{"id":12261,"date":"2010-10-19T08:57:10","date_gmt":"2010-10-19T12:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/?p=12261"},"modified":"2010-10-19T08:57:10","modified_gmt":"2010-10-19T12:57:10","slug":"2010-columbus-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/2010\/10\/2010-columbus-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"2010 Columbus Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I’m calling this The Race That Shouldn’t Have Been<\/em>, because seriously everything that shouldn’t happen before a big race happened.<\/p>\n

This is also a really long<\/em> post, full of reflections, backstory, and recap.\u00a0 I hope you stick around but I understand if you do not.<\/p>\n

This was my first time running the Columbus Marathon and my second attempt.\u00a0 For the record, I run halfs, I do not run fulls.\u00a0 More on that in a future post, today we are focused on this race recap.<\/p>\n

The Columbus Marathon is a full marathon and a half marathon.\u00a0 This is also a qualifying marathon for those interested in trying to obtain the magical BQ.\u00a0 For Columbus, Ohio, this race is A BIG DEAL.\u00a0 There are a total of 15,000 participants and thousands of spectators and supporters.\u00a0 Just think big.<\/p>\n

I tried to run it last year but a previous injury kept me sidelined.<\/p>\n

This year I was determined to run it.<\/p>\n

Then Lori<\/a> told me she was coming up to run it and that’s when I started getting excited!\u00a0 Then I found out Heather<\/a> was running it too, and I got even more excited!\u00a0 Friends coming into town to race is full of awesome.<\/p>\n

I was nervous about this race though.<\/p>\n

I raced a half in May and kept my miles up through out the summer.\u00a0 I was running 12 miles for my long runs but I was slightly less confident for this race.\u00a0 I let my running slack a bit later in the summer and let my strength training slide considerably.<\/p>\n

Scott and I have become so busy working on different projects that martial arts training has gone down the tubes as well.\u00a0 While I had consistent long runs with no issue, my week day runs were short and nothing to write home about.\u00a0 Long runs are good but week day runs are your bread and butter as a runner.\u00a0 That’s where your conditioning and strength get developed and help you through your races.\u00a0 With mine having gone down, I had some doubts.<\/p>\n

My last long run before the race I ran really well and had no issues.\u00a0 This gave me the confidence boost and let me know that I could<\/em> run this race. My goal was to walk away injury free and with possibly another PR under my belt.\u00a0 Would that happen with my decreased miles and training? Only way to find out was to suck it up and do it.<\/p>\n

So begins the saga of The Race That Shouldn’t Have Been<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Indicator #1<\/strong>: Lori called me Friday night to tell me she wouldn’t be able to come up.\u00a0 She had been battling a cold for some time which turned out to be bronchitis.\u00a0 Then she caught something else on top of that!\u00a0 Not racing was the best decision.\u00a0 This bummed me out because I wanted to see her but I wouldn’t have run in her position either.\u00a0 I totally understood.<\/p>\n

Indicator #2<\/strong>: My race routine goes like this:<\/p>\n