The Capital City Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Columbus, Ohio
United States
John Bingham Racing, LLC.
63F / 17C
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 55m 58s
Overall Rank = 1327/6165
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 73/622
Pre-race routine:

Up at 6am for 8am race. Didn't even feel early compared to a training day. Still I felt a little sick, so that was pre-race jitters.
one banana, one slice toast.
Made some tea and put it in a thermal mug and took it with.
Used the bathroom twice before leaving home.
Easy parking in my usual spot. Start line was moved, but I knew that.
Walked with "beer guy," whom I remembered from last year. His real name is Ray. Used the bathroom near the start - almost no line.

Event warmup:

Went to line up with pace group, but felt it was too early. 20 minutes til. Didn't feel like standing there that long. The new start area was not a chute, but had space to stand on the sides, so I wasn't worried about not getting in the right spot.
Went to the bathroom again. Long line. Announcer kept acting like it was going to start any second, making everyone in line nervous. It was still 12 til the hour.
With about 7 minutes left, I finished in the bathroom and went to line up near the 9 minute milers or the 8:30s. There was no space on the road, so I lined up on the grass. Sang national anthem, made more meaningful by the presence of a group of military guys getting ready to do the event in full combat gear with backpacks.
They started, but it was FOREVER until we actually got moving.
Run
  • 1h 55m 58s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 51s  min/mile
Comments:

I was really irritated that at mile 2, I was still passing WALKERS who had obviously started at the very front. UGH!
But mostly it was great, and well organized.
I was pushing as much as I could. I feel confident about this distance, and I knew I could hold the pace if I could hold my focus. I didn't have any more speed to give because I haven't been doing any speedwork at all due to switching gears to IM training.
I did hold my focus very well. I was proud of my concentration.
What would you do differently?:

I wish I could have eked out that 30 seconds to beat last year's time. Probably if I hadn't gone back for water at the one water station (I missed the water and really didn't want Powerade at that particular stop and there were only a few people holding water and a big crush of runner - I should have just slowed down and waited with the crush of runners.) I might have made it.
Or just pushed a little more at mile 4-5. I had a little mental slow down at that point for some reason. I saw my pace heading up toward 9:00 and snapped out of it, thank goodness. The other time it was that high was on an uphill section.
Post race
Warm down:

Took ALL the schwag (water, Powerade, Muscle Milk, banana, bagel, orange, pizza) and somehow made it back to the parking area carrying all that stuff. I was FREEZING in my little tri top and tri shorts in the rain. I had been fine until the finish. But after walking about a block or two, my body temp evened out and I was just regular cold. Made it back to the truck, and to my dry shirt.
Went on to take the kids camping by myself on an overnight, which was pretty strenuous. I felt good though, but enjoyed the compression socks I recently purchased.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Speedwork in training - faster training runs. Also the work on the bike has been limiting my performance on longer runs.

Event comments:

Only thing that prevented a 5 rating was at one of the water stations they were out of filled cups and were filling them as we went by. Too slow. Skipped that one. Also water on both sides of the road would have been nice. It was a real crush of people, many of whom stop or walk while drinking, and it was hard to grab and go.




Last updated: 2009-12-13 12:00 AM
Running
01:55:58 | 13.1 miles | 08m 51s  min/mile
Age Group: 73/622
Overall: 1327/6165
Performance: Good
Didn't wear HRM. laps: 8:22 8:37 8:48 8:54 8:58 8:41 8:47 8:48 8:43 8:51 8:54 8:47 8:43
Course: Good. Went south and east, then back to High St and up High to campus - Lane Ave. then west to Olentangy. After King, we went on to the bike path, which wasn't as crowded as I expected. It was tight, but by then most people were on the same pace. It started raining around mile 4-5.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4