So I completed the half-marathon in chilly and rainy conditions on Saturday in 2 hours 22 minutes and 25 seconds. About 12 minutes off my time from last year. Needless to say I was disappointed.

At mile 8 I was about 3 1/2 minutes ahead of my pace from last year and feeling good all over (besides being wet and cold). Then out of no where my legs began to tighten up. I had to stop six times to stretch out the cramps. And they were everywhere: calves, hamstrings and quads. I would be good for about half a mile and then I would feel them getting tighter and tighter until I couldn’t run anymore. I would do this straight-legged limp over to the side of the road and stretch for about 60 seconds until they loosened up.

I’m still not sure why that happened. I NEVER get cramps when I run and I didn’t change anything about my morning routine. I think maybe it could have been the cold. I only had shorts on. I don’t know.

So that sucks. But there it is.

So I found this interesting figure the other day in my Runners’ World Magazine.

It says that a 150 lb. person receives 110 TONS of impact to their legs EVERY MILE.
So I set up my quick little equation to find out what it is for a 220 lb. person (220×110 = 150x; There’s my Algebra 1 coming in use! I knew it would.).

That equals 161 tons. So every mile I run, my legs are receiving 161 tons of impact. Man…

So the last two weeks I have run some 10-milers. A ten mile run equals 1613 TONS OF IMPACT.

And just to go one step further… every 10-mile run results in 3,226,667 lbs. of impact to my legs.

That explains why I’m on a morphine drip for three days after those runs.

Here’s a great new resource for runners or bikers. Map My Run allows you to create routes on Google Maps. It will also clock the distance and elevation. If you enter your time, it will shoot you back the pace and average time per mile.

Here’s a shot of my 10K route. That’s a little over six miles. I used it earlier today to plan out a 10 mile and 13 mile route that I can begin working in soon.

I just registered for the LaSalle Bank Columbus Distance Classic. This will be my second year running it. Last year I finished with a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 52 seconds. I think I can improve upon that. I’m going to shoot for under 2 hours.

I’m definitely in better shape this year. I ran 10 miles last week at a 10 minute pace. I am going to try to improve that to 9 minutes in the next two weeks. That would put me finishing at 1 hour and 53 minutes. So… we’ll see.

If anyone wants to join me…. here’s the map. You can scope out the course.

I’ve been running with Nike’s iPod module that I got for Christmas. It’s so much better than running with nothing to track your time and distance. I can’t believe I’ve never used anything like this before. Thanks to Seth and Rebecca for hooking me up!

The coolest thing is that there’s this British chic that comes on every now and then and tells you how far you’ve run and how long you have left. You can change it to an American male if you want, but I think it’s cool that someone is clocking my time from the UK.

When I’m done, I get a report of distance, time, pace and calories on my ipod nano. When I sync it to my computer, it uploads the stats to Nike’s site. Very cool.

I love the spring. Partly because I usually pick up a new pair of running shoes and start thinking about the Columbus Half-Marathon race.

I took a trip down to FrontRunner last week to scope out the 2007 offering of running shoes. My parents, Joanna’s parents, and both my sister-in-laws got me gift certificates there to pick up a new pair of kicks (thanks everyone!). I love FrontRunner because everyone there is enthusiastic about running. They all do it. I will go to FrontRunner every time for shoes because of the service and love for the product. They don’t just want to sell you shoes, they want to help you love to run.

After trying on about six pairs, I picked a pair of New Balance. These are an extra-cushioned (I’m a bigger guy), neutral shoe. They feel great. As soon as I put them on, I knew they were “it.”

I’ve put about 15 miles on them so far and they are probably the best shoes I have owned.

These pics are from a professional company that took pictures during the event.  They make them available for purchase.  I just ganked the previews.  Not very flattering, but hey… this was at the 12.5 mile mark. 

Nice shot of downtown.

Here are a few shots Joanna managed to get at the race on Saturday.

That’s me in the black getting ready to come across the finish.

Here’s a photo from minutes after the race with my shiny 2nd place medal… actually… they gave everybody a medal.

My official finish time for the half marathon is 2:09:52. That’s 13.1 miles at 9:55 per mile pace.

I met both my goals:

1. I finished.

2. I didn’t walk.

The first 6 miles felt great and I ran them at a 9 minute pace. I was passing people and thinking to myself, “This might be easier than I thought.”

That’s funny….

We started at the Lifestyle Community Pavilion (formerly Promo West) and headed north to the OSU campus and around the Horseshoe. We took a right down Lane Avenue for a mile and then started heading south down High Street. Take a look at the map:

I hit “The Wall” at mile number 7 and 8. They were probably the toughest on the whole course. At that point I thought, “Why did you do this? What makes you think you can finish? Are you insane? Just stop now and walk back to the car.”

I slowed my pace, took a gel pack and kept going.

The next four miles were tough. Probably because I have never run more than 6 miles before so my body was starting to freak out. My legs were getting tight, my stomach was cramping, I felt light-headed a few times.

We kept heading south down High Street through down town and into German Village. We took another right through the Brewery District and then turned north for the remainder of the race.

The last 2 miles felt good. I had broke through “The Wall” and established a pace that was comfortable. The last mile was especially cool with all these people lining the street cheering you on.

I actually had a boost of energy the last half mile. I was listening to Eminem’s “Loose Yourself” and feeling pretty motivated about finishing so I picked up the pace. Besides, no body wants to finish in front of all those people just barely making it. You want to look like you’ve been running like that the whole time. About 4 steps in front of the finish I felt my legs start to cramp. They had too much. I managed to get across, but when I stopped running and slowed to a walk, they just locked up. I walked stiff-legged over to the gatorade table and tried to stretch them out.

I had a blast running this race. It’s something I have wanted to do for a long time.

Someone said, “So what’s next? The Marathon?”

I don’t know. There was nothing in me at the end of 13 miles that said I could go any further. It would take a lot of training to get ready for that in October. So, we’ll see. I would love to do it.

Looks good for Race Start Time (9:00 am)

The reason I injured my foot 2 weeks ago is because I have been running in a pair of 3 year-old Nike Air Max with blown air soles.  So somebody recommended me to FrontRunner on Lane Avenue near OSU campus.  They actually watch you walk and measure the shape of your foot and then have you try on shoes based on the shape and function of your foot.  It was cool stuff.

So I went in Monday and tried on 8 pairs of shoes.  But I finally found a pair that feels really, really good.  They are Saucony Triumphs.

Man they felt nice to run in yesterday.  I only had a small blister on the back of my heel.  The salesman at Frontrunner told me that you are never supposed to run a long race in a pair of new shoes (which I know).  He advised me not to run on Saturday.  But I can’t run in my old shoes.  That would mess up my feet more.  So I had to get a new pair.  I am wearing them non-stop until the race to break them in.

Alright… it’s official.  I registered today for the Columbus 1/2 Marathon this Saturday.  This is my first for-real running race ever. 

I’ve put it off as a last minute decision because I have been trying to decide whether or not I thought I could actually do it.  The most I’ve run to date is 6 miles at once (Maybe 7 miles if you count a run in Cabo, but that was up in the mountains and took almost 2 hours).  A half marathon is 13.1 miles.  More than double what I have ever run. 

I’ve been running 6 miles the last few weeks, but I injured my foot 2 Saturdays ago and that knocked me out of any training for a week and a half.  I wanted to get a 10 mile run in last Saturday, but I had to give my foot some more time to heal.  I played basketball on Monday and it felt decent so I decided to go for a run yesterday and my foot held up real good.  So…. I think I’ll go for it.

What are my goals?

1.  Just to finish.
2.  Keep running the whole time.  No walking.

If I can do that, I’ll be happy.  I don’t have any time goals, but I’ve been running 6 miles at an 8:30 per mile pace.  I know I’ll have to slow that up for 13.  More like 9 to 10 minute miles.  9 minute miles has me finishing under 2 hours.  10 mile minutes are 2 hours and 11 minutes. 

I’ll give you some updates as we get closer and hopefully some pics too.