2009 Austin Marathon

The 2009 Austin marathon was a tough race to say the least. The course is hard and it feels like you are climbing no matter where you are. My training and diet from Dallas in December to now hasn't been the best and for the marathon you get out what you put in so my 3:58:21 time was about right.

I met Brian and Carrie at the Runtex annex around 5:45 in the morning. We hung out and got ready to run. We headed over to the start line around 6:30 and it wasn't too crowded around the 3:30 pace group. My garbage bag/Gatorade bottle bathroom worked like a charm. Especially since the race started 15 minutes late.

Brian and I stuck to our race plan for the first part of the race which meant going slower than 8:00 pace up the hills and faster down the hills. We were ahead of plan for the first 7-8 miles and then started to get to where we were on plan. I was getting tired going up Exposition and Brian didn't look so hot either. Carrie left us in the dust going up Exposition and Brian dropped off I think somewhere near Bull Creek/Shoal Creek. I was having a hard time breathing which is probably some lingering effects of the cold I had in the past couple of weeks. I don't think I have ever wheezed during a marathon, but it happened today. Once I slowed a bit it went away. I saw Carla and Emma near Northcross Mall and gave them my gloves and pace band. I knew there was no way I was going to get to 3:30 at that point and just wanted to finish without walking. I also wanted to finish under 4 hours after the debacle in Dallas.

I think at that point in the race I was about 5 minutes off pace and fading. Rachel jumped in with me at mile 19 and was a life saver. She just kept talking to me about this and that so I wouldn't think about anything else. I think we walked 2 times for a minute and then I walked half way up the hill at Dean Keaton. What a shitty place for a hill...right at mile 24. Once Rachel turned back I had about 1.2 miles to go and trudged on. Emma ran me up the hill on San Jacinto which really helped a lot. Once got to the top on San Jac I ran faster through the finish which was just across from the Capitol (see picture above).

My time wasn't what I wanted, but I finished my 13th marathon out of 14 starts and feel good about it. Average training gets you average finishes so this is fine. I know what I need to do better next time. Weight training, core work, diet, and I need to lose about 15 pounds from my race weight today. I am planning to make my next BQ attempt at the Portland Marathon on October 4th. It's where I ran my first marathon and it would be sweet to come full circle with my BQ time there.

I want to thank Carla, Emma, and Caroline for encouraging me to run this race after I got back from Dallas in December. Your support is awesome and I love you all! I also want to thank Brian and Rachel for all their support this extra long marathon season. You all are great friends!

Stats - 26.2 miles/3:58:21/9:06 pace