Columbus Half Marathon

No, this is not THE Columbus Half Marathon, but rather an older and smaller version held in the summer.  It's moved several times and this year was held in beautiful Alum Creek State Park near Delaware.  Despite not being the big city version, I actually enjoyed the course and crew far more.

This race did require an early wake up time of 4:30.  Ugh.  W stayed at home as I wanted her to rest and didn't anticipate much for her to do at the park.  I got to Alum Creek at about 6:30 for the 7:05 start.  We finally got some much needed cooler weather with highs in the mid-70s.  It was in the low 60s with a slight breeze in the morning which felt great.  I warmed up a bit and headed to the start line.

Miles 1-5: I've focused in on the 5k for the past three months and haven't ran anything over seven miles.  The strategy was to ease into this one and shoot for 8:00 miles.  If I felt great, go.  If not, try to finish around 1:45 which I can normally do on a bad day.  We started out with a loop in the enormous parking lot before heading out the road.  That took up about a mile as we headed for the loop course around Alum Creek Reservoir.  I felt good right from the beginning and settled in to a nice 8:00 pace.  The coolest part of the race was just after mile two when we ran over the dam.  It was a pretty smooth trail surface and it gave us some great views of the lake.  This portion lasted about a mile before we hit Africa Road and headed north.  Here are the splits for the first five: 1 (8:01), 2 (7:48), 3 (7:42), 4 (7:54), 5 (7:54).  The consistency during this first section was a good sign.

Miles 6-10: We continued north and I ran a couple miles with a runner who was training for the Columbus Marathon in October.  She was aiming for 8:00 miles so we chatted for a bit.  The Africa Road portion was definitely a net uphill.  I was still feeling good and would soon speed up.  I hadn't run more than seven miles in a single run since the Capital City Half Marathon, so I wasn't sure if I could keep a strong pace or not.  I made my move just shy of mile 7, as we headed west over a cool bridge over the lake.  I passed 4-5 people during this section of the course and knew I was holding my own.  We finished the bridge and headed south on Old State Road at about the 8 1/2 mile mark.  This final portion of the race was definitely a net downhill.  The grade was never too noticeable, but my pace was great.  I started pacing a much younger runner who had a strong pace.  We went back and forth for the duration and I was feeling really good about my splits.  Here are miles 6-10: 6 (7:56), 7 (7:30), 8 (7:17), 9 (7:26), 10 (7:13).  While I sped up considerably, there was still some consistency to these splits.

Miles 11-13.1: The course continued at a very slight downhill.  There's not much to say about the scenery.  The lake was too far away and the most exciting thing was that the trees were shading us the whole way.  My fellow runner and I kept going back and forth until we entered the parking lot for a final loop.  I finally passed him and I knew I had a solid time.  Here are the final splits: 11 (7:10), 12 (7:12), 13 (6:48).  I hit the finish line in a surprising time of 1:38:41, good enough for 25th overall!  I was pretty shocked with this time considering my focus had not been on the half at all this summer.

For once, I'm not at all sure what the next race will be.  I'm looking at a couple on Labor Day weekend but we will see.

Plymouth Fireman's Festival 10k

On to my 10k for 2017.  I tend to do one 10k each year as a change of pace, though I've never felt very comfortable at this distance.  The 5k is short enough to not require much thinking and the half marathon pace is something I feel confident about.  But the 10k is just an awkward one for me.  The last one I ran (Maui) went downhill for me in a hurry as I started out too fast.

This race was very, very small.  There were only nine of us in the 10k and twenty-five in the 5k.  That's small.  The course was pretty simple as we started in the center of town, made a semi-circle going north to west, west on Baseline Rd., south on a county road, and then back.  I was very surprised with the course.  It was a lot hillier than I expected from the Plymouth area.

We started out through town and the two top runners went out at a ridiculous pace.  I came out too fast as we made our way to Baseline Road and had to slow down.  The first mile was in 6:29 and the second in 6:48.  That's way too fast for me, though I started out in third place and was able to maintain.

After the first long straightaway, we headed south for another one.  The hills here were surprising.  Nothing awful, but they were enough to hurt after the fast start.  My third mile came up to 7:26.  That's better.  We turned around and headed right back the way we came.  The second place runner was well ahead of me and the fourth was well behind.  I do find these quiet pockets in races.  My pace was more consistent as we went, too.  The fourth mile came in at 7:12 and the fifth in 7:35.  We headed back towards town and I was really feeling this race.  Again, I looked around and there was no one near me.

Finally, we made our way back to town and went around the west side.  This included one nice downhill at which I gained a few seconds.  Another downhill into the finish gave me a new 10k PR of 44:06!  That takes off almost a minute and a half from my previous PR, set in 2013, and gives me my second new PR of the year.

Up next is a new half marathon for me.

Next race: Columbus Half Marathon- Delaware, OH