Columbus Marathon
By Tristan-OH
Well the big day finally happened. I consider this as what I've worked all year towards. My training this year hasn't been that great, mostly due to my shiftwork schedule. There were many 4 day stretches where I didn't run at all, and many weeks even through the summer where I was only getting 20 miles in - in fact that was probably my average week. After last year breaking every PR I had in 5k, 10, 1/2, and then my first marathon, this year has been rather dismal only racing 1 race and coming in several minutes behind last year. However by the end of the season I did get some long runs in, some back to backs, and some record mileage weeks for me. I felt good aside from a slight pain from my very last long run. So I decided to go for the marathon, with no serious goal but to just see how I felt on race day. Of course last years time was the target and I did want to try and beat that to redeem myself a little for 2014.
Packet pick up at the Expo.
I'm not a huge fan of the city races, but they do have a nice advantage in that I work downtown. And this year the start/finish line was moved closer to my place of work - almost too close. There was suppose to be 18,000 runners plus volunteers and spectators, so having my own private parking garage is nice, and then I can go inside and have a warm place to stretch out, private bathrooms, etc.
I showed up about an hour and a half early and chatted with some coworkers and even my own crew was just leaving - I would have been on nightshifts that weekend had I not taken them off for the race (yeah a race cost me 36hrs of vacation ). I went to the vacant cafeteria and jogged around a bit and stretched. Headed back to my truck for final gear prep. It was suppose to be mid 30's F which had me really worried about doing it barefoot, and hanging around for very long at the start line. So I was prepared with sweats and slippers to toss at the starting line. But the temps ended up not getting as cold as forecast, about 40ºF. I felt ok and decided not to wear anything extra to the starting line except a trash bag for a jacket, cheap gloves, and some arm sleeves made from a pair of black dress socks. But I was running late by this point - I hear the anthem start playing over the speakers as I was locking the door of the truck. Luckily I didn't have far to go. As I approached the start line it was still quite a ways through the A corral, then back through the B corral (the entrance being at the very back). I signed up for 4hr finish which put me in B. As I was making my way over there the gun and fireworks went off! And it was a crowd of people still trying to get in. It took about 5 minutes from gun time till I was in the starting corral, and another minute until we started moving, so timing was fine except that I was starting much further back than I really wanted.
Fireworks as the elites take off on the front line. I'm still working my way over to the entrance into the B corral.
Since I started in the very back of B corral I was in a bit of a crowd of folks. I went a few tenths at a pretty low pace, which was fine for warming up. But I tried making moves soon after that. I had decided I was going to try to hit an 8:30 pace if I could, that's where I spent a lot of time on my long runs. But I was doing a lot of bobbing and weaving. Probably added a few extra tenths! In the first 10k I passed nearly a thousand people!
The course was mostly the same as the previous year, with just a few minor changes. The course is basically two loops, half-marathon distance each. The first loop now featured Nationwide Children's Hospital. The big feature of the second half would probably be the OSU stadium.
The first bit of the race in the downtown area I had a bit of gadget failure. I like to listen to music often on long runs and races for motivation (and even my metronome app to try and keep my cadence up). For the first mile or two it was pretty garbled and kept cutting in and out. I'm not sure why but suspected that maybe so many people had bluetooth or other cell phone signals close by that the signals where getting overpowered or cluttered up. It started working once we were out of downtown thankfully.
Much like I recall from last year, the first half was pretty packed up to the point that the halfers turned in on the finish line stretch while us doing the full 26.2 miles continue on through downtown and back out on the second loop. Things really opened up then, but by that time I was struggling to hold my pace. My garmin was seeming to read a little fast through the first half, typically showing I had been running around 8:15-8:20 pace. I was actually nervous I had been going a little too fast. But it made me feel not so bad about slowing a little. Of course after the race the results show I wasn't going quite that fast. But at least I was in reality holding very close to the 8:30 target pace I set for myself.
So far I felt good, but started to feel my right calf getting tighter, down low by the achilles. This has been a problem this year, and my last long run felt like I might have really strained the achilles. So I was a bit nervous. Not bad so far, but if it got worse could be a deal breaker. I was just going to keep going steady and see if it would work itself out.
Had another gadget failure a little past the half way point. I had my phone with me so I was also tracking myself using the phones GPS and the Endomondo app. But the instantaneous pace is unusable on that (it will bounce around several minutes within a refresh or two). So for a race when I like to see my pace I also wear my Garmin Forerunner. But for whatever reason the phone lost GPS signal (it had already lost it a couple short periods) but this time it did not come back the whole rest of the race. No biggie, I just wanted to see more detailed stats which I can't see on my Garmin since it won't connect with my computer. I was going to wear a HRM too which my phone and Endomondo will connect with, but I ended up not wearing that anyhow. I was going to take some pictures with my phone along the way, but actually my fingers were so cold that I really struggled to be able to even operate the buttons. The few I took didn't really turn out either.
After going through OSU there where some up hills. But not the kind of hills a lot of you trail runners are used too, I think there was maybe only a couple hundred feet elevation gain through the whole race. But when your used to running flat, and the race so far was flat, going up a hundred feet or so seems so much worse than it sounds! It knocked me back to about a 10 minute+ pace. Luckily at mile 20 we start heading back down to the starting elevation, and the last several miles were fairly flat. Even with the downhill my mind and body just wanted it to be done. My mind kept saying that I did so well on the first half that even if I stopped for a walk break I'd still finish OK. It took a couple miles but I worked back up in speed. I finally felt good again... a bit fatigued below the waist but I wasn't struggling with breath, I felt like I had energy, and no crashes. I had been snacking on my bag of dates through the race. They seem to work great for me on the long runs. My right calf was feeling strained still, not to the point I had to slow down or stop, but I knew it will be hurting the next day.
The race is very barefootable. Besides pavement the only other surface was a cobblestone-like brick section. The bricks were very rounded and would have felt wonderful if it wasn't for the fact they were very uneven. It was a short stretch but near the end I hit one the was higher than I realized on the outside of my left foot and it felt like it pushed the outermost metatarsal up from its neighbor farther than it was used to. That hurt, and left me limping for a bit. After a dozen or so steps the limp faded but I had some pain and soreness there for almost the rest of the race. But thankfully it never bother after the race or the next day.
Overall I was fairly consistent through this race. There were 5 points that where measured, and my pace was within 9 seconds for all of them except between 13.1 and 16.3 miles where I dropped back about 25 seconds. The final 10k stretch was actually my fastest, by just a few seconds per mile.
We were heading back into downtown for the last time finally! I was feeling pretty strained by that point, not just the calves but the quads were starting to fatigue as well. Glutes and hammies I usually don't have an issue with and I don't recall feeling much fatigue from them. But just a mile or two out from the finish I couldn't resist picking it up just a bit. The crowds were now lining both sides of the road pretty thickly with people cheering. We ran around my parking garage and between it and my building, which was only a couple tenths from the finish. I managed to sprint the last couple hundred yards, not an all out sprint but probably my 5k pace are quicker.
Closing in on the finish line!
The final step of the race.
And finally, its over. Its so nice to be able to walk, something I hadn't done in nearly 4 hrs! At least the new finish area was more spacious and I could walk around some compared to last year. Picked up my medal and got a picture taken. The legs were tightening up quickly. I stretched a little but wow it was hard to stretch.
Wish I would have asked the photographer to get the rest of that tall building above my head - that's where I work (and where I do my stair workouts)!
Only the second time my soles have seen 26 miles in a day. They held up just fine. My legs struggled a bit to lift them into that position though!
I went in and chatted for a little bit with the crew at work before heading home. Had a celebratory fried chicken finger dinner which I had been craving for a long time, and Ommegang Hennepin.
Not too bad for my second I hope. And pretty darn close to the 8:30 pace I was trying to maintain. And despite my terrible year of running I did manage 1 new PR this year. 4 1/2 minutes quicker than last year. Not much, but I'm happy just to break 4 hrs with my lack of good training. I wasn't too bad the next day either, not as bad as I was last year, but still in bad enough shape that I question if I'll try for marathon distance again unless I get some better training in.
Overall its a great race for barefooters. The only big issue is temperature since its late in October. But proved to not be an issue this time (well my fingers did get pretty cold, but not enough that I got my spare gloves out of my pack). The volunteers were great. I bet there had to be hundreds and hundreds of them. Water and portajohns around every bend, though I used neither. Very well organized. And even though its a long drive in to town on my day off, still conveniently located for me.
As an aside, its my 1111th post! What better way to celebrate than with a marathon report!