Chevron Houston Marathon

I have never run a good January marathon. In Phoenix and Miami I had problems with my left ankle and cramps in my left calf.

I was trying to decide which shoes to wear for a week - Nike Air Max Moto or Brooks Adrenaline GTS8. I was picturing the elite women at the 2008 NYC marathon and so many worn Nikes. The roads in Houston are concrete so I went with the shoe with the most cushioning, the Nikes.

I woke up at 2, 3, and 4 AM the morning of the race. I got up at 4:20, stretched and dressed.

We left at 5 for Houston, Annemarie, Tiffany, Nancy, and me. I was excited; not nervous at all.

At the Expo center we waited inside. It was probably in the upper 40's. My digestion had not been too good since the flight but last night before Mass I had a lot of whole wheat pasta. It helped so much that morning. I stopped drinking water by 6:15.

I used the porta potties a second time and off to the start at 6:35. It took a while to get to the start (12 minutes?) so it was about 10-12 minutes before the race. I felt like I was back a little too far but OK. When the gun went off I felt good.

The first mile was a little slow with a city smell which lasted until mile 3. My speed went up from 6.6 to 7.2 mph. Then to 7.6 by mile 5-6. I finally peaked at 8.0 mph on my watch. I did have to stop and use the porta potty for about a minute.

I then fell off to 7.8 mph from about mile 9 to the end.

They were calling out our pace; I was at 8:06 for most of the race; 8:07 at mile 20 and 8:08 at mile 24.

They had our names printed on the bib; hundreds of people called my name!

The last 8 miles I passed several people; at one point I went past 5-7 people at once. Only 2 younger guys passed me in all that time up to the finish.

I felt strong until the end; I was talking and clapping to the music at times; the bands were second only to the ING NYC Marathon.

Afterwards, they had us go back inside for breakfast; this is the first time I had eggs and sausage after a race. They gave you the metal, finishers tee shirt and mug.

I had the best time and met up with Annemarie and Tiffany after eating.

I wish I lived closer, I would run this every year. The course is almost as flat as advertised.