Tyler Hills and Heat 1, MB 1/2

MB lost to the hills and heat, but still met his minimum goal of "finishing" the Tyler Half Marathon in a plodding 2 hours and 24 minutes (2:24:00), a fraction under 11 minutes/mile thus achieving a 1/2 point for surviving. Although the hilly course and surprising heat did their damage, being old, underprepared, and slow of foot probably mattered more. I planned on 2:17:33 (10:30/mile), hoped for 2:11:00 (10:00/mile), and just knew that at a minimum I could do 2:24:06 (11:00/mile). I ended up doing the minimum.

The 10:30 a.m. Tyler temperature (minutes after I finished) was 74 degrees, about 14 degrees warmer than recommended for a 1/2 marathon. The normal temperature at 10:00 a.m. this time of year in Tyler is 61 degrees. The temperatures during my training the past month had been at around 60 degree temperatures and mostly before sunrise, so I was ill-prepared for the warm and sunny conditions.

I was worse prepared for the hills. The official USA Track and Field web site says that the race had 810 feet total climbs and 1634 feet total elevation changes, and is considered a "hard, hilly" course. By reference, the St.George, Utah Marathon, with 2200 feet in elevation change over 26.2 miles, is considered the hardest on knees in the USA. 95% of my training had been on fairly level trails, with only the "hills" at Dallas White Rock Lake (a few short climbs and descents of 20-50 feet) to train me for Tyler, so the constant rolling hills of Tyler and the steep climbs and descents sucked the life out of my frail limbs and started some hamstring tenderness and iliotibial band soreness in my right knee that forced some slowing and occasional walking. But for my son Steve plodding along with me for support (he could have easly taken off and blasted the course away), I might have done worse and walked more and more slowly. Yea for younger, stronger sons!

The race started well enough, with us easing through the first mile in 10:45, to be sure I did not run too fast at the start and fade at the end. We did the next 5 miles of rolling terrain at about 9:51/mile (10:10/mile overall) and, although I was feeling too warm, I felt strong enough to tackle the next hill.

Unfortunately, the hill tackled me. From mile 6 to mile 7 we climbed a killing 230 feet, followed by a rolling downhill over the next 1 1/2 miles. Not only did my pace slow, but I had to walk some short stretches. My hamstrings began to complain and my right knee began to sting. At this point, I knew my main focus had to be just finishing the last 4 1/2 miles. Fortunately, I had built up a little time cushion that would allow me to still meet my 11:00/mile minimum if I just kept plodding along at 10:00 - 10:30/mile pace, interspersed with some walking on uphills and at water stops.

The next almost 3 miles were a series of steeper, but shorter, rolling hills, with the following approximate mile (from about the 11 1/4 miles mark to the 12 2/10 miles mark) flat or slightly downhill. The next 3/4 mile was all uphill and I walked some more until reaching the flat to slightly downhill final 1/4 mile that allowed me to jog in looking fresher than I was -- finishing in an official 2:24:00. Funniest aspect of my result is that I offically finished 148th out of 205 offical finishers (about 25 people did not finish), but my son Steven (who could have beaten me by 30 minutes) officially finished 149th, 1 spot behind me.

My co-trainer Nadene was felled in her training by pneumonia and could not run the half marathon, but she was still bubbling with excitement for the next challenge. While I was still in post-finish anguish and pain, Nadene immediately tried to get me to confirm that I would do the Fort Worth Cowtown Marathon in February with her. In a stupor of weariness, all I could do was stare with vacant eyes.

My sore hamstrings have recovered fairly quickly, but my sore right knee tightened up and stung considerably for the next hour or so after the race, until I could ice it and then warm it in a wonderfully cleansing shower. I had soreness and stiffness all day Saturday and Sunday, but I did improve by the hour. Today (Monday) the knee (iliotibial band) is a little sore, but improving.

Having family and creative signs at the beginning and end of the race added some fun, although Steve could not understand why 1 family sign told us we were "standing at the gates of hell" -- until I explained our theme song.

My grandson Tristen made the pain worth it when he asked me who won the race between Steven and me and, when I told him Steven did, laughed and exclaimed, "Oh Grandpa!" as though I was kidding him. How nice to be viewed through children's eyes.

MB