The Background
After Bandera, I got busy, and my knees were slightly sore, so I only did scattered 2 or 3 miles runs. I had planned to run USA Fit Marathon, but it was changed to virtual due to a freeze. So I would run that after the Galveston Marathon.
I had the TCTELA conference up until Saturday, with the Galveston Marathon on Sunday. The morning of the race, I felt a bit tired from going nonstop at work.
The Race
It was cold at the start. There was a lady with a chihuahua in line for packet pickup, and the dog shivered.
I ran the first 4 miles at around 1 10:15 pace. Miles 5-6 were at 10:40 pace. I must have felt good, because I sped back up again: mile 5 was 10:15 pace, then I did a couple of 10:20 pace miles. Miles 10 through 12 were at 10:30 pace.
Somewhere along the way, a young fellow pulled up next to me and said, "You've got a good pace. Can I run with you for a while?" I said sure, and learned he was running his first marathon. He pulled away from me after a few minutes.
I got tired, and slowed to 10:58 pace for mile 13.
On the second loop, I ran 11-minute miles all the way through mile 21. I was still feeling decent, but my mind was wrong, so I hiked a couple of miles at a 14-minute pace.
After I passed the finish and headed out to Pleasure Pier, I ran again. I took a short walk break after the final turnaround, then ran again.
As I approached mile 25, I saw the same young fellow. He started walking right after he passed the mile marker. I pulled up to him and said hi, and he started running again. Looking at my watch, I knew if we walked then last mile we would be over 5 hours. I said, "Running gets it in under 5 hours," and we ran, finishing in 4:57.
Reflections
The story of the young fellow and I running to the finish made this marathon memorable.
I could have been mentally stronger not to walk a couple of miles. Still, I pushed and made it in under 5 hours.
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