This is the back of my race shirt. Janet and the kids signed my sleeve.
Cameron & Rachael cheering on the racers.
Janet and Rachael
My cheering section - Cameron, my brother Mike, Rachael and Janet
My official finish line picture.
After the race with family and fellow TNT walker Kevin
My feetToday brings the report on the 2007 Columbus Half Marathon. I can’t believe that it is finally come to pass. When I look back, I have been training for this since the middle of May. Having followed the training program, I knew that I was ready to do the race.
Saturday was the prep day. I had made a checklist of what I needed to do and have ready. After dinner, I went thru the list. Everything was ready by evening and I went to bed at 10:30PM. I was amazed that I slept as well as I did. The only glitch in my plans was that I set my alarm for 5 AM but forgot to turn on the alarm! Thankfully, Janet woke me up at 5:05AM. I got dressed and gathered my stuff and headed downtown.
I met with the Team in Training group at the Hyatt Hotel downtown at 6AM. We headed off to the starting line at around 6:40. It was still rather dark and the wind was whipping through the buildings. The temperature at the start was around 55 degrees. I met a gentleman named Kevin who was with TNT. Through talking before the race, we found that we both were in the same boat. Due to our work schedules and family responsibilities neither of us was able to train with the team.
The horn went off at 7 AM to start the almost 1000 walkers on our 13.1 mile journey. Kevin and I had the same pace so we walked together with several other TNT walkers. The sun was just starting to come up as we headed east on Broad St. My first three mile times were right where I trained – 17:26, 16:40 and 16:47.
Just past the 3 mile mark, we turned north into Bexley and wound our way through the side streets. At one point, we passed the Governor’s Mansion and the Governor’s wife was out front flanked by State Troopers waving at the racers. I hit the 4 mile mark at 16:51. We turned south to head towards Town St. We passed several bands providing entertainment along the route. My mile times for miles 5-9 were 16:13, 16:37, 16:21, 16:08 and 16:11.
It was about this time that I began to notice blisters beginning to form on the inside edges of my heels. Continued to press on into German Village. Mile 10 time was 16:14. Passed Schiller Park and was struck by how beautiful it was. Kevin (who has been walking beside me the entire way) stated that he did quite a bit of training in the park.
At mile 11, we turned north on High St and began the final stretch of the race. My time at mile 11 was 16:34. Heading up High St towards downtown, we hit what seemed like the biggest hill in the race. It probably was just the tired legs!! Mile 12 time was 16:30 and the crowds began to grow larger. We turned off of High St and onto Nationwide Blvd. at mile 13 with a time of 16:24. The finish line was in sight. Just shy of the finish line, I saw Janet and the kids along with my brother Mike- he had just gotten in from vacation in Florida late Saturday night. Hit the finish line with a time of 3:37:23. The pace time was 16:36.
Picked up my medal and had my picture taken and then headed to the Team In Training tent to check in and wait for my family. I was completely surprised by running into my brother in law’s parents – Jim and Nancy Simms. It took some time for Janet and the kids to make it to the Family Reunion area. Once we met up and took some pictures, it was time to start the quarter mile hike to the car – uphill!!!
All in all, the day was perfect for racing and watching the race. Janet and the kids were able to get a good spot to watch the race and I was able to park close to the finish line.
I have been asked if I will do the Columbus again. I reply that I would but next time I would probably train on my own.
I asked people in my fundraising letter to let me know if I could walk in honor or in memorial for a friend or loved one. I want to list here the names that I put on my race shirt.
In Memorial:
Mary Spohn (My grandmother )
Sally Mann ( My aunt)
Arthur Rose Sr.
Andy Grether
Donald Parks
Fred Williams
Jack Williams
In Honor:
Alwyn Cosgrove
Rickie Samuel
Keegan Quinn
My race stats :
Time: 3:37:23
Pace: 16:36
Overall: 647/939
Age Group: 10/17
Gender: 107/147
I will be posting some pictures from the race later as well as providing a link to the official photos.
Well, it’s hard to believe but it’s the week of the Half Marathon. Each time I think about it – I get a few butterflies in the stomach. Mostly from excitement but I have to admit that some of it is nerves. This is the biggest thing that I have attempted in quite some time. I have followed my training and have put in the miles (248 training miles!!!). So looking ahead to the race there is I have no doubt that I will be able to finish the 13.1 miles and will probably be able to finish in under 4 hours. I guess that everyone that stands at the starting line on Sunday will be nervous in some way so I will be in good company.
I will save my looking back and thinking about what I have learned for my post race posts. This week will be three 2 mile walks and then rest on Saturday. I have already begun a checklist of things that I need to do and to have ready for Sunday. If you know me, you will understand that is just the way I am. My loving wife, Janet, commented at lunch on Saturday that I probably have a list of times for each mile already planned out. I don’t have it written down but I do have a good idea what pace I want to hit for most of the race.
Now to the training report. I completed what will be my last training walk at Antrim Park yesterday. It was a beautiful day to be out. I did the 4 miles in 1:06:30 which is a pace of 16:38 min/mile. Felt good during the walk. Started to lose some steam in the third mile but didn’t bring any beans with me. Gutted it out for the last mile and had a pretty good time. Splits are as follows: (1) 16:53, (2) 16:25, (3) 16:58 and (4) 16:15.
The end of the month of September brought about the end of my training escalation. That bright sunny Sunday morning saw me once again at Antrim Park to log in my weekly high mileage day for training. My training program listed it as my final long walk prior to the taper period that ends with the Half Marathon. The ten miles went well. No real problems to report with the exception of getting a small rock in my shoe that caused a blister. Not fun but was able to finish the final 3 miles without much of a change to my mile times.
I finished the walk in 2:48:46 with an average pace of 16:53 minutes/mile. That average pace will put me finishing the half marathon in about 3 hours and 41 minutes. I spent quite a bit of time during my walk thinking. That’s what I love about walking (especially without headphones and music). It gives me a chance to do some real thinking. Yesterday, the topic of thought was what I wanted as goals for the half marathon. I finally decided that the most important thing for me to accomplish is to have fun. I know that sounds trite but the more I thought about it the more I wanted that to be my main goal. I have no idea what will happen once the race starts. Most of what happens will be outside my control so I want to make sure that I have a great time. After that, my “serious” goal would be to finish in less than 4 hours. All in all, I would have to say that the whole training experience has been great.
Here are my splits for the 10 mile walk: (1) 17:34, (2) 16:33, (3) 17:12, (4) 16:17, (5) 16:02, (6) 16:21, (7) 16:56, (8) 18:20, (9) 17:01 and (10) 16:32.
