Last Chance for Boston Recap

The Tokyo Marathon has become quite the spectacle, Nick Willis wins at home, and Haile. Last, but certainly not least, Crystal Harriss wins in Columbus!!!

Running took quite a hit this week, and pretty much shut it down in anticipation for my race/workout in Columbus, OH over the weekend.

Thursday, Feb 24 - 1 mile. Rain and hard sleet prevented much of anything.

Friday, Feb 25 - 0! Travel Day to Columbus right after work. Met up with Tim at the hotel, had a few drinks and caught up over the night.

Saturday, Feb 26 - 3 miles. Eventually peeled myself out of bed, got out and decided to preview the course for the race on Sunday. 1 mile loop course in a business park, about as easy of a course as you could ask for. Tim and Pat joined me for this one, very easy effort. Ken and Mick eventually met up with us, all of us had lunch/drinks at this awesome brewery in Columbus called Barley's Smokehouse. Great food, great beer, and our group eventually took over the backroom for pool and electronic bags. Dinner at Applebees, then stopped by a place in Dublin called Dub Pub for a bit. Probably stayed out too late, but worth it to watch Ken and Tim have me nearly in tears with their comedic bantering and antics.

Sunday, Feb 27 - ~14 miles total: 5K - 19:47 (yes you read this correctly), many ~7:15 laps, and a relay lap. Woke up for quick warmup with Crystal - weather was overcast and cool, but just about perfect. Finally got an official look at the course, which was scenic enough to make the mile loop go by quickly since you looped around a few tall buildings and weaved through a small park, and could see almost everything within a 1/2 mile area. Every quarter mile was marked, which made this very easy to pace. Did some dynamic stretching and strides, lined up at our start line which was 0.1 miles behind the official finish line, which was clever (so everybody could finish at the same area). Felt very lethargic during warmups and was cursing myself for the late night. 5K and 1/2 marathon started 3 minutes before the 10k and full marathon, so we lined up and took off! Felt like I was moving too fast during the first mile, but realized that was not the case as I was right at where I had planned according to my quarter mile splits. Second mile, caught up to the rest of the pack that had started after us. My worst fears came true, as I was weaving everywhere through the congestion. After 3/4 of a mile or so of this, got very frustrated and very tired and moved out to the other lane which was a longer tangent, but at least clear. My 2nd mile was an awful split, and mentally gave up on the spot. Not my finest moment by any means, and just lost all focus and desire. Finished the third lap equally as slow, and was shocked when they told me I placed 2nd overall. Splits were terrible (6:04, 6:37, 6:30) - ran an additional 0.1 or so according to Garmin, which makes sense since I ran on the outside. A big thumbs up to Mick, Pat, and Tim for their raucous and unmistakable cheering on each lap. 2nd place was cool, even though very well undeserved.

Joined the cheering section after a cooldown and running Megan in (11th place woman 5k and PR!) and watched the relay teams and Crystal finish. Ken was given the first relay position, and asked to pace Crystal through which he did successfully. Both looked very smooth, and Mick took over the reigns after Ken checked out. I jumped in for a mile here and there to keep Crystal company and see how she was doing, and we were nailing the quarter mile splits like it was nobody's business. Before we knew it, she was halfway done and was clicking them off pretty consistently - she looked tense but definitely focused. Jumped in with her at mile 15, and she was starting to cramp but was working through it. Talked with Ken, decided that we would alternate laps to run her in to mix it up and keep it fresh for her. Ran 20-21 with her, everything seemed to be on pace but her breathing has definitely picked up - around here is when the marathon truly begins. At mile 22, an announcement was made that the female leader was on that lap (could it be?), so ran down there to confirm that it might be Crystal, which it was. Ken did his work, and got her to striking distance when I jumped in for the final two miles.

It was announced over the loud speaker that Crystal was in the lead with 2 to go (right when I joined), and she just started to lose it. I pretty much knew she couldn't lose control, and pretty much yelled at her to stay focused which she pretty much snapped back into mode. Tried to keep her mind on smaller distances (run to that sign up there, concentrate on that corner, etc.) and tried to have her work off me since it was getting windy (unsuccessful, since I was surging a little and kept a crappy pace). Flew through Mile 25 with one more to go! Saw 3:03:12 on the clock, and told Crystal that a 7:30 mile was going to do it! At this point, she was fighting, so started aiming for the quarter mile markers and was barking out at her, hoping she would concentrate on me instead of her tired legs and body. Got past the 1/2 mile and was cruising along. Told her to pump those arms to get her to the finish line. With less than a quarter to go, Pat joined us and he and I pretty much made a blockade for her to make sure she had a clear path to the finish. Was watching the clock, realized there was a shot at sub 3:10:30 and yelled at her to kick. She did, and flew across the finish line in 3:10:29 for the P.R., win, and most importantly the men's BQ standard!

Immediately, Crystal lost last night's dinner and the morning's breakfast right on the finish line, which was in all actuality one of the coolest things I have ever seen, and she eventually joined our group as we watched the relay finish up. Tim and Pat ripped off a very fast couple miles to get us set up for the final lap, where our entire group (minus Crystal) jumped in. Really enjoyed that last mile, as we walked/jogged it in and basked in our glory. Crystal actually walked and joined us with a quarter mile to go to make our group complete, and we got to all cross the finish line together, which was very fitting (the fake group dry heave at the end was equally awesome). Another extremely fun and successful group trip with some amazing friends, as well as more bling for Team Sullentrup! And I'm very proud of Crystal for all her hard work, and I'm glad she finally got to experience the thrill of hitting the 3:10 mark, one of my favorite moments ever. I hope that I was able to help her a little, even though she did 100% of the hard work.

So roughly 27 miles this last week, pretty amazing with as much time as I took off. Easy run scheduled for me tonight, and going to try to get some much needed rest and good nutrition for this week. 5K on Sunday, and very low expectations since I'm a good month's of work away from where I need to be...