ARRRGH!

[bluegoose]

Is it really a tradition to yell "God Save the Queen!" (or something similar) at mile post 24? Or is it mile post 25? Sources conflict (although I understand the reason why you'd yell it at either).

Huh??? I think the carbo loading must be getting to your head Niku. If it is a tradition, I've never heard of it.

I noticed that the amount of chatter on the course drops dramatically from miles 15 or 16 through mile 25 or so. A lot of small talk for the first 10 or 12 miles, diminishing up to 15 or 16, and then silence through the Wall miles. There is often a lot of hooting and hollaring down the home stretch. No "God Save the Queen", but I think it would be kind of funny. I say give it a try.

[Pheidippides]

Huh??? I think the carbo loading must be getting to your head Niku. If it is a tradition, I've never heard of it.

I noticed that the amount of chatter on the course drops dramatically from miles 15 or 16 through mile 25 or so. A lot of small talk for the first 10 or 12 miles, diminishing up to 15 or 16, and then silence through the Wall miles. There is often a lot of hooting and hollaring down the home stretch. No "God Save the Queen", but I think it would be kind of funny. I say give it a try.

Yeah, I had never heard of it either, until yesterday (hence the question). Upon further research, it looks like it's most common for (but not exclusive to) the London Marathon. The theory behind it is that the 1908 marathon - the one that set the current distance - was originally supposed to be 25 miles but ended up being 1 mile 385 yards farther in order to accommodate the Queen's viewing pleasure. The Houston Marathon is a pretty large marathon (looks like a solid second-tier event) so maybe somebody will yell it here, but it won't be me (this time). Then again, St. George isn't exactly small potatoes either and is well regarded.

I'm not going to be talking to anybody this time. It's all about me and my tunes. And the home stretch I'm going to be giving it whatever I have left, which probably won't be much.

I had my last training run this morning. I actually wore all my race gear to be sure that everything was in order. I'm doing the three-day carbo load plan, so I started this morning.

[TheBYUGuy]

I had my last training run this morning. I actually wore all my race gear to be sure that everything was in order. I'm doing the three-day carbo load plan, so I started this morning.

May the force be with you this weekend. Maybe I will camp out at mile 25 and give a Union Jack to those who yell.

[Pheidippides]

May the force be with you this weekend. Maybe I will camp out at mile 25 and give a Union Jack to those who yell.

Thanks. I am almost three full days away and I am as nervous as I ever have been. So nervous I'm taking tomorrow off of work to try to relax.

[happyone]

Good Luck this weekend

[cowboy]

Thanks. I am almost three full days away and I am as nervous as I ever have been. So nervous I'm taking tomorrow off of work to try to relax.

Relax, relax, relax. You'll be fine. This is just another long run. The course will be full of people and stuff that will make the time fly by as they distract you until about the 20-mile mark. After that, you'll need your tunes, but there will be lots of folks cheering you on toward the end. Just let your inner show-off out and have fun. Good luck.

[Pheidippides]

Relax, relax, relax. You'll be fine. This is just another long run. The course will be full of people and stuff that will make the time fly by as they distract you until about the 20-mile mark. After that, you'll need your tunes, but there will be lots of folks cheering you on toward the end. Just let your inner show-off out and have fun. Good luck.

It's just normal pre-race jitters, I think. I'm still worried about my right knee a bit, but for no specific reason (some minor aches that I don't think are ITBS). I feel great otherwise, and my last few training runs have been among my best ever in terms of how I feel. I'm peaking at the right time - I just want to make sure I don't do something stupid like go out at a 7:00 pace or something. With all the adrenaline I'll have (and with very little running over the last little while), I'll have to hold back.

[Sea Chicken]

If you're not nervous you're not doing it right. You'll be fine. Good luck!

[beelzebabette]

Good luck, niku. I hope you had a relaxing day today and a great night's sleep tonight. Can we expect a full report Monday or Tuesday?

[Pheidippides]

Good luck, niku. I hope you had a relaxing day today and a great night's sleep tonight. Can we expect a full report Monday or Tuesday?

Probably even Sunday night.

I went to the convention center today to pick up my packet. I think I mentioned I am in the first wave, which is way cool. It's apparently that H-town is really building this thing up, and it's now a pretty big deal; it serves as the U.S. Half Marathon Championships as well so there are some big names in town. And this thing looks to be really well organized. I guess it makes sense, since Houston is the 4th largest city in the nation (depending on how you look at the Dallas area).

Weather looks like it's going to be awesome - clear and 42 at the gun, and warming to sunny and 54 at the finish (based on my estimated time). I'm a bit stir-crazy (I'd love to jump out and run about 10 miles right now) but I've been taking it easy and have gotten 9 hours of sleep every night this week. So I'm feeling good. I just have to keep the pace and HR down for the first two miles to ease in, and then it's go time.

[Pheidippides]

Wow. What a race. I definitely want to do this again - but it's going to have to wait about a year, as you'll see below.

Pre-race: I've been trying to get at least 9 hours of sleep per night for the last two weeks. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to sleep the night before, and I was right. Just before bedtime (9:00 pm) I take a shower and shave my chest. What a time to nick my nipple. Looks like bandaids for me tomorrow. That's not good.

As expected, I woke up at 1:00 am. Couldn't go back to sleep. I was close but some bozo called my house right then (!) so I ended up watching a movie instead to pass the time. I was pretty wired.

4:00 am rolls around and I eat my breakfast - small bowl of oatmeal, banana, PowerBar, Gatorade. My friend who is doing the half comes over to my house and we leave for downtown at 5:00.

I gotta say, having the giant convention center right there for the marathon is a huge boon. Stuff is well organized, and there are a ton of port-o-cans. Not unexpectedly, I have jitters, which means I use the port-o-cans no fewer than four times before I check my stuff. Head to the start line about 6:30.

Weather couldn't be better. 45 degrees and clear, not much wind to speak of. I'm in the first wave, and I'm actually close enough that I could have seen the elite runners start if I was six inches taller. I drop my sweatshirt off about 2 minutes to the gun, fire up my Garmin and iPod, and we're off.

Mile 1: Stuff isn't as crowded as I'd anticipated. I'm looking at the 3:40 pace group just a bit in my rear view mirror - not sure if I can hang with them all day (this is my first race past 5k, so I have a lot I need to learn) but it would be nice. There's plenty of running room, despite the people, and not much bustling for position. I'm content to just follow the crowd. Pace: 8:36.

Mile 2: Still crowded, and we join up with the half marathoners at the end. First water stop - and my first time drinking out of a cup on the fly. Goes okay. The sun is just peeking over the horizon, curious to see why so many people decided to get early. Pace: 8:20. That's a bit faster than I'd like at this stage.

Mile 3:: First people showing up on the sides now - somewhat surprising since this is a pretty poor and (frankly) unsavory neighborhood. One of the most amazing things about the race, I come to find out, is that people line the entire 26 miles. Pace: 8:21. Still a touch too fast.

Mile 4: Oh, shit.

This is my worst-case scenario. Somebody has stabbed a knife into my IT band. I know this feeling. It cost me all of November.

I immediately stop and walk - but my leg wants none of that either. I stop and readjust my knee strap. It gets worse. I take off my knee strap. Well, that did something, I guess. But it's still really bad. Hey, didn't I bring some ibuprofen, just in case? I pop all four pills from my bag and pray - I should have enough coursing through my body after all I've taken the last two weeks, but it couldn't make things worse.

I am seriously worried about finishing right now. There is no way I can walk the rest of the miles in enough time to finish in the alloted 6 hours. This is bad.

All of a sudden, my time goals are out the window. It's all about finishing now. I've trained too damn hard to give up now. I start running again, but I adjust my gait. Instead of my usual stride, I sit back a bit, never fully extend the legs, take really short strides and have a high cadence. I've used this before to minimize impact and compensate for not being able to push off a bum leg. Maybe it will work again. Downside is that I'm going to pay for it because it takes a lot out of my leg muscles.

If I can make it to the halfway point in under 2 hours, I can walk it in. I know I can. That's all I want. 13.1. Every mile past that is gravy. Pace: 8:28. But only because the knee thing happened at the very, very end of the mile.

Mile 5: The new gait is working, but my IT is really stiff. Still, it's not shooting pains again. If I'm lucky, it will stay that way until mile 20. I've slowed down, but still am trying to keep under 4:00. Pace: 9:12.

Mile 6: Time for my first gel of the day. Yuck. And I'm not sure I'm getting enough water from the cups. Pace: 8:47 My official 10k split is 54:08.

Mile 7: The knee is less stiff, but something is lingering, just waiting to jump out and get me. 13.1. That's all I need. And, as if things couldn't get worse, I have to pee. I never have to pee on runs. I blame nerves. But with time goals out the window, I'm not about to let it trickle down my legs like some of the elite runners supposedly do. That costs some time. Running through some nicer neighborhoods now. Tons of people all over the place - crowds two or three deep, and it stays this way until Mile 17. There's a bunch of normal families, and there's crazy guys handing out beer, and there's a priest (a real one!) right outside of his church with a plastic bucket of holy water throwing it on the runners, and tons of people passing out oranges and bananas. Great distractions. Pace: 9:13

Mile 8: Actually, I don't remember much of this mile. I was so focused on my new gait and moving along to the halfway point that I can't remember much. My pace tells me I was really bookin' it, though, probably because I wanted to make hay while my knee was merely stiff. Pace: 8:33.

Mile 9: Half marathoners split off here, so things get way less crowded. I was very tempted to just turn it around and do the half instead of the full. It's a hard decision (and not a few marathoners look like they did just that). But I'm more confident I can make it within walking distance to the end, so I soldier on. Pace: 8:51.

Mile 10: Ah, here's my favorite Japanese restaurant, and there's the owner, cheering us on. I'm tempted to yell something at her (I think she recognized me) but I can't think of anything to say in Japanese in the 10 second window I have. Cross over the 59 and get down to the fountain at the intersection of Main. Beautiful area of town, big oaks hanging over the road while we run. Pace: 8:44.

Mile 11: Rice and the medical center - great area. SHW and the kids are supposed to be here, so I look carefully. Also, my favorite running song comes on (The Number of the Beast). Adrenaline rush. Oops - should have paid attention to my pace. I'm going to pay for THAT later - my leg cadence had to have been way too high for my own good. Also, SHW is nowhere to be found. Hopefully she's at spot #2 at mile 18 - I can use a pick-me-up there. Pace: 8:14.

Mile 12: Rice into West U. Crazy crowds here. There's a group of the creepiest clowns you've ever seen passing out who-knows-what. I politely keep running. I'm tempted to take some of the beer from the frat boys. Knee is sore, but if I can avoid shooting pains, I should make the halfway point. Pace: 8:38.

Mile 13: West U is a great neighborhood. All sorts of people passing out all sorts of things. I take an orange slice - tasty! More importantly, I make it to the halfway mark (yes, I know it's technically in mile 14). My gamble has paid off - I pushed it with the new gait to get here in the hopes of finishing, and I'm confident I could walk it in from here. Pace: 8:48. My half split is 1:54:56 - despite the knee issue, I think this is my fastest half ever, and only four minutes off of what I had hoped in a perfect world.

Mile 14: My legs are getting tired now. Back to staring at a nice pair in front of me. Thank you, sunglasses! People are screaming out the names of the runners (since we have them on our bibs) and that's really cool. I'm noticing that a lot of people have brought dogs out, and the dogs are going berserk at all of the runners. Kinda scary, actually. Pace: 8:34.

Mile 15: Ugh. This overpass is killing me. I dog it a bit to avoid stressing the legs too much. Doubtless it's no more than a modest hill to most runners, but it's killing me. Pace: 8:58.

Mile 16: And now we're in the Galleria. Crowds have thinned out a bit, since this isn't really a residential neighborhood, but there are still tons of people. I'm feeling it, though. 2 more miles until the missus and kids. Can I make it? The knee is really throbbing now. Every mile I can keep running is gravy. Pace: 9:00.

Mile 17: Just entering Tanglewood - ritzy neighborhood with houses well beyond my income bracket. I'm starting to worry about my water intake and decide to start walking through all of the aid stations to get more fluids - this new gait uses slightly different muscle groups and I can feel a cramp coming on in my calf on my right leg. Pace: 8:49.

Mile 18: And there she is! SHW and kids, right there on Tanglewood, waiting for me. I manage to flash a huge smile to all of them, even though I sure don't feel like giving one. SHW snaps pictures as fast as she can, and I get a burst of energy, but not of speed. My knee is really going nuts now. Hold together, legs, hold together! Pace: 9:37.

Mile 19: On the home stretch now - all roads face towards the finish line. The knee is bad. The cramp is bad. I'm drinking two cups of gatorade per stop now, walking through the stops. Too little, too late. Pace: 9:29.

Mile 20: Still under 3 hour pace right now, but it's not going to last. I hit mile 20 at exactly 3 hours. I did one training run that fast, so I know I'm slowing down. The 3:50 pace group blows by me (I'm shocked that it took them that long). I'm just trying to hold it together at this point. 4 hours is possible if nothing else goes wrong, but I don't care at this point. I know I can walk 6 miles. I'm going to finish, and that's all I care about. Pace: 9:28..

Mile 21: And just like that, my left IT locks up. So I have two legs, neither of which I can bend very much and one of which is in agony. Finish. Finish. Finish. Strong or weak, just finish. All I can do is a half-waddle/half walk at this point, and it doesn't help me that I'm exhausted. I didn't hit the wall during the entire race from a metabolic standpoint, but it doesn't matter. If you look at my splits, you'd say I hit it here and hit it hard. Pace: 10:48.

Mile 22: Hey, why not! Add a cramped right foot to the equation. I'm doing the best I can to waddle my way in. I am literally gritting my teeth at this point. This is hard. Really hard. You can do it. Keep it together. Pace: 10:48.

Mile 23: My walk/waddle has a definite hobble to it now People are cheering me on by name. It's much appreciated. There are tons of walking wounded now. People are walking for a stretch, running for a stretch. One poor girl next to me breaks down in tears, gathers herself together, and makes another push. There is a troupe of belly dancers hanging about, which helps lift my spirit. Pace: 12:48.

Mile 24: We're on Allen Parkway now. This is familiar territory. Same road I ran on for the 5k. I'm fighting back emotion - I'm going to finish this dang thing! Can I make 4 hours? Only if I can run 7 minute miles, and with no ability to push of my legs, there's no hope. Pace: 10:45.

Mile 25: Wow, that last one killed me. My waddle is pathetic now, and is no faster than my powerwalk, to tell you the truth. But downtown is right here! I'm limping horribly now, but hanging together and keeping emotions in check. Back into downtown, my home away from home! Pace: 12:37.

Mile 26: And there's SHW again! Right there on the corner by my office building. The kids too. Oh, and here's the 4:00 pace group - guess what, guys? You are about 9 minutes late. I've been keeping track. I try to hobble with them but just can't quite hang with them. And here's the last stretch! I can see the finish line in the distance. Balls to the wall now - I'm not saving my body for anything. Finish strong! Pace: 11.01.

Mile 26.2: Technically, my Garmin says I went .51 instead of .2. To be expected. Legs, give me whatever you've got. With this moment in mind, I ended every long run in training at 8:30 or better. No chance of that today, but I finish and finish proud. Pace: 9:49

Unofficial time: 4:10:35

As if to say it has had enough, my right leg refuses to bend at the knee almost as soon as I finish. I can barely hobble to get my medal (way cool, btw!), but I don't care. I'm trying not to openly sob at this point - I did it. I didn't think there was any way I was going to finish when my knee gave out in mile 4, but I did it! Yeah, it's not the time I was hoping or training for (note: I'm not sure I had a 3:40 in me anyway, but I think I could have gone 3:50 in a perfect world), but I don't care at all. I get my bag and some free breakfast, as well as my finisher tech shirt and beer mug, and then head to find the family. When we meet up, I lose it. I unabashedly sob - this was hard, and I am proud of myself for finishing it. This was one of the hardest days of my life, but it was a fitting capstone to my last 12 months.

I'll end up doing a post-mortem from a racing standpoint later. I think I went out too fast, although I'm pleased with my consistency in the middle miles for the most part. It's also painfully obvious I need more leg strength for a number of reasons. I think I need to work on my hydration plan too. But this was my first time, and I'm happy with what I did. I'm going to give my knee ample time to heal - I probably won't run another race this year - and seek the help of a professional physical therapist. But I definitely want to do this again. And I owe a great debt to all those of you on here that gave me the help to get started. It is not a coincidence that I chose to put my board moniker on the back of my jersey.

[cowboy]

Way to go, nikuman. I look forward to running one with you this fall.

Oh, and I'd suggest walking down the stairs backwards for the next couple of days.

[scottie]

Wow. What a race. I definitely want to do this again - but it's going to have to wait about a year, as you'll see below.

...

Niku, awesome write-up and congrats. F'ing IT bands. Happened to me too, just at a different point in the race (my St. George Marathon write-up is here). When I get a minute I'll post a funny story about how I sobbed at the end of mine.

[Pheidippides]

Niku, awesome write-up and congrats. F'ing IT bands. Happened to me too, just at a different point in the race (my St. George Marathon write-up is here). When I get a minute I'll post a funny story about how I sobbed at the end of mine.

I know the exact feeling of watching the Garmin average pace just creep up and up and up, and there's not a dang thing you can do about it. It's frustrating.

[Coach McGuirk]

Good stuff Niku. Glad to see you met your goal of finishing and no shame in crying at all. Good luck on the recovery! You still going to be on tonight?