Houston Boogies On Painted Toes

I ran into (Honorary) Dr. John after the race. He asked me how I did and when I mentioned my time, he said, "You were right behind me." Uh, not quite. I was about a half mile behind him...

The Koala Houston Half Marathon shaped up something like this: I ate a rack of ribs Friday; spent a couple hours at BJ's on Saturday (Thanks Brian and Melissa!); and I was pretty much a slug the entire week. I did not check the weather until Saturday night and even after running into Cassie moments before the race started, I had no strategy.

At gun time, I waited a minute or so until the back of the pack started moving and began walking to the start line. "Let's just see how these old legs feel," I thought as the timing mats got closer. Approximately three minutes after the gun went off, I too was off, and my pace was surprisingly quick. Far too quick for where I was in the pack. But a funny thing happened on the way to completing the first loop. There were holes - plenty of holes; and most of them on the left. Wackiness:

• Mile 1 - 9:34
• Mile 2 - 9:12
• Mile 3 - 8:47

Aloha Running Gods. I salute thee and praise your deeds. Folks, I started at the back of the pack and I was not one of those slicing and dicing assholes. I only moved forward and passed when there were substantial holes.

As I began the second loop I made a quick stop to get a gel from my A-#1 Supporter, Jaclyn. She was hanging out with (other) Brian, husband of Jeanine, who was also running (with Lynette and Melissa). I was more than surprised with my first loop pace and decided I would just try to keep it up as long as I could.

• Mile 4 - 8:04
• Mile 5 - 8:13
• Mile 6 - 8:05
• Mile 7 - 7:48
• Mile 8 - 7:57

I had almost made it to the halfway point before the leader lapped me. No matter. It's much better than the leader finishing before I hit the halfway point. The second loop was mainly on auto-pilot. Mostly because I was actually warmed up. Loop two also featured two of the best time-keepers in the business: Joe and Christy.

The nice thing about this half marathon is that becase it is loops, I get to see my wife twice between each loop. Woo hoo! To start loop three it was another gel and I also dropped off my water bottle.

• Mile 9 - 8:10
• Mile 10 - 7:43
• Mile 11 - 7:53
• Mile 12 - 7:38
• Mile 13 - 8:00
• The rest -  2:14

I yelled at Vic during my third loop, but I don't think he heard me because he was passing the Relay Hand-Off Area and there was plenty of noise. I was a little disappointed, but I did get to see him prior to the race, so it was not a complete loss. Also, prior to the race Jaclyn and I ran into Sarah. It was good seeing her out again and ready to put the USA 10 Miler behind her.

A few shout-outs to some of the Houston Fit Yellow Coaches who were supporting instead of running. Felix and Sylvia Lugo were out at a water stop and it was good seeing them every lap. Fashionista Helen was styling with her man-toy Brent (a Yellow Fever Runner). Atwell was snapping pictures all over the course - dang he gets around!

The third loop was tough because I was actually having to push it to keep up the pace. By Mile 13 you can see that I was running out of juice; probably because I had just run the fastest mile of the race during Mile 12. It did not matter though. I turned in an unofficial 1:49:24; literally blowing my PR out of the water by over five minutes. Not bad since I only ran the Sheyenne Valley Half (my last PR) five weeks ago.

I am more stunned than anything. I never seriously considered breaking 1:50:00 a goal. Further, the fact that I did not do a warm-up loop like I normally do before kicking it in (last year my pace for the first loop was 11:00), is interesting to say the least - although the first three miles were the slowest of the race. I really cannot comprehend these lap times. Simply ubelievable. I hope I did not set the bar too low (high).

Jaclyn and I stayed after for awhile to cheer on many of the finishers. Jeanine finished strong as did many other Yellow Fever Runners. Holden was looking good as he raced to the finish line and it was good to see him. My knee was getting extraordinarily tight once I stopped running, so we needed to wander back to the Doubletree. This means we missed Cassie, but we actually were able to see her from our hotel room, so we gave her a woo hoo, which I know was silent to her ears.

The one person I missed was June, who was handing out medals at the finish line. Sorry June, I did not know you were going to be there. The first thing I did after crossing the finish line (and getting my chip removed) was look for my wife.

I also need to add that the Houston Striders did an excellent job of putting this event on. Water Stops were not just consistent (water first,; gatorade second), but well placed and well organized. Pre and post race lines were minimal, so it was easy picking up my chip beforehand and collecting my finishers shirt afterwards. Everyone received a nifty medal, which kind of makes it seem like much more of an event than just another warm-up race. All the volunteers were fantastic and the Striders seemed to have all the little stuff covered. Just a great job all-around.

Listening to: Grey Cell Green - Ned's Atomic Dustbin

Comments

[JustJunebug]

David, i was no longer there when you finished. but i did stay with your fabulous wife for most of the time, standing beside her as you finished your first loop, but you didnt see me! :)

GREAT GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!

[Sarah]

A good day for running all around. I had an excellent race and can indeed now put the 10-Miler behind me. As for you -- CONGRATS on the PR!

[JustJunebug]

um...i mean James.

[JustJunebug]

um...i mean James. Or maybe just still with Jamoosh. :)

[Carolyn]

WOW! That is an awesome run! Congratulations!! I saw you about 100 yards ahead of me on the second loop and could see you were cookin' it. I watched as you kept getting smaller and smaller in the distance. GREAT JOB!

[Holden]

Dude you were fast! I saw your St. Arnold singlet. You passed me somewhere, I don't know where exactly. I didn't realize it was you until you were maybe about half a block ahead of me. I tried to catch up but you seemed to be zooming quite effortlessly. So I just watched in amazement as you pulled away and away until you weren't visible.

Simply amazing. That sure is a nice P.R.

[Tiggs]

Itw as good to see you and Jac befor the race! As for missing me at the end- I thoughtI could hear Tigger cheering me on from somewhere....

Manny said to me later- Man, JD was moving out there!!

[Vic]

Great to meet the beautiful Jaclyn finally, definitely your better half. Great race, dude and again, very cool to see you.

[txrunnergirl]

Great job out there. The timing stuff was fun, but it made it a little hard to cheer for everyone. CONGRATS on the PR!!!