My first race! Well, my first since I started training, that is. Considering that the best I had done previously was a 33 minute 5K, I’d really prefer to think of this as my first, serious event.

As I pulled into the parking garage, I was trying to decide whether or not to take my water bottle with me. On the one hand, I’d always trained with it. On the other, this was a 5 mile race with plenty of water stops. In the end, I decided to leave it in the car. I had been drinking plenty of Gatorade on the way over anyway.

Since this was my first real race, I had managed to show up way too early and had about an hour to kill before the race started. I wandered around, got some water, predictibly had to go and find the porta-potties, and generally milled about. Bumped into Alex, but nobody else from AustinFit. Turns out that we had around 6,000 entrants - pretty impressive, and it gives me a good idea of the scale to expect on Marathon Day itself. There were plenty of volunteers and service was excellent.

With about 15 minutes to go, I started to wander over towards the Starting line. I ended up about 200 feet back, and met up with Anthony and Chris from AustinFit (Alex eventually found us as well). Now, Alex and Chris run about a 9:00 pace during the week, and Anthony is one of the 10:30 coaches. He said that he was just going to try to keep up with the faster two, and so I decided to try to keep up with him.

Here it comes. The anthem is sung, and the gun goes off. We… stand. Eventually, we get to walk gently down towards the starting line. About 20 feet before it, we get to break into a 12:00 pace or so for the starting chute. We crossed the start line almost two minutes after the official start - thank goodness for “chip time.”

After another couple of minutes, we were able to accelerate up to speed. I was really hoping to be able to get a 9:00 overall pace for the race, but wasn’t sure that that was a very realistic goal. Still, goals are important…

Ran up to MLK, then left as the annoucer kept telling us to do (walkers went right for a 1 mile loop). Missed the first waterstop at the Guadalupe turn, since I was on the far left-hand side. Was that really a mile already? Still, off we go up the West side of campus. This is a long, slow uphill - but it wasn’t getting us down!

By this point, most of the slower people have fallen behind us. I must say one thing though. If you’re walking a race, or running a 14:00 mile, that’s great. Its really amazing that you’re out there, getting fit, and having fun. If you realistically expect to finish in 5,000th place though, please don’t start up at the front. It causes everyone to have to shuffle, slowing down the faster runners and causing silly accidents (a few people got tripped, others ran out into the traffic lanes to move around groups of walkers, etc).

Anyway, I walked through the next water stop, but just for the 30 seconds or so it took me to get my drink, drink it down, and get back up to speed. I’m still running with Anthony, but he’s looking a little worn down. Alex and Chris are long gone. Up another big hill, and East over towards Red River. At some point, I pulled ahead of Anthony - I assumed that he was right behind me, but when I looked later on I couldn’t see him.

Red River was mostly downhill, with some ups, but it seemed to go on for quite a while. I don’t know if that was because of the fact that the previous course had been turning a lot, the crowd thinning out, or just the fact that I didn’t recognize anyone around me. Still, whatever it was, I started feeling a bit tired. Kept running, of course, but it wasn’t as easy as it had been.

Then I got to the final water stop. Now, this was after the walking course had rejoined us (they were long since finished for the most part). Still, a volunteer was cheering us on, “Only 1 more mile to go!” I looked at my watch. Damn it - it was already 40:00 (+/-). I’d been doing a 10 minute pace. That was better than I’d trained for the marathon at, but still pretty disappointing. We turned the corner onto 10th for the final jog West back to Trinity - and found an amazing hill. I don’t know how steep that one block is, but its steep… still, I wouldn’t let myself walk it - kept on running, however slowly I was doing it. At this point, I’m taking it fairly easy.

We turned back onto Trinity - all straight from here, and mostly downhill, a nice comfortable finish to a 50:00 race. After a couple of minutes, I saw the finish line - up one small hill and down a nice, long slope. Wait a second - that’s too soon! I look at my watch, and its reading about 44:00. That helpful volunteer through me off - there was nothing like a whole mile left! Back into high gear, as I start pushing my way through the crowd. I passed some people going up hill, then started lengthening my stride for the downhill portion, really flying. I probably passed at least 50 people on that final stretch, and it felt wonderful! As I get into the chute, I check my watch - about 45:20 with a bit left to go. So close!

The final results? A 45:44 chip time, which translates to about a 9:08 overall pace. Considering the slow start, I’m pretty happy with that time. Considering that when the program started I could barely run 10:30 over two miles, I’m ecstatic. Considering how close that was to my goal 9:00 pace, I’m a little disappointed. Still, a very respectable showing, IMO, and a great first (real) race.

Calories burned: about 685

Popularity: 2%