"Why you going to the airport? Flying somewhere?"
"How'd you guess?"
"I saw your luggage. Then, when I noticed the airline ticket, I put two and two together."
I traveled with my parents from Milwaukee to Memphis to San Antonio on Friday morning. After a visit to the expo to get my race number, enjoy some free samples, and buy a souvenir running cap, we ventured to the Riverwalk area for lunch. In the evening, we went shopping at a mall near our hotel (the Hilton near the airport).
Saturday was pretty relaxing. I ran a very easy two miles to make sure all systems were go. After the breakfast buffet at the hotel, the three of us went back downtown. After dropping of my mom at the River Center mall, Dad and I ventured south to tour more of the course so we could pick good spots for them to watch me run by. We decided that four stops would be plenty -- mile 2, mile 8, mile 15, and the finish. For dinner, we visited one of my mom's high school classmates. We had a delicious homemade traditional Italian meal (spaghetti, salad, bread) that was perfect for carbo-loading.
"Sir, you can't go in there!"
"It's okay -- I'm a limo driver!"
Getting to the start was harder than we thought it would be. Besides the interstate, which was packed, nearly all of the roads leading downtown were closed. Mom and Dad managed to drop me off within half a mile of the back starting corral, which worked out very well. I had plenty of time to get warmed up and make it to my corral (#5) well before the 7:30 start. I heard later that many runners were stuck at the AT&T Center waiting for shuttle buses. To give everyone a fighting chance of getting to the start before the gun, the race started about ten minutes late.
After dropping me off, my dad tried side street after side street to get near the 2-mile mark. After *finally* reaching downtown, things were eerily quiet because of all the road closures! I have great respect for anyone who tries to follow a marathoner around the course. It may actually be easier to run it. :)
"Pull over!"
"No, it's a cardigan, but thanks for noticing!"
In addition to my usual race gear, I wore a winter hat, a heavy cotton longsleeve throwaway shirt, knit gloves, and my black NB jacket at the start. I met up with my parents at mile two, at which point I gave them my jacket, hat, and shirt. My mom gave me my new black San Antonio marathon cap, which I wore for the rest of the race. I kept the gloves on for another few miles. Speaking of gloves...
"I can't feel my fingers, they're numb!"
"Oh, well, here, take this extra pair of gloves -- my hands are starting to get a little sweaty."
"Extra gloves? You had extra gloves this whole time?"
There were freebie knit gloves in all the race goodie bags. With temperatures in the 30s at the start, just about everyone was wearing them. It warmed up quickly, though, so nobody wore them for too long. For the first three miles, gloves were littered all over the course. If I had a way to carry them, I could have had hundreds -- perhaps thousands of pairs of gloves for future races.
"Yesterday was one of the greatest days of my life."
The first half of the race went really well for me. Mile 6 was my faster even mile run during a marathon (7:58). I maintained an average of 8:20 pace up to the halfway point, which I reached in 1:49:14. This is 40 seconds faster than my half marathon personal best from San Jose.
"Big gulps, huh? All right! Well, see you later!"
To ensure I didn't get even the slightest bit dehydrated, I drank at least one cup of Cytomax or water at every stop -- usually two. Whenever I ate a GU energy gel, I followed it up with three cups of water. While I did get tired at the end, I don't think it was due to hydration issues. I'm not sure fuel was an issue either, because I had two packs of sport beans + four or five gels along the course. Sometimes you just get tired. :)
"I gotta stop and go the bathroom."
"Just go, man."
I made a pit stop at mile 17 at a port-o-let with no waiting. In my opinion, it's much better to over-hydrate a little and make a quick stop rather than under-hydrate and cramp up. You usually feel better after a short rest anyways.
"So we backtracked a tad!"
"A tad? A tad, Lloyd? You drove almost a sixth of the way across the country in the wrong direction!"
The course began north of downtown and wound its way around the Alamo and usually busy city streets. At mile 10, we were about a mile and a half (as the crow flies) to the finish line at the Alamodome. Of course, I couldn't fly to the finish, so I followed the course south in to the Mission district. When I reached the southernmost point of the course at mile 18, I was thrilled to finally be heading back toward the finish. It wasn't exactly an "out-and-back", but it sure felt like one.
"I expected the Rockies to be a little rockier than this."
The course was advertised as fast and flat, but I've run many flatter courses in the past few years. The hills were never too big, but there were a couple of spots in the last 5-6 miles that I would describe as "dips" -- a sharp descent followed by an equally sharp incline. This can really wear you out at that point in the race.
"Some people just aren't cut out for life on the road."
I started slowing down shortly after mile 20. For whatever reason, I could no longer maintain 8:20 pace. I quickly forgot about breaking 3:40. Feeling even more fatigued at mile 23, I decided not to worry about beating my PR (3:43:06), settling to run my second fastest marathon ever. I keep wondering if there was some way I could have pushed through the fatigue to stay fast. But there's always another race. I took a few extra walking breaks to gather my strength for an exciting push to the finish, crossing the line in 3:47:07.
"Uh, what is the Soup du Jour?"
"It's the soup of the day."
"Mmmm, that sounds good. I'll have that."
After the usual time in the post-race area, we all walked back to our car (in a privately-owned lot near the Alamodome) and went back to the hotel. After I got cleaned up, and we packed our things, we headed for a meal at Goomba's Pizzeria, a casual restaurant nearby. We had a large cheese pizza. Mom had one slice, Dad had two or three, and I had the rest. :)
Well, that's about it. One more awesome marathon trip in the books!
Race statistics:
| Miles 1-5 | 8:34 | 8:30 | 8:07 | 8:13 | 8:41 |
| Miles 6-10 | 7:58 | 8:22 | 8:14 | 8:29 | 8:15 |
| Miles 11-15 | 8:24 | 8:11 | 8:18 | 8:24 | 8:13 |
| Miles 16-20 | 8:33 | 9:00 | 8:21 | 8:14 | 8:43 |
| Miles 21-25 | 8:57 | 9:02 | 9:53 | 9:42 | 9:56 |
| Miles 26-End | 9:56 | 1:57 |
- Average Pace: 8:31/mile
- First half: 1:49:14 Second half: 1:57:53
- Fastest Mile: #6 (7:58) Slowest Mile: #25/26 (9:56)
- Photos on Shutterfly
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