The biggest running weekend of the year has come and gone. It's not often that you drive 175 miles one-way to run 13.1, but when it includes spaghetti dinners, cookouts and good times... you pony up for the gas and hit the road.We unfortunately missed Taryn's all-you-can-eat spaghetti smack-down Friday night due to work schedules. We ate at an uber-crowded Olive Garden off Wyse Road in Dayton. Not sure how much sense that made. Sub-par all around. I would've rather eaten leftovers at 10. And through a steady rain, we made it to Primrose Street tired and ready for bed. I woke up shortly before 5 and took to preparing for the race. Half a toasted bagel with peanut butter, a banana and coffee. It was me and the dog for awhile before everyone else started to emerge. I don't like to be rushed on race day. So we were in the car at 6:15, off to Nick's and on the way. We had a sweet setup with parking which left us with a short leisurely walk to the bag drop. We dropped the bags, wished everyone luck and it was off to our respective corrals. I was meeting up with a forumite I had met on runnersworld.com in Corral B. We met up shortly before the start and went over the game plan again just so we were on the same page. The gun went off and so did we.
Miles 1-6: A little scary. I knew this guy was faster than me and we had originally talked about taking 6:50's through the track (~ mile 8.5) but at the start, I told him that I'd hang in there with him as long as I could if he was feeling like speeding things up. So we came out pretty hot, but had it under reasonable control by the end of mile 5... still faster than the 6:50's we had talked about, but I was riding the line between being ok and imminent disaster... so I went with it. (5mi - 33:40, 6:44/mi)
The track, Miles 6-8.5: These are the toughest miles for me. Only people from Indiana could get into running around a track that was meant to be driven. The coolest part was when we got onto the track. When you come on, you're 20ft from where you exit, so I was actually a stone's throw away from the leader at the 6 mile mark (of course, he was at the 8.5 mile mark). He was cruising. It was a sight to see. This is the part of the course where I have to hunker down, take it a little easy and get fluids in me, so I wished my running partner luck and let him run ahead. It ended up not being so bad this year and I was off the track in no time.
Miles 8.5-10: In years when the sun's been out, this area provides well deserved shade and a chance to recover. I usually take the opportunity after the track to figure out what I've got left so that the last 5K is the fastest part of my race. I was pushing it pretty good still and was worried, but decided that no matter what, I'd still have something for those last miles. Grabbed water and downed a Gu at the 10-mile mark. Time to go. (2nd 5mi - 33:53, 6:46/mi)
Last 5K: There are two incredibly rough straightaways in this stretch. Mile 10 to 11.75 is tough to stare down, but it's slightly downhill. I was able to get in a nice rhythm and make the right turn along the river and continue with a pretty hard pace. At mile 12, you make a left turn on New York Street, up and over a bridge and you begin the mile climb to the finish. I'm still not sure what the elevation gain is, but when it comes in the last mile, it's brutal no matter what the grade is. You really do have to choose between maintaining the pace or having the final kick. I chose the former. I don't have a Garmin, so I'm not sure what that last split was, but it felt like my slowest. I still was able to give it some kind of kick... I think. (last 5K - 20:40, 6:39/mi)
The final tally was a 1:28:13. A PR for that course by more than 8 minutes. That put me in 452nd and got me a spot in the top 500. Top 500 in any race really isn't a big deal but there were over 30,000 finishers this year. They give you an extra medal for it, too. Swanky. I forgot my camera in Columbus, so these shots were taken at the race. The one of me is in that last mile. The guy behind me had been in front of me for the hour or so prior to that. Every time I'd inch in front of him, he'd speed up. It wasn't until that last mile that I got him. The other racers shown are Matt Elliott thinking of his happy place and Nick Koon giving praise where praise is due, I guess. They didn't have a good one of Erica, but she ran a pretty incredible race, too. 2:01:29. I'd say that's pretty damn good for not really training.
Great weekend all around. Everyone had a great race in the morning and we all had too many beers in the evening. Now it's time to drop the hammer on a BQ.
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