Splits (I ::heart:: Garmin):

Mile 1 - 13:17 (Verrazano Bridge)
Mile 2 - 11:29
Mile 3 - 11:26
Mile 4 - 11:24
Mile 5 - 10:57
Mile 6 - 10:22
Mile 7 - 10:27
Mile 8 - 10:46
Mile 9 - 11:17
Mile 10 - 10:28
Mile 11 - 11:11
Mile 12 - 11:16
Mile 13 - 10:14
Mile 14 - 11:17
Mile 15 - 12:38 (Queensboro Bridge)
Mile 16 - 13:36 (Queensboro Bridge)
Mile 17 - 10:11
Mile 18 - 10:32
Mile 19 - 11:37
Mile 20 - 11:59
Mile 21 - 12:01
Mile 22 - 11:49
Mile 23 - 11:05
Mile 24 - 11:35
Mile 25 - 11:50 (cramp)
Mile 26 - 11:45
Mile .2 - 9:33
FINISH! - 5:05:45
Avg pace: 11:39
Avg HR: 156

2006 Houston Marathon Time: 5:45:55
Avg pace: 13:12

PR of 40 minutes!!

*********************

The New York City Marathon was absolutely incredible. Going into this race, I told myself this would be my last marathon - finally, I could stop running and get my evenings and Saturday mornings back. But the second I crossed the finish line in Central Park, I wanted to do it all over again. (as it turns out, I am - the Houston Marathon on 1/13!) And as for my super shocking, “where the hell did that come from” 40 minute PR, I attribute it to the awesome weather, the screaming crowds and the kick-my-ass SMART training program. But who cares about PRs - I beat Katie Holmes! woohoo!

Pre-Race (Friday):

My first agenda item after arriving in New York was to pick up my race packet and bib from the Expo. After wandering around Times Square with my friend Abe, searching for the non-existent Expo shuttle, we ended up walking to the Javits Center.

When we arrived, the Expo was buzzing and packed full of runners. The butterflies in my stomach went into overdrive (and would continue until I heard the beep of my chip crossing the starting mat, two days later). Even Abe, a non-runner, was impressed. We took some pictures, gazed at the race course video, then wandered up and down the aisles checking every booth for free samples of food. The back of the Expo was filled with Asics branded Marathon gear, and of course I plopped down some alot of money for obligatory souvenir gear.

Afterwards, we took the marathon shuttle back into Midtown. Sitting behind me were two guys - one from Paris, the other from Orlando - who tried making small talk. Below are my favorite parts of their conversation:

Orlando Guy: What other marathons have you done?
Paris Guy: Mostly in Europe. My last one was the Amsterdam Marathon.
Orlando Guy: Amsterdam? Where is that?
Paris Guy: It’s a the capital of The Netherlands.
Orlando Guy: Netherlands? Where is that?
Paris Guy: Holland. Netherlands. You know, dutch people. Van Gogh.
Orlando Guy: Is that near France?
[silence]
Orlando Guy: So, are there tall buildings in Paris?
Paris Guy: Yes, we have many tall buildings.
Orlando Guy: Wow! I should go there someday.

(more…)

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.

(more…)