Columbus Marathon
Before the Race
After getting to sleep too late the night before (completing my failure to achieve the simplest of the training objectives: be well-rested for the race), I dreaded getting up on Saturday morning, but since I had arranged to pick up Gary at 10am, I didn’t have much choice. After missing a turn (or making a wrong turn) because we were too busy talking instead of paying attention, and therefore taking an impromptu tour of Mt Lebanon, we got headed in the right direction and onto I-79. Fortunately, the drive over to Columbus is very easy, and we arrived only a bit later than the expected 1pm. Then, we found that Diane was in a make-up class and wouldn’t be back until 2:30. Since Keith was home, we were still able to come in and entertain ourselves, though.
After Diane joined us, we headed off to get lunch. We ended up at a mini (indoor) array of the types of shops in the strip district. I was happy to find an Indian vendor for a good-sized (and tasty) lunch. I also picked up a bagel for breakfast. Next, we headed to the race expo so that Gary could register for the 5K and I could pick up my race packet. I also did a little shopping for a synthetic t-shirt since to date I’ve always been able to get away with just a singlet. Since the race-day weather was still expected to be in the 30s and low 40s with rain, I was afraid that I might have to resort to something warmer/drier. I found a couple of options and then we were on our way again.
Dating back to the ‘96 Pittsburgh Marathon, when Diane had called me at the last minute to see if I was interested in going to a midnight movie, it has become a ritual to see a movie the night before a marathon. Hey, you’re not going to sleep much anyway, right? Because the Ohio State football game was going to be over soon, we went to the theater (via a very round-about route, this time thanks to Diane :-) to pick up tickets. For a 24-screen theater, we had a very difficult time finding anything that fit our discriminating criteria (yeah, right – none of us had seen any movies recently) and time-frame. We ended up settling for “Pleasantville” tickets for about an hour and a half later. Since we didn’t think we had time to go adventuring elsewhere, we decided to just go to Champs for dinner. The we find out that the OSU game had just entered the fourth quarter, that the Buckeyes were behind in the game, and that they didn’t expect many tables to free up until after the game was over. We didn’t have much choice, so we opted to wait. Happily, we did get a table about an hour before the movie. As a bonus, we got to see OSU proceed to lose the game (yes, we were smart enough to keep our joy to ourselves). We walked back over to the theater with a good five minutes to spare.
My only comment on the movie is my impression at the time: a good concept, but poor execution, and way too slow. If you’ve seen it, I’m sorry; if not, don’t bother. Anyway, we dropped Diane off at the apartment so she could study for a few hours, and Gary and I found our way back to the hotel (well, Day’s Inn). I wasn’t going to sleep very well anyway, but all the commotion outside and guys banging on our door twice in the middle of the night didn’t help any. I wasn’t going to find out what they were up to, but there wasn’t any damage or mischief so I guess “no harm, no foul” applies.
In the morning, I got up to eat my bagel and then rested for about another hour. Going out to test the weather, I was encouraged that it wasn’t too bad – 38 degrees and overcast – and there were lots of other runners getting ready also. I decided to chance the singlet rather than risk being too warm, and to avoid breaking the “don’t wear something new” rule. The drive to downtown was very quick, but then we sat in traffic waiting to get into the parking garage (it was nice that they had $1 parking for the race events all weekend). By the time we met Diane and got back to the start line, the wheelchair racers were about to start. I had second thoughts about the weather, as it felt colder downtown and was drizzling before the start, so I changed into one of those new shirts (yes, breaking another rule, but that’s been a hallmark of my preparation for this race). Diane snapped a quick photo of Gary and I before the start (attached).
The Race
I barely managed to wind my way through the spectators into the pack at the 8/mi pace location just as the race started. I missed the start signal, so I waited until I crossed the line before starting my watch. There were 4000 marathon runners and 275 relay teams, so the first mile was crowded and slow. Since I needed to warm up slowly, and I had no idea what pace I could sustain, though, it was helpful to start out slowly. I completed the first mile in 8:46, with the split clock showing about a minute slower, so I knew I had some time to make up to get to my “hopeful” target of 8-minute/mile pace, but I was in no hurry to push it. I just strove to find a comfortable pace, and hoped to settle in at that pace and then see what happened. The first five miles seemed to go by quickly, but felt difficult as I just wasn’t comfortable (or confident?).
Somewhere in the next five miles, however, I loosened up and settled into a 7:40-7:45 pace that felt very good. From then on, I just tried to stay relaxed and focus on the next 5-mile target. The weather alternated from cold and drizzling to having the sun peek through every once in awhile. I was a bit warm occasionally, but other times I was very glad I’d changed shirts. The one I chose had a tighter weave (not to mention sleeves – short, of course; I’m not crazy) and a zipper, so it worked very well.
I passed the half-way mark at just over 1:42 and still felt good, but that’s when the miles always seem to start to drag on. I couldn’t wait to get to (and then through) the 18-20 mile mark! It was around the 19-20 mile mark that it started drizzling again, which may have even helped by distracting me for a bit, but I was glad that it didn’t last very long. I didn’t seem to be having any substantial problems, so I strove to see if I could hold pace (still about 7:45) for the rest of the way. From 20-23, you’re heading towards downtown, which provides a convenient target with the buildings in the distance. Unfortunately, you hit downtown at 23, so you know that you have another three miles to go, which they fit in by making you run away from the finish (very cruel, in my opinion) south just over a mile and then you finally get to head back towards the finish. By this point, I felt confident that I could hold pace, and I wanted to push it some, but of course my legs thought I was asking quite enough of them. Still, it was quite a different feeling to be constantly passing people and feeling so strong at the end of the race.
At mile 25, I finally decided that it was okay to press a bit, so I tried to just relax and go with it. It was so exhilarating to fly through that last 1.2 miles feeling great at under a 7-minute/mile pace! My official time turned out to be 3:23:57, with an “unofficial” time of 3:22:55.
After the Race
The negative side of finishing ahead of my projection is that I must have beat Gary and Diane to the finish line. I wandered around in the runners area (because I figured the chance of them finding me in that confined area was a lot better than my chance of finding them in the “outside” crowd) for about 40 minutes before giving up and heading out. Naturally, we found each other nearly immediately, in an area that neither of us had ventured to before. At last, I could get warm! Well, actually, that had to wait until I was back in the car, but at least I finally had some warm clothes on. You’ll find another picture of Diane and I, snapped just prior to our arrival back at the parking garage. While impatient to get a shower and eat, I was a happy camper.
Well, I’m running out of steam, and you’re probably asleep by now – and that’s about the end of the saga, anyway, so think I’ll stop there. Thanks for pulling for me – I really appreciate the support and motivation. I was so glad I did this, even if I (still) can’t recommend the six-week training method (my first “long run” was 8 miles, six weeks before the race).
Enjoy – Tim