Houston Half Marathon Race Report

I went into this race fully prepared for it to become my worst half marathon on record. I was hoping for a miracle, but after the way my running has been going over the past few weeks, I expected the worst. But lo and behold, my legs remembered how to run! And it wasn’t my worst half marathon ever! It wasn’t even my second worst! (Those two titles belong to the hilly Charlotte Half Marathon I ran with my brother back in April, and the second day of the Seabrook Challenge last March.)
Goodbye and good riddance, all memories of my crappy USA 10-Miler performance of two weeks ago. Hello today’s 2:25:37 half marathon and 11:07 average pace. Here is how I felt about it:

(Photo taken by Bill from above as we ran under an overpass)

That’s me thinking “yippee!”
I arrived downtown at 5 a.m. since I’d volunteered to help with chip pickup. It was chilly, and I swear it got colder before the race started. I left chip pickup with 20 minutes to go until race start — just enough time to change into my running shoes, grab my hat, watch, and music, and hit the port-o-potties one more time. I got to the start line only a couple minutes before the gun, so I was in the back of the pack. This was right where I wanted to be, since I knew it would prevent me from going out too fast.
My Garmin read all over the map and lost satellite lock at least a dozen times during this race — even when away from downtown and under a clear sky — and by the end of the day it was reading 13.65 miles. Dumb GPS. No idea what was going on there, but no matter, since this is a certified course and there are no doubts in my mind that the Striders go to great lengths to ensure that mile markers are placed correctly. Garmin became just a vehicle for my splits, and they looked like this…
Mile 1 – 11:11
Mile 2 – 11:13
Mile 3 – 11:14
My plan was to run the race as steadily as I could with a 1-minute walk break at each mile marker. I have been walking way too much lately, and I’ve got to break myself of that habit. Walking a minute per mile is something I am ok with; walking more than that gets into my head and I start mentally beating myself up. So: 1 minute per mile it was. I felt like I was going at a good comfortable pace, so I actually skipped the walk break at mile 1 and ran the first two miles unimpeded. The only problem was that my shins were very tight and uncomfortable. Shin splints are an on-and-off recurring problem for me, and tend to hit hardest in the fall. I can’t help but think that it’s somehow weather-related, although that seems illogical. By mile 3, the shins had finally quieted down (as they always do if I “run through it” long enough) and without even realizing it, I picked up my pace.
Mile 4 – 11:02
Mile 5 – 11:04
I ate a gu at the water stop between miles 4 and 5, and then I saw Joe at the mile 5 marker calling times. Joe plus the gu certainly did something, because without even realizing it, I picked up my pace again.
Mile 6 – 10:48
Mile 7 – 10:37
Mile 8 – 10:53
Mile 9 – 10:52
Mile 10 – 11:09
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Four straight miles at sub-11:00 pace — and right smack in the middle of a half marathon. It didn’t even feel that hard! (Did I mention the weather was almost perfect? 60ish degrees and still some shade to be found.) I saw Christy calling times at mile 8 and waved to her. I started to tire in the 10th mile, and could feel my legs and hips starting to ache. Nonetheless, I passed through the 10-mile mark in a total of 1:50:03 — more than 12 minutes faster than the cursed 10-miler. Now that was a satisfying feeling.
Mile 11 – 11:08
Mile 12 – 11:19
Miles 11 and 12 passed fairly uneventfully, except for the fact that my legs and hips were getting tighter by the minute. This was my longest run of the season so far, and I could definitely feel it. I think it was somewhere towards the end that Bill took this shot:

Mile 13 – 11:51
Last 0.1 – 1:10
I finally fell apart — just a bit — in the final mile. The mini-hills of Allen Parkway did me in, and while my legs weren’t screaming, they were definitely complaining in a very insistent way. I took two or three short walking breaks before running the last 0.4 miles or so with Joe. The last tenth was uphill and was a struggle. I thought I might be able to break 2:25, but in the last half mile it became apparent that I didn’t really have anything left for a final push. As soon as I crossed the finish line and got my medal from one of Steve’s boy scout volunteers, everything from my hips to my ankles constricted, and I walked around like a stiff-legged zombie for the next half hour.
It was good to see everyone out there today, though from reading the blogs it sounds like I missed quite a few people in the crowd. See everyone again in a few weeks at the 25K!
I can tell I’m gonna be really sore tomorrow, but I’m so happy to have run a good race that I don’t care!