized, so my folks had my stuff. Again, no limiter.
Post race
Warm down:

I stretched a little, kept on walking, downed two cups of water, got my t-shirt, picked up some food, and then headed out to meet up with my folks. Then I ate a banana, yogurt, and half of a multi-grain bagel with some cream cheese. Looked for instant results, but all their sites were down.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I don't think anything did...maybe the slight cramping between mile 8-9, but water fixed that. Maybe not wearing spandex as the running shorts were slightly annoying at times, but really probably not. Also, I wore a race belt, but the bib number actually came out of the little d-ring on one side, so I need to look at that and see if I did something wrong, cause I had to keep messing with the belt, in general, throughout the race cause of it slipping. Maybe pinning the number is a better idea for running races.

Event comments:

This was my first organized stateside race (in other words, not Army run in Iraq) since I did a 1-miler when I was in the 4th grade (and couldn't run to save my life--just wanted extra credit) and it went so smoothly in every aspect. I thought it was great, fun, lots of support, perfect weather, good course, and truly a smooth race. This was a GREAT morale booster, huge PR, and if I am in Houston this time next year or my folks are still here, I may have to run it again!




Last updated: 2007-07-23 12:00 AM
Running
01:39:54 | 13.1 miles | 07m 38s  min/mile
Age Group: 31/790
Overall: 429/8290
Performance: Good
AVG HR: 179 Max HR: 186 I thought I pressed start at the start as I crossed the chip line, but I heard everyone elses beeps, noticed it at the 1 mile marker and then set it. Will put the lap times in later.
Course: Course was generally flat as Houston is very flat. There were some slight inclines and declines where we ran on overpasses and through underpasses, but nothing too difficult. In fact, at times I wished for a little more break up in the up and down as I've been training on that...but flat was nice. The majority of the course had supporters throughout, though some sections were much more sparse than others. However, the support was great. The aid stations were well placed and ran, even though I never used them. At each mile marker volunteers called off the times, and besides the start, I never felt crowded. The only place on the course where more support was needed was between Miles 11 and 12.5...it was pretty quiet there and windy and cold, so some supporters there would've been nice.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4