Yesterday was our highly anticipated annual Indianapolis
Mini Marathon! This is a 13.1 mile race
that brings the participants in to, and for a full run around, the actual race
track of the Indianapolis 500. This was
the race I signed up and paid for months in advance after my first half
marathon. I knew I needed something to
work toward to keep me going through the cold winter months.
I also signed up for our running group’s Tuesday night
training program. I never made it to a
single evening run. There were many
excuses, it was dark, it was cold, it was late, I am a morning runner….etc. But
the truth of the matter was I just couldn’t get there on time after work. There just was not enough time for me to get
the things done that had to be done before my drive there, and it was not a
short drive. So, I decided to train
along with the program, but on my own days.
Training began, and I sort of did, sort of did not. It was cold and I was having such a difficult
time dealing with it this year, (and it truly was a mild winter for us this
year!), I wouldn’t always get out for my long runs. I did some shorter runs on the treadmill, but
as the training distances grew, my runs became fewer. I packed on a little over 20 pounds from my
maintenance weight since the last half marathon, I wasn’t getting out as much,
the days were short and I had no inclination to go out in the dark for my
workouts, so…as the days passed, I was losing quite a bit of what I had worked
so hard for the previous year.
Fast forward to March when the weather began changing for
the better , the daylight hours were lasting longer, and I felt more like
myself again. The miles increased as the
urge to get out and enjoy the fresh air and the woods increased! I missed some of the long training distances,
I had gotten a six and seven miler in, but not my eight, so when it
was time for my nine mile run, I didn’t want to only do seven. I was able to do my nine mile run and when it
was time for my ten mile run, I was feeling pretty strong! I was feeling very well that day, strong
legs, strong lungs, strong frame of mind, a very healthy attitude and I was ready
to go! It had been raining a little, but
nothing I couldn’t handle, in fact I enjoy running in a nice light rain. But, then it started getting dark, and the
rain began to come down harder. I was
about half way done when I thought I caught a flash out of the corner of my
eye. Yes I do enjoy a good rain run, but
NOT a lighting run! I took one of my ear
buds out and gave a listen. Sure enough,
claps of thunder and lightning were moving in from the west. But, I knew I still had time for just a little
more, there was NO way I was stopping now!
With every lap, the thunder and lightning grew closer and closer. I felt too good to stop, maybe just one more
lap. If by the time I get to the end of
this lap, it hasn’t gotten better I’ll head back to the car and finish up right
in that general area. It didn’t get
better and I don’t like to run in this type of storm, but I had to get back to
the car anyway, so it was either walk or run.
Well that was an easy choice….wasn’t I already running? I headed back and had about a mile left when
I got to the car The storm seemed to be
passing off to the east, so I was able to get the rest of my run done for the
day.
Ten miles, that was my longest training run I was able to
get in before my taper and then the race.
I truly have never had a desire to do this Mini Marathon with 35,000+
runners, but I had paid, and after the week I had had, it was personal
now! It was almost as if I was being
taunted, dared, pushed NOT to do the race!
The more that kept pushing me not to do it, the more I pushed back!
I had just picked up two additional days a week for work and
this was the first full week since my new hours. My body, in the interest of efficiency and saving
time apparently, decided, ‘Hey, why pick one when you can combine both PMS and
Menopause?’ So, I was the lucky recipient of not only cramps and weepiness, but
hot flashes as well all week long! When
I came home Thursday evening, I was verbally assaulted by one of my
neighbors. My sweet Moe-Mie has been
having physical problems and when I got home Friday night I couldn’t get in the
front door. He had fallen and couldn’t
get up and had stressed himself out so much and had probably had his weight on
that leg for the endurance (I have no idea how long he had been like that),
that he was not able to stand at all. I
had to push the door open enough to reach my arm around and slip my hand under
him to scoot him across the floor. He
had poo’d and was peeing everywhere he was so stressed out. It just broke my heart. I fashioned a sling and was able to get him
in and out and to help him go potty. I
worked with his legs and massaged and calmed him, but it was a rough night for
him and he cried a lot. I was up and
down all night and got at the most, two and a half hours of sleep before the
race. After having gotten in the house
Friday evening, I noticed a sickly smell and found out my neighbor had been
pouring acid down his drains and the fumes had filled my entire downstairs, my
poor animals had been inhaling that all day as well! We had to open the garage doors to air it all
out. I had plans to meet the gals
downtown for packet pick-up that night as well and go out to eat. I knew traffic would be bad (and it was! About
40 minutes just to park!), but I was so looking forward to going out and
relaxing with them and just having a good time ‘carb loading’. But, for some reason, my time sheet for work didn’t
get to them in time and I only received half of a paycheck this pay period, so I
had to do some rearranging and was still able to go after all. Once we all got parked and met, we had a lot of
fun at the expo and then
on to Noodles & Company for our pasta.
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| Marti, Me, Elaine |
It is now Saturday morning and I’m fresh out of the shower
and ready to go!
Maybe I’ll just sleep run the first half of the race. I knew I could run ten miles, so maybe I
could just do some run/walking this race and just enjoy myself. Take pictures, dance, sing, just have some
fun. Then run as I felt strong, walk
when I needed to recover. I am looking
forward to this now. I’m going to burn
off a lot of steam and leave last week in the dust!
I met one of my friends there and we headed over to the
corrals to get settled in. I was in a
different corral much further back.
While I was waiting I heard someone calling my name and it was a couple
of other gals from my running club. One
was still recovering from an injury and the other said she had gained about
twenty pounds too, so they would be doing walk/running at about a thirteen
minute pace or so. I thought I could
handle that, so was looking forward to having some friends to run with as
well. This day is really shaping up!
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Melissa and Lori
(Lori saw this picture later and was convinced she was crossing her fingers and praying!) |
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We started in corral 'V', the race has started and we
are still making our way to the start |
I still have knots in my belly even though there’s no
pressure and I’m just there to have fun.
The countdown begins…..four, three, two….ONE! And everyone is off! Well….sort of…..about a half hour later we
got to the starting line and off we went.
I knew I needed to make sure to slow myself down at the beginning so I
didn’t exhaust myself before the end, but I thought I’ll just hang with the
gals for now. We were doing well and I
was feeling pretty good, but thought maybe I was going a bit too fast. I glanced down at my Garmin and saw an 11:30
pace which is faster than I can maintain right now for a three mile run. I knew I had better pull back and slow down,
even though I wanted to stay with them.
I ran for the first two miles, but the lack of sleep was really taking
its toll on me and I decided to back down to a walk. I began formulating my strategy so I would
end up with a run at the finish line. As
I walked I knew I would get stronger and just be dying to run, that’s how I
always was. But not this time, I mean I
did have a strong desire to run, but the strength just wasn’t there. And it wasn’t coming back either. I became weaker and more tired as the race
went on. I hoped at least by the time I
got to the race track I’d be able to run around it. We would be at the six mile mark when we got
to the track and it is a two and a half mile run.
Here we are! But I
just couldn’t do what I’d hoped.
However, when I got to the backside of the track, Brightroom Photography
was there and I thought I’d better muster up enough strength to at least get
one good picture! At this point, I didn’t
know if I’d be able to when I crossed the finish line. So, I started running and waving and
smiling. It felt good to be running
again, but I wasn’t able to maintain it for long. I knew it would be a walk to the finish and
was very disappointed.
As the miles ticked off, I was wondering if I was going to
be able to physically make it until the end.
But, I had come too far and had such a stressful week, I deserved to do
this for ME! I plodded on, getting
slower and slower, weaker and hotter, the blisters on my feet were screaming at
me, my toes were numb, my shoulders ached, my back hurt, it was so hot and
there was no shade to be had anywhere in sight.
I started grabbing two and three cups of water, one to drink, the other
two to pour over my head and the back of my neck. I had my energy power bar gu
and drank some water to wash it down. I
started going through every water sprayer I could see, grabbed free food
samples from the side of the road, anything and everything I knew to do just to
sustain myself long enough to get to that finish line. I felt like I was just going through the
motions in a very painful dream state now.
Instead of feeling closer with every mile, it felt more like….What?! There
are still that many more miles to go?! I
was beginning to be very grateful for the presence of the other 35,000+ runners
and walkers!
I finally felt some relief, and like I might actually make
it when I got to the thirteen mile marker.
It seriously took me until the thirteenth mile mark to feel like I was
going to make it. I just wanted to get
in my car and crank up the air conditioning.
What really stunk is that after getting to mile thirteen, I had to walk
right past my car to get to the finish line!
It was soooo tempting to just turn off and leave, but there was NO
WAY! Not after all this, not when I was
this close!
OMG! There it is! That’s the finish line! Is that the finish line?! IT IS IT IS! It is the finish line! This is me crossing the finish line! I DID
IT! WHOO-HOO!! And….stop! And….NOW I felt it! All light headed, things going sparkly and black. I sat down and tried to lose the nausea and
lightheadedness. I drank some water and
talked with a girl beside me who told me there were cookies just a bit down
from us. I waited a bit and then made an
attempt to stand and go get some cookies.
But I didn’t get too far before needing to sit again. The girl I was talking to previously passed
by and noticed I hadn’t gotten too far and offered to go get a couple cookies
for me. Then she offered to get
help. Some nice men came and took me to
the cooling tent where I was able to get my wits about me enough to walk to my
car and head home.
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| Me, wearing my medal and on my back in the recovery tent! I did it..... |
I missed the festivities but all I wanted to do was just be
home. Home never felt so good! I got in the house, took care of a few things
that had to be done and then hit the pillows for a nice, cool nap. Ahhh.
After getting up and having some food, I had a good time
with a friend and her granddaughter and took some really cute photos of them.
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| Melissa and Allie Lynn |
A great day, a great evening, and the best night’s sleep I’ve
had in years!!
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| Yep! That's right! That's MY bling! |
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