1/2

It's been just over 2 days since the end of the half marathon and I still can't believe that I actually did it - I actually finished Nationwide Better Health Columbus Half Marathon and I have the medal to prove it!

Three days before the race, I got my new issue of Runner's World and there was a blurb about setting three (3) goals for a race - one that's a reach, one you could live with and one that's in between. Because I only started really training after the quarter marathon over Labor Day weekend that I walked and ran, I figured I'd apply the same M.O. and plan to walk a fair amount it. At that point, I figured I could run about half the 13.1 miles, but since I've never done one before and really am not a morning person so I was just going to just see what happened. I posted the following goals (reach, live with, in between) where only a few friends could see them:

1) Run 7+ miles of the race
2) Not get carted off by the SAG wagons (just finish)

3) Finish in under 3 hours (I finished the quarter marathon in under 90 minutes - part of me wonders if this is actually a reach, tho')

I was convinced I was crazy when I got downtown at 6:30 a.m. I mean, I'd voluntary gotten up WAY before the sun on a weekend, parked my car 0.9 miles away from where I needed to be and then was going to take 13.1 miles to get back to it! (Okay, more like 13.2 miles, but whatevs). I borrowed an idea from a friend who ran the Jersey Shore Half Marathon a few weeks ago and wrote mantras on my hands - "Because I can" on my right hand and "I'm not a quitter" on my left before leaving my car.

It was interesting how 'alive' the city was - 15,000 total participants in the marathon and half-marathon and their cheering sections heading towards the intersection of Broad and High, where the start corrals were set up. Even though I've done the Race for the Cure downtown the last two years, it just seemed like way more people and a lot more energy even though this year there were 45,000 people in the Race for the Cure. I didn't feel at all like I'd gotten up at 5:30 a.m.

I knew when I registered that I wanted to start and finish the race running. I was pumped and decided I was going to try to implement the most aggressive strategy for completing the race that I thought I could handle. I felt great so I decided to go for my reach goal. I decided to run all the odd miles and walk all the even miles. I made a final trip to the port-a-potty and stretched before I took my spot towards the back of corral 4.

It wasn't long before I was off, although it took me 11:29 to get to the start line. We started going west on Broad St. towards Bexley. Since there were so many people, it was a very slow start and according to my heart rate monitor, it took me 12:03 to complete the first mile. I wanted to keep running, but didn't want to end with no gas in the tank, so I slowed to a walk and completed the second mile in 14:22. We were pretty well into a suburb soon after that, and I thought I hit the lap button but didn't. When I got to the end of the third mile I know I was at 38 something. I finished the combination of miles 3 and 4 in 25:48 and was feeling good about my pace. It seemed strange that even as recently as June, a 5K seemed pretty long and I'd just done that and still had nearly 10 miles ahead of me.

The fifth mile put us out near Capital University and I finished that one in 10:52. The sixth mile took us through Franklinton . I walked that one in 13:48. I crossed the 10K mark at 1:19:04. I knew that even if I had to conserve energy and walk an extra mile or two, my 3 hour goal was still very attainable. We were back on Broad Street at that point and I got the seventh mile in 10:45. The next mile took us towards German Village and I finished that one in 14:03 and sucked down some Gu. I noticed some people on the sidelines with cramps and that's when I realized my legs felt really heavy. While I was opening the Gu I saw quitter on my hand and realized I shouldn't have put that word on there at all. I got that word out of my head relatively quicky and was excited to see the next mile marker and started running again. I got that mile done in 11:02.

I'm pretty sure I saw a Starbucks during mile 10 and although I had a $20 bill in my RoadID shoe pocket, I kept on going because I thought I might have been hallucinating. I also got passed by walkers (and never caught them again!) who were wearing shirts for the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon and were essentially walking, talking billboards for that event. I finished that mile in 13:50 and realized I only had a 5K left and, if I remembered the corral criteria correctly, that if I finished in under 2:45, I'd qualify for corral 3 next year. So, while I was tempted to walk an extra mile, I decided to stick with the plan that I had at the beginning and ran the eleventh mile in 11:01. The next mile was on High Street which I discovered during my first Race for the Cure is actually a pretty big hill as hills in the middle of Ohio go. I took short steps, though, and finished that mile in 13:36 and then I was in the final stretch and going about a mile more than I had in training. It was tough, but I got the last 1.1 miles done in 11:49 and collected my mylar sheet, my finisher's medal, got my official finisher's photo taken and pounded down a bottle of water which I chased with a banana and a glazed donut.

I'd met all my goals!!! I walked to my car to grab my camera and my phone, mostly so I could see what times were posted from "TweetMyTime" on Facebook and figure out what my official race time was. Turns out it was 2:43:05. I dropped 3 minutes off my pace between the 10K mark and the end of the race and passed 317 runners while only getting passed by 53 during that same interval. My heart rate monitor also said I'd burned 2126 calories, so I'll probably be in a perpetual state of hungry for the rest of the month!

I took some pictures and headed home to get cleaned up because I was hoping to be able to watch the Steelers/Browns game with some friends and enjoy a beer. I managed to do all that and get back downtown - to about the mile 11 marker, in fact - by kickoff to celebrate finishing the race with Rachel (aka the one who has encouraged this craziness at every juncture).