houston marathon

I wasn't sure I was going to run Houston when I found out my dad was going to be in the hospital this weekend getting chemo treatments for his lymphoma. He went in Wednesday and we weren't sure how'd he respond.
He's done great so far, but he really won't feel the full effects of the chemo for a week or so. He's been in a great mood while in the hospital, driving the nurses crazy. My dad and brother both told me there was no reason for me to run today, so I took their advice and did.
Left yesterday to go to the Hyatt and found out I was on the same floor as some of my best friends, the Webbs, from Diboll. Known them for more than 20 years and they live near my dad.
They had picked up my race packet for me so that worked out great that they were just right down the hall.
I didn't go to dinner with them, instead just staying at the hotel and resting and sitting in the lobby for a while people-watching. I ran three miles on the treadmill at the hotel fitness center and as I was leaving ran into Lufkin's Beth Filla and family. Beth ran the marathon and also was one of the people in charge of the St.Patrick's 10-mile race I ran a few months ago in Lufkin. Glad I finally figured out her name.
Didn't go to sleep until midnight and got up at 5 a.m. so I could be ready to walk about a mile to the George R. Brown convention center for the 5:45 a.m. church service led by my friend Rodney Bowman, pastor at Angleton's First Baptist Church. It was great to see him and Daryl Beatty, a member of BARRA running club in Lake Jackson who is in charge of the Surfside Marathon next month - a race I plan to run.
Walked around the GRB a little while and headed out for the start. Nice idea for them to put port-a-potties in the starting corrals, especially since the lines there were short.
Saw my friend Jason Culverhouse, from Lake Jackson, before the race started. I ran the 50K at Sunmart in 2007, the same day he ran the 50-miler. Great guy.
My race plan was to run somewhere between 1:50-1:55 for the first half of the race and see what happens.
Early in the race I was wondering why I was trying to do two of these things in 18 days (I ran Kingwood Marathon on New Year's Day), and also wondering what I was going to do when the temperature reached the upper 60s and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Was I gonna die out there?
My legs felt so-so, but not as fresh as they should be for a marathon.
I decided to hit every water stop and I did, getting Gatorade and water both at most of them. I had also taken salt tablets and potassium pills before the race and had a half pitcher of water at the hotel Saturday night.
It helped a lot. I had some Cliff blocks and two Accel Gel's and spaced those out during the race.
I ran much smarter today.
As the temps rose I backed off. I did want the same bad experience I had at Kingwood where I almost blacked out and had to walk a lot to happen this time. My goal was to try to hit 4 hours, but I knew I was gonna be a little bit off. But that's OK. I was having fun.
Around mile 8 or 9 a guy passed and I swear he smelled like he just got out of the shower. I was thinking, "How can this guy smell so clean?" Weird.
A little later I head someone yell at a runner near me, "Hey Delores, good job, keep it up." Reminded me of the Seinfeld episode in which Jerry couldn't remember the name of the woman he was dating and all he knew was it rhymed with a female body part. Made me LOL.
I saw Joe Carey at all three of his stops on the course, he even got a halfway decent pic of me. At mile 15 I started thinking about seeing Steve Bezner at the water stop at mile 21.5. I knew that would be encouraging.
My legs really felt dead and a couple times I thought I felt a cramp coming on, but nothing bad. I kept moving, kept running. I was enjoying it, even though it was getting warm and the sun was out.
I was having fun. Thought about my dad in the hospital and how he's fighting cancer. I remembered from the message this morning to be encouraging to other runners on the course so I was. It was a blast.
Somewhere between mile 21 and 22 (I think) there was a Michelob Ultra truck and they were handed out cups of beer (cold at that) to runners. I decided what the heck. I took a cup and took three drinks out of it before setting it on the curb. Didn't want to have too much.
Hit Allen Parkway and somewhere early there Jessica Alexander passed me. Again - just like she passed me late in one of the Houston races a couple months ago. Dang, she's running well.
I kept going. The underpasses in the last few miles suck, but I managed to keep running even while going uphill. I saw a lot of people walking and I felt good that I didn't feel the need to.
Once I got to mile 25, I knew there would be some shade downtown from the buildings and that was comforting. I kept going.
Reached the finish line in 4:12-something, off my PR by 40 minutes, but 40 minutes better than what I ran on New Year's, so I'm happy with that.
Tried to eat something immediately after the race, but no way it was gonna go down and stay down.
Got to see a lot of people, which always makes the trip worth it.
Talked to my dad on the way home. He goes home tomorrow. He doesn't say it and he gives me a hard time about being crazy enough to run 26.2 miles, but I think he's proud of my accomplishments running marathons. I hope he gets better. It'd be nice to have him around a lot longer.