Dallas Marathon Race Report

I thought I could hang with the 4-hour marathon pacer, but no such luck.  I ran with the group for the first 7 miles and then dropped back.  The humidity was crazy.  Everyone was sweating buckets after running just a few miles.  After I dropped back and realized I took it out too fast, I tried to just keep running.  I even ran up the Dolly Parton hills.  However, my water and Gatorade consumption steadily escalated, and I was drinking 2-3 ups at every water stop.  Around mile 21 I started feeling nauseous and I started switching between walking and running.  I wish I had known I needed 8 more seconds to break 4:30, but oh well.  If it were easy, everyone would do it, right? 

Rants:
1) Why were there slow, overweight, old female walkers in Corral A?  I shouldn't be seeing Corral A folks walking at mile 2!
2) The post-race logistics were horrible.  I walked all the way down the chute thinking I would get a finisher's shirt, but that just resulted in an even longer walk back into the Convention Center.  Then I had to wait in a long line to go up the escalator to the second floor where they had the shirts and food.  When I asked for directions as I was leaving, the volunteer told me I had to go back up the escalator, walk all the way to Room D, and go down the escalator to get to my car.  Maybe it's hard to make things very efficient when there are 25,000 runners... but my goodness.

Pros:
1) Running (with some walking mixed in) mostly downhill after mile 20 is awesome both mentally and physically. Plus I like how the course is broken up - some running around the lake, some running around the nice residential areas, etc. 
2) They did a good job with the port-a-potties.  I went once when I first entered the corral, and then I went again closer to the race.  The line looked crazy long, so I walked up closer to the start line and only had to wait about 5-10 minutes.  Also, I had to make a stop at around mile 19 after consuming a crazy amount of liquids during the run, and I didn't even have to wait in line. 

Nutrition Note:
I had a whole wheat flatbread with almond butter and a large coffee for breakfast at 5:00 am and ate a banana at 7:00 am (an hour before the race).  I had planned on eating a gel at the 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 marks, but I couldn't stomach the third gel.  I had taken a double dose of anti-acid medicine, which has been helping on my long runs, but it didn't seem to do the trick this time.  Also, I think I over-hydrated because I started getting really nauseous around mile 21.  I was pretty out of it when I finished, and I grabbed a chocolate milk.  (Although I just stuffed my face with Papa John's and now I'm feeling much better!)

GPS Mile Splits: 9:00, 8:55, 8:50, 8:40, 9:03, 9:10, 8:55, 9:43, 9:42, 9:46, 9:46, 9:28, 9:40, 9:40, 10:00, 10:05, 9:55, 10:33, 11:32 (restroom break), 11:03, 11:35, 12:23, 10:49, 11:35, 11:38, 11:17

GPS Stats: 26.73 miles, 4:30:09, 10:06/mile pace

Official Time: 4:30:07 (10:19/mile pace)
Official 5K Split: 28:03
Official 10K Split: 56:19
Official Half Split: 2:03:59
Official 20-Mile Split: 3:18:17