Notes
Race report: 2013 San Antonio Rock n Roll
In the middle of the training cycle for my 1st marathon, I had wanted to run San Antonio because a) support my hometown race and b) run a relatively fast Half. Training mileage has been high, easy miles (averaging 72 mpw over last 8 weeks with a tempo every 7 - 10 days). Going in, I thought 1:37 was achievable (PR was 1:42:48).
About the race:
Expo: Packet pickup was thankfully changed this year to be held at the Alamodome. Last year's Convention Center expo was a nightmare due to zero parking. This year, there was plenty of parking and they didn't charge for parking (we'd been informed that parking was $10). Expo was average, no hiccups with packet pickup. Anyway, free parking = good fortune.
Pre-race: Hard time sleeping, as usual. Woke at 4am and ate a Greek yogurt. Got up for good at 5:30 and checked the weather. A soupy 73F and 90% humidity. Dressed appropriately and out the door at 6:00. We chose not to fight street closures and just accept the cattle call option. Drove to AT&T center, boarded a bus, and chatted nervously until we were dropped off at the Alamodome.
First order of business, find the port-o-potty. Wading through the masses we finally detect what must be the line for the bathrooms. Lines are really long. Worse than airport security. Glancing at my watch, its already 7:00 and the race starts in 30 minutes. I have a bad choice: Go to the bathroom or warm up. D. agreed to stand in line while I try to get in a mile or two. After a few minutes of jogging, I run into several banks of port-o-potties where there is literally no line. I quickly take care of business and run back over to rescue D. from her "duty".
I maybe got a mile in but I'm already sweating profusely. Found a spot to stretch for a couple of minutes before finding our respective spots. I'm in corral 2 (of 34, I think) which sounds good but was difficult to actually get to, with the mulling masses, but made it with 3 minutes to spare. I remember once again that I don't have a lot of love for these mega events.
I don't have enough time to check out the elites, but know that Wardian is going for a double today (SA and Vegas marathons on the same day). I see Frank Shorter on the stage about to send us on our way. Then the countdown 10, 9, 8...
And we're off. Sort of. We are kinda shuffling along trying not to get stepped on for the first half mile, then the pace slowly eased into something more resembling a race. I made up a bit of time and somehow managed 7:27 at the first marker, exactly where I want to stay. I don't tend to notice the course all that much, being pretty focused on my own rhythms. I remember passing the Alamo before mile 2 and the crowds were pretty supportive. Nice weather for them today. Too hot for me. Mile 2 was also too hot at 7:06. I must be pretty jacked for this one, so I intentionally pull up to avoid a later implosion.
I find a good rhythm around during mile 3 and 4. We run up St. Mary's to Brakenridge Park and then left at the zoo at Mile 5 and onward toward Trinity U. I was starting to feel like I was laboring just a little though the last 2 were 7:22 and 7:24. I soon realized that I should have planned for this year's course change because Mile 5, 6, and 7 (7:23, 7:37, 7:40) had some surprise hills. Not feeling strong anymore, I felt like I was plodding up and over and just braking all the way down. A lot of folks were surprised, judging by the numbers that walked the last couple of uphills.
I made it to the 10k mark at just over 46 minutes, so right on target but any time banked from my quick start was gone. I had been taking water at most stations, but took my Gu now around Mile 7 and just before what turned out to be a long downhill Mile 8 (7:24). The rest of the course was super flat, and I was feeling much stronger by Mile 9 (7:22) as we ran through downtown with some good crowd support. Mile 10 seemed to fly by (7:13) as I continued passing tons of runners. Being my 6th Half Marathon, I knew that I'd have to push hard the rest of the way just to hold this pace. I made it to Mile 11 okay (7:22) before really having to push hard the final 2 miles.
I was getting tired, tired of running, tired of the heat, tired of the sweat that had drenched even my socks. I just wanted to get this done. At this point, I had no idea and did not care what was going on around me on the course. I was mostly inside my head by then, ignoring the hurt. All those pre-dawn workouts. Running through the summer. Running in the rain. Hours of long runs when most reasonable people slept. Get this done.
Finally the last turn on Mile 13 and I can see the finish, though it was so far away still. After passing the last set of speakers blaring some Rock n Roll chorus, I started to hear the crowd cheering. I pick up the pace, though I feel like my legs are moving so slow. There is a guy to my right and I can hear his steps pick up tempo, and with less than a quarter mile left, I just open up and push to the finish line and finally over the mats.
After the race, D. found me and asked me about my time. I realized that I was so exhausted that I had yet glanced at my watch. Only then did I see the time.
I'm very satisfied with my new official PR of 1:36:55 (7:24 pace), taking nearly 6 minutes off of a 9 week old PR and over 11 minutes better than my 2012 PR. Turns out M.Wardian won the SA race, but ran out of steam in Vegas. Still what an accomplishment. For me, this validates the work I've done this training cycle, preparing for my 1st Full Marathon where 3:25 seems possible.
Cool experience: Right after meeting up with D. post-race, we see Frank Shorter walking from one of the tents. I walk up to him and we shake hands. I thank him for his inspiration and he asks me my time. D. says she was star struck and neither of us thought to take a picture. Memories.