We got to Columbus around 2pm and went straight to the expo. The expo was super well organized this year and we got our bibs and shirts. I had to upgrade my corral letter, because I was still in "D" and my goal was to get a Boston qualifying time, which would put me in the B corral. We got to say Hi to Matt Folk and wish him well on his race this year. He won last year at at time of 2:19.
After the expo we checked out our parking garage. We prepaid and wanted to make sure we knew where we were going. Last year we arrived late due to traffic congestion and were super rushed. So stressful! Our parking garage was right next to the finish line. Perfect!
We met some friends for dinner at Bravo. There were about a dozen people from the Runners World forum. Nice to see everyone again - I had met them last year and see them posting all year long. Of the group I am definitely the slow poke as these people are all Boston runners many times over. In my defense, I am also not as dedicated. Or maybe I'm just slow! haha ok, I'm probably just slow.
After dinner we stopped at Meijers for some treats and also to solve a fashion dilemma - what to wear for tomorrow! We knew it was going to be around 40 degrees at the start of the race, and in the 50s at the end. Normally I would wear a tank top and shorts for a 50 degree race, but Alan had me thinking that I should have brought along a short sleeve t-shirt (which I did not). Problem solved - we got some over-the-knee socks and cut the feet off. Viola! Instant arm warmers! A great solution since the arm warmers at the expo were $20!
Stylish, affordable, AND disposable! The funniest part was that we bought a pair for Alan too (the same socks!). He looked hilarious in his. In the end he decided not to wear his. Darn!
Surprisingly I slept very well that night, and we even had to time to watch our favorite running movie Run Fatboy, Run. It is a pre-marathon tradition that we always look forward to.
I did wake up before the alarm on Sunday, at 4:45am. This year I was determined not to be rushing around before the race. We left the hotel at 6am, and got downtown with NO traffic. We were at the parking garage by 6:20, and into the corral area by 6:45. The corrals were supposed to close at 7am, so we were right on time. While I was waiting in the corral there was a guy with a loud horn. That thing was beyond annoying!! I asked him if he was going to be blowing that thing for the whole race. He replied "yes!!". Then he told me he would be running 9 minute miles. Since my goal pace was 8:54, I quickly relocated myself far away from him.
The race started at 7:30am. By mile 2 I got rid of my long sleeve "junk shirt". I kept my headband/ear warmers on until about mile 6. The first half of the race was awesome! The cool weather was perfect for running and I averaged 8:43 miles. That was ahead of my plan as I was supposed to run the first 17 miles at 8:51. I felt good though, and didn't feel like I was pushing it. My plan was to run the first 17 at that faster pace, and then allow myself to fade and slow down a little at the end, which I knew would happen anyways.
After the half marathoners left, we went down High street into the OSU campus. Well really it was UP High street because it was a slight incline. That was when my time started slowing down. I felt OK because I knew it was uphill. Mile 13 ended up at 9:00 mins. Still OK because I had banked 1:30 ahead of my pacer. By the time we hit mile 17, it felt like we kept going uphill and down. Those slight "uphills" really sucked my energy. My miles were now hitting 9:16. bummer. Off plan. I realized at this point I was not going to make a BQ time. oh well. That was a super ambitious goal anyways and I still had other, more attainable goals. My next goal was a sub 4 hr. That would be huge since I did 4:14 last year. I did finally peel off those arm warmers around mile 14 also. Goodbye good friends!
We ran into the OSU stadium this year. That sounded great, but we needed to go over a bridge (uphill) to get there, and then down a steep ramp - which of course meant UP a steep ramp. Oh, and then over that darn bridge again. Ugggh. It was killing me. Then came the true uphill area of the course. Around mile 22 I felt like just stopping. I was making a few longer steps through the water stops now. That felt OK to slow, but it felt twice as bad to start running again. And I was getting a full belly feeling since I normally drink very little when I run. So the plan was to now continue to run continuously, and the course was reaching the "downhill" portion. Even though it was downhill I still felt like my legs weren't able to carry me any farther :(
I did get inspiration during my race from some sound clips that Alan had recorded for me. He asked the kids to come up with motivational comments, and they did a great job. So sweet! Around mile 20 when I was really hurting, this one came from Zachary and it brought tears to my eyes: Zachary's words.
At mile 24, the 4 hr pace group came up right next to me. Ugggh, what a total heartbreaker. It felt like they were running so fast, and I couldn't keep up. I knew I only had 2 miles to go, but it was killing me. But I dug down hard and used all that I had in me to push a little bit ahead of the pace group. Also to my dismay the loud horn guy caught up with me right about that time and kept tooting away. Insult to injury!! Luckily he ended up being a bit faster than me and he disappeared. I kept the 4hr pace group at bay, and sure enough at mile 25 Alan appeared!! He told me he would see me around mile 24 at the earliest and I was starting to wonder where he was. He was limping along but he was determined to run with me.
I was in such a cranky mood I just stuck my hand in his face and said "I don't want to talk!". Geez, sorry about that Alan, it really was hard at that point! Anyhow, I was watching my time and I only had 4 minutes left when Alan told me that we were down to the 1/2 mile marker. I really did not think I was going to make it. What a terrible feeling :( As soon as we reached the corner, it was all downhill - the finish line. I ran as hard as I could and crossed the finish line at 3:59:34. Alan also crossed again (without his timing chip). As soon as I crossed the line he hugged me and I buried my head in his chest and bawled!! Racing is so emotional for me, and just drains me... and with that close finish I couldn't hold back. So nice to have him there with me. xoxo
We got a couple of finish line pictures taken and then I collapsed in the lawn with my space blanket and food. I was so drained my lips were purple and I was shaking uncontrollably! It took me about a half hour of resting in the lawn to finally get to the point were I could to walk to the car. Thank god that garage was so close. We both looked like the walking dead, barely able to move.
Alan finished in 3:12:16, which was 2 minutes faster than his PR. Woohoo!!
After a shower at Urban Active we met up with our racing fans again to have a beer over race war stories. Almost everyone got a PR at this race. One of the girls even came in 9th in the womens group for the 1/2 marathon. Dang, she is fast! Of course she is only 27 years old :) Those burgers and beer were so delicious. It was fun to hear everyone's version of the race.
Great race day indeed!!
