April 30th, Columbus Ohio
Once again I ran the Cap City Half, probably my favorite yearly race. First race of the year for me. This year conditions were colder than usual, I think it was forecast around 42ºF at race start. I was planning to go sleeveless but chickened out and went t-shirt, with a garbage bag to keep me warm prior to start. Of course the only time the local news camera catches me in it's lens is when I am in a trash bag.
The whole week before I was on a company trip so a lot of things were out of my control, like wearing hot steel toed boots just about all day every day for the 5 days leading up to the race.
Food selection was limited, as was time to get some runs in, but I made the best of it. Got back home Friday evening, the night before the race. Had a small grilled salmon steak and rice, some fruit, and a glass of nice Cabernet. Race morning meal was a smoothie I have made prior to a couple races, cacao mocha from my superfood smoothie book. Also had a handful of grapes though I forgot to bring the rest of them and some fruit to snack with on the long drive in to town, so I ran this on much less than I normally would have.I met with Yvonne and her husband before the race, and we headed over together. About a mile walk I think from the parking garage at my work downtown. I started back in C corral so we could hang out together for a bit, though I had an A bib like usual. This time we made our way up to the front at least, so it wasn't so crowded with slower people when we finally took off. They did proper wave starts, allowing a gap to form between, and that worked well. Once we were off we parted ways fairly quickly as I wanted to go right out at full speed. I planned to shoot for a PR, and targeted a 7:30 pace, just a few seconds faster than my current PR. But I felt like I had so much energy at the beginning, and coupled with the slight downhills, I often saw mid 6-minute pace on my old Garmin Forerunner. Could I really hold a 6:30 pace for long? Was the Garmin tricking me? In earlier races I'd always go out to fast and by the middle I'd be slowing down and exhausted. After a couple years of instead trying to run a steady tempo I wanted to go back to that and just see what would happen this time, though I wouldn't really push things hard early on just do what I felt I had in me. The cool temperatures helped performance I bet, and for a change I was well rested and full of energy. It's amazing just a few years ago I would be out of breath and really struggling barely under 8 minute pace, but I was controlling my breathing just fine and while I was really pushing I didn't feel exhausted or out of breath. Of course I slowed some on the slight uphills, bouncing up into the mid 7-minute range. And I thought I'd slow at the end, so to hit my 7:30 goal I figure I'd do what I could to stay at or under 7:20 for the first half.
They had a sensor at the 5 mile mark which recorded my average pace of 7:06 to that point. And I hadn't seen a soul (or pair of soles) pass me yet - stats showed afterward that none did. And starting in the slower corral let me pass 881 people in the first 5 miles, always a good feeling lol!
It was somewhere around the half way point, 6-7 miles I was passed the first time. And that dude was trucking! I was also getting a bit of pain in my shoulder - which I had failed to stretch ahead of time. Also a bit of a cramp in the right lung but not bad and a bit of ache in my calves, I knew I was working em hard. I did back off a little for a bit and just settled into a nice tempo as we were coming back into downtown. The crowd increased in size, and lots of cheering this year. Many were giving me a shout out reading my name off my bib, and a few DJ's even gave me a shout out on the speakers as the barefoot guy. In fact this is one of the few that I really had no hecklers... the closest thing being a women in the spectator crowd as we headed into German Village that I heard say "why would anyone do that" to who was standing next to her. I really would have liked to have taken a break and went over and respond, but I had a race to run.
The one thing I hate about the recent course is that the biggest hills are in the last mile or two. Still not much of a hill, but sure does test your resolve when your nearing the end! I'd like to have picked up the pace, but at that point it was more effort just trying to maintain the same pace up the inclines. The last bit of incline ended at an intersection where we turned left and were just a short hundred yards or so to the finish. Maintaining speed up that last hill just about killed any bit of energy I had left, but seeing the finish line ahead and the crowd cheering somehow activates a tiny bit of reserve that you didn't know you had. I picked up the pace a little but not much left to sprint in. I was pretty much completely spent. Even still everyone else seemed to slow down, or maybe I was going a little faster than I realized. There were a handful of people around and ahead of me the final hundred or two yards, and I passed most of them in that final stretch. Of course all the race photos where at the end when my form was shot and I was putting in all effort just to pick up the pace by a few seconds!
Those two I just passed didn't look so good!
The barefoot guy passes another!
Just a few steps from being over!
My fastest half marathon time yet, by 4 minutes!
After making my way through the snacks and recovery area I headed over to the crowd to see if I could find Yvonne's husband, and just seconds after I was over looking through the crowd near the finish line she came running by. After looking at my watch and trying to do some math, I was pretty shocked, not much more than 10 minutes had passed and she is crossing the line.
She had to have run it way faster than the PR she just set a few weeks ago, wow! 
Yvonne and I having some complimentary bubbles, celebrating PR's each!
After the regular snacks they have in the finish line recovery area, bananas, water, fruit bars, and Panera Bread bagels, they have more freebies out in the party area. A couple tear off tags on the bib give you a free miller lite, 2 free slices of pizza, and then pretty much all you can drink Yellow Tail bubbles. It's about the only race I've attended where plenty of free alcohol at the end is expected!
It was plenty loud with the band playing but we both chatted about our experiences for a while, despite being really cold and dealing with mother earth trying to spit a bit on us. Eventually we headed back, grabbed a coffee from a nearby Tim Horton's (that was desperately needed) and parted ways. It was such a great time and well organized as usual. And a special thanks for them providing reasonably sized pictures free this year instead of having to pay through the nose!
@Yvonne , we both set the bar pretty high for next time! Feel free to add anything here if you want or make your own race report.
Later that evening I decided to make a big ol 3/4 lb burger, piled high with veggies too. That calmed my post-race must-eat-all-food hunger...
