Houston Odds and Ends

Here are a few observations from yesterday's Houston Marathon.

Pre race comments by Mayor Bill White:
Chicago may be an ice box right now but they have had record heat the past 2 years for their marathon. Houston heat should not be a selling point for potential runners.

Live TV coverage:
I think I spotted myself around the 30 minute mark during mile 4 of KTRK's live report.
I didn't notice while running but the road sign for the half turnaround had marathon spelled "marathan". Maybe they corrected it by the time I got there or I may have already been out of it by then.

13.1 consistency:
My only other running of the Houston marathon weekend was the 1/2 marathon in 2007. My time there was 1:47:38. My half split for the marathon was 1:47:40. I guess I've lost a second per year the past 2 years.

Recovered:
The good thing about having a bad day is post race recovery time is minimized. I dropped off my goal marathon pace during mile 11 Sunday. Bad news was that I had 15 miles of running/walking ahead of me with no goal in site other than finishing. The good news is that only 10+ miles of 8 minute miles means much faster recovery. I'm not even doing the marathon shuffle this morning.

First 4 hour finish:
My first marathon took me over 5 hours to complete and the last 2 were done under 4 hours. With my 5th marathon being part of the Goofy Challenge next January, I may be looking at a 5 hour finish. That will put my 3rd marathon at 3 something, 4th at 4 something and 5th at 5 something.

First marathon beer:
I stopped for a beer at mile 21 (or was it 20) on the course Sunday. Another marathon first for me. The beer was a good idea then; nice and warm sunny weather; beautiful scenery. It got me going for a half mile or so down the road; was ready for the next water station after that. Cotton mouth set in quickly.

The New Bedford 1/2 is back on my "to do" list for MA.