The Background
I was excited to run USA Fit with my friend Jamie, who was looking to complete his first marathon. Training had been going well. Between runs with Luke and Jamie and exploring my new neighborhood, I was getting fitter. Looking to improve on my 5:37 marathon time from Texas Marathon Kingwood, I started dieting, dropping about 10 pounds to get in the 160s.
Our A goal was to run under 5 hours, the B goal 6 hours, C goal finish. Averaging 11:27 per mile would get us under 5 hours.
A storm was anticipated, so we both packed ponchos.
The Race
Jamie and I headed out in the dark and damp. It never rained to hard during the race, there was no hard wind, and it wasn't too cold, so weather wasn't a factor. We both skipped the ponchos for most of the race.
Our natural pace seemed to be around 10:30 a mile, but we kept saying "dial it back a bit" to keep us closer to 11 minutes a mile.
We focused on check points every 2 or 3 miles:
"We're going to make it to 10 miles feeing good."
"We're going to make it to 17 miles feeling ok."
"Let's make it to mile 20 and the turnaround."
As we approached half marathon, a family celebrated a man and woman nearing their finish, and the runners began reciting a prayer. It was very powerful to witness.
Jamie's family cheered him on at two points during the race - so inspiring!
By half marathon, we were still feeling good. This was evident because no one who was behind us at that point passed us later in the race. Indeed, we chased down quite a few folks.
Throughout my running career, band-aids on the chest had mostly sufficed. The last two marathons, band-aids have fallen off and I've bled a lot. I'm going to have to try something new next time.
By mile 20, we were both tired. At that point, we really hadn't taken any walk breaks. Then, we threw in a few short bits of walking, maybe a quarter mile each. Looking at Jamie's watch (I forgot mine), our goal of under 5 hours was achievable, but it was going to be tight. We ran when we didn't want to run, and I had a hard time keeping up with Jamie at times!
We saw the final turn and calculated we had 6 minutes to do a third of a mile. Running it in, we reached our goal with a time of 4:57.
Reflections
A couple months ago, I was in a running slump, with some DNFs and lowered motivation. Running with Luke and Jamie has really inspired me again. To see Jamie reach his goal, with his family their cheering, reminded me why I started running.
I need to fix my chest bleeding issue. I may try NipEaze that Jamie recommended from his friend.
We managed our pace well. It felt good to pass people rather than being passed. I am going to run a few more marathons this season and would like to improve my time. Speed work in training can help lower my overall pace, but I have to remember still not to go out too fast.
Results showed us at 59th and 60th place out of 117 runners. Pretty good!
This was one of my favorite races I've run because I was so inspired by Jamie's effort. I'm so proud of how tough he was and how hard he worked to finish. Congratulations, my friend!
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