Wednesday, January 20, 2010

21st consecutive Houston Marathon 5:16

Short news: I was physically ready to run a 4:15 or so, but it just wasn't my day. This year, I am happy to have made the marathon program for running 20 consecutive Houston Marathons.

Race Recap:
I'd been having trouble staying hydrated all week. Felt great at the start (maybe a bit warm?). I started feeling "weird" at mile 9. I stopped to put some more vaseline on my feet at mile 10 (I had some hotspots, but I was still bang on pace after accounting for stops and visits), and then absolutely spectacularly exploded at mile 11, with nausea, lightheadedness (which just got worse and worse until mile 19) and minor stiffness. I attribute the mess to a combination of electrolyte imbalance and lack of water/something I ate the night before (not gluten)/or a bug I picked up. It was absolutely the fastest "collapse" I had ever experienced in any long race. (Usually, I just see the misery coming for about a 10K or so...) I had medical cut off my pace band as irrelevant just past the half marathon. I ran/walked until mile 17 and then walked until mile 22, when everything suddenly lifted. I ran in the rest of the way, just walking up the hills on Allen Parkway. I probably passed 100 people in the last mile alone. I file this one in the "just not my day" category. (I was already planning my next marathon at mile 16 of this one...) and I may have to do another marathon somewhere else this year just for time and just because.

Couldn't get to sleep the night after... Sore but fine this morning. Handling stairs with relative ease compared to other years. At the end of the day, I'm glad I traded time for a sure finish, and I'm definitely wearing my 20 year veteran shirt every day ;-). Is three days in a row too much?

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