Yesterday morning I ran my second Houston Marathon and my 39th marathon. I ran my first marathon in 2006 so this year kicks off the 20-year anniversary of me running marathons. I can hardly believe it.
I ran the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon nine weeks ago and the race did not go well for me. Starting very early in the race (mile 9-10) both of my upper hamstrings seized up at the same time for no apparent reason. After much analysis, I chalked it up to being "stale" from taking two weeks off before the race due to a mild calf strain. My finish time was 3:32 and it didn't take too much out of me. Just four weeks later I ran within a minute of my 10K PR in 41:39.
My approach between marathons was to maintain my fitness. No big workouts except for the 10K, and two long runs:17.5 and 18.0. The workouts I did were primarily for maintenance and on the shorter side, like 4 x 1000m cruise intervals. During the three weeks leading up to the race, my high hamstring and hip started to bug me so I backed off the mileage slightly, doing about 2/3 of what I originally had planned. But thankfully a few trips to my physical therapist cleared it up. I have so much endurance built up from my Indianapolis training cycle that running 17-18 miles doesn't take much out of me at my easy pace, even if I throw in some marathon pace work.
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| Abbie and me at Rice University |
We flew to Houston on Friday and our niece, Abbie picked us up. Abbie is Greg's sister's daughter and she's in her second year at Rice University. She got into running in high school (casually - not as part of an organized sport) and has stuck with it. For her birthday last summer, Greg and I gifted her a registration to the Houston Half marathon. This was one of the reasons I chose Houston: the race course goes through Rice and it was a great opportunity to visit her.
Abbie showed us around Rice University and then we went to dinner. I recognized it from the 2023 marathon because that is where Greg was cheering for me and taking pictures. He planned to go to the same spot this year.
The next morning I went for a 20 minute shakeout run with strides. I noticed that at the slower paces, I could feel my hamstring irritation, but once I got into a groove at a slightly faster pace, it was silent. I wasn't sure how it hold up for the race, but I've had issues like this in the past that have completely disappeared when it was time to race. I think part of it was in my head, constantly analyzing every little sensation. Then Greg and I met up with my friend Lindsey, who I knew from Instagram, for breakfast. I loaded up on pancakes.
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| My friend Lindsey! |
Then Abbie came to meet us to get our race bibs. As this was her first half marathon, I had a lot of tips for her. One of the main ones was that she should have some form of fuel during the race. We bought her two packs of energy chews because I think chews are the best introduction to fuel. My main pieces of advice to her were that she needed to fuel during the race and she should use the porta potty right before the start. These things are super obvious to me, but not obvious to someone completely new to distance running.
After walking around the expo for a bit, we headed back to the hotel to meet Greg’s sister and her daughter, Emily, who had just arrived from Fort Worth, about four hours north of Houston. They made the drive to visit and watch Abbie run. While we were together, Greg, his sister, and Abbie sorted out spectating plans and how Abbie would get to the start line on race morning. Road closures made everything complicated, but they figured it out.
Finally, it was time for dinner. I had my standard chicken parm with no cheese, and Abbie ordered the same, along with plenty of bread. We went to bed around 8:00. I slept solidly until about 2:30, was awake for a bit, then fell back asleep until my alarm went off at 4:30.
Race morning went smoothly. I had my pre-race breakfast (banana, Maurten Solid, Almond butter filled pretzels), rolled around on a lacrosse ball to get my glutes ready to fire, put on my race outfit, and organized my fuel. My glove situation was somewhat of a puzzle because I planned to wear cheap convertible knit mittens from Amazon, but they did not arrive in time. I bought them again and had them delivered to the hotel, but the hotel never received the package, even though Amazon said they were delivered. Struck out twice on them! So I wore two pairs of thin gloves instead of my preferred convertible mittens which would have given me better access to bare fingers for getting the gels out of my pockets.
Our hotel was literally steps away from the entrance to my coral, which prevented me from having to wait in the cold for too long. Greg's sister stayed near Abbie in the Rice University area, so she drove Abbie to our hotel and picked up Greg. (This was all part of the logistical puzzle they figured out on Saturday). She then drove Greg back to the Rice University area where they picked up our other niece Emily to spectate at mile 7. I left the hotel for the corral, and Abbie stayed in the hotel a bit longer because her start time was about 30 minutes after mine.
Once I got to the corral, I took my UCAN gel and kept my legs warm by running in place. I also chatted with a few other runners who recognized me from Instagram. I like taking UCAN about 20 minutes before the race starts because it's a slow release energy that doesn't spike your blood sugar immediately. I like to save that for during the race!
Mentally I was feeling REALLY positive about this race. I had plenty of energy, my stomach was cooperating, the weather would be great, and I had every reason to believe that I could achieve my "A" Goal.
A Goal: PR (sub 3:14:42)
B Goal: Under 3:20
C Goal: Course PR (beat 3:26:48 from 2023)
D Goal: Qualify for Boston (sub 3:45)
E Goal: Finish healthy
Of course my main purpose was to have fun and run the best possible race I had in me, which is something I was in complete control of.
Weather
The weather was much better than it was in 2023. In 2023 it was warm and humid, and I ended up in the medical tent with dehydration. Yesterday it was 43 degrees at the start, 52 at the finish, clouds giving way to sun, and winds sustained at 8-10 mph. I give this a 9 out of 10 on my personal weather scale. Ideal conditions would be a little less windy and a few degrees cooler. But this weather was pretty close to the ideal which is amazing for Houston, which is always hit or miss.
Race Plan
My plan was to start out at a pace of around 7:30 for the first 3-6 miles and then gradually speed up to 7:20 by the halfway point. If I was feeling good, I would have run sub 7:20 for the second half of the race. Based on my recent 10K time of 41:39 and the fact that I had a huge endurance base, this seemed realistic.
Miles 1-6
The race started and I felt good. My goals were to establish a comfortable rhythm, to avoid weaving and to keep the pace conservative. Due to crowding, I ended up running the first mile slower than planned in 7:54, but I was totally okay with that. Better too slow than too fast.
The streets were much wider than Indianapolis, so it felt less crowded. There were a few times when I had to dramatically slow down because of bottlenecks from a narrowing road, but it was mostly fine. The annoying thing was getting caught up in a large pace group. I try to avoid pace groups when I race because they typically go out too fast, and I like to run my own race.
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| Mile 6, photo by Mark Wright |
These miles felt very controlled and restrained. 7:25 felt "easy" so I knew it was going to be an amazing day. I chatted with a few other runners who recognized me from social media.
Garmin splits:
Mile 1: 7:54
Mile 2: 7:30
Mile 3: 7:24
Mile 4: 7:25
Mile 5: 7:22
Mile 6: 7:23
Miles 7-13
I felt really strong and I knew I would see Greg, his sister, and our niece Emily at around the mile 7 mark. I saw them right when I expected to and I told Greg that I was feeling really strong. I was so excited because when I had seen him at mile 10 of Indianapolis I told him that I was not feeling good. I was also happy to see that their spectating plan worked, given they had to navigate multiple road closures with their car. This is when I surged to finally pass the 3:20 group. I ran ahead of them so Greg would be able to get unobstructed photos. At this point my average pace was around 7:28, and a 3:20 marathon is a pace of 7:38, so why was the pace group still with me?
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| Mile 7 |
The 11th mile was when things got weird. I looked down on my watch and noticed my pace had slowed for the same effort level, into the 7:40s. I still felt energized and I still felt like I was being controlled with my pacing. I could have sped up to maintain the pace, but I wasn't quite ready to surge. And I only let my watch dictate so much.
By the 12th mile it was deja vu. Almost the exact same thing happened to me that happened to me during Indianapolis at around mile 9. Both legs started to feel tight and heavy at the exact same time, mostly in the upper hamstrings. In Indianapolis I thought this was because I was "stale", but I certainly was not stale yesterday. I told myself it would pass and my legs would work themselves out and I would get my pace down after the big hill at the halfway point. I allowed myself to relax until then, but after that hill I planned to pick it back up.
Mile 7: 7:21
Mile 8: 7:23
Mile 9: 7:27
Mile 10: 7:28
Mile 11: 7:39
Mile 12: 7:39
Mile 13: 7:48
Miles 14-20
Unfortunately, my legs felt super heavy. They weren't as bad as they had been in Indy - no need to stop and stretch. It's just wild because this hasn't happened on any of my training runs - only my two goal marathons! I kept telling myself that things could turn around and I could get my legs back to normal. I tried to settle into the 7:40s but that didn't last very long.
Everything else was going according to plan. My nutrition was on point with no digestive distress. By this point I had consumed a 24 ounce bottle of Skratch Labs hydration + energy mix, 3 honey stinger chews, 2 Maurten gels and a UCAN gel. My energy level was high and I felt like I had a lot to give. But my upper hamstrings were like bricks.
This was different from the hamstring issue I mentioned earlier - the one that was bugging me during the three weeks prior to the race. That had gone away completely, confirming the fact that I was hyper-focusing on it and it was more mental than anything.
I knew that my chances of a PR were gone, and getting my "B" goal of sub 3:20 would be a stretch.
I had 38 marathons under my belt, and many of them had been bonks where I had hit the wall. But this experience—and my race in Indianapolis—were not like hitting a wall. When I’ve hit the wall in the past, it usually starts around miles 18 to 20: my energy drops sharply, and it feels like I’m literally crashing into a wall. Both yesterday and in Indy, my energy level was high and I felt great overall. The only problem was leg speed.
At this point, I was fighting for a course PR. I knew my Garmin average pace had to be below 7:49 for that to happen. I couldn't believe that on a perfect weather day, I was so plagued by my legs, but when I ran it on a crappy weather day, my legs totally cooperated. I tried not to go there mentally and I had to keep pulling myself back to positivity. I knew I would be very disappointed if I didn't get a new course PR, so I focused on trying to stay around that magical 7:49 as much as I could.
Mile 14: 7:43
Mile 15: 7:51
Mile 16: 8:09
Mile 17: 7:54
Mile 18: 7:54
Mile 19: 7:57
Mile 20: 7:46
Miles 21- Finish
My 7:46 mile was very encouraging and I kept thinking my legs would snap out of it and I would be able to run really fast to the finish. I had so much energy and I felt so great otherwise! After all, I had run the last 10K of Indy faster than miles 13-20. I was so determined to get my "C" goal of a course PR and I dug really deep to get those legs moving faster.
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| Photo by Mark Wright |
A lot of runners were passing me and I tried not to get discouraged. I wanted to get to the finish line so badly. Thankfully my stomach continued to tolerate all of the fuel. I'm fairly positive that my digestive distress in marathons is due to me running actual marathon pace (low zone 4) and trying to digest stuff at the same time. It's easier when you are running in a lower heart rate zone to digest everything.
As I approached the end of the race, they had a "fake" finish line: two big arches that looked like they were the finish line from afar. So I rallied and sprinted to the best of my ability. As I approached, there was a sign that read "400m to go" and so I made myself continue to hold that fast pace. I guess this was a good thing because I started my final kick earlier than I otherwise would have and I maintained it. Once again, evidence that I was not bonking. When I ran CIM, I had absolutely nothing left for the final finish line kick because I was totally gassed.
I looked for Greg but I didn't see him. We talked about him being on the side of the course near the finish, but he was nowhere to be seen. In 2023, he had been on the half marathon side of the course so this year he was trying to get on the marathon side, but I later learned he couldn't get there from where he was coming from.
Mile 21: 8:02
Mile 22: 7:56
Mile 23: 8:09
Mile 24: 8:17 (all the hills)
Mile 25: 8:10
Mile 26: 7:51
Last 0.45 according to my Garmin: 7:20 pace
The Finish and Beyond
My official finish time was 3:24:43, exactly 10 minutes slower than my PR of 3:14:42. To have been plagued by dead legs early in the race and run within 10 minutes of a PR is pretty decent, so I'm taking it
as a win, given the cards I was dealt. It was 8 minutes faster than Indianapolis, so a bit of redemption was had!
I then embarked on my long journey through the finish line corral to get my medal, my water, my chocolate milk, my photo taken, my finisher's shirt, etc. The marathon and the half marathon have the same finish line so it was very crowded and it took a long time to walk all the way through the convention center to finally meet up with Greg. He was alone this time, as the rest of the cheering squad did not come downtown for the finish.
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| Abbie at mile 7 |
I really loved seeing the race through her eyes. I hadn't forgotten what it was like to be a new runner, but watching her experience everything for the first time was exciting: the people cheering for you, getting a medal, crossing the finish line, running with a big group, etc. Greg and I don't have children of our own, so this is as close as we get to influencing younger family members. One of my sister's daughters recently took up piano, and I have helped her with that a little bit. Speaking of pianos, a woman approached me at the start line and told me that I inspired her to learn how to play the piano! How cool!
Post Race Reflections
Greg and I headed back to the hotel where I took a very long bath. We started to discuss why my legs seized up the way they did in my past two marathons. What was different about these two marathons for a whole new problem to emerge? This had never happened in the past! As I mentioned above, I’ve experienced “bonks” before, but never like this—leg tightness early in the race that forces me to slow down, yet still allows me to run somewhere between marathon pace and easy pace while maintaining high energy levels.
The most logical explanation was the shoes - the Nike Alphafly. I switched from the adidas Adios Pro 2 to these shoes because they stopped making the adios Pro 2 (newer versions don't fit properly) and my stash had run out. I had worn them for a 20-miler and an 18 miler in training and my legs were totally fine. I wasn't in love with the ride or the comfort, but the fit was decent and I felt like they made me run faster. Unfortunately, training runs at an easy effort with some marathon pace miles are not the same as 26.2 miles at marathon pace.
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| Photo by Mark Wright |
I posted on Instagram that I suspected the shoes, and the comments validated my theory! Several runners commented that they can only wear the Alphafly for 10-12 miles before their legs get trashed. Sounds familiar! Others commented that the Alphafly had ruined marathons for them. One of my friends told me that the Alphafly is not a good shoe for runners who "glide" (like me). I think it has to do with the shoe forcing certain muscles to activate that I don't normally use as much in training, so they get trashed early on. Or it changes where my body absorbs the shock.
Mystery solved! At least I think. If you have been reading my blog for a while you know how analytical I am. This has only happened to me in the two marathons that I ran the Alphafly in, and the early onset of leg issues points to it not being a bonk, but something else. Add in all the comments of people saying that the Alphafly trashes their legs after 10 miles and has ruined marathons for them - I think it has to be the answer. The Houston marathon course is concrete as opposed to asphalt, so that wasn't helping matters either.
Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
On the one hand I don't want to blame the shoes and use them as an "excuse", but on the other hand, I don't have any other explanation. I have to admit I am pretty bummed about this. I had the opportunity to run a really fast race yesterday. My fitness was at or close to it's peak, the course was fast, and the weather was ideal. I showed up to the start line feeling relaxed, healthy and strong. If I had only worn another pair of shoes I feel like this would have gone totally different for me. In 2023, I ran the second half of this marathon faster when the temperature was in the upper 60s and I was dehydrated and my fitness wasn't as strong.
Every race teaches me something, and this race taught me that just because I think a shoe is "fast" doesn't mean it's the right shoe for me. I need to do more workouts in my race shoes and figure out what works for my stride. It's true that I wore the ASICS Metaspeed Sky Paris in Boston without training in them, and sometimes I can get away with it. But it's not always the case.
Part of me also worries that I'll never have an opportunity like this again. Peak fitness. Fast course, Ideal weather. Healthy and uninjured. I might need major eye surgery at some point this year and recovery from that would take me out of running for 8 weeks if not longer. I'm 47 and I am starting to wonder how much longer I have to set lifetime PRs. Maybe it's irrational, but I feel like my PR days could end any minute and I really need to maximize every opportunity I can before they are gone.
Overall I feel grateful for my health and for the opportunity to run marathons at this speed at my age. So I can't complain. I'm mostly focused on the big picture, which is overwhelmingly positive. A loving family, the opportunity to share running with my niece, a supportive running community, hearing from other runners that my blog/book/social media has inspired them in some way.
I'm already starting to get comments from naysayers that I'm too old to be running high mileage, I shouldn't expect to be running a PR at my age (even though I set one less than a year ago), and that I overtrained. Overtraining = burnout, lack of motivation, increased resting heart rate, sluggishness and many other things. I have none of these symptoms, thankfully! I've spent the past 20 years of my life adapting to the stresses of training for endurance, and I am grateful that it's paid off. I know I am doing a lot of things right because I feel good, I'm healthy and I'm running strong. That's what matters most.
Marathon 39 wasn't easy, but I made the most of it, and I'm looking forward to #40: BOSTON!
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