As mentioned in other threads, I am starting to run and was looking for a goal, maybe a race.

I live in Houston, but of course that race has been full for a while. I know you can try to get in if you are sponsored by a charity, but I don't know if I really want or could do it so don't want to have a charity depending on me for my first race.

So I have been looking at other races. San Antonio is too close, as well as BCS (time wise I am talking). Austin or Dallas would be a good time for me to train. Has anyone ran those before?

Austin would be better location wise because my parents live in north San Antonio. My only concern would be how hilly is Austin's marathon. I did my first hill training Tuesday and it of course was tough. Not sure I want my first race to be through the hill country of Texas. Or is the Austin course pretty flat? (I am not familiar with Austin too much).

austin is not flat.

dallas has some good rollers, but overall its not that hilly.

Dallas is 12/4 and BCS is 12/11, so if Dallas works then BCS should as well.

As 00 said, Austin is very hilly. Dallas some rolling hills. I think our course here in BCS is between Houston and Dallas.

Good luck!

Houston being the flatest course?

Austin's site says:
"The gently rolling and shaded course is 90% asphalt with long straightaways and approximately 28 turns. The 26.2 course gains approximately 14 feet per mile over the first 17 miles before dropping over 33 feet per mile over the final 9 miles to the finish on Congress Avenue in the shadow of the State Capitol Building."

I like the downhill to the finish line.

Sorry, I was talking about the Dallas Rock'n'Roll Marathon that is in March.

Houston is the most flat.

I have run the full in Austin 4 times. It's a monster, downhill finish or not.

FYI - unless they changed it for 2012, Dallas Rock n Roll is only a Half Marathon.

Dallas' Rock 'n' Roll is only a half.
http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/dallas

dallas white rock is full marathon. Early december.

houston will beat you up with all the concrete, but its fast and flat.

[This message has been edited by AggieOO (edited 9/8/2011 10:50a).]

Austin is definitely not flat...most of the first 12 is generally uphill and there are a couple of big hills at 17 and 22 miles.

San Antonio is ok - roads are a little chippy in places, but nothing challenging in terms of hills there.

Austin is not flat... at least last year, miles 3-6 was uphill and miles 9-20 was mostly uphill with a rolling downhill for the last 6.2.

Here's the course elevation for Austin.

http://youraustinmarathon.com/images/stories/2011/course/2011-finalwebraceprofile-color.pdf

Have you already run a half marathon? If not, I would say make running a half marathon your goal first. You could do either White Rock or BCS. White Rock was my first half marathon last year and I had a blast. I enjoyed it so much I'm doing the full this year. I liked it much better than Cowtown.

...that being said, last year BCS wasn't an option for me. I think it would be pretty awesome to run through Aggieland.

[This message has been edited by easttexasaggie04 (edited 9/8/2011 2:56p).]

quote:

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houston will beat you up with all the concrete, but its fast and flat.

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And the potholes...

No love for cowtown?

Austin is pretty hilly. And with it being your first could only complicate things.

I've ran both St Louis (rolling hills) and Austin and to me St Louis seemed rougher than Austin but could also be that St Louis was my first marathon and Austin was my third.

[This message has been edited by The Pilot (edited 9/8/2011 3:35p).]

Seabrook is in March. It's flat. Almost entirely on a crushed granite trail.

I haven't run Surfside, but it is in February. It's on the beach.

Both smaller races.

I've heard great things about Seabrook.

if you are looking for speed, you don't want to be on crushed granite.

True. Good for the joints but bad for foot speed. Takes more work to push off soft surfaces than hard ones.

Yes, I should have been more clear. Seabrook is well run and organized, but not necessarily fast.

I love Seabrook!

Saturday I ran my longest run yet at 10.26 miles. It was good. Left me 100% sure I could do a half. Hell I could have probably pushed an extra 3 right then, but it was already my longest run by 4 miles, so I didn't want to kill myself.

Right now I am thinking of doing the Rock'n'roll half marathon in San Antonio in November. My parents live within a couple miles of the course so we could take the grandkids and make a weekend of it.

After that we'll see. The Woodlands Marathon is March 3rd. My sister lives in The Woodlands so I would have a convenient place to sleep the night before. Also it fills the need of a flat course for my first. Anyone run it last year?

Anyway, like I said, it's one day at a time. So far I am feeling great, although sore from yesterday's run.

SA would be a good half. Most of the hills are on the second half of the full marathon course. Except for the doozy at the end: the RR track underpass by the Alamodome. Just be ready for the postrace: it's out in the open in the parking lot. Got pretty warm out there 2 years ago.

I do want to caution you about adding too many miles too fast. Jumping from 6 mile runs to 10 mile runs could result in a nagging sore knee or hip. Sometimes it is good to slowly work your way up in mileage (6 this week then 8 the next). Everybody is different though and you are free to do what you want. Just speaking from experience... soreness/injury can take you out of the game for a few weeks. Last year I was plagued with a sore knee, earlier this year it was a sore hip.

Thanks for the tip. I definately feel sore today, but not terrible. I plan on following the Pearland Fit schedule and it is only 10 miles again this week, so I won't be adding any distance for at least 2 weeks.

Yes, the Austin course is hilly but some of the signs and spectators are darn funny. Each time I go, I mutter at the hills, but afterwards I develop marathoner's amnesia and make them shorter whenever registration opens up for the next year...

Try San Antonio though, it is wonderful to have family support cheering you on.

ETA: fixed typo

[This message has been edited by Oogway (edited 9/13/2011 12:37p).]

I am definately leaning towards doing the San Antonio 1/2 marathon. After running 10 miles on Sunday I am 100% confident I could do that (it's still a ways away) and it would be a good expierance.

You ran 10.26 on saturday and then another 10 on Sunday? You sure you're just starting to run? If so you should definitely cut back some or you aren't far from some type of injury.

wtf, aggieBB?

Is that aggie00s brother?

No, AggieBB I ran nothing on Saturday, 10.26 on Sunday, nothing on Monday, and Hills yesterday. Today I am resting to recover.

Devil's advocate: Austin is cooler and drier in February than Houston in January. It was 60 degrees and 80% humidity at sunrise of this past year's Houston marathon. The average upward slope of the Austin marathon from miles 1-17 is less than 0.25 degrees. Most treadmills can't adjust to angle that fine.

I set my PR at Austin and haven't beat it in two tries at Houston. I'm drastically ramping up my training for try #3, but I've been more prepared for each of my try at Houston than I was on my PR race.

Thanks. When looking at the elevation map for Austin it did strike me as almost non-existant, like you said a very small uphill climb.

quote:

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Thanks. When looking at the elevation map for Austin it did strike me as almost non-existant, like you said a very small uphill climb.

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Not sure if this the profile you are looking at but I wouldn't consider a lot of these hills as very small.

http://youraustinmarathon.com/images/stories/2011/course/2011-finalwebraceprofile-color.pdf


If it were me, I would run a flat course for my first race. My first was St Louis and it has quite a few rolling hills in the last half. Running your first marathon is rough enough, why put more strain on your legs.

For comparison, here is the Indy profile.



This would be my definition of non existent.