New PR- 2:54!!!
By: Nick Bias
January 15, 2012- Chevron Houston Marathon
Official Time- 2:54:53 (6:39 pace per mle)---- About 4 minute Personal Record
153/8,000- (They have changed the number of finishers 3 times so the number is around 8,000 for the marathon event.LOL)
Weather- Start- 45 degress, Finish- Upper 50's
I had 3 goals going into my 7th marathon- 1.) Set a new PR, 2.) Run under 2:55, and 3.) Run in the low 2:50s- 2:52 range. I achieved 2 of my 3 goals so I've got to be happy with that. My last 3 marathons have been:
Boston 2010- 3:05:01-----Boston 2011- 2:58:58-------Houston 2012- 2:54:53
So I feel like I am moving in the right direction with my marathon training cycles and recovery periods.
Breakdown- I started out a little on the conservative side with a opening 6:39 mile because my legs were a little stiff from having to stand in the corrals for about 30 minutes and no where to shake the legs out.
I feel like I had two solid half splits- 1st Half- 1:26:11----- 2nd Half- 1:28:42
I was right on 6:35 pace through 19 miles but it seemed my legs started to wear down a little bit as this was the fastest I had ever went through the marathon but still felt it was fairly conservative. I was able to hold a sollid pace though with the last 7 miles ranging from 6:44- 6:54. So I think my strength definitely came into play here as I never hit the wall but was able to finish with a good pace and hold it together. The weather was really good until the last mile we came back into the city and began running by the sky scrapers (Wind tunnel) and apparently a FIERCE HEADWIND which really made it tough at that point in the race.
I'm going to take 2 weeks off from running to let my body completely heal and then I will start back with some light running and the next training cycle. I'm not sure what race I will be training for next, but I'm sure it wont' be long until I start getting a plan together for a fall marathon and half marathon combo. I would really like to go run Chicago or Columbus in October and shoot for a 2;50-2:52 marathon. I really feel like if I keep progressing and putting in the hard work, my times will keep getting faster. I would also like to focus on a half marathon in the early summer to try and get another PR in that event.
I would definitely run the Houston Marathon or Half-Marathon again in the future. It is a well organized event and the weather is really nice down there this time of year. It was 65 degrees when got on the plane to come back to Charleston, I kind of wanted to stay.
Another plus to the weekend was getting to see the Olympic Marathon Trials and see how fast those guys/gals run in real person. I have some great pictures of Ryan Hall, Meb, Josh Cox, Ritz, Abdi and Shalane, Desi, Kara Goucher, and of course our own Clara Grandt who really looked smooth out there. I think she has a wonderful chance to make the team in 2016 for Brazil.
If anyone has any interest or questions about running Houston in the future- please don't hesitate to ask me. I also have my marathon mile splits if you want to see those.
Take care and I will see you on the roads (In about two weeks)!