Monday, March 3, 2014

Event Recap: 2014 Fidelity Investments The Woodlands Marathon

Let's see...this past weekend was eventful to say the least. 48 hours of speaking gig, expo walking, socializing, running, and because it's Texas and all, throw in some crazy weird weather just for fun!

I'll begin by observing how different it is to go into this event as a participant vs. being a spectator or coordinator; overall I had a good experience all the way through, with the exception of one or two "inevitables" of a young, large event.

The expo? For starters, it was held at one of the nicest hotels in The Woodlands and was very organized and efficient. I was 1/2 of a 2-person relay team so there were some logistical hiccups, but overall packet pickup was a snap and they did do a good job of communicating if something was delayed. Of course I saw and caught up with a lot of peers and listened to two local legends, Coach Dan Green (who also happens to be the winner of the first-ever Houston Marathon) and Jim Braden, who claims to be an "everyman" but I beg to differ-he managed to finish the Western States 100 in the same year he won is AG in Kona. Beast-even at  age 78.

As for my turn in the speaker series, I knew I had some big shoes to fill with those two gentleman ahead of me, but I had some valuable stuff to teach on one of the nicest stages I've ever spoke on. About that stage-good thing I am now able to push through my fears of making a blunder in front of others because it was lined with large speakers and had screen about the size of my living room behind me. Thank God I remembered to proof my slides! 


I had a great time sharing the "5 Basic Mental Skills for Distance Runners" and the audience had some good things to contribute. Again, my thanks goes out to Mr. Walk and the Expo team for having me.

As I closed my talk, I made it a point to tell the audience to "thank a volunteer this weekend". Then I must confess, I dropped the ball somewhere on Branch Crossing Dr.....

Which leads me to one of the best and crappiest feeling workouts I've had in a long time. I really saved my psyche some grief by just using the first half of a fairly challenging marathon course by not having a fast time goal. I simply wanted to run my current steady state-tempo pace on average and pass the chip off to Carrie without much fuss. No big deal, right?

Wellll, race morning arrived and I was feeling relaxed. Like really relaxed. I succeeded in not letting the start line atmosphere trigger any anxiety. It was weird standing in the corral, casually chatting with the other runners and feeling no nerves, besides the "let's get this going already" feeling because I'm admittedly spoiled and am not used to being fenced in at a race start. First time to not race competitively-check. First corral experience-check(and it wasn't so bad!). I knew when I started sweating within the first 5 minutes of my warmup that this was not ideal race-day conditions. But there was nothing myself or anyone else could do about that.

In my singlet and shorts my already sweaty self took off with another 1700 plus runners for the first 13.1. I was looking forward to getting some strength out of this leg and hitting the hills. And I felt surprisingly awesome and powerful in the first 7 miles. I kept thinking to myself I was hitting "ADP" or all-day pace, and how fit and powerful I felt. Until my core temp went up. And this is when the workout became a workout. I'll spare the fine details as they are not important, but I felt pretty uncomfortable about an hour in. I don't think it was as much a fitness or hydration thing as that I was lacking the acclimation to 100% humidity and temps that would rise to 82 that day. Those poor marathoners! The challenging stretch on Branch Crossing drive resembled May's Ironman Texas-many very fit looking individuals walking during a marathon. The difference is that nobody got off a bike and ran and they were expecting tough conditions. Confession #1 (and Rebecca B, do skip this part over!): I made a quick stop to take off my socks to lighten the load on my legs. I'm sure people thought I was nuts, but no, I did not get blisters, and yes, I felt considerably more comfortable and faster after doing so!

Eventually, I hit the chip mat and stopped my watch-only to not see Carrie. Turns out, the relay exchange zone was at 13.4, not 13.1. So I quickly recovered and on tiring legs and approaching dehydration, I finally found Carrie-passed the chip, and told her to run conservatively. She is from Toronto, after all and this is hard on us natives! I may owe some of my training group mates an apology as I was flustered upon finishing the relay leg and kept asking for water. I was not my usual friendly self and just wanted to be left alone with a big glass of something. But there was none at the exchange. And my tired and thirsty self was not happy. While jogging to pick up my bike from my friend's house near the zone, I asked the chip mat guy if he had water and that was another negative. Confession #2-I snapped at a volunteer, telling him it was "terrible" that there was no water there. Sorry, chip mat guy-but I do suggest at least a few jugs of water at exchanges, or at least noting that that participants will need to provide their own in the race guide.

This is something I know I shouldn't do and even went as far to tell participants just the day before to do so. We all have our limits I suppose. Then comes confession #3, upon reaching Ray's house and retrieving my mountain bike to ride back to the race site, I noticed his garden hose on the side of the house. And yes, the water went down smooth, even though it tasted like plastic; but I was desperate!

I did get a mental boost, believe it or not, for how good my form felt before overheating and a reaffirmation that just because the day throws stuff at you, you keep going. I also do like  the idea of using an event as a training run sometimes. I needed a 13-miler that day, running hills always helps with strength (and speed!) and let's face it, I need to run in 'real' TX temps.  It was good practice having to run in a crowd and manage myself. There are several learning experiences I will take from this one. Gear and nutrition-wise, this was the first time I raced in Oiselle distance shorts and they were perfect housing a new gel brand-Honey Stinger. Both get two thumbs up.

In the end, Carrie had a nice comeback run and we called it a day! Despite this not being the prettiest of days, I ultimately had fun and got tougher and possibly fitter from doing so. Bring on the warm weather racing-just for shorter distances!

Congrats to all this weekend's finishers and thanks to those who gave me some love in the crowd at my lecture. I know some of y'all even managed to PR. Serious props!

Stay the course.

4 comments:

Tina @GottaRunNow said...

I ran the half marathon and had a good time. Next year, I'd better carry my own water, though, because there was a water hold up when I stopped for some. Wish I could have heard you speak. Maybe next year!

Raina R. said...

Nothing can prepare you for 100 percent humidity!! That's just hard to cope with. Great job with your workout, and the lecture. It would be fun to hear you in person!

Glad to hear the Oiselle shorts worked out well :) I have been thinking of trying theirs too.

Elizabeth said...

That's awesome that you got a speaking gig. I would love to hear you speak! And Honey Stinger gels are awesome! Glad you liked them.

Elizabeth said...

That's awesome that you got a speaking gig. I would love to hear you speak! And Honey Stinger gels are awesome! Glad you liked them.