Chevron Marathon 2016

The Chevron Marathon is still my favorite Marathon race.  I have 9 Marathon or longer race finishes under my belt.  The Houston course is great as it travels around the entire city, with crowd support on almost the entire route.  It's known as a flat and fast course.  And as far as hills, there is one overpass and a small section of rollers known as the Allen parkway rollers towards the end of the race.  The race expo is amazing.  There are many vendors and loads of information on other races.  The amount of freebies given away has gone down in recent years, though.  I did stop at the Skechers store as they were the sponsor of the event.  I did something I never do and bought a new running shoe.  I always run in the Asic Kayano as it gives me the stability I need with my broken foot issues.  I explained this to the Skechers salesman and he suggested I try the Forza- which they had a special model specific with the race event colors and Houston 2016 on the shoe.  It provides the stability of the Kayano but in a much lighter shoe.  I've run some shorter distance runs in the Forza and love it.  I need to try out a long distance run and see how it holds up.  The Asic Kayano has a lot of cushion so they provide great support for 20 mile runs.  This year I stayed at the Hilton of the Americas next door to the convention center which was very convenient with the crosswalk from the hotel to the convention center.  Our group met at the convention center for pre-race photos.  It was cold so we waited as long as we could inside, before heading to our Corral.  I had no time goals this time and decided to take it easy and run with friends and enjoy the run rather than a sufferfest.  The weather was perfect for running, cool and sunny!  I really enjoyed hanging with my running buddies and stayed with friends the whole race.  26+ miles is still work, even if you train properly so I was pretty wore out by the end.  The hotel allowed for late check out so I had time to take a shower after the race.  We met up with friends at a nearby restaurant: Guadalajara Del Centro, had some good Mexican food and overpriced margaritas. My final finish time was a 4:31:55 which is not anywhere near a PR but I had so much fun.  I am blessed to enjoy such a great sport.  #ChevronMarathon  #AsicsKayano  #SkechersPerformance #TexasBeefTeam