Sunday recap

Before I start with Sunday, let's go back to:

Saturday night
On our way to 5p Mass at Univ. of St. Thomas, a storm started to blow into town. By the time we left UST it was pouring down rain. I knew it wouldn't last long and I was hoping it would sort of cool things down a bit.

After dinner we returned to NoRO and it was windy and bit cool. I left the sister, brother-in-law and The Calvinator in NoRO and headed over to ERO/Montrose for a Mardi Gras Party at Kenny In Montrose (KIM) & Steve In Montrose (SIM) house for the party. I didn't stay too long because I was a bit tired. It is sort of a ritual for me to make a quick appearance at the KIM & SIM's house and to find Richard Peoples.

Richard is an avid runner and runs circles around me...literally...at Memorial Park. Richard can usually be found in the elite group at runs. I live my running life vicariously through Richard. I'm sure I irritate him because he trains and trains and does everything right and then I show up and say, "Yep. I'll be there in the morning!" as I'm drinking a beer and he is drinking water. More on Richard later.

Sunday morning

OK. It was a bit on the chilly side due to the wind. When I went to walk The Calvinator at 5a it was 43 degrees Fahrenheit. I had laid out my clothes and planned on layering but I kept telling myself, "Dress for the end of the run."

The sister and brother-in-law followed me downtown. We went in separate cars because they were running the 5k and I didn't want them sitting around for a couple of hours waiting for me. I knew where we were going to park and we left with plenty of time. Everything was going as planned until...

We got to the Toyota Center parking garage and it was CLOSED! So now we're stuck in a traffic jam of people (at 6a) who are all scrambling to find parking somewhere. It was a madhouse and stuff like that makes me anxious. People were running out in front of cars and people were driving on the wrong side of the street and I was cussing.

We found a surface lot for $2 each and I bid them adieu. They were going to sit in the car for awhile and watch a movie.

I made my way to the GRB and it was packed because it was cold outside and everybody was trying to stay warm. Anxiety goes up again. It wasn't supposed to be like this and because of the parking situation it is now 630a. I had planned on being inside the GRB by 615a. I always allow time to pee and this was cutting into my pee time.

I make my way through the crowd and accidentally find runnerOne. It is sort of appropriate that I find him because we only see each other before 7a in the morning. I walked over to him and said, "I showed up." He laughed and said, "That is the hardest part about today." I laughed and agreed.

runnerOne on the left. me looking frumpy on the right...my shirt was all gathered because I just put on the belt. i swear!

So we went through our ritual of covering the nipples and applying Vaseline and Body Glide to our feet, underarms and inner thighs. You sort of lose all amount of modesty in situations like this. There were people everywhere doing the same and getting psyched up and waiting to pee.


a couple guys who were in the GRB near me and runnerOne. they ran the 26.2 miles in costume. i guess if you're a super hero, anything is possible.

runnerOne and I bid our adieus, wished each other a good run and he went to check his gear. I wasn't far behind him.


one of the many gear check areas. look at all of those bags!

There were two start times on Sunday. The fast runners for the marathon and the 1/2 marathon got to start at 7a. Those of us on the short bus got to start at 710a. Good thing because I used part of that time standing in line waiting to pee. BTW...I did pee before the run started.
one of the port-a-potty lines

When I checked my gear I made the last minute decision not to layer and to wear shorts, a running shirt and cheap gloves. Let me tell you...there were times that I wished I was dressed in thermal underwear.

It was a beautiful day for the run. Not a cloud in the sky. Going into this run I knew that this wasn't going to be a PR for me so I decided to have fun. I wore my running belt and packed the cell phone and camera with me along with the iPod nano.
sunrise while waiting
photo credit: Houston Chronicle

Enjoy the photos with some additional narrative.

The Start Line

i was in the black corral with the slow runners and the walkers.

The spectators
Part of what makes the run fun are the people who come to cheer and make hoopla! I think the chilly weather may have been a factor in the low number of spectators at the beginning of the run. There were not as many on Quitman but there was a band playing and a lady was heating up the grill to cook fajitas. There was a lady with a sign: Si se puede!

As we got closer to Montrose and as the sun started to warm up the temps, the crowds started to increase.

photo credit: Houston Chronicle

even elvis showed up...big and little elvis!

photo credit: Houston Chronicle
the two guys on the right were in their pajamas. when i ran past them they offered me a mimosa. how nice! i didn't accept the beverage. i was trying to figure out where to ditch my gloves.

here are margo and viv. they are the epitome of race supporters. they were cheering and hollering. margo brought bananas, oranges, tissues, pringles and other goodies. by the time i got to them i was getting a bit hungry. the snack hit the spot. if you look at the blue balloon, you can see my name. :-)

somebody always has to be a joker!

this was around mile 11. mile 11.5 is where I sort of mentally lost it because the longest run that I did leading up to sunday was 11. don't get me wrong. i respect the distance of a marathon and a half-marathon but i became a slacker. you see...last year, i got up to 20 miles in training runs before I decided not to do the whole marathon again...so last year, a few weeks before the run, I switched to the half-marathon.

i didn't accept the beer. i didn't want to belch for 2 miles. and besides, beer makes me pee especially when it is cold outside.

The Runners

If you have ever participated or watched a marathon, you have noticed that there are all different types of people out there. All different shapes and sizes, male & female, from young to old, and all different types of ethnicities.

So speaking of runners and peeing...

so here we are around mile 4 or so just as the course passes over i-45. to the left (out of the photo) are two cops. i mean what are they going to do arrest hundreds of men for peeing in public?

i can't remember this guy's name but he shows up at most of the runs in houston and carries the flag. i believe he was running the marathon yesterday. can you imagine carrying a flag for 26.2 miles?

this is what separates the show offs from the slackers. :-) this is the turn around point for the 1/2 marathoners. at this point we only had about 4.5 miles to go. the marathoners had another 16.something to go.

the good thing about the turn around on montrose at richmond is that you can see if anyone is behind you!

the approach into downtown from allen parkway. at this point the marathon course is running parallel to the 1/2 marathon course.

photo credit: Houston Chronicle

this is a great photo showing people crossing the finish line after running the marathon and the half-marathon.

Post-Race

So after we all finished, we were ushered into the GRB to get our medals, t-shirts, H2O, food, and gear. People stand around and wait for their friends and family to come into the building.

I made my way back to NoRO. AttyHou's brother-in-law was running his first marathon and Scotland/Roy hoopla group was waiting for him at Shepherd & Memorial. I took two photos and then realized my battery was dead so I never got a picture of Todd when he came running by.

photo credit: Houston Chronicle

this photo was taken toward the beginning of the run. when they passed by us around mile 23 they were still wearing the sombreros.

Back to Richard Peoples...he finished 3rd in his age group. Way to go Richard!!!!

I'll have a few more photos posted on Tuesday and a few more comments.