Columbus Half Marathon
By Tristan with contribution by Hannah
August 12th was a day of many firsts for me. My first barefoot half marathon (first half marathon period). And also my first real barefoot race - I did do a 5k earlier in the year barefoot but I ran at a friends much slower pace so I wasn't really racing. I also got to run with another barefooter for the first time... BarefootHannahC Thanks for coming down Hannah! Oh and this is my first ever race report!
I couldn't really have asked for better weather for August. For the last couple months its been a heat wave here, breaking many records actually. But as the race approached the weather started looking cooler and cooler. It was an early race, 7am, and last I had checked the hourly weather the night before it indicated at 7am temps would be 59F and 100% humidity. That sounds pretty humid, and a little cool, but the combo actually felt nice. I however, was not at my best. It seems in the days leading up to the race every little thing that could have went wrong did. Scuffed up my ankle, stepped on a few sharp things, got into poison ivy, 2 days out had a bad case of diarrhea, one day out had only 1 12oz bottle of water from the time I woke up until evening time, and of course lack of sleep the night before the race, just to name a few. I also had not run that far in training yet... I trained steady up until about 9 miles when I hurt one of my toes, that was about 4-5 weeks prior. In the remaining few weeks I did get a 10 miler in and a 12 mile run (including warm up and cool downs). My toe was a big uncertainty... not sure what I did to it and sometimes it bothered me and other times it didn't. In addition my speed work has been lacking, since I'd been doing MAF since spring. But I tried to incorporate some race pace for a few miles into the middle of my last few runs.
The race course traveled around Alum Creek Reservoir, north of Columbus. It used the main roads around the reservoir (paved) and started and finished at the beach. The course was mostly flat with a few really small hills and one fairly big one near the end.
Nice freshly finished road...
They just finished it the previous week. In some spots the lines weren't even finished yet. Couldn't have asked for a better surface for myself, I still struggle with toughening up my feet. All the roads were very smooth.
Some of the views along the way were quite nice.
Going across the reservoir.
This is at mile 5. I had gone out strong and was maintaining a faster pace than I thought I would. I really wasn't sure how to pace myself being my first race of this length. I really shouldn't have tried to push the pace so hard but the urge to race was too great. It is when I reached this spot I could feel my calves tightening. I backed off just a very little and tried to just continue on and hope it would pass.
At around mile 8-9 my calves were doing about the same but ok, just a bit tight. But my arches felt like they were on the verge of cramping, and the few times this has happened to me before it pretty much left me to limp at best. My forefoot area was also feeling a little bit beat up, just not used to the faster pace for that many miles. I backed the pace down a little bit more, and started to land more midfoot. Long gentle downhill grade between 10 -10.5 let me recover a bit, and then a big uphill that lasted from 10.5 to mile 12. I was feeling better starting on the uphill and was able to maintain my pace all the way up.
The start and finish line was on the beach of the Alum Creek Reservoir.
I started picking up the pace the last mile and actually mustered up a pretty good pace for the last hundred yards or so. My calves were so worn out and my forefeet sore that I was pretty much flat footed (and I hope I wasn't on my heels towards the end). Unfortunately there wasn't any race pictures (all the above pics I took the next day). When I crossed the line I stopped the Garmin at 1:51 which is confirmed on the official times.
And lastly, doing some post race recovery on my porch. Don't worry Hannah I haven't forgot about your brews, they were just warm from being in the truck so I went with my original plan which I had ready in the fridge when I arrived home.
Afterward my feet recovered quickly - no problems. I definitely pushed my calves to hard though, the next day I had trouble just walking around, especially stepping down steps. First time since switching to barefoot I've felt my quads a bit sore too. I think my late arrival and lack of sufficient warmup and cooldown probably made that a lot worse. 
Some other random thoughts, its really awkward to drink from a cup while running. First time I had done that. But since I knew the last couple days I had been dehydrated I made sure to take water at every stop. Another first was racing with tunes. I never carry my phone & headphones on shorter races but at that distance I was used to listening to music and I think it helps me too. So I tried it. Made a special race playlist and rocked some tunes along the way.
In closing I'd like to thank everyone on the forum for your all's guidance in this first year of barefoot running. As a 5k-er mainly, I never thought I'd be competing at more than a 10k ever, and I did it barefoot! Yay! I beat my 2hr goal that I didn't think I could do on my first attempt. This half was my big goal I set for this year, next goal is a full marathon next year.
I beat my 2hr goal that I didn't think I could do on my first attempt. This half was my big goal I set for this year, next goal is a full marathon next year.
Hannah, feel free to add any of your own thoughts as well.
~Tristan
One of the best parts of the race was the start and end on a beach in August. For anyone not worried about getting their shoes wet, it takes about one minute from the finish line to be neck deep in a cool refreshing lake. It was good incentive to race 'unplugged.'
Veer right for the beach!
Originally talking to Tristan, His hope for 10 minute miles was faster that I could hope for. However a road race could be good for a decent pace and the newly paved roads would be smooth sailing. I felt spoiled to have someone look at the course and report road conditions with no effort on my part. What a luxury. During the race I tried to keep in mind that someone
had said it should be a short race for me and tried to just go all out. It was completely worth it. a 2hr 13 mi finish for 10:13 miles was over a minute per mile faster than my last half marathon. Of course, a fist bump at the start and well wishes, then Tristan was long gone. Darn fast people!The camber of the freshly paved roads did leave me with a little twinge from left quad to knee the next week. It was the hazard of running a giant circle on roads. I appreciate how spoiled I am by my trails.
When you are ready for the marathon, I hope to tag along for that one, too. Maybe I'll be able to keep up, then.
White race shirts have much potential.
~Hannah
