I'll try and knock out a RR here, but I've never been very good at these, so bear with me (believe it or not, my mind tends to wander).2009 Columbus Marathon:
This would be my 3rd attempt at the marathon distance with my 1st attempt coming exactly one year prior at the 2008 Columbus Marathon and the other coming at Sunburst in South Bend, IN. I would consider each of those preparation for what happened this past Sunday. In the prior two, I had not fully "conquered" the distance... at least that's how I felt. My training over the summer and this fall reflected my desire to truly run a marathon. The miles per week were much higher this year compared to last year. I put in several more runs of 18 miles and longer. I wanted to take "the wall" out of the equation.
Due to scheduling and travel, the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon was my intended goal race with Columbus playing the part of last long run... but as stated in the last post, things felt good... everything felt right. But there was no taper and I already had over 40 miles logged by Wednesday of last week. Was it smart to test myself now? Well, it ended up being easier said than done. Not sure if that's a good quality to have.
The weekend started with a night of cleaning Friday night. Woke up Saturday, ran around a little bit more, watched those Buckeyes show their true colors and then headed home to meet my sister and Dan as they made their arrival. We all got ready, headed downtown to pick up our packets, check out the expo and have some dinner at Martini. There were eight of us eating pasta preparing for the run in the morning. Myself, Erica, my sister, Meghann, Dan, my sister's friend, Jay, another friend, Marie, Marie's sister, Susan and Marie's friend, Brenda (I think). We got out of there at a reasonable time, made it home, prepared tomorrow morning's outfit and hit the hay.
I slept decently enough and the alarm went off at 4:45am. I was up and getting ready in no time. The coffee was done brewing by the time I got downstairs and took it slow getting ready. Was nice and prepared by the time the cab showed up at 6:30am. It was cold outside, no doubt, but all we had on was what we were wearing for the race. I went with Nike DriFit shorts, Nike DriFit sleeveless top, arm warmers, white cap, black headband, work gloves and the adiZero's I've come to love (they've seen me through an amazing 2009 and I refuse to turn them into a football field when their racing days are done). I had a long-sleeved throwaway shirt that I ditched at the start, but I felt very comfortable for the entire race. It ended up being perfect weather once again. The wind was a bit chilly at the start, but I can't get picky.
I lined up near the start... in between the 3:10 and 3:20 pace groups. I was going to go with what felt comfortable and I wasn't going to feel compelled to stick with anyone. I wanted to run my own race and based on how I was approaching this thing, I knew I had to stick with the plan or I'd screw up Columbus and Indy. So the gun went off and so did we. The first miles were easy, breezy. Just punching along at 7:15's. I let the 3:10 balloons open a lead and kept them on a horizon. There weren't many folks to talk to, so I just kind of took it in. Noticed a lot of things I hadn't noticed last year. I got to high-five the governor which was cool. Took in the crowd more. As the 3:10 group is pretty large, I was kind of in no-man's land with the stragglers, but it was fun. I ran alongside a woman for a long time and she was having a great time. She really got the crowd into it and talked up everyone around her. The first 10K went by in 45:18 (7:17/mi).
Heading into the halfway mark was about the same... pretty uneventful and still gauging how my body felt. I was well aware that I had run 13.1 miles, but still felt like I had a lot left in my legs. I crossed the 13.1 mile mark at 1:35:00. I was sticking with the plan and was glad I did. Up ahead, I saw the balloons and knew I'd have to let them go soon.
Miles 13.1 through 17 take you through campus (sucked again this year) and down to the Olentangy by the Horseshoe and then begins the climb up to the 20 mile mark... the course's highest elevation. It's really not much of a climb at 130-some feet, but it does come at a precarious part of the race. Last year, I tried to stick with the pace group and wore myself out. This year, it was all about even effort. It meant that my pace would slow, but I'd be prepared to bring the last 10K in strong. It was here that I was going to decide what to do about the rest of the race. If I felt good by the time I got to Hoffmann's (Mile 19.5) I'd take that momentum into the last part of the race and if I didn't feel it, then I was walking/jogging the rest of the way. When I turned left onto Berkshire I still felt good, so I ditched the gloves and headband with a toss into Hoffmann's yard (it floated on me and Brad ended up catching that nasty mess - sorry Hoffmann!). Those miles did end up being the slowest at 7:20/mi.
I couldn't see the 3:10 group by this point, but that didn't bother me. It was always part of the plan. So I picked it up a bit and just focused on the task at hand. Grandview came and went, then onto the steep downhill on 1st Avenue and the 23 mile marker. Just a 5K to go. Turned right on 5th Avenue and headed uphill to Neil. The BQ was well within sight and with a mile and a half to go, I wasn't about to let up. Took a gulp of water at Mile 25 and turned left onto Buttles which again rises slightly on it's way up to Front Street. Took the turn around Goodale Park with tons of crowd support. It was all fairly drowned out at this point. I wanted to make sure my legs didn't let up. As I approached Nationwide, I saw Erica on the right and got pretty pumped up. Another 100 feet and there was my mom... another high-five. Turned onto Nationwide and pretty much coasted to the finish as I knew I had a BQ time... 3:10:02.
I took it in for a moment and kept moving. I felt so much better than what I had last year and 10x better than what I had felt at the end of Sunburst. I met up with my dad and then Erica who gave me a huge hug. We met the rest of the group and got out of there pretty quickly and back to the house. My mom had brought over her famous chicken and noodles for some deserving runners. We enjoyed a pretty lazy afternoon with each other before they took off later than evening. We got to bed pretty early and I was out like a light. What a day.
So congratulations to Meghann, Dan and Erica who all ran great races. And it was just nice to hang out. I'm pretty pumped about the BQ and am looking forward to Boston 2010. I'm also looking forward to the Monumental on the 7th of November. Like I said, I feel good and am ready to get some miles in and possibly lower that 3:10. We'll see how everything goes in the next week, but I'd still like to consider Indy my goal race for the fall. Thanks to my parents for making it to Columbus and once again acting as our bag drop. Thanks to Hoffmann for buying a house at the 19.5 mile mark and being out to support everyone. Can't wait for next year.
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