Lots of things happened this week in my journey. All of these things together are kind of surreal and it feels like I am walking around in somebody else’s life. Alas it is my life.In the span of just a few days:

My book continues to sell

• I was asked to autograph my first copy
• I was interviewed by one of my favorite podcasts
• I completed a half marathon

It is all a little overwhemling but incredibly rewarding at the same time.

Cap City Half Marathon

Saturday I participated in the Cap City Half Marathon in Columbus. This will be my second organized half marathon in six months and my fifth overall half marathon distance run in nine months.

I had trained for the marathon for a couple of months and was planning a strategy of run two miles, walk a half mile and repeat. This approach would let me hit my speed target but would also give me rest periods so I didn’t completely wear myself out.

On Saturday morning I walked to the marathon starting course and connected with a friend of mine. We hung out together and talked until it was time to get in our corrals and get ready for the race.

Lesson Learned: having a friend to talk to before the race starts is a good way to manage your nerves instead of just dwelling on the race for hours.

Then it was time to go. I got into my corral and waited for things to start. We sang the national anthem and then the race started. They released runners one corral at a time and I was in E so it was probably 15 minutes between the time the race started and I started running but my time came.

I deviated from my strategy right away and ran the first three miles because it was through my neighborhood and I was comfortable there. I tried to manage my pace so I didn’t go too fast and wear myself out. Then I got to my first walking segment right around the 3-mile mark. It was terribly uncomfortable to walk in a pack of runners which may stem from my competition.

Segment #2 of my run was miles 3.5 to 6 which was nearly the halfway mark. I was feeling pretty good at this point and was making good time. I was way ahead of my target time but I also knew that I would slow down as the race went on so I didn’t get too excited.

The next segment wound through he streets of Ohio State University and I really started feeling it at that point. I was starting to get tired and starting to feel soreness but I kept going. Once I got to the 8.5 mile mark I decided to walk again by Ohio Stadium and by the Value City Arena and that was a difficult time to walk because several pacers (people who run the whole race at a specific pace carrying a sign to let you know you are on track) passed me by.

Eventually I hit the 10-mile mark which meant that I just had a 5k left to run. I have run 5ks many times so I was trying to convince myself that the rest of the run was easy. But it wasn’t easy at all. Just before I hit the 11-mile mark as we almost completely out of gas, I was starting to get sore and starting to walk more. I knew I could finish but my time goal was definitely at risk.

For the last mile I kept pushing myself to run as much as I could and to fast walk when I needed to do so. I pushed and pushed and finally crossed the finish line with a time of 2:24 which was 6 minutes faster than my stretch goal.

Lesson Learned: I am getting better! I cut 20 minutes off of my race time since the Columbus Marathon in October. Plus I was able to avoid the cramping issues I faced in the last marathon.

After crossing the finish line I drank water, ate some food and made my way to the after party. I enjoyed my free beer, my free margarita and my free White Claw while listening to the bad perform and hanging out with other friends who finished the race.

Through the rest of the afternoon I celebrated with my wife and a friend who ran with me. I had lots of food and lots of drinks through the afternoon. Then around 8 I started hitting a wall and I retired to the couch where I immediately fell asleep.

Unfortunately I started developing chills and other flu like symptoms through the evening. I ended up throwing up multiple times and just felt terrible. I don’t know what caused it. Did I really catch a bug or get food poisoning? Was it just nerves after completing the marathon? Was my body not reacting well to drinking alcohol after such a long run? I don’t know what caused it but I definitely did not enjoy the results.

On Sunday I woke up and my stomach was still pretty tentative. Plus I had sore muscles throughout my body as I would expect after running 13 miles. So the majority of my Sunday was spent sleeping or otherwise sitting in one place with zero energy.

Lesson Learned: every body has its limits and pushing yourself right to those limits or just past them has an impact. So, after a half marathon, rest is very important.

Thanks for reading and check back next week for details on my podcast interview!

Last week’s stats (4/15-4/21):

Maintain avg. weight of 189-199 pounds: 200.1 lbs average
Run 10+ miles per week: 13 miles
Total walk/run miles: 34.2
Weight training 2-3 times per week: 1 workout
One race per month: January, March and April races complete, half marathon 4/27
Continue to track & manage calories: 2,298 calories under budget