Live, Love, RUN The Capital City // 2018 Cap City Half + VIP Experience recap… and why YOU should join us in 2019!

With tomorrow being the last day to register for the Cap City Half with your name on your bib (who doesn’t love when a spectator yells out your name!), it seemed like a great time to give a shout out and glance back on last year’s party!!

Cap City 2018 was my 4th time participating in this Cbus event and my 2nd time participating in the VIP experience. We previously posted a recap on our first three finishes, you can view that post HERE or check out our M3S Sports page for lots of fun recaps down memory lane!

The “expo-tique” takes place at the VUE Columbus and is a smaller expo that is easy to get in and out of quickly. There are lots of photo opps, local brands & apparel pop-ups and if you’re doing the VIP (why wouldn’t you?!), you can enjoy a glass of bubbly and some extra goodies including a long sleeve pullover. My kids love expos so they tagged along to join in the fun!

My husband (Joey, also running the half) and I attended an amazing VIP Reception at The Ivory Room immediately following packet pickup on the Thursday prior to the race. I didn’t get the memo on the “formal attire” so I was a little out of place in my leggings and Chuck Taylor’s… but I’m a runner and kind of a tomboy so we laughed it off! At least I had actually dried my hair! 🙂

Race director David Babner kicked off the evening and we got to meet up with a lot of the other ambassadors and VIPs of the event. The new Land Grant 13.1 Wheat was super refreshing and the amazing food by Cameron Mitchell did not disappoint!

As most runners do, I got my “flat Teresa” ready the night before. The weather prediction was dry, upper 40s, low winds and partly cloudy. After much debate, I chose a long sleeve quarter zip and crops.

Race morning brought the usual jitters. Although I was injured most of this training cycle, I was still hoping for a sub two and wasn’t sure how my body would hold up. We left Dublin around 6:25AM, met up with several other runners and Living Fit gals downtown, dropped our gear at the VIP gear check and got our game faces on (after taking multiple photos, of course). Runners were asked to be in their corrals by 7:40AM. 

The new course was a beautiful adventure around Columbus and always a fun way to explore the city – bonus that torturous hill at the end was gone! The gun fired at 8AM and I started with the two hour pace group along with a few fellow Living Fit friends. We chatted away the miles and once I hit the 10 mile mark, I was feeling strong and decided to pop in my headphones and surge ahead to the finish. Half marathon advice: treat that last 3.1 miles just like the 5k it is and kick butt my friend!

At the finish line, there were so many smiling faces. On this particular day, several of my run buddies and my husband had huge PRs so we had many reasons to celebrate! I had a course PR with a finish time of 1:56:50 so I was pleasantly surprised and satisfied.

The finish line party and VIP tent may be the best part of this race. I was very thankful for the warm Capital City Homage VIP pullover and the extra sweats I’d gear checked because it was a chilly day, but the runner’s high and post-race beverages helped keep us warm too! We hung out with running friends, other ambassadors and what seemed like half of Columbus. The 2018 Cap City Half goes down in the books as another successful half (number 18 for me!) and a fun way to celebrate fitness, health & happiness for all.

Not registered for this year’s event? Use discount code LivingFitColumbus for $10 off registration of any of the three distances! We hope to see you at the finish line – it’s bound to be one heck of a way to spend a Saturday morning! 🙂

I’m a sucker for cheesy hashtags so #medalmonday seemed an appropriate time to recap this! The OhioHealth Emerald City Half Marathon was half number 17 for me and another fun event executed by M3S Sports so a quick recap seems worth it!

I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome of this race.  I had been putting in the training and mileage over the summer, but with school starting I had really cut back on runs for the two weeks prior and probably not getting as much sleep as my body would like. Our running group has been training for the Scioto River Run half on September 23, so Emerald City was supposed to be an easy training run. My mom & I got a free entry through Fleet Feet with a summer buy-a-pair-of-shoes-get-a-free-entry special (woo hoo!) and I was supposed to run 11 miles for my training plan anyhow, so a complimentary half seemed like a no brainer.

The best thing about treating this as a training run (vs an actual “race”) was I had no anxiety the days leading up to the event.  When I’m training to race or attempting to PR, I tend to get inside my head and stress for a few days prior.  This “training run” mentality allowed me to relax and I even got decent sleep the two nights prior!  The night before the race I had a great salad & pasta meal from Piada, laid out my gear and headed to bed.

Although most would call this perfect running weather, it was a chilly 52 degrees at the start, requiring a light zip up for me.  I almost always wear crops (a post for another day), but I decided to start with the hoodie and would just tie it around my waist as I warmed up.  This bothers some, but has never bothered me!

I really planned to just run & enjoy it, perhaps beating my 2:05 finish at our last half in Kentucky. I felt like I was in better shape after all those summer miles, and this course was MUCH flatter and easier than the Bluegrass. Although the website had stated there was a 2:05 pace group, the 2:00 and 2:10 pacers assured me there was no such thing.  So after some debating, I decided to hang in between those two pace groups and create my own 2:05.  I found a few fellow runners who had the same strategy and off we went.  

The sunrise race was beautiful. The weather was perfect. I was feeling good by the middle of mile two so I decided to try and catch the two hour pace group. It took me four miles, but about 36ish minutes in, I got ’em! I hung with the pacers and runners for the next several miles, sometimes chatting with those around me, sometimes just taking it all in. By mile 10 I still felt great. I thanked the pacers and the girls I’d been gabbing with, put in my headphones, turned on my power playlist and went for it.  

I felt great even as I crossed the finish line (thanks for the photo mom!) and was very happy to see a sub-two on my watch.  This used to be common for me, but add in babies, life, too much work, too little sleep…. and its been a while since I’ve seen it! 🙂  

We celebrated at the end, hugged some sweaty familiar faces & of course, grabbed our snacks and hydration.  Congrats to all the finishers, including our girl Mary who took over 10 minutes off her PR!  She attributes hard work and sessions at OTF Perimeter!

A few days later, with the help of some running friends, I finally figured out how to look at my mile splits on my new iWatch!  I was very happy to see negative splits the last few miles, a goal I always strive for.  #NegativeSplitsPositiveVibes they say!

Thanks for sticking around this long!  Moral of the story… sometimes NOT preparing to race turns out to be the best strategy!

What is your race day strategy?  We’d love to know!