Cap City Half Marathon
Prologue – This is my first time running this race and my first spring race ever. While I had never done this course, parts of it overlap with the Nationwide Children’s HM and Marathon that I have raced before and a lot of it was the same as the Hot Chocolate 15K I ran a couple years ago. So, while the race was new, I had seen pretty much the whole course but in different stages.
After having COVID destroy my fitness before my October Marathon, I felt like I needed to get my conditioning back and actually “race” something. So, here we are. COVID had taken my V02max from 56 to 51 and I worked my way back over the last many months and hit 57 right before this race.
I started out training for a 7:20 pace and eventually dropped that down to 7:15. I had wanted to finish at <1:35. I will note that my training runs that were ~7:00 pace, felt infinitely harder than my GHMP runs, so I wasn’t sure what it would look like if I tried for something too aggressive.
Oh, and I’m definitely a fatass and I am carrying 10 more lbs than my Marathon about 6 months ago (it’s all muscle…right?  

 ).
Race Day:
Got up around 5:00 and it was friggin raining and was expected to rain until 10:00. WTF! I couldn’t control the weather, so I ran a mile on the treadmill to get things going. Pooped and had a coffee and half an English muffin with peanut butter. Lubed up my toes, inner thighs, and nipples while thinking of 
@gianmarco and got dressed.
We got out the door at 6:30 to drive downtown. No issues until we got close to the course where we had prepaid for parking.  Got stuck for 25 minutes without moving and I eventually jumped out of the car a couple blocks from the start because I had to pee and it was getting really close to go time. I was in corral A and my wife was in E, so she had some extra time and she didn’t care if she started late (she made it before the gun).
Miles 1, 2, 3 (7:09, 7:08, 7:07 / HR = 141, 159, 162)
There was a cold drizzle at the start. I wore a hat to the race which is odd for me since I have literally never worn a hat while running before. But, I wanted to keep the water out of my face and I read it would help keep my running form since it allows you to not duck your head to avoid the rain. The map with elevation on the race’s website showed a big hill on mile 4, so while these paces were faster than the 7:15 I was aiming for...and faster than 7:20-7:30 that I would have originally shot for to ease into the race, it was intentional to bank a little extra time for the hill that was to come. No issues out of the gate since I was in corral A and it was small without too many people. One thing that I quickly realized that I did not anticipate was POTHOLES. Coming off of the winter, these were prevalent throughout the course. Fix your roads Columbus! All in all though, things started off pretty well for these miles, but it was wet.
Miles 4, 5, 6 (7:04, 6:59, 7:08 / HR = 161, 164, 164)
The rain was holding off for these miles and actually the rest of the race. It was just a bit of a spritz that was off and on, and we avoided anything significant. So, while I was wet, it was manageable (thankfully). To my surprise on mile 4, there was not some massive hill. There was a hill that is normally mile 11 in the fall race and can be brutal if you are on fumes, but on mile 4, this was no big deal. I sprinted up the thing and was at the top sitting at a sub 6:30 pace for the mile. I backed off a bit and enjoyed the downhill getting my HR right back to where it should be. I knew at this moment that I had a real shot of kicking this things butt, because that hill did not phase me at all. I actually felt stronger after it. Bring it!
I pushed at the end of mile 5 to get below a 7:00 pace and it got me thinking about how I was in real contention to break my 10K record within this race (I think it was a 7:04 pace). So, I decided to keep things closer to 7:00 than 7:15 and see what happens.
Miles 7, 8, 9 (7:01, 6:57, 6:49 / HR = 164, 168, 169)
I started this stretch thinking that I needed to go faster. I was still feeling really good and strong at this point. In the virtual HM we ran in 2021 I had my HR up in the 170s for 10 miles or so. I didn’t have nearly that much distance left and I knew I could handle the pain cave for the remainder of the race. My fear though was the last mile of this race was uphill and I didn’t want to crash on the last mile…but I went ahead and started pushing faster. I really don’t remember tons about individual miles from this point on, I was just locked in on my pace and running my lines to not gain extra distance. It is amazing how everyone sheeps together for inefficient curves when you have a big street to work with. I never really noticed this before, because I have always been one of them ( 
 @Dr_Zaius). I just stared down the brim of my hat at a spot, blocked everything else out and kept going (while also trying to avoid potholes). Any hill I saw, I attacked and left the other runners pissed at me as I flew past them. I felt super focused and in the zone.
Miles 10, 11, 12 (6:52, 6:41, 6:48 / HR = 170, 172, 172)
I was able to keep my pace and had my HR in check. Was I really doing this at a pace I never trained for? Could I somehow break a 7:00 pace? 1:35 is a lock by a mile as long as I don’t screw something up.
I cross the 11 mile mat at exactly 11 miles on my watch. I was right on target to not have much extra distance so I knew my time was good and would stand. I actually crossed the 11 mile marker at 1:17. I quickly tried to think if I had any chance to be in at 1:30. My super fast mental math told me I needed to run the rest at like a 6:00 pace or something stupid, and I quickly shut that thinking down, especially with the uphill to come.
Miles 13, 13.1 (6:53, 4:51 / HR = 174, 180)
These jerks make you finish with an uphill on the last mile. Ugh. But, I pushed hard and finished strong. The last little bit was recorded as 0.2 miles at a 4:51 pace which is totally wrong. My GPS spazzed out at the end. It was probably more like 0.12 at a 6:25 or something pace, but that 4:51 looks like I am super fast!
I came down the home stretch and almost took my foot off the accelerator because I just crushed this thing. But, the clock above the finish line gave me some motivation as I wanted to get in before it said 1:32:00 --- I knew I would be in the 1:31

x range since I did not start right at the gun, but it gave me that last little boost (I think I crossed one second before the gun time hit).
Official time: 1:31:42.
That puts my pace at 6:59:699642  --- so I clearly was below a 7:00 pace  
 
Anyway – this race was fun and needed. I needed to REALLY race something, and I did far better than I could have imagined. One thing I learned here was that not overtraining for really hard goals helps to keep me healthy and ready for the race. And, that in itself at least allows for faster running to happen for people like me who are still discovering what they are capable of.
ETA - this was a PR by >9 minutes. I also set a 15k and 10k PR during this race