The Columbus Marathon (NCH) 2015

I fell in love with this race the first time I ran it (even though I opted for the full and it was a total disaster). I wanted to do the full SO BAD  this year but knew it wasn't an option given other commitments I made earlier in the year. I ran the half marathon again this year and it was so awesome!

 

I would start from the beginning but I will post a link to my finish first. I'm the one in the bright orange top and baby blue capris. At one point, a spectator said "That outfit is ON POINT, Lisa!" LOL! If she only knew that I broke the cardinal rule of racing that states "DO NOT TRY ANYTHING NEW ON RACE DAY!" Those capris were not my friend. I bought them a few days ago and was really excited about them! I decided to wear these capris to the race because they were freaking cute...I mean, what could go wrong?! Those damn things were falling down the ENTIRE race. One positive is that I wore flesh colored panties. The problem, though, is that my capris were taking my panties down with them. I was flashing crack and panties the entire race! My shirt wasn't quite long enough for me to forget about it and just let the crack go. I can't wait to see my race pics! I'm sure they will show one of three things: 1) Me pulling my shirt down over my pants. 2) Me pulling my pants up. 3) My crack.

 

**********

On IG, I shared my first race day rule: Get up early to drink coffee. It will help you use the bathroom in the comfort of your own home.
 

So, I'm trying to get the bad out of the way because this really was a great race for me. Much to my surprise, I had only two freak out moments (the second I will mention later in the post). After finalizing what I was going to wear, I was making sure I had all of the crap I needed for race day. I went online to print off my parking pass and couldn't find the email ANYWHERE! I was fuh-reaking out! I knew I purchased my parking pass but had no record of it. I had the hubs confirm on our bank account that we made the purchase. I then called the parking company who stated that they had an issue with people receiving confirmation emails. Praise the Lord, they were able to send me my receipt and I was able to print my pass! I get so stressed out about parking downtown so this was not what I wanted to deal with less than 12 hours from race time!



**********

 

I planned to meet up with Dani, her daughter, Jordan, Debbie, and Karen near the 3:45 pace group. Karen never showed up, and we were slightly concerned. We assumed she was lost in the crowd.

 

I love the starting line of this race. Music blasting, sun rising, excited/nervous faces...so emotional!

My view from the start line!! Gorgeous morning!

I get completely nervous praying out loud but something was telling me to pray for my friends. Debbie running her first full marathon; Dani registering for the full just a few short days before in hopes of a BQ; it just seemed appropriate to calm the nerves.

Debbie, Dani, and me...looking hot and sexy in our throwaway gear. When I first saw this pic, I didn't recognize myself!
 

Because we didn't find Karen (my plan was to run around 8:20 pace with her), I started with Debbie and Dani who needed to begin at a slightly slower pace so they wouldn't gas out for the full. Our first two miles were 8:38 and 8:45. At that point, I was getting a little antsy about the race congestion. I needed to try to get out of the crowd! I sped up and the rest is history. Since I aborted the 8:20 plan, I decided to go with my original plan from weeks ago which was to try and run at my marathon race pace. My other miles ranged from 7:33 to 8:08.

 

I usually make friends during the races but I didn't do that this time. Not sure why. I think I was just soaking in the crowd. I was also thinking a lot about how I felt and what it will be like to run another full in 3 weeks.

 

Side note: I did hear a rumor that if you are able to talk and have fun during a race, you aren't running hard enough. I call BS on that one.

 

I was thinking about the weather and how it was one of the first cold runs of the season. My joints tend to ache a little in these temps. I was definitely feeling the achiness yesterday. I remember hoping it would stay cool these next couple of weeks so that my body could adjust and Indy wouldn't be such a surprise.

 

We traveled through downtown Columbus, Bexley, Nationwide Children's Hospital, German Village...it was a nice tour of the city. In the 11th or 12th mile, there was a decent incline which was a nice change to this flat course. The best part was that final mile after we traveled back into downtown. The crowd was going wild! There were so many spectators excited to see everyone run by!! This really pumped me up. I know I was supposed to stick with my race pace plan, but who can run slow in that atmosphere?! It was so motivating that I decided to do the Theresa challenge. Thanks to the amazing crowd (and those speed workouts), I ended my half marathon with a 7:02 mile! [This was supposed to be a 20 mile day for me but I ended just short of that getting almost 3 miles before the race and just over 3 miles afterwards]

 

Here's where my second freak out moment comes into play. My Garmin showed that I ran 13.13 miles in 1:43:17, averaging 7:52 per mile.

 

 

My first thought was "Dang, they were on point with the distance!" Typically, for half marathons, I end up with at least 0.10 miles over. After walking out my strong finish, I looked at the unofficial results on my phone and it said my time was 1:47:01! WHAT THE WHAT?! There was NO WAY my watch was that different! I remembered stopping twice during the race: once around 4ish miles to give myself a wedgie in hopes that my pants would stop falling down; the other around 6.5 miles to take a gel. I didn't stop my watch either time so I knew that wasn't the difference. I was racking my brain trying to figure this out. I know you runners understand how frustrating that is! I mean, 3-4 minutes is a HUGE difference. I messaged a bunch of fellow runners asking them what distance their Garmin had for the course. My only thought was that I might have accidentally paused it one of the 10,000 times I had to adjust my britches. I was bothered by this for about 6 hours when I decided to check my official results one more time. When I checked again, it read:

 

1:44:01!!

 

I felt so much relief! That was only 44 seconds different from my Garmin. For this being a training run, I wasn't going to fuss about that. Now, if this had been a hard core race for me, I would still be bitching about it today! LOL. I found out that the 1:47 was my gun time rather than my chip time.

 

**********

 

Final thoughts:

• I am so thankful for the process of training. Earlier this year, I couldn't fathom running this pace as a training run. Yes, I was running faster than my easy pace but this is pretty darn close to the pace I need to run for the full in order to meet my BQ goal [with some cushion room to be able to actually run in Boston]. The best part is that I felt great doing it! Minus the joints aching from the cold temps, my legs and lungs felt great!!!
• I sent Amanda my splits after the race and she said two things: "Look at that last mile!" and "You could have easily PR'd today!" That last mile was proof of many months of hard work paying off. Y'all, this race is my second fastest half marathon! It just blows my mind. It can be so tough, when you feel good, not to race something. As I was running this race, I thought to myself  "I can PR today." Then I remembered a text that Theresa sent me that morning. She told me "Steady and not all out. Save it for Indy." (this was in addition to her making sure I had an appropriate BM that morning!). I knew this race had a purpose. That purpose was to give me that last bit of confidence that I needed to conquer my BQ attempt.
• My friends. So many of them had the race of a lifetime. I can't express how incredibly proud I am of all of them. You guys were so amazing out there, and I enjoyed hearing and reading about your experiences!
• Marion. Sweet, sweet Marion. My heart sank when she couldn't run her race. She has worked so hard and been so dedicated. So many early mornings and never did I hear her complain. I think a lot of us had her in mind when we were out there running. Prayers for her health and healing...mentally and physically. We love you, Marion!!

**********

 

Alright, y'all. The countdown to Indy begins. LESS THAN THREE WEEKS. Oh my gosh.