san antonio marathon 08

Now that I have a bit of time, I want to share the details of this marathon with you all...

We traveled to San Antonio Friday after work...stopped to eat along the way, and arrived at our hotel fairly late. Got settled in, and crashed...

Saturday morning, we woke up at 6:45...Chris was so kind as to go to the workout room with me while I did the treadmill. We wanted to get up early so that it would be easier to go to bed earlier that evening. I actually did some running on the treadmill...seems easier than doing it on the road or track. I told him that we need to get one for sure! The rest of our Saturday was filled with eating and relaxing and just wandering around. Not too much walking though, didn't want to tire out his legs...

Sunday morning, at 4:00, Chris got up to begin his marathon preparations. I followed 30 minutes later. At 5:15, we headed over to Rolando's hotel. This is where we had decided to park for the day. With all the closed roads and traffic, we decided it would be easiest. Then Rolando and Chris could catch the shuttle to the starting line, and I could set out on foot with Rolando's family and friends.

Rolando is a buddy that Chris has made through running...they have very similar personalities, and train well together. They push each other, and determined that they would run together as much as possible during this marathon. They both were going with the goal of breaking the three-hour mark. Anything below. Chris had a previous best of 3:09 and Rolando a best of 3:01...so it was definitely a possibility to break this goal. Especially with all the tough training they both did...

Rolando and Chris before heading to their shuttle...

After the boys left, we all set out to the Mile 2 point, which was at the Alamo. Saturday evening, I had plotted our course road by road so that we would have no troubles finding our way. This worked out great and I will be doing this from now on. It was probably the easiest I've ever had it as a spectator. We even got to Mile 2 so early that we were able to stop in at the McDonalds on the corner for some quick breakfast. The yogurt parfait is actually pretty tasty, and healthy too! The race began at 7:30, and within 2 miles, the boys came by with thumbs up and waves for us...so far, so good!

From Mile 2, we headed to Mile 8, and then to Mile 10. The course was set up in a way that it was pretty easy traveling for us. We did have to do a bit of jogging from 8 to 10, but even that wasn't so bad...

From what we could tell, and from what Aspen was texting me from tracking him online at home, they're pace was quicker than it needed to be. To run right under the 3 hour mark, they needed to be running a 6:52 pace per mile. They were clocking some 6:41, even a 6:19. It seemed like they were feeling good.

From Mile 10, we couldn't really see the boys anywhere else along the course and still get back to see them at the finish line. So, from 10 we made the long trek to the finish line and waited there for over an hour. The men's winner came in at 2:17 time, and then they started trickling in. From what we could tell, Chris had crossed the starting line at 7:44...that was his official starting time on his chip, when he actually crossed the starting line. To run 3 hours or under, we figured they had to be in by 10:44. We began watching with excitement...would the boys be able to meet their goal?? We were all nervous, especially me and Rolando's wife Anna...

The 3 Hour Pace leader came through, but the boys were nowhere to be seen. Anna and I exchanged a worried look. 10:44 passed, and I began to wonder what had happened. That's the thing with a marathon. There are 26 miles out there, and I have no idea what is happening on each one. It's not like when I train with him and I'm on my bike right next to him. I have no idea.

Finally, Anna saw his orange jersey..."Here comes Chris...". I asked her about Rolando, and she shook her head no. Chris crossed the finish line with a face that was difficult to read, and I had no idea what his official time was. With not crossing the starting line exactly when the gun goes off, it's difficult to know exact times until his shoe crosses the line. I was pretty certain that he hadn't broken the three hour goal, but wasn't positive.

We watched for Rolanda. And watched. And waited. Anna kept giving me pained looks. Finally, in a defeated voice, she said, "There he is." He was running fairly slow, with a bit of a limp. He looked ticked off. After he crossed the finish line, we all split up to go find our runner. They had a Family Reunion area, by letter of your last name. I headed to the "B"s to find Chris...

He wasn't there yet, so I waited and wondered. Finally I saw him, and he gave me a weak smile. His time ended up being 3:08...he didn't break his 3-hour goal. But he DID have his best marathon ever, and now has a new personal best. I was so happy to see that he wasn't completely disappointed in himself. He was bummed about not meeting his goal, but was still pleased with his new personal best time. He was able to focus on the positive, and I am so proud of him!

After each marathon, we always do a lot of disecting to see where he could have done better, what went wrong when, etc. For this marathon, he is pretty sure that his downfall was the pace leader. He was running them too fast, and Chris ran out of steam at Mile 23. If he had stuck with his 6:52 pace for each mile, and then sped up a bit at the end, he thinks he could have done it easily. The pace leader just wore him out. Poor Rolando ended up getting a horrible cramp in his calf that he couldn't get to go away. That, along with the too-fast pace from the pace leader, and he was a goner. He clocked a 3:22, which is still a very admirable time. However, knowing that he is very similar to Chris, I know he was highly disappointed in himself for not breaking 3 hours...

I am so very proud of Chris. For running so well. For training so hard for his goals. For wanting to always do better. I am also proud of him for keeping things in perspective, and being proud of himself for doing better than he ever has. This gives him something to keep striving for...AFTER he takes his mandatory two week break with absolutely no exercise!! :)

I got a little wordy there, but wanted to make sure I captured it all. I did want to comment on the marathon itself...it was a bit bizarre in that there were not very many spectators at all. At all the other marathons we've been to, the city comes out in full force along the course to cheer the runners on. All along the course. This course seemed very empty. I'm not sure what the deal was? There was a crowd at the finish stretch, but even that wasn't insane. Those runners need support, so next year San Antonio needs to get the pom poms out!!!