I did it all for the pie!

I haven't gone for a run since November 2nd, when I ran a rather sad two miles.  I was just a teensy bit nervous about running five miles with no extra miles on my legs at the Columbus Turkey Trot....but my mother had paid for my entry and I'd been looking forward to it for a month!  I didn't look up any info about the trot until this past Wednesday at 4pm, and I wish I'd paid closer to attention to that info!  I knew where it started and ended, and I knew that it ended on an uphill note, but that was about it.  I had a vague notion of where on OSU's campus I'd be too but that's really not important.  I also signed up for Salt's virtual run, so that was a cute little addition!

Mile 1 - Downhill, woo hoo!  Lots of walkers and people with dogs who didn't know how to behave on a leash.  I also kept thinking, who on earth brings a tiny little dog on a five-mile run? Some of the pups just didn't look like they were going to last much more than a mile!

Mile 2 - Lots of walkers still.  I know I'm a slower runner, and I know that this turkey trot is a family tradition for many people, but I'm pretty sure many of these people should have known better than to plant themselves in the 12:00 minute/mile group and walk five-across-with-arms-linked.  Also, I was thirsty!!

Mile 3 - I don't remember much here except that I finally got my water station and was suddenly running next to The 'Shoe.

Mile 4 - YAY sideways snow and high wind!  And now I have to go back up the huge hill I went down earlier!

Mile 5 - Sideways AND a headwind.  Fantastic!  I started thinking about Kara Goucher and the elite runners who had to run into a headwind for 16+ miles at the NYC marathon.  I just dug deep and finished as strong as I could.

My splits sucked.  I had to take a couple long walk breaks because of side stitches and going a little too hard in the first two miles.  I finished in 1:03:38, so it wasn't terrible.  I know I can do better though.  Maybe next year will be a repeat!

Now that fall training is over, I'm at a bit of a loss.  I don't have any official races on the horizon.  I'm contemplating the Pro Football Hall of Fame half marathon at the end of April, and of course I'll be back for the Nationwide Children's half marathon in October.  The HOF race is very new, so it's a much smaller field, but I like the finisher goodies and want to run someplace that's not Columbus.  I have a new training plan to try locked into my Nike Running app, and my goal for the winter is to maintain my legs and improve my fitness level.  I'll be working hard at the gym over the coming months to lose some of the weight I've managed to add to my frame.  I'll be shooting for 5 miles per week minimum of running.  I also have a few things in mind to try when it comes to training this time around (Garmin vs tech-free, music vs no music, and more).  Nowhere to go from here but up!

I really suck at this

Watching the TCS New York City Marathon today, I realized that I still haven't posted my recap of the Columbus half marathon!!!!  Life got in the way a little bit, but quite honestly, I kept getting distracted by getting back into the gym and a tiny little Min Pin who likes sleeping on my lap all the time.  I'm definitely needing a legit daily blogging challenge to get back on track!

So let's go back in time two weeks to Sunday October 19th.  The quick version of this recap?  I had three goals:

1. Finish around last year's time of about 2:58:00 (easy goal)
2. Finish in 2:45:00 (most likely goal)
3. Finish in 2:30:00 (good but unlikely goal)

Official finish time of 2:44:58

Garmin time of 2:44:52

I could tell during my long runs that an 11:30/mile pace just wasn't going to be do-able to reach goal #3.  My calf was doing much better, but I was still struggling with pacing properly.  I would be happy with a faster finish time, so I'm content with where I finished.

Nothing about this particular race day really stood out, and I was so focused on that goal time that making mental notes about anything didn't happen unless it was truly incredible.  This isn't exactly the most interesting race recap, and for that, I'm sorry! Enjoy this second list of memorable moments!

1. I'm a fan of the combined start/finish area.  There were definitely some issues, but I feel like the hiccups that were experienced were mainly because it was the very first year for this change.  People weren't using the family reunion area for that reason, so there was a HUGE backup where all the runners were exiting, which was made worse by the gear check pickup being right in that same area.  I'm sure next year it will be even better.
2. I'm also a fan of the new route for the most part.  Some areas were definitely a bit more narrow (read: crowded) than I would've liked, so I can only imagine what those areas were like for mid-packers.  Running past the hospital was a great change.  I mean, it's the Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Marathon and Half Marathon!  We should totally run past the hospital!  Seeing some of the patients and medical staff was a great change for sure.  
3. During my long runs on the Heritage Rail Trail, I would see a lot of the same people.  There was one couple, dubbed Mr. & Mrs. Gazelle by yours truly, who ran beautifully and made six to seven minute miles look easy.  I was somewhere between miles 2 and 3 when I glanced over to the right side of Broad Street, to see the really fast people making their way back up Broad Street nearing mile 7 (it may have been mile 6).  Who do I see?  Yup, Mr. & Mrs. Gazelle, once again making it look so effortless.
4. Also during my long runs, mile 6 was nearly always my fastest and I would hit the wall around mile 8.  Sure as s**t, mile 6 clocked in at 11:14 and mile 8.5 I hit the wall hard.  No amount of Gummi Bears or salted caramel GU would cut it and I ended up doing a walk/run combo to the end.

I did it!

I know what I need to work on now, and I do plan on running a spring half marathon next year.  I've run in Columbus three times now so will definitely be looking for races outside of Central Ohio.  Right now I'm thinking of the Pro Football Hall of Fame half marathon in April but nothing is certain yet.

My next race is the Columbus Turkey Trot, a five-miler on Thanksgiving Day.  That's the only thing I have planned for the holiday!  I did join two Meetup.com running groups with the intention of getting out of my solo-runner head space.  We'll see how that works out!  As an only child and single 30something, I'm used to doing everything on my own.

Anyone else run Columbus?  What do you think of running clubs/group runs?