The weather was absolutely perfect this year. It was in the high 40s and overcast at the start of the race. It was very hot and humid in 2012 and high 50s and sunny last year. I also felt surprisingly good coming off of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Half Marathon just six days earlier. The course had a few changes this year. The section around Columbus State was taken out in favor of adding a loop around COSI, crossing the Main Street bridge, and coming back to High Street for the finish.
Miles 1-5: We started off on Front Street and I came out fast. Way faster than I ever had as the first mile clocked in at 7:22. Keep in mind my usual pace of 9:00 for the first three miles or so. We continued to Olentangy River Road towards High Street, which is the same as the two previous years. It's definitely a positive knowing the race course in advance. I kept clocking miles in the 7:25-7:45 range which is much faster than I ever have. There was a snafu somewhere in these early miles, though. I noticed we were at around the 4.3 mile mark when we passed the 4 mile marker. The course wound up being long by 2/5 of a mile. At the pace I was going, that was going to affect my time by a good 3:00 or so. I tried to forget about that and keep clicking off the miles. We crossed the Lane Avenue Bridge just before the five mile mark.
Miles 6-10: These miles can be the toughest in the race. We have a three mile straightaway down High Street back to downtown, a turn on Broad Street, then another straightaway down 3rd Street through German Village. It's great for your time, but it's a LONG straightaway. I made it through the six mile mark in about 46 minutes and the eight mile mark in one hour even. This is blazing fast for me! My watch shows some miles in the 7:15 range during this part of the course. I finally started thinking of a PR and possibly breaking 1:40. Of course, keep in mind that the course was measured long, so I didn't pass the official eight mile mark for another couple minutes. Still, this is blazing fast. The course support in this area is great, too, as we made our way through downtown. We made the turn on Broad and I started to kick it up a notch coming through German Village and around Schiller Park. Mile 9 came in at 7:12 and Mile 10 came in at 7:22.
Miles 11-Finish: We made our way back up High Street for one of the tougher uphills on the entire course. Mile 11 showed me around 1:22, so I was definitely in range for a PR, and maybe in range for a sub-1:40. The course then veered off toward COSI for another tough portion of the course. We hit mile 12 just in time for a gradual uphill, prior to a more pronounced uphill on the way back towards High Street. Mile 12 came in at 1:30. The final mile was by far the toughest of the whole course. It included several turns and a net uphill. We turned onto High Street and I kicked it in for a 1:39:31 finish, finally breaking 1:40!
This was another fantastic offering by the Capital City Half Marathon. I'm absolutely thrilled to break 1:40, but it is disappointing to know that I actually ran around 1:37 for 13.1 miles. I suppose this allows me the possibility of breaking this new PR later in the year.
Next race: Greek Festival 5k- Mansfield, OH
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