New Years Double "Eve" Marathon (Race Recap)

Allen, TX
Tuesday, December 31
Marathon #23
Texas Marathon #3
Weather - Chilly at start, sunny

I waited a long time to register for my third trip to Allen, Texas for the New Years Double. Somehow, I ended up registering for the double marathons (again), even though last year's attempt was a giant fail.

We had stayed up a bit later than we wanted and I was FULL from all the Mexican food and beer. Nothing about my night was leading up to a successful race.

Race Day

My niece was going to be the slowpoke of the group. We were staying with a friend only about 15 minutes away, but got up earlier to allow for everyone to get ready. Alarms went off at 7, and we got out the door later than planned, closer to 7:40. Our first delay was the weather:

We were not expecting to have to sit in the car to let the windows defrost for over five minutes! Then, we had to stop at Shipley's and to get a kolachi and a donut and coffee. We arrived at Celebration Park with enough time to get Alyssa (my niece) pins for her bib and to use the port-o-potties. It was MUCH colder feeling than last year, although there was no wind and the sun was out. And of course, no rain.

I have run the marathon course twice, and the half course twice. It is a flat and a fairly "fast moving" course. I headed out with some basic goals.

A - 4:45 (this was a HUGE long shot, as I only recently have gotten my half back under 2:30)
B - Sub 5
C - Fastest marathon of the year (sub 5:16:47)

I started in the back of Corral F and settled into an "easy-ish" pace. By the time I passed through the first aid station at mile 2 I was already HOT. The problem was that I was wearing my long sleeve shirt UNDER my tank. The mile I was undressing and redressing went by pretty fast. I don't even know how I managed to do it without hurting myself.

I was NOT feeling super great. You would think that the big problem would be GI issues from my Mexican food, but it was a newer issue. No actual calf tightness, it was numbness in BOTH feet, and it went all the way to my knees. Lasted for at LEAST one loop. It was very uncomfortable.

Passed through loop 1 with a decent pace and headed out for loop 2. That loop was uneventful, and towards the end the numbness in my feet/legs finally went away. I crossed through the half way point around 2:21. On the way to meeting my "A" goal, but it was going to be tight. Coupled with having to stop and use the bathroom around mile 14. THEN, I finally felt better. The race sort of fell apart around mile 18. That was when the unplanned walk breaks started to happen. My feet were achy, my legs felt tight. I saw Lesley by the drop tent and gave her my long sleeve, ski hat and gloves. THANKFULLY. Sooooo hot.

The last loop went on forever and ever.

The course was thinning out, but there were still a decent number of people out. I was eyeballing my watch quite a bit the last few miles, but knew that I was not going to make my goal. However, I was guaranteed a sub 5, something I hadn't seen since I ran Grand Valley marathon in May, 2012.

The course has consistently measured (substantially) long for me.

Official Time - 4:52:12
Official Pace - 11:09
3.6 Split - 40:00
6.55 Split - 1:10:29
10.15 Split - 1:51:02
13.1 Split - 2:21:43
16.7 Split - 3:03:53
19.7 Split - 3:36:35
23.3 Split - 4:19:18
Overall Place - 105/179
Gender Place - 44/86
Division Place - 11/19
Garmin Time - 4:52:13
Garmin Distance - 26.69 miles
Garmin Pace - 10:57
Mile 1-5 - 10:26, 10:20, 10:31, 10:43, 10:10
Mile 6 - 10 - 10:38, 10:41, 10:05, 11:34, 10:29
Mile 11 - 15 - 10:51, 10:19, 10:44, 12:00 (bathroom), 10:28
Mile 16-20 - 11:09, 10:28, 10:50, 12:10, 10:40
Mile 21-26.2 - 11:45, 11:25, 10:46, 11:41, 11:57, 11:50, 10:58

I collected my medal, and met up withe Lesley to get my stuff back. Brief hello to Libby (race director), and then some finisher pictures.

As soon as I was finished, I was already thinking - HOW ON EARTH AM I GOING TO DO THIS AGAIN TOMORROW?? Initially, the thought was to drop down to the half marathon like I had done last year. 

Stayed tuned for day 2...