Nationwide Children's Columbus Half-Marathon

How I Decided on the Race

I registered for this half-marathon long before I ran the Bay Bridge. Fresh off my first marathon and fastest 10K, I was hungry for more. I had also started entertaining the idea of running out of state. Knowing that this half-marathon supported the hospital that served my best friend's baby (now a preschooler) made me want to run it more. The only problem I saw was that the race was around on my bestie's anniversary, ironically the last time I was in Ohio. When I approached my friend about the race, she was enthusiastically supportive. "No problem," she said, and so February 22nd, I registered for the Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus half marathon.

The Training

At the time of registering, I thought I wanted to go for a sub 1:50 half, given that my last finish was 1:52:52. I downloaded Run to the Finish's 1:45 plan and thought I would go with it. Well, I got my 1:45 at Bay Bridge, but still decided on this plan. It was more miles a week and more speed work than I had done before, so I thought it would be a good fit.

Spoiler alert: An October race meant training through the summer. Thankfully I did all right, at least in terms of surviving the heat. I sweated A LOT, but with enough hydration, salt, and showers, it was bearable. What I did not do was hit the paces prescribed in my plan, ever, that is until I pulled out my racing shoes on week 10/12. I finally got close, which was encouraging, but also humbling.

The Days Before the Race

I stuck with my three day carb load plan. As seems to be my pattern, the first day I was super hungry and enjoying all the carbs; day two, not so much. Day three, I was ready to be done! I ran one mile and walked and did yogalates Wednesday. I did a total of four miles Thursday (three with four strides). Saturday, I ran 3.1 miles and flew to Ohio.

My time table was tight on Saturday. I flew out at 9:55 AM, arrived at 4:35 PM, and had to get to the expo to get my bib by 6 pm. I pre-booked an Uber and everything worked out, but phew, it was stressful! Between the airport, the huge convention center, and a walk to the start line, I probably did a little bit too much, but que sera, sera. I laid out all my clothes, pinned my bib, took my flat runner photos, and tried to chill. I had a beautiful room in which to do so, and eventually got myself calmer. I was in bed around 9:05 and shut my phone off at 9:15 PM to hopefully allow for seven hours of sleep.

Race Morning:

I set my alarm for 4:30 am. By 4:45 AM or so, race corral opening was already delayed to 6:45 AM. That did not seem to bode well, so I delayed getting ready a bit. I went and refilled my water bottles. I read my Bible and some of Let Your Mind Run by Deena Kastor. I did my arm and leg PT. By 5:50 AM, I ate a bagel and drank coffee with RNWY. I left my room about 6:30 and arrived at the race start around 7 AM. It was already sprinkling, but I had tied grocery sacks over my shoes and wore a rain poncho. Immediately after finding my corral, I went to the porta-pottie line, did an 0.21 mile warm-up and lined up. I took my gel at 7:15 AM, only to have them delay the race start until 7:45 AM. Sigh on that nutrition timing. I took off the rain poncho and grocery sack shoe covers 5 minutes before the start.

Race Day Conditions:

The night before the race and when I got up, it looked like rain would start at 7 am. Sweet, I thought. At least I could walk to the start (0.5-1 mile away from my hotel) without getting wet. Then things got delayed. Sigh. I bagged my shoes, put on my poncho, and went for it. The rain was steady, but light, and at least the temperatures were warm. That helped a lot.

Goals:

As usual, I made my goals in reverse order-

A-Run the race.

B-Finish the race.

C-PR of 1:43

With all leading up to the race, and then how tight my flight was to even get into Ohio, I knew that getting to race day would be a huge blessing. With the rain and possible delays or cancellations, I just wanted to finish. I was not just running for me, but running for my friend and her daughter. That mattered a lot to me. If I could squeak in a PR, great! (Or at least that's what I told myself.) If I wanted to PR, I figured my splits would need to be

Miles 1-2 8:01/mile

Miles 3-4 7:51/mile

Miles 5-10 7:51/mile

Miles 11-12 Speed up if possible

Mile 13-13.1 Fast!

Course:

Miles 1-2 This truly is such a great course! The day started with the national anthem and fireworks. The streets were packed with people cheering, from the start to the finish. (The road was also packed with runners-more on that later.) There were ample porta-potties on course (which thankfully I did not need to use), plus plentiful water stations. Really well done, Columbus.

With such a packed course, I had to do a lot of bobbing and weaving (which you're not supposed to do, as it takes energy and adds distance). I also could never figure out which side of the road the water stations were on, which meant weaving through people to get there. I had not brought a hydration pack, so I needed the water. Mile 1 came in at 8:01/mile, and mile 2, at 7:57. Sweet.

Miles 3-4 I waited until mile 4 for a gel. That seemed to work well. It was raining, but not too bad. I hit 7:49/mile, dropping to 7:55/mile for mile (probably due to a hill).

Miles 5-10 Things started to fall apart a little here. I was not exactly out of energy or flat, but just feeling how long the race was and not wanting to push. My hat flew off once. I was on pace for miles 5 and 6 at 7:50/mile and 7:46/ mile, but then mile seven was 8:07/mile (maybe the second slow hill). Mile eight was good-7:50/mile, but even after another gel, mile 9 was 7:57/mile, and then my watch turned off. I got it back on, but am not sure of exact splits from there. What I do know is that I just had to somewhat race by feel.

Miles 11-12 It was not exactly miserable, but I started wanting to finish in here. I was able to drop the pace some. I caught up to and passed the 1:45 pacer, but not my much. I heard him from behind me for quite a while and if he was on pace, I knew that did not bode well for my 1:43 goal. I started coming into the finish area and tried to give it a little more gas even at the half mile to go mark. 

Mile 13-13.1 I told myself to open up, and I did, but then I started feeling light headed and nauseous, so I think I slowed down a bit. I saw the clock at 1:44:51 as I was coming through and hoped my chip time was faster. I was panting as I came over the line. I did not even see my friend watching.

After the race:

Again, this is a well set-up race. They moved finishers quite a bit down the line to get medals, gave out heat blankets (which I didn't think I did, but spoiler alert, I did!) and then moved us to food alley. I took a bag from the beginning, and man was I thankful for it! I got a bottle of water, a bottle of Propel, pizza, a bagel, a cookie, Oreos, two bags of chips, Boba oats, an apple, a banana, cheese sticks, and chocolate milk. Seriously, I just took one of everything. 

With the help of texting, I found my friend. I checked my time and was shocked to see a PR of 14 seconds in my 1:43:33 time. I was shocked! My friend asked if I wanted to go ring the PR gong, and that was so thoughtful, because yes, I did! I got us a bit turned around, but we got there. I rang the bell while she filmed, and then we convinced her daughter to ring it with me. That was really sweet, as I ran the race for that little girl. I stopped by the merchandise tent to get a 13.1 magnet, and then we went to get my gear check bag. I really could have skipped this. It was so far away from the starting chute, that gear check did not really help me. All I left was a protein bar and some extra garbage bags, but waste not, want not, so I grabbed it on our way out.

The plan was for my friend to drive me back to the hotel, but by the time we got to the parking garage, we figured it was better for me just to walk back to the hotel. I did that, but then I kind of stagnated. I turned on the heat for warmth and managed to get in more water and a protein bar, but I probably dawdled for about an hour before finally peeling off my wet clothes and getting into the shower. There I saw how really wet I was. My clothes were completely drenched, and even with wearing socks in my shoes, my feet with dirty. Yuck. That shower felt amazing, though!

I managed to get downstairs and checked out of my hotel. Finding my friend was another issue, as she could not get out of the garage, and then could not get to the hotel. I tried to walk towards her, but walked the wrong way. Eventually we caught up, but I was a little wet again. I always forget the work I put my friends and family through. My work is done at the end of a race, but that is where theirs begins!

Final thoughts:

I am sore after this race! I am not sure if it is how I sat in the car after the race, the race itself, or both. I felt some tightness in my hip flexors while running, but it was my quads and knee that felt it after the race. I went up and down stairs at my friends and was like, wow, I guess I worked harder than I thought? I also slept nine hours that night!

Overall, this race was what it set out to be: a fundraiser for the hospital, a race out of state, and a good reason chance to visit my best friend and her family. Yes, I missed my  goal by 33 seconds, but I still got a PR, and now maybe I have room to hit 1:43 in another race. Overall, I am just thankful: thankful for the opportunity, thankful the race happened, thankful to be with my friend, thankful for a body that lets me run. Columbus half-marathon dusted and done. Hallelujah!