2008 Austin Marathon
Yes, I know this report is really, really late. Sorry! I’ve been in and out of town quite a bit ever since the marathon.
Well, we finally had perfect weather for a marathon here. It was cool but not cold and plenty clear outside. I ended up having the most fun I’ve ever had running in a marathon.
I met the group at RunTex before the start. I did a few warm-up things inside the annex, but I didn’t really go out and do a warm-up run like some people did. After walking to the start, I found it was quite a way to the gear check area, and I was a little concerned about making it back to the start in time, but that worked itself out.
The start was better than last year. This time, the fireworks were in front of us, and it was pretty cool to run through that even despite all the smoke. Last year, they had them behind us so we couldn’t see them.
I fell in with a few other folks for the first few miles, and we had a nice visit. One recurring theme for me in this one was that the mile markers appeared before I started looking for them. In the past it was usually the other way around. It felt good to keep seeing them and thinking wow, I’m already here.
The bands and crowd support were awesome. I’ve run this race for the last several years, and this is by far the best that’s been. I saw familiar faces along the sides throughout the day.
I was having only fun until that trip up Exposition ate my lunch again. That section is really hard, and I just wasn’t the same after that. I drifted back from the folks I had been running with along there, and I never saw them again. Before I run this race again I should probably practice that street until it doesn’t even register as hard anymore.
A little after halfway I saw Jay out performing, and he was nice enough to give me a shout-out over the PA. That was cool. I started to feel a little tired after turning around at the north tip of the course, but I just started repeating some mantras to myself and got through it all. Some people from the group passed me at mile 21, so obviously I had slowed down, but I just kept on running as best as I could.
I had a little issue on Red River. I was going along and all of a sudden my right hamstring just contracted and would not let go. I had to stop for a minute and wedge my leg against the ground to get it to straighted, and then I was on my way again.
I was happy to see the Humiliators playing at the last corner, and Todd gave me a shout-out over the PA there, too. That gave me a boost of energy to get to the finish line, and that was that.
I had some snacks and went off looking for my family. I had a little incident where I was distracted and tripped over a curb. Normally that wouldn’t be so bad, but in this case my legs decided to cramp up so I could not stand back up. Thankfully a kind passerby helped me straighten them out, and I made my way over to the massage tent. After my stay there it was time to eat!
My time was 3:27:21. That’s a PR for me by several minutes. Obviously I still have a lot of work to do, but this is a big step in the right direction.