It’s been awhile since I blogged but I figure I give you details of what to me was one of the best weekends of my life so far. It started with Coaching the Bexley Middle School Cross Country Team at our League Meet in London, Ohio.
This is my second year coaching and I love it. Much more rewarding than my government job sadly. Kids can be a little hyper at times around middle school age but many of them are willing to work and be part of the team. Bexley runs in the Mid-State League in the Ohio Division with schools such as Columbus Academy (our hated rival), Grandview Heights, Whitehall, London, Worthington Christian, Madison Plains and West Jefferson but MP and West Jeff don’t have cross country.
The Meet for Middle School & High School took place at London High School.
As a whole both the Boys & Girls won the League. Very proud of them of what they accomplish this year. 6 of our top 7 girls are 7th Graders so we hope to become even better next year. Top 3 of 4 boys are 8th graders so they’ll be off to High School next year hopefully to help out the young Boys High School team but we still have some really good runners for next year Also, as of note the High School Girls won their league meet (my top girl last year placed 3rd as a freshman) and the Top Boy runner on the High School Team won individual making it a great day for Bexley Cross Country.
After, taking the bus back I was able to drive over to the Expo at the Convention Center and saw my good buddy Brian Cull as we picked up our packets and saw the Columbus Running Company Booth. Had dinner with a few CRC Westerville Runners at Carabas at Polaris where Michigan State beat Michigan on a mishandled snap on a punt.
Unfortunately, I went to bed at Halftime of the Ohio State-Penn State game but happy to hear the Buckeyes crushed them 38-10.
Woke up at 4:45 and was able to gather the rest of my stuff I organized the night before, eat some toast and bananas and head off for Downtown Columbus. I parked in my usual spot for the Marathon in the parking lot that is inbetween Long, Wall, High, and Gay Streets and headed down Long Street towards the start line where the Elite/Children’s Champions tent was. It’s cool myself and other athletes had that at the start to put our stuff before race time. Warmed up with a few of them, and I wanted to get a nice 10 minutes so I could get my uniform and racing flats on before the elites were supposed to leave the tent and head to the start line 15 minutes later.
It was a cool 30 degrees so I just had my CRC Uniform Top, Red Shorts with Saucony Underwear, Gloves and some arm warmers. Pretty much the arm warmers were the only thing Non-Saucony thing I had on during the race.
After the National Anthem, the wheelchair participants got their start at 7:27. Then of course AC/DC’s Thunderstruck came on you can’t beat that. (This video below is 24 minutes long. Just watch the first 3 minutes)
We started at 7:30 approximately, to me this year the start just felt a little slower than usual. I felt alright going up Long Street then we turned south on High Street and headed east out on Broad Street towards Ole Towne East and Bexley. I hit the first mile in 5:30. We started to
pick up the pace the 2nd mile heading east. Cory and Eli started to pull away but I wanted to focus on my race. Hit the 2nd mile in 10:55, a 5:25 mile so I was happy I picked up the pace. Though somewhere at 2 ½ my legs started to feel a little heavy. I thought they can’t be this heavy early in the race. I have had back and hip problems almost the last 2 years but I don’t think it would relate to my legs.
Mile 3 was in 16:24 back to a 5:29 mile as we headed up into Bexley continuing on Broad Street. As I headed up Broad Street towards Drexel Ave my legs were still feeling heavy. I wasn’t getting the kickoff or acceleration I usually got at that point of the race. The Elite Half Women and Jesse and Evan (who was running the Full) caught up with me and I thought I would just go with them as we went down South on Drexel Ave towards Main and Capital University. I enjoyed the cheers of Bexley as we hit mile 5 in 27:28. Slower than I wanted but I as much as I tried it seemed like my legs and especially my lower back and hamstrings were not ready for this race.
The Race of course turned west on Main Street and we turned right on Nelson Ave back towards Broad Street where on one side of Broad were the other half marathoners and full marathoners as they headed east towards Bexley while the front runners head west on Broad. Mile 6 I hit in 33:00. This year it wasn’t the same at that point since Columbus Running Company did not have their Water Stop/Cheering Section there. It was a good mid race boost if you were doing the Half and at that point I could have used it like it had helped me the last couple of years.
Going back on Broad Street the crowds did help along with other runners coming down Broad cheering on the front runners as they passed especially those I knew who saw me coming as I passed them when I was at 6 ½ and they were at Mile 3. Those my legs weren’t any less heavy as I headed down 18th Street on Mile 8 going down towards Children’s Hospital.
My Friend Stephen Benesh passed me around the Mile 9 Mark as we headed on Livingston towards 3rd Street to the German Village. He gave me some words of encouragement which was nice but my legs were struggling and it made it difficult for my back and hamstrings. Also, I saw Cory exit out of the Potta Johns once again for the 2nd time this year in this race. Man that kid needs to figure out his eating the night before. (Just kidding if you’re reading this Cory, you still finished better than I did this year.)
Turning south on 3rd Street and heading towards Schiller Park I passed mile 10 in 55:30 pretty much now at a 5:33 per mile pace. Going around Schiller it was nice that my friend Beth Stanley and her girls cheered for me at the 10.8 mark and got a quick flash of me. Didn’t feel like I was a flash at that point as I turned on High Street and headed up towards the last 2 mile finish.
At 12.5 I was just trying to kick it in and have at least a good finish. Tyler Ames, Cory’s friend & teammate from Ohio U, passed me then. My legs pretty much gave up and I just focused on heading down Front Street towards the finish which the last 400 wasn’t bad and I ran a 1:13:20 to savage the day.
After crossing the line my body got cold and I was coughing thinking I would almost throw up like I always do after running a half marathon. Held it in and got my medal and headed back to the elite tent to gather my stuff.
Talk with a couple of my teammates some of them did well others not like they would expect but the conditions were colder then what they have been in the past. Got my warmups on and Eli Gerlach and I cooled down for about 2 miles. Saw Rob Ickes when we were done and talk to him about the race and congratulated him because he ran the Chicago Marathon the following week.
Went back and got a massage and watched with the CRC Crew there at the
finish line to watch the other half marathoners and full marathoners finish. At least the full marathoners that finished in the front. I pretty much left around 10:30 and it seemed like forever just trying to get around the course in order to get back to my car and that took me a little ways to go on I-70 then to 315 then to I-670 for me to get back to Gahanna. Still the Columbus Marathon did a great job of blocking the streets off for the race, the organization, the charities and everything.
Went to the CRC Post Race Party, and probably had a little more to drink then I should. Though I had fun and of course the Wet Bandits were great as always.
http://www.wetbanditsband.com/
Though looking bad even though I did not have the race I wanted, the weekend of the Columbus Marathon is one of my favorite times of the year. It was especially special since being a coach I got to see our athletes at Bexley compete in the league meet the day before and do great.
Yet, looking ahead I really need to get a hold of these injuries that have been plaguing me since January 2014. My left Psoas Major Muscle near my hip acted up again and it didn’t help the fact I’ve had minor plantar fasciitis in my right foot and those have caused my lower back and hips to have problems on and off. Honestly, I have been dealing with some nagging injuries and I should have taken some more time off then I should have but for some reason in my head I did want to take much time off since I would rather be a little active since working out makes me happy. I’ve seen how unhealthy some people at work are and what stress it has caused them I don’t want to end up like them.
Right now I’m thinking of my long term plans. After Thanksgiving, I plan on taking more than just 2 weeks off. I could just take a month off and start back up running but slowly right around the time I take my winter break and use the rest of my vacation days around Christmas and New Year’s. During the break I’m thinking of just lifting and doing a little indoor biking but mostly work and release muscle tension of sorts with Core work, planks, Pilates, yoga, whatever I can think of to feel much better on my runs this coming winter & spring.
As for long term racing plans hopefully after feeling better in my off time and getting some base back in January I plan on training for another Half Marathon. Most likely I’ll be asked to coach Track again which is fine by me but I want to plan my workouts accordingly due to my kids workouts and meets. I’m not ruling out doing the Capital City Half Marathon in Columbus on April 30th, but I’m looking also at Louisville or Indianapolis as well. I would like to get the urge to try the Full Marathon again in the fall if work doesn’t get crazy.
I would like to come back next year in Columbus and tackle the Full in October. So far that’s my long term year goal. But in a nutshell that was my weekend. I want to come back stronger next year. I’m getting older, that much is true, but I feel as if I have a couple more great races left in me as a semi-pro runner for CRC. Who knows what life will throw but I want to keep the faith as I go along in all aspects of my life.
That’s my Race Recap in my Two Cents.
