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Columbus Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Columbus, Ohio
United States
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 48m 9s
Overall Rank = 7373/7950
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 697/754
Pre-race routine:

Got there 1.5 hours early. Took a 15-minute nap before walking the 8 blocks to the start line. Where I parked put me right by the finish line. I figured it would be easier to walk 8 blocks before the race than after the race.
Event warmup:

I used my walk as a warm up and stretched. I took a quick bathroom break as well.
Run
  • 2h 48m 9s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 12m 50s  min/mile
Comments:

What a fun start! Their were 15K participants so it was very exciting.

I was concerned about a pulled muscle behind my knee that's been giving me pause the last couple weeks, a strain in the ball of my feet and about my hamstrings and glutes really cramping up toward the end.

I never suffered the first two and my hamstrings and glutes didn't wait until the end to start hurting. I would say that happened around mile 2! Mile 2! They did get a little worse toward the middle of the race then the pain stabilized for several miles, only escalating the last couple miles.

I figured I could run slowly with the pain or quicken my pace and allow the music to help with that. I chose faster...and it was fun starting to pass people.

I had to stop and stretch at least 10 times to help with the soreness, though. I would say that added a good five minutes to my time.

I was very proud that I didn't walk hardly at all. The only times I walked were when I was grabbing a drink from my Fuel Belt and I did walk 2-3 minutes of mile 11 as my legs started hurting more and as I prepared to quicken back up for miles 12 and 13.

They didn't have markers at every mile and I'm so glad of that. It would have been depressing. (Yes, I'm the girl on the treadmill who covers the clock with her towel.) I was just a little more than an hour into it and, given my pace up to that point, figured I'd be coming up on mile 6 soon. The next mile marker read "Mile 5". Mile 5? Are you kidding me? I was excited about being almost halfway there. That sucked.

However, later on I figured I was coming up on mile 8 and the next mile marker read "Mile 9" so it balanced out.

As I finished mile 11 and embarked upon mile 12, that officially became the longest run of my life.

I flipped through my iPod to find some fast songs to help get me through the last bit. I couldn't believe that in a few minutes I was going to have completed a half marathon!

There had been live bands stationed all throughout the race and hundreds of spectators. That was really cool.

When I got to that last say quarter or half mile, there were thousands of people along that finish section. That was super, super cool. I picked up my pace and starting passing people.

The run is usually my best in a tri, so I'm a little disappointed that I was a complete BOPer, but I've slowed down with my pace quite a bit this year for some reason.

Oh, well. I just finished a half marathon and ran the entire thing. I'm going to give myself a break.
What would you do differently?:

As just noted, the more distance I add, the slow my pace gets...significantly slower. My pace has slowed down a lot this season even on shorter distances, though, so I can't quite put my finger on it. Oh, well. Tomorrow is a new day and I'm looking forward to it.
Post race
Warm down:

Chugged a bottle of chocolate milk, ate half a banana and stuffed my face with a Krispy Kreme donut. I then went off to the side and stretched...and stretched some more...and stretched some more.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Just being slow all around. I will say that having not run 13 miles before (only having reached 11) I was pleased with how easy (minus the cramping) the extra 2 miles were.

Event comments:

I had a question about packet pickup about a week before race day. I e-mailed the coordinator and the RD actually e-mailed me back...within a couple hours. Very impressive.

What a production! That event was a massive, massive undertaking and these guys were on the ball. I can't wait for next year!


Profile Album


Last updated: 2010-10-03 12:00 AM
Running
02:48:09 | 13.1 miles | 12m 50s  min/mile
Age Group: 695/754
Overall: 752/7950
Performance: Good
Course: Dead flat. Apparently there was a small incline at one point according to the website. I didn't see it, but I train on hills so it was clearly insignificant to me.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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:
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2010-10-17 4:17 PM

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Master
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Loveland, Ohio
Subject: Columbus Half Marathon


2010-10-18 9:05 AM
in reply to: #3156682

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Veteran
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Columbus, Ohio
Subject: RE: Columbus Half Marathon
Conrgrats Lora! Great effort and way to work through the pain.
2010-10-18 11:26 AM
in reply to: #3156682

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Regular
525
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Subject: RE: Columbus Half Marathon
Way to hang in there. Pain at mile 2 is no fun. Good job out there.
2010-10-18 12:01 PM
in reply to: #3156682

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Master
2203
2000100100
Columbus, Ohio
Coaching member
Subject: RE: Columbus Half Marathon
Congrats!  Nice job!
They actually do have mile markers at each mile, it's just so crowded they are hard to see sometimes.
If you want to see them next year, look for the tall colored flags.

Way to go on your first half-mary! Don't worry about your AG placement. Don't forget, there are a LOT more runners in the world than there are triathletes. It's easy to lose speed in one discipline while training for tri. My bike speed took a big hit in the last third of the season this year. It happens.

Enjoy your off-season, and congratulations!
2010-10-19 1:40 PM
in reply to: #3156682

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Master
1887
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Loveland, Ohio
Subject: RE: Columbus Half Marathon
Thanks so much, everyone!
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