Columbus Marathon
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Columbus Marathon - RunMarathon
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Comments: YES YES YES! I played it just right. I had been waffling on my goal and on everything else about this, since it was only a month after my IM. Finally I decided I really thought I had the fitness to do a four-hour marathon, and I should just make that my goal, and wear the Garmin and go for it! I listened to a lot of advice, but I also have learned a lot about myself. I knew at the beginning I didn't want to be tied to anyone. I knew I would slow down after Mile 20 regardless of my pace for the first 20 miles. I knew I didn't really want to be with the pace group. So I set out running at what felt like a "comfortable but pushing" pace for me. This turned out to be about an 8:30 average pace. Now if you had told me last year that I could run 8:30 miles in a marathon, I would have called you crazy. But I was running them, and I felt fine. I was still breathing through my nose, my cardio system felt like a million bucks, and I wasn't even warm enough to shed my outer layer. I saw the 4-hour pace group on my right, and then they dropped behind me, and I never saw them again. It was helpful to me, toward the end, to know they were back there behind me, and that I didn't want to hear them or see them coming up. I had to stay ahead of them. In the first half of the race I felt great. I had a few people I was looking out for in different spots. I didn't need a lot of mental focus at this point. It was pretty easy. I was drinking more Gatorade than water, knowing my stomach was better able to handle Gatorade now than it would be able to later. Anytime I felt stomach cramps, I told myself that was just my body telling me to straighten up and improve my posture and quit compressing my stomach. I would straighten up and usually that would help. I noted that these cramps frequently came on whenever a bathroom appeared in my field of vision, so I determined it was largely psychological, even though it hurt quite vividly in the physical realm. I made it to mile 13, and yelled "Sayonara, SUCKERS!" to the half-mary folks making the turn to the finish. The next mile was uphill, and my pace slowed, but I got it back together and pushed up High Street. It's a long slog and I didn't see anyone I knew. We made the turnaround on sorority row, I looked for Brue unsuccessfully, and we headed toward the Horseshoe. I was still feeling good, thinking about past years and how this section had been hard for me. I started passing people who had stopped to walk. I did stop for the bathroom once here. I was having stomach cramps right as I came up on a bathroom stop with no lines. I went in and I realized that if I let it, this could be a scene that I repeated every mile. I decided this would be my last bathroom stop. This was just IT. That was the end of it. NO MORE. Entering Upper Arlington, I knew things were going to get ugly with my pace, and soon. I didn't have anyone else to look forward to seeing on the course. I was looking around for someone to talk to, but 90% of people had ipods, and 9% were speeding up or slowing down relative to me. I finally spotted an older guy who looked steady and was not wearing earbuds. I said hi and he said hi back. Then silence. We stayed running next to each other. Finally I said, "Listen, I need some conversation to get through this next section if you don't mind me talking to you." He brightened and said, "Great! Yeah! It really helps me to have people to talk to, but usually people don't want to talk back." So we talked for the next 8 miles or so. We slowed down, but still kept each other distracted. The last 3-4 miles, my legs were terrible. My hamstrings and calves were like lumps of rocks. I was trying not to pay attention to them. I knew the cramping feeling could be arrested through proper mental work, so I concentrated on picking up my legs lightly behind me, and not doing any conscious contracting of the muscles, and not thinking about cramps. Jack and I talked about our families, his business, his travels around the world, my ironman, etc. I kept an eye on my watch, and was figuring as long as we kept running at any pace, we would make it under 4 hours. I was kind of in disbelief, but also confident that I wouldn't let it slip away at this point. My stomach was not doing great at Mile 25, but I took a Gatorade anyway because I thought the sodium might help my legs. We started seeing people off on the side of the road getting medical treatment. I tried not to think about it. At Mile 26, there was a guy in the middle of the pack near us who started doing the "ironman skeleton dance" with the wobbling and falling and disoriented stumbling. I called out for someone on the sidelines to catch him, because he was going to fall. I didn't turn around though. We kept going. Jack and I made the turn together onto Nationwide Blvd for the finish. I asked if he wanted his finish photo by himself, since there was plenty of time for me to slow down and let him finish with only a couple people around. He said no, that he wouldn't have made it under 4 without me. I said I felt the same, and wasn't planning to buy the finish photo anyway. I had the presence of mind to take off my sunglasses for the photo, and we crossed the finish line together, smiling. What would you do differently?: Actually, nothing. I think I played it just right. Post race
Warm down: Walked a mile back to the car. What limited your ability to perform faster: I think I performed exactly at my potential. With more running miles and a bit more speedwork next year, I think I could still improve. Event comments: First year for new race director. He did an excellent job. I had no complaints. The corral start was great for me. No walkers to contend with in the first miles. Nice. Last updated: 2010-09-15 12:00 AM
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United States
Columbus Marathon
68F / 20C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 1727/4103
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 85/275
Also 448/1568 women.
Took steel cut oats and green tea in the car with me.
Headed downtown and parked at a meter about .75 miles from the start and the finish.
Walk to start. Stretch in starting corral.