2022 Chevron Houston Marathon

We needed to get out of the New York winter so we headed to Houston, Texas for the 50^th Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Half Marathon January 16, 2022. I ran the full, Ted participated in the half. Ted’s first half marathon since, well, years ago! There were mental hurdles I just couldn’t overcome leading into this race. Boston was held in October this year due to COVID and I came out of that with a PR. I was hoping for another PR on Houston’s flat course. After weeks into training and doing only 15 miles for my long runs, I began wondering what was going on. Then I see the next training stretch indicating Houston HALF. This was the mental obstacle I just couldn’t shake. Was I only training for the half when I wanted to run the full marathon?! I contacted coach and he changed things up to include an 18 mile run and a 23 mile run. Not the 15’s, not the 18, nor 20 were confidence building workouts. To be honest, I dreaded every run over 10 miles but still was hoping for miracles.

Two and a half weeks prior to the event, the usual winter hamstring-hip issue raised its ugly head. *This might happen because I adjust my running form for slippery road conditions. All excuses kept playing in my head even to the extent that I would have canceled in a blink if not for Ted. The COVID Omicron surge was prevalent everywhere. A friend’s race in NC was canceled two weeks prior. Houston would not cancel and Ted wanted to go so we were going. Houston, here we come!

Arrival on Friday the 14^th – because there is something about the 13^th I just don’t like.

There were no flight cancellations, everything was smooth flying. We took an Uber from the airport, about a 25 minute ride to arrive at the Hyatt Regency on Louisiana St at 2:30 pm. The hotel was not crowded. It was located .8 of a mile from the expo and start/finish of all activities. Restaurants just outside our door were Guard & Grace as well as Rosalie’s. Inside the hotel there was an Einsteins Bagels for quick meals, snacks, coffee as well as Shulas for breakfast. There was a bar central in the lobby that opened around 4 pm for meals and/or drinks. After settling in, we walked around within a 2 mile radius of our hotel and down Main Street with the tram car tracks. We were looking for an old style western bar for a drink before dinner but nothing was open and nothing was old style. Houston is a modern city so there was no honky-tonk to be found.

We ate at Guard and Grace this first evening which was absolutely fantastic. The ambiance, the food, the service were all spot on. A perfect end to our first day.

Saturday the 15^th for the Expo

I haven’t been sleeping well and this first night in Houston made no difference. Up every two hours. Tossing, turning and finally got up at 6:30 so I could get out for a 7 am run. It was the 5K event by GRB convention center at 8 am and I wanted to do my shake out around this location, also where we would be for the start of Sunday’s events. The park was lit up. The roads were clear but the wind! The wind by our hotel was gusting at over 24 mph and at times stopped me in my tracks as well as taking my legs away from me. The area where everything was happening didn’t seem as windy. Hotels closest to the expo, start and finish line are Hilton, Marriott Marquis, Weston, Embassy Suites. Food options in the area were more “fun” and included Rustic, Biggio’s, and Pappacitos.

After our morning exercise, we ventured into the hotel’s Shula’s restaurant for breakfast. They only offered a buffet but it did the job. We left for The George R Brown Convention center which housed the expo! It was on the third floor and as far as post pandemic expos go, it wasn’t bad. They offered all necessities. We both bought shirts, gels, etc. Got our bibs and drop bags. Finishers shirts were not included and would be given out AFTER the race.

We did a bit more walking to check out places for lunch. It was before this time, around 11:45 am that I had a Fuel For Fire Sweet Potato “smoothie”. This replaced my usual baked sweet potato pre race snack. We had drinks at The Rustic. There was live music and it was more of what we were looking for in a Texas bar but the meal options were limited so we went across the street to Biggios. I had a large salad topped with grilled salmon. We walked back to our room to put our feet up in prep for the next day and prior to going out again for dinner. Dinner on this night would be Rosalies. It was Italian but the service was slow and the food was not comparable to Guard and Grace. I had snapper with creamy polenta. Everything was covered with mushrooms which I love but didn’t love the amount of butter (or oil?) used in their dishes.

We were back in the room for, and I hate to say because I’m so repetitive with every race, another sleepless night! Tossed and turned, woke up, got up, every two hours again. It was going to be an exhausting day.

Sunday the 16^th Race Day

The marathon started at 7 am and I was in corral A which closed at 6:45 am. I set my alarm for 3:50 so I could eat a large bowl of oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, and half a Cliff bar broken into it. At 4:50, I drank the 5 hour energy and it did it’s thing within half an hour. I would leave the room at 6:15 to walk the .8 mile to the start on Congress/Fannin Streets. I didn’t bother with a drop bag so no need to go to the convention center. I made one stop at a porto can before reaching the starting line which was a good call because of the lines. Even so, I had to stop twice during the race. Maybe due to the cold?

Race conditions and race attire:

It was dry, windy (12mph) 34 degrees (feel like 28 deg) and to be a high of 43 when done with sunshine. I wore: Injinji compression socks with Bombas over the top. My sneakers were Nike Alpha Fly with a thin mesh upper so I needed doubled up socks to keep my feet warm. Rabbit pocket sports bra so I could carry my phone in a baggy (just in case I doused myself with water). Marathon Maniacs double agent long sleeve shirt with my Rabbit black wind vest over the top. Pinned my bib to the Rabbit vest. Over the vest I wore a gray Nike jacket which got tossed along the way about mile 7. My new Texas tights with pockets for my gels. Pink maniac neck gator, visor with headband for ears. To throw away, I wore a sweat shirt, sweatpants (cut at the bottom to remove easily over my sneakers), and an old heat sheet.

Gels: 2 x Ucan energy gels and 2 x Roctane gels. I like the vanilla chai latte! I had the Ucan at miles 4 and 9. I had Roctane at miles 14 and 19. Water and walking through rest stops starting at the 2^nd stop and Gatorade beginning at mile 15. The stopping and starting so much hurt my time as I don’t think it did anything to help my hamstring/hip issue. Maybe a constant run gait would have been better on the body physically.

The course: Spectators were terrific. It is a flat and scenic course. I struggled after about 10 miles but only because I didn’t enter the run with a good mind set. The half marathoners split from the full just before the 8 mile point. I had it in my head that once we hit a turn around 18 miles, the wind would be strong at our backs. It wasn’t really the case. My race got no better after 18 miles. Late in the race is the Michelob Ultra Beer arch and they handed out cans of beers to runners. At mile 24, someone yelled out that we could still finish under 4 hours. I checked my Garmin and sure enough I could. This became my goal. It wasn’t easy and I still gave in to some walking but managed a stronger last mile as it narrowed and increased the excitement of finishing.

After crossing the finish line, we all herded into the convention center to get finishers shirts. There were bananas and water handed out, no heat sheets. I met Ted after getting my shirt, he finished about 20 minutes after me.

Both of us would be open to doing this race again. I would like it to be the Houston marathon that I’ve dreamt of running for the past four years and not one where I was defeated before even starting.

Splits:

8:55, 8:41, 8:29

8:41, 8:33, 8:31

8:23, 8:26, 8:46

8:34, 8:39, 8:44

9:23, 8:55, 8:53

9:17, 9:11, 9:06

8:58, 9:07, 9:19

9:19, 9:02, 9:37

9:00, 9:02 and 7:46 for .3

Post race celebrating:

We enjoyed a delicious margarita at Pappacitos and a lot of good food.

Houston is a great place to visit. The Monday following the race was MLK Day with two consecutive parades. We decided to get out of the city to enjoy the NASA Space Center. What a find!