Location: All over Houston
Distance: 26.2, yo!

Splits:
6.2 mile: 1:14:04 (avg 11:56 min/mile)
13.1 mile: 2:39:48 (avg 12:11 min/mile)
18.6 mile: 3:52:46 (avg 12:30 min/mile)
Final: 5:45:55 (avg 13:12 min/mile)

Average Heart Rate: 171
Max Heart Rate: 236 (can’t be right)

Calories: 4,046 (!!!)

Pre-race jitters:

Following a fitful night’s sleep, I arrived at GRB at 6am. Paid $10 to park near the finish line - a bit high, but I figured my legs would appreciate a short walk back to the car after the Marathon. Grabbed my trusty endurance bag, and headed into Hall A.

The minute I walked into GRB, I felt the energy in the air. Thousands of people were crammed inside the convention center crowded around running club tents, standing in line for the portacans, going through stretching rituals, etc. I wandered through the crowds and found Sarah, Jessica and Jon at the Houston Running Bloggers meeting spot. After a little check-in, Jessica and I headed over to the bag drop off and the port-a-can line (which was HUGE)….and then we headed out towards the starting line.

The minute we stepped outside, my excitement and nervousness kicked into high gear. It was chilly outside, but I hardly noticed. Jessica was running the Half, so we wished each other good luck and went to our respective starting corrals. As I walked through the Marathon starting area, I kept running into people I had either trained with or met at races during the season - we’d exchange hugs, and excitedly wish each other good luck. Awesome.

I was stretching when I spotted Holden wandering through the crowd. I told him about how I kept waking up in a panic, thinking I had missed the start of the Marathon…..and he said he had experienced the same thing! Hilarious. I’m sure we weren’t the only runners out there that morning who had the same nightmares.

At 7:00am, the gun went off and the Marathon began!! We were near the back and it took about 6 minutes to reach the starting line. Holden said he hoped there was a water stop on the way to the start since we were so far away. I was so excited, I started jumping just as we approached the starting line.

The Beginning:

For the very first time, I didn’t have a “break-in” period with my running - I found my pace pretty much right away. I kept telling myself to SLOW DOWN, since I felt myself wanting to speed up. My first mile split was 10:50….much faster than my anticipated pace.

Running over the aqueduct bridge with thousands of other runners was incredible. Wall to wall runners of all shapes and sizes.

Coming off the bridge, female runners ahead of me were clapping and cheering at something. I looked to the right and saw 10 guys lined up and peeing against the fence. Many were giving thumbs-up signs. Heh.

The Heights:

The crowds in the Heights were enthusiastic. However, a few of the water stops had run out of water and were scrambling to refill cups.

I had brought my MP3 player, and turned it on as I turned onto Studemont.

Montrose:

The stretch along Montrose covered Miles 6-9, approximately. I was still running well - the combination of the crowds and blasting “Holiday” by Greenday definitely helped.

At Richmond, the Half Marathoners looped back towards Downtown and the Full Marathoners continued on towards West U/Herman Park.

West U/Herman Park:

Mile 9 is when I felt the seeds of pain starting to grow and Main St. suddenly felt eternally long. As we turned onto University, I knew Greenbriar was only 4-5 blocks away, but it felt like 4-5 miles.

I stopped at a water stop in the Village, and pulled out my container of Alleve/Tylenol. Just as I finished unscrewing the cap, someone accidentally bumped my arm and my container - and all the pills inside of it - went flying through the air. “AHHHH!!” I yelled. Meanwhile, the women operating the water stop kept cheering “GO JEN! GO JEN!” (my name was written on my shirt) as I was frantically trying to track down any spilled pills (I found one). At this point, I was feeling pretty grumpy, and I was really, really, really sick of listening to Greenday.

Eating a CarbBoom and drinking some Cytomax gave me a second wind.

Westpark:

I walked up the Westpark Bridge. This cost me some time, but I knew I couldn’t make it running up the bridge.

Galleria:

The stretch from the Westpark Bridge to Westheimer was the most depressing part of the course, in my opinion. It’s a lot of concrete walls and running along a cramped feeder road. Things improved after I crossed Westheimer onto Post Oak.

Tanglewood/Woodway:

This covered miles 16 to 20, approximately.

I came across the 5:30 pace group, and started following their 9 min run/1 min walk pattern for a while. After a few cycles, I realized that it hurt too much to keep stopping. The key was to keep moving.

Hula dancers at mile 20! Awesome.

Memorial:

Although my knees/ankle/left hip were killing me at this point, the Memorial stretch was one of my favorite parts of the course for five reasons:Although my knees/ankle/left hip were killing me at this point, the Memorial stretch was one of my favorite parts of the course for five reasons:

1. Mile 20.5 - free Cliff Shots. Nasty, but free. (I had run out of energy gels at this point)
2. Mile 21.0 - The Budweiser truck handing out free beer
3. Mile 21.5 - The Houston Striders water stop. Plus, I saw Keith, everyone’s favorite Professional Man of Action. He was wearing his Half Marathon finisher’s medal. I hit him up for some Gu and painkillers like a crack junkie.
4. Mile 22.0 - Seeing my parents cheering and proudly waving Korean flags. This made me cry.
5. Mile 22.5 - Meeting up with John, who was going to run the last 4 miles in with me as encouragement/support. He wore a bright tie-dye shirt, ran into the middle of the street. got on his knees and started bowing. That cracked me up. As I came up to him, I panted, “Can’t stop! Must keep moving….hurts too much.”

Allen Parkway:

For me, this was the most difficult part of the entire course. If John hadn’t been running with me, I don’t know how I would have made it through those last 4 miles. He was great - he did most of the talking, telling funny stories and cracking jokes….all of which helped keep my mind off the incredible pain in my left gluteal area. “My ass hurts,” I announced.

We shared a Cola Buzz flavored Cliff Shot, and agreed that it tasted like crap.

Saw Sarah (taking photos) and Jessica along this stretch. It was great to see them. We also passed an 8 year old Elvis impersonator, and a big toga party.

The Home Stretch:

I walked a lot on Allen Parkway, which ended up costing me 15 minutes on my finish time. As we entered Downtown, I started to stress out about finishing. John assured me we’d be alright as long as we kept running. So, we “ran” - aka, I managed a quick shuffle.

As we turned onto Milam (?), Alicia and Alex were there waving and cheering. Seeing them gave me a much needed boost. On the next block, my sister ran up and handed me a Korean flag. She ran with us for a bit, and then sprinted off to tell my parents I was on my way.

As we turned the last corner, I finally saw the finish line….though, I was in too much pain to enjoy the moment. All I could think was “must….keep….moving…” But John was a great motivator, saying things like “There it is,
burn this image in your head,”

“Think about all the months you put into training,” “enjoy this moment,” etc. And he was right. I saw my parents and sister cheering and waving their Korean flag…..so I held up the flag my sister had handed me earlier, waved at my family, said bye to John, crossed the finish line and burst into tears. A few race officials looked worried and asked if I was OK. “I’m just happy” I told them.

I picked up my finisher’s medal, mug and t-shirt, took some pictures, then went to Mi Luna for the best brunch in Houston. mmmm….tapas.

Recovery:

• OW.
• Sunday night was painful, but Monday was the worst. My quads and calves felt like they were frozen, and I basically got around by rocking side to side like a penguin.
• Worst of all was my left hip. I had a sharp pain going from my inner hip to my toes. I think I had irritated my sciatic nerve. Took lots and lots and LOTS of Celebrex, and I’m pretty much back to normal now.
• Strangely, I feel fat. I think I overdid it with the carb loading during the past 2 weeks. bleh.

Lessons Learned:

• Cytomax rocks.
• CarbBoom, eGel and Accel gel are the best. Cliff Shots taste like cruel punishment.
• Medical tents do not carry painkillers.
• After 18 miles, listening to music gets really, really, really annoying.
• When it hurts too much to stop, just keep moving.
• Getting a friend to run the last 4 miles with you is really, really helpful.
• GOD BLESS THE PEOPLE HANDING OUT ORANGES AND BANANAS.

Now What?

Will I run another Marathon? On Monday, the answer was NO FUCKING WAY. Today, it’s hmmm…..maybe….

Next races: Conoco Philips 10K in late February, Bayou City Classic 10K in March.