Holiday Double Day 1 Marathon

The Background

I was going to run Brazos Bend Marathon in December, but they moved the race to a week before Bandera 100k, a week after my planned run at Texas Marathon - Kingwood.  That did not seem wise when going for a Western States qualifier at Bandera, so I requested a refund.

That, and a work conference that will likely have me defer the Woodlands marathon, dashed my hopes for reaching 100 marathons this season.  That was okay; I'll get there.  But I had been running relatively fast - some sub-9-minute runs in training.  I had made a goal this season of beating my time of 4:47 at Woodlands Marathon 2023.  I thought about getting one more marathon in before Kingwood.

I looked around and there was a race in Fort Worth - the Holiday Double.  Having to be back for family at Christmas eve, I could not run Day 2.  I told myself to run Friday in the neighborhood and see how fast I was.  I ran 5 miles at a sub-9-minute pace.  That convinced me to sign up for Day 1 of the race the next day.

I got up at 1:30am and drove up to Fort Worth.  Making good time, I sat in the car and closed my eyes a few minutes, not sleeping.

The Race

The race was a 3 miles and change out-and-back on sidewalks along the Trinity River, 8 loops of that for the marathon.  It was cool and overcast.

I went out at a sub-9-minute pace and held that to half marathon, reaching that in 1:58.  

Then I started to slow down.  I had planned on this possibility, and figured that if I could just keep running I would still beat my goal finishing time.

Around 14 miles, I felt a twinge in my knee.  I walked about 30 seconds, and then ran again and it was okay.  I repeated that a bit down the course once, then it was fine for the rest of the race.

Moving at 11-minutes plus a mile, I was feeling bad.  There was the temptation to walk, as I could still finish sub-5 hours.  But I first told myself to hold on until 20 miles, as at least I would get in a 20-mile training run.  Reaching that, with less than 2 loops to go, I told myself I could hold on for the rest of it.  I chugged along slowly.

Approaching the finish, a guy was on my heels so I pushed it to not be overtaken.  I finished 8th out of 24 finishers (top 33%) in 4:29.  I also got 1st place in my age group (only two men ran 40-49).

Reflections

I'm proud that I did not give in and walk.

I might have had a better time had a run the first half at a 9:30 pace instead of a 8:50 pace.  Then again, I could have similarly faded and the overall time been slower.  Either way, going out too fast hurts.

Regardless, I reached my goal of beating my previous time of 4:47 and finished in the top third of the field.

Thanks to God, Terri, running friends, my kids, volunteers, and the race organization for the support!