I got home from Phoenix on Thursday and left Friday evening for Indy (about 2 ½ hours from my house). I didn’t get there until about 10:30 because I had forgotten about beggar’s night in my ‘hood so I really didn’t expect much out of my race on Saturday. Fortunately the hotel was a suite (a sweet suite we'll call it!) and it was pretty comfy!!
I woke up extra early on Saturday (about 5am) because I needed to register for the race. I typically pre-register but because I had been traveling I completely forgot. Fortunately I got there a few minutes before late registration closed (I was told I “just made it”).
The start of the race is the same place as the Indy Mini (the half which part of it is a lap around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway) but the course is far different. It was a warmish, Indian Summer like mid 50’s at the start. From the beginning I felt like I was running in wet cement. At the first mile we ran around Lucas Oil Stadium (where the Colts play) and were greeted by a bunch of fans standing in line for something. I’m pretty sure they were surprised at the 4,000 or so runners whizzing, walking and wandering by but they were seemingly into it. The course ran through a few neighborhoods through the first half of the race and was visually pretty pleasing and more importantly flat. I hit the 5 mile mark about 90 seconds slower than I wanted but realized I needed to gut it out because I just couldn’t get comfy with my pace or running in general. Simply put, I wanted to be not running! By mile 8 I didn’t feel much better but was managing to be consistent. Slow, but consistently so. The mile markers from 9-11 were all significantly off as 9 and 10 were about .9-.93 each and mile 11 was 1.1 or so miles. Fortunately I continued my slow and steady so my usual slow down really didn’t happen. By mile 12 I realized I could be a few minutes faster than Hartford and my 2nd fastest time of the year if I pushed a little. I tried to focus on the IHOP I was going to have on the way home rather than anything else. I crossed the finish line about 2 minutes slower than Columbus a few weeks earlier but 5 minutes faster than New Mexico just 6 days earlier. I was pretty spent!! I came away from the race pretty much in tact except for some unexpected chafing in the chest region (damn band-aid fell off!) so the shower wasn't very much fun post race. Man that stung!!! haha!!
All in all this has the potential to be a really good race! It was a nice course with only small elevation changes throughout. The crowds were somewhat scarce but the people were great and the water stops plentiful! Assuming I don’t get into New York in 2009, I may just do this one again!
Speaking of New York, congrats to all my friends with finishes in the Big Apple last Sunday! Great work!Next week is a double. 15k in Mason, Ohio on Saturday with a 10k at Highbanks (north of Columbus) on Sunday. The weather isn’t supposed to be that great but we’ll see how it goes.
Trail running season is approaching. Time to break out the trail shoes!!Until next time. Keep running!!
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