Two years ago Austin was my very first half marathon and a year ago it was my first marathon. With the new faster course layout I was excited to see how much better I had gotten in a year, but the plan for the day wasn't to run this race as fast as I could. I wanted to finish between 4:00 and 4:30 and then keep running to bring my total for the day to around 35 miles. The weather that morning was miserable so I was taking it all as a big mental training day.

Started out running around the Freescale parking lot and I was just happy to be moving so my fingers and toes could unfreeze. Apparently there were two deer who had wandered into the field between the road and building. When the gun went off and the herd of runners started moving, they freaked out. So as I was going along I look to my left and see a deer charging full speed at me! I had all sorts of horrible thoughts about getting hit by a deer in the first 400 meters and having to DNF! Luckily the deer changed direction when he got within 10 or 15 feet of me; any closer and I would have had to change my shorts. Very exciting way to start my day.

First few miles were pretty uneventful. I let the crowd dictate my pace to keep me in check. I wanted to run the first half with consistent 9:00 miles. I skipped the first aid station to get a jump on some of the slower runners around me and get to where the crowds were a little thinner. Started talking with one woman who was pacing a friend on her first marathon and managed to talk her into doing the Sunmart 50K Ultra next December! HA!HA!HA! My crazy is getting more contagious!

By mile 4 I was getting into a good groove and feeling excellent. The horrible weather wasn't going to stop me today. Somewhere around mile 5 mile buddy (aka: arch-nemesis) Eric caught up to me! I met him at Iron Star last season and he beat me by just a few minutes to keep me off the podium. Anyway, this was his first marathon so we ran and together and talked to kill the time.

Around mile 6 we hit the start of the old Austin course. Felt good to know exactly what was around each corner. I'm really getting used to running this course and it does make a difference. The next 4 or 5 miles just flew by and I barely even noticed them. And the one thing that I really like about Austin is the crowd support. The spectators were fantastic. Not so much in the early miles, but that was understandable with the weather. But once we got past mile 6 they were practically everywhere.

I checked my watch as we hit the halfway point and we were 30 seconds under a 4:00 finish pace. Perfect. I knew I would slow down over the last half, but I ran the first half right on target. We took a two minute walk break before getting back to it and still were only a few seconds off our desired pace for mile 14.

Then at mile 16 it started to hit me. My ankle was not happy about running anymore today. I slowed my pace down to 10:00 miles but the pain just got worse and worse. Finally at 17 I had to tell Eric to go on and run ahead. He could still break 4:00 for his first marathon but there was no way I could keep up. Suddenly I had to walk the aid stations and the uphills. I couldn't run if the pavement was slanted to the right. I had to run on the opposite side of the street from the marked course now.

As we went through the neighborhoods before we made it to the UT campus, I seriously thought about DNFing this race. My ankle was in alot of pain, the weather was cold and miserable; I just didn't want to be here anymore. Going past UT and seeing the crowds again made me sick to my stomach. I didn't want to be seen when I was limping along and struggling to finish. I just wanted to find a hole to crawl into and die.

Came around the State Capitol, which was a nice change from last year, and had a good downhill along Congress. Made it to the big out-and-back on Cesar Chavez and as I made the turn I could see the finisher area on the other side of Town Lake. What a fucking tease. At 22 I knew I would finish and even finish faster than last year, but that didn't make me any happier.

Dennis(dgunthert) saw me as he ran along the other side of the road. Sorry if I didn't acknowledge you buddy, I wasn't in a good place when you saw me. About half a mile later I saw Eric. He still looked good and we high-fived each other as we passed. Demitri who I met while running Houston this year wasn't far behind him. By the time I hit mile 23 I just wanted to know how much more until the u-turn. I wanted to be running towards the finish rather than away from it.

There was an overpass that we had to go up and my ankle just woulnd't let me run it. I nearly walked all of mile 24. Took me more than 15 minutes. Ugh. But once I made that u-turn I knew I was almost done. The Hash House Harriers were handing out beer at mile 25. Tasted so good. Now I was on part of the bike course from CapTex and I knew exactly how far it was to the 1st St. bridge and home!

Crossed the bridge and kept an eye out for Colleen. Never saw her but I was pretty out of it at the time. Came down the finisher chute and managed to gimp my way in while trying not to look like I was injured.

Official results say that there was no difference between my chip and clock time even though there was a 5:30 difference. So I listed my watch time here. I beat my course best by a hair under 10 minutes. Not nearly as good as I would have liked, but still happy.

Not get injured.

Got my medal, some water, finisher photo, finisher shirt; all that good stuff. Stood in line for the food which was a bowl of chili and a bag of cookies. Austin always disappoints me on the post-race food. They do so much so well but always fall short here. Sat down on some steps facing the lake and ate.

Afterwards I gimped my way down to the bridge to find Colleen. I was very happy to take my sweaty shirt and jacket off and get some dry clothes from her. We stood at the front of the finisher chute and watched the runners come in when suddenly I noticed at familiar runner meandering his way in. It was Welshy! I didn't think that I'd get to see him today. But there he was, a man made of peanut butter about to finish his first marathon in a surprisingly good time! Once he went by we decided to finally get out of the cold and head home.


Injury.


Austin's a great race. The new start needs alot of improvement; traffic was a nightmare. The post race food and festivities are well below par. The "Clif Shot Zone" is a disgrace. It's the only place they hand out gels on the course and it's at mile 22! So with all these flaws you must realize how great the course and crowds are for me to still call this a great race.

I'll be back next year. Hopefully I can finally have a good race on this course for once.