My final week of taper I had a few short runs of 4, 3, 2 and a shakeout run (1 mile). All of those seemed to go ok. In fact, all were sub 10 minute miles which was a huge surprise as I didn't expect speed to return after all that I've been going through . I took this as a good sign.
The expo was Friday and Saturday with the race Sunday. I spent Tuesday through Friday kind of trying to eat a little more and drink a lot of water. Friday was my last higher carb day and then Saturday I tried to eat normally.
The expo was fantastic for this race. Parking was so easy. I got there right when it started and walked around, bought some discounted merchandise and just enjoyed it. Saw a few people I knew, which really helped.
The night before the race was a tough one . I planned on going to sleep at 8:30 but sleep pretty much eluded me the whole night. I was able to sneak maybe 2-3 hours of sleep in there. Kept waking up, having weird dreams, etc. I was told that I shouldn't worry unless my sleep was really bad the few days before, but it wasn't. I had 9 hours Friday to Saturday and the rest of the week 8ish hours each night.
When I woke up at 3:50 I went ahead and ate the pre-race breakfast I had planned... Toast with peanut butter, banana, and brought along an energy bar to eat an hour before start. Got all my stuff prepared and business taken care of before I left the house to pick up a runner in my neighborhood, meet someone else at the meetup location and the three of us were going together. Everything went well there. Even got to the parking garage super early. Met up with our friends and did a group picture, went to the corrals and lined up. I was put in D corral since I didn't put a super fast finishing time. I really had no clue, just wanted to finish. Second goal was sub 5 hours and ultimate goal was 4:40. I grabbed a pace band for 4:45 at the expo and decided to try and use that as a rough guide. Most important thing "Do not go out too fast. Stay at 10:45-11 minute pace for a long time!"
Race started with fireworks, pictures with the group I had been running with for months and everyone saying good luck to each other.
I'll break down the race into neighborhoods...
Miles 1-3 were basically starting in the Arena district down Broad Street on the way to Bexley. I felt pretty good because I was well rested. Biggest challenge was just keeping speed to 10:45-11 pace which I was able to do.
Miles 3-7 Bexley around to Nationwide Children's Hospital, the sponsor of this race. It was nice to see all the support at Capital University. Thought of a few friends of mine who had gone to Capital.
Miles 8-11 Nationwide Childrens to German Village - this part was really tough only because we run past the hospital and it's really clear who this race is dedicated to. There are patient champions on each mile marker and their families/friends and you can high five the kids when you go by. That really meant a lot and kept me feeling good about doing this. I was also able to get some donations to the hospital so I felt good about helping out in that way. German Village had some good music, really I still felt ok and managed to maintain pace.
Mile 12-13 is where the split off point is for half marathon and full marathon. I saw one of my friends at the split and was able to get a picture. Still felt pretty much fine here. Was happy that the half marathoners were almost done. Not to be mean, but when I heard them talking about only a mile, almost done, it stressed me out a little so I was ready for the split. Someone did say over a megaphone "Let them turn, it's ok, don't worry about them, keep going" because my guess is that others running the full had the same feelings.
Mile 13-15 Continue down High St up to the Short North and then up toward OSU campus - This stretch was where I initially noticed the knee issue. My left knee typically has a bit of trouble lately starting back up again if I stop to get water, walk, etc. I have to rub around it a little and then it's usually fine. Mile 14 I saw one of my friends and got really happy again for a while as I proceeded toward OSU. Passed some of the old buildings I used to have classes for graduate school. Enjoyed this part of the OSU tour. At this point, I turned on my music because the crowd was starting to lessen as there were no more people running the half marathon that were there. I needed the music at that point and planned to bring it just in case.
Mile 15-18 Continue past OSU stadium, up to West campus where there is a slight hill (!!) and then head into Upper Arlington - Around mile 16 I saw some of my other running friends. I think at that point we were all starting to feel it. Some complained of hip issues, hamstring issues, for me it was still the knees. I tried to keep going as long as I could running but then had to take a walk break. Tried to start my knee back up again and it worked for a little while. Around that point I remember seeing a sign that said "You thought this was a good idea 3 months ago, do you still think that?" This seemed to pretty much hit my mood right on at that point. There were a few others that would have been funny otherwise but weren't at that moment. That hill isn't really a hill but it sure feels like it at that point on West Campus. I remember this "hill" when I used to work there but never really thought it was anything until now. Someone warned me of this and I knew it was coming but until you experience it, you really don't know. Was able to somehow continue at a decent pace once I got going again and made it to Upper Arlington. At this point my pace was starting to become longer than I would have liked, around 11-12 mm. I knew this was because of the knee slowing me down and making me have to walk. I engaged in a small pity party there at mile 16-18. I was able to push through though. I thought about running with a few of the others I trained with. But part of me was worried I might hold them back so I let them go.
Mile 18-20 - Upper Arlington to Grandview Heights - This was a killer set of miles. If I was totally in my head from mile 16-18, the worst part physically started to kick in around mile 20. I wasn't any longer in the 10's-11's by the time I got to mile 19. Pace for 19 was 12:48 and then I started to really wonder what I was thinking. The knee kept doing the locking thing and so I did something a little bit different here. Walked about 3 minutes and then tried to run. A few times it felt like my knees might give out and literally smack the ground if I tried to run too long. I had a horrible picture in my head of actually doing damage to my knees by having a fall. I tried to block this out of my head. Pace was ok for 20, about 11:44. Feeling like maybe this would be ok once I got to 20. The mental battle subsided for a bit.
Mile 20-23 - Grandview Heights on the way to Victorian Village - Knee feeling continued to worsen. Running was getting harder. I felt like a drunk person trying to stand up. It continued to get sunny and hotter. Kept getting that image back in my head about dropping to the ground. Kept trying to push it away. Pace for 21-23 : 11:49, 12:38; 13:15. Was so thankful to see some friends at mile 23. I knew they would be there, they had told us to watch for them. Was so excited to see them. Explained my knee issue to them and they were so supportive. I told them "I will finish, I will cross no matter what!" I spoke those words out loud and as soon as I did that I knew I had to. That little voice was speaking to me that tells me to give up. "You've gone past 20, that should be good enough. You really don't have to." I told it to shut up and had been trying to ignore it as much as possible.
Mile 23-26 - Victorian Village to the Arena District - Pretty much a battle of the wills. Myself against the voice in my head telling me to stop. A few people yelled "This is what your training prepared you for!" There was a really peppy person in front of me running, and I remember thinking "how does she have so much energy at this point?" Then I started to think that I should too, what was stopping me from enjoying this? I made a decision during those last few miles that if I had to walk across the finish, I would. My pace was in the 15's for miles 24-26. I walked it and I know now that was absolutely the right decision for me. I felt really sad having to walk at first. I wanted to try to run most of this. I realize now that I did run most of it. The point where I had to walk was a decision to do so because running might have injured me further, resulting in a DNF.
Conversation in my head: "You know, every time you try to run, even for a few minutes, you have that feeling that your knees are going to give out. You have reached a point where you make a decision about this. You can either stop trying to run and finish this race walking, or you can keep attempting to run and risk injury. If you run and you are not successful, your mood will continue to get worse and you'll be mad at yourself for the outcome. So just walk this, because not finishing is not an option. I know you want to go find a medical tent and have them tape it for you. But is that really going to help you right now? No. First of all, there isn't even one around. You'd have to find one. They might even take your time up because they are concerned and maybe even make you stop. You know that when you stop the pain will get worse when you start walking again. So just finish this walking. Just do it because you said you would. Think of all your training runs. You will do this." (Throw in some whining and arguing with myself and this was pretty much the mental conversation). Honestly the main thing that kept me going was seeing the kids at every mile and giving them high fives. Thinking about what they had gone through being sick. This was just running. Their battle was much more significant than what I was going through. I made that my goal for the rest of the race, smile, give high fives and just be done with it however I did it.
Mile 26-end - Arena District - Definitely felt like the longest stretch. I was mad at my Garmin for being ahead of the mileage and beeping when I wasn't quite there. I ended up finishing with 26.56 miles. Which I guess wasn't bad. I tried to mainly run the tangents. But I also didn't want to miss the kids. I saw so many friends cheering me on. You get your name on your bib so once you approach the end there are so many saying your name. You can't even look at everyone because there are so many. Definitely needed that support right there. Saw a few of my friends at that spot and was so grateful to them. I thought I might cry when I crossed but I didn't. I was just so happy to be done that I got the medal, went into the finishers area and enjoyed sitting down. I figured I walked long enough, I can sit down. I know you're not supposed to right away but I just couldn't any more. At this point it said it was close to 80 degrees. When the race started it was 61. It was hot, sunny and so many challenges. I did not get a sub 5 hour race, but it's ok. I did finish which was goal #1.
Later I will talk about how I felt post race. I am so glad I did this and battled that little voice in my head telling me to stop. I think that last 6.2 miles is something you have to experience to believe. It's a mental and physical battle with yourself. The support is amazing at this race and I'd like to do it again. Not sure I'll do the full again (but I never say never). But I could see doing the half next year.
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