Chevron Houston Marathon - 21 minute PR

This morning, I ran a 5:24:07 at the Chevron Houston Marathon or a 12:22 pace.  This is a 21 minute PR from 2012's Houston and a 45 minute improvement, year over year.  My goal this marathon cycle was a 30 minute PR.  But a 21 minute PR ain't hay.  I'm pleased with the result, even though my last 8 miles were not what I trained for, but it happened and I'll just have to analyze what happened, although I think I went out too fast in the first 10 miles and couldn't sustain.

I want to thank Reina for coming to Houston with the explicit instruction to pace me for this race.

I'll edit this thread, later.

Congrats! 21 minutes is awesome! Glad that taper madness didn't do you in.  

Congrats, Doug.  You ran an excellent race - a 21 min PR is fantastic!

You earned every one of those 21 minutes. You've progressed so much over the past year. Bravo!

    

That's great -- congratulations.

Great job!  Sorry I haven't been able to log in and follow your taper and the lead up to the race.  I hope I can find time to catch your full report soon.

Congrats!

Awesome PR! Congrats!!

Awesome!

Oz,you well deserve it. Now you figured out the diet, training, keep doing what you've been doing and put a 4 in next year's result!

Great job.  Congrats on a huge PR.

Great job on the PR and congrats!

21 minute PR is awesome!

carleenp wrote:Congrats! 21 minutes is awesome! Glad that taper madness didn't do you in.  

Thanks, Carleen.  It was real close on the taper madness.  Mark would've thought I really WAS in Taper Madness had I bought those Hoka's at the Expo.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Congrats, Doug.  You ran an excellent race - a 21 min PR is fantastic!

Humble thanks, Michele.  Still have to figure out if my starting too fast or the heightened HR, coupled with running in the daylight short-changed me.

Mark B wrote:You earned every one of those 21 minutes. You've progressed so much over the past year. Bravo!

    

Everyone of them twice over.  Give me the right music and a similarly paced girl, and I can generate some PR's!

Lobo wrote:That's great -- congratulations.

Thanks, Lobo.  Welcome to the boards, by the way.

nkrichards wrote:Great job!  Sorry I haven't been able to log in and follow your taper and the lead up to the race.  I hope I can find time to catch your full report soon.

Congrats!

Nancy, thanks and it's not like my blog is easy to follow, either.  A 40 page blog is long enough, but it holds a lot of data on low carb/high fat for me to review and (possibly) some help to someone else.

Julie wrote:Awesome PR! Congrats!!

Much obliged, Julie.  It's been a long time coming.  I've knocked down my best marathon time 33 minutes in 3 years, as 12 minutes in 2012 and 21 minutes in 2014.

Jerry wrote:Awesome!

Oz,you well deserve it. Now you figured out the diet, training, keep doing what you've been doing and put a 4 in next year's result!

Durn tootin', my new American friend.  I guess if you come down, next year, you'll want to do another PR.  And it's not out of the realm of possibility to get a '4' in the hour slot for 2015.  Hmmm.  I hadn't thought about it that way.  That's rather exciting.  Hmmm.  Thanks, Jerry!

Alex Kubacki wrote:Great job.  Congrats on a huge PR.

Thanks, Alex.  Determination is really something, sometimes.

Michael Enright wrote:Great job on the PR and congrats!

Hey, Micheal!  Yes, now if I can double down in 2015.

Jim Lentz wrote:21 minute PR is awesome!

Thanks, Jim.  It's something to think that I'm not quite a back-of-the-packer anymore.  Over 1,000 people officially finished behind me.  I remember when only 58 people finished behind me.  And I remember in 2006 in San Antonio where I was escorting the course opening cops to the Alamodome.  They were NOT going to pass me.  I asked them, "Hey, does this qualify as a slow-speed chase?"  The cop said, "The slowest."

Very cool oz. You two were bookin' it through the half. But then Reina dropped back and you kept your head in the game, as it were. Nicely done! I agree with Mr. Yang ... you should now see that 4:xx may be within reach. Isn't it marvelous how the bar gets reset when you keep on going? We want the details man! How did it feel after 20 miles? We've all been there, so don't be shy. We all know that the race starts at around 20 miles. It's just durn tough to keep it together at that stage. Take yer time and give us the deets. And oh yeah, well done my friend!

We were in Austin this weekend, it must of been warm by the end. Good show, nice PR.

So here are the splits, with the actual running distance.

26.43 miles, 5:24:07, 12:16 avg pace (12:22 officially), 166 avg bpm, 181 max HR during mile 14.

1. 11:59, 153 bpm
   
2. 12:16, 153 bpm
   
3. 11:36, 162 bpm
   
4. 11:59, 164 bpm
   
5. 11:52, 163 bpm
   
6. 11:44, 166 bpm
   
7. 11:40, 168 bpm
   
8. 12:03, 166 bpm (pee break)
   
9. 11:39, 167 bpm
   
10. 11:58, 165 bpm
    
11. 12:07, 165 bpm
    
12. 12:03, 168 bpm
    
13. 11:44, 170 bpm
    
14. 11:35, 173 bpm
    
15. 12:01, 171 bpm
    
16. 12:16, 169 bpm
    
17. 12:10, 169 bpm
    
18. 12:10, 170 bpm
    
19. 11:58, 172 bpm
    
20. 12:18, 172 bpm
    
21. 12:51, 168 bpm
    
22. 12:52, 167 bpm
    
23. 13:00, 166 bpm
    
24. 13:11, 166 bpm
    
25. 14:16, 163 bpm
    
26. 12:48, 163 bpm
    

26.43 13:24 pace, 160 bpm

All of the slower times in the first half of the race, except for the pee break noted above, were my attempt to walk through the water stations with Reina so the average pace would increase. Shortly after half way, we parted and I went on. The 12:15 pace group caught me at mile 18 and they were doing a run/walk. It was a bad decision to try to do run/walk with them because their run was at a faster pace than my run. I should've continued running and let them catch up to me, each cycle. Alas, I couldn't stay with them. The double underpass on Allen Parkway caused problems and I just had to stop and walk after the 2nd one. That was the 14 minute pace.

I felt a little dehydrated throughout the race. Mouth was dry after each water stop. I don't know if that was the green tea that Reina and I had for lunch on Saturday or the low and dry humidity. I didn't feel properly hydrated until mile 24. I don't think that played a major role in the race.

More miles could help and I might have to add a 4th running day.

The next 5 or 6 months will be CrossFit on M, T, & W and running on Thursday and Friday. Most weekends from April to October will be off limits to running.

The marathon cycle just completed was 22 weeks long and started on August 21. It contained 3 warmup races and two 24 mile long runs, among other long run distances. I really believe the 24 mile runs helped my mind.

Thanks for any comments.

KBFitz wrote:Very cool oz. You two were bookin' it through the half. But then Reina dropped back and you kept your head in the game, as it were. Nicely done! I agree with Mr. Yang ... you should now see that 4:xx may be within reach. Isn't it marvelous how the bar gets reset when you keep on going? We want the details man! How did it feel after 20 miles? We've all been there, so don't be shy. We all know that the race starts at around 20 miles. It's just durn tough to keep it together at that stage. Take yer time and give us the deets. And oh yeah, well done my friend!

Thanks, Kevin.  I miss not being around you more often.  Reina started having leg cramps, as she is mostly a trail runner now and the concrete whipped her like an insubordinate sailor.  She's doing the AR50 in April.

At 20 miles, I knew I wouldn't meet my goal of 5:15 because it was dependent on decreasing the pace from 11:55 to 11:30 starting at 20.  Even though it's a mostly new course for this year, miles 20-26.2 are the same as when you ran it in 2012.  And the double underpass at mile 24 was a booger this year.  10 degrees cooler would've helped, but the humidity was dropping throughout the day and a nice, slight north wind was welcomed.

As much as conventional wisdom says never to do long runs greater than 20 miles, I can't help but think that while the 24 mile long runs that I did twice (once in October and once on Christmas) helped my mind, I believe I should be doing long runs of 26-30 miles at closer to GMP.  How else is my mind and my body going to blow through the distance and the pace if you don't do the distance at the pace?

I dunno.  It's just something I'm going to have to research.  I achieved 70% of my goal of a 30 minute PR, on this race.  I don't have any other marathons planned for the rest of the year.

Sub-5 would be a natural progression for me.  If I have another 30 minute goal and achieve 80%, that's a 4:59 something.  Just takes work, because losing another 27-30 pounds is not possible, like I did for this one.

Kevin, maybe you can come back to Houston in 2016 for another round of Oly trials and I'll be trying for a 4:30 time?  Thanks.

fostever wrote:We were in Austin this weekend, it must of been warm by the end. Good show, nice PR.

After noon, the light north wind was a cool breeze and offset most of the sunshine.  And thanks much.

Way to go OZ!!  Glad to know all that taper madness was worth the effort.  21 minutes is HUGE.

mountandog wrote:Way to go OZ!!  Glad to know all that taper madness was worth the effort.  21 minutes is HUGE.

Much obliged!  I'm glad I wasn't that dude under that much taper madness.  It was fun to take a minor thing and spin it so much, though.

ounce wrote:

mountandog wrote:Way to go OZ!!  Glad to know all that taper madness was worth the effort.  21 minutes is HUGE.

Much obliged!  I'm glad I wasn't that dude under that much taper madness.  It was fun to take a minor thing and spin it so much, though.

Maybe skip the training next time, go directly into TM.  

Jerry wrote:

ounce wrote:

mountandog wrote:Way to go OZ!!  Glad to know all that taper madness was worth the effort.  21 minutes is HUGE.

Much obliged!  I'm glad I wasn't that dude under that much taper madness.  It was fun to take a minor thing and spin it so much, though.

Maybe skip the training next time, go directly into TM.  

That would save a lot of time, Jerry.

huge pr great job!

amyjoann wrote:huge pr great job!

Thank you, kindly.  Let's see if I can stay healthy for next year's race.

Dude, that is awesome!  You sure earned it and congrats on the 21 freaking minutes!

Suh-WEET!