Anyway, this time around I promised that I would train smarter, eat better, and be less of a head case about this whole marathon thing and the result was that I had a MUCH better race this past Saturday in Indianapolis.
We left Cincy on Friday afternoon with the dogs safely in the care of my gradma, a.k.a dog babysitter and hot dog provider, and made the short drive up to Indy. The race is sponsored by their big health network, so the race expo was appropriately staffed with tables full of free bandaids, icy hot, and athletes foot creme. With about 2,700 runners total between the half and full marathon it was a small, but well run expo and while I missed all the glossy brochures and swag that the larger Flying Pig expo had, it was still a very organized affair. We then left the expo and checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Drury Inn and lets just say it was a great choice! I am not a paid spokesperson for this chain, and really dislike staying in hotels, so believe me when I say mom and I were impressed. They were a sponsored hotel of the race and went
out of their way to include race friendly hot food on their free dinner buffet as well as open the free morning buffet about an hour earlier than normal so we racers could eat before we left.
Morning of the race arrived and all in all we both felt calm and ready to go. We arrived about an hour before the race, got our race numbers and chip timers on, and then stepped out of the car into 25 mph winds. Yes, the curse of Lindsey struck again where weather is concerned. I can almost guarantee that if I am running there will be rain, snow, desert heat, or hail...I think I have run in all these conditions so Indy started off as no exception. We made it to the start line, visited the potties, and then huddled together to try and stay warm.
Outwardly we looked like this...
Inwardly we were both questioning our sanity as to why on earth we wanted to drive all this way, spend the money, and then freeze our smaller butts off all for a shirt and a medal. So in reality we probably felt more like this...(notice the crazy dude behind me in tiny shorts and a t-shirt. Honestly I don't get some runners!!)
But we went ahead and lined up with the rest of the slow runners in good old corral F and hit the road at 8:30 am. The marathon and half marathon course was identical for 12 miles so mom and I got to stick together for a good long time. That was a huge plus for me as I definitely tend to hit the early miles too fast and then pay for it in the end so mom's job was to keep the pace steady and be my donkey. If you a horse person who get the reference...have a thoroughbred that needs settling down, stick a donkey in with them and it calms the horse. Not that I consider myself a thoroughbred or anything...but mom was definitely my jacka$$ this morning. The course was amazing as we ran through a big national park and beautiful old neighborhoods. The early miles were clicking and here I am at mile 8 even smiling...something I don't think I did at all the last time.
Mom did great for about the first 8-9, but then her stomach started acting up and by the time we reached the hills on mile 10 she was clenching and shuffling up those babies. I give her a ton of credit for keeping up though as I have had those days before where you are begging for bathroom and they are just no fun. We stopped at a porta potty around mile 11 and then reached the spot where we parted ways and I head out into the park again while she turned toward the finish line. After she left I got out the good old ipod, cued up some Eminem and started rapping and running. The course was a long out and back between miles 15-24 so it was great to be able to see all the people both ahead and behind you. As I went I started to feel better and better, I even sang and cheered them on as I went. By mile 19 I was full out belting Adele's Someone Like You to runners as I made the turn and headed back into town. I felt great, like I could tackle anything...the kind of run where everything falls into place and you feel amazing. I remember thinking this is why people do this and as a woman yelled "You go girl" to me at 22 I thought "that's right Lindsey you got this b*tch." My hips and glutes did start to act up by mile 23 and I walked a decent portion of the way until mile 25 rolled by and I could start to hear the music at the finish line. I picked up the pace a bit and headed back and by mile 26 could see the banners, and finish line crowd. That last .2 miles didn't mean a thing as I jogged into the finish with the smile on my face happy with my performance. I finished in 5:20, no speed record here, but a 40 minute improvement over my Flying Pig time....so yeah I was happy. Medals were given out by the local Army ROTC guys who all called us ma'am and who I made pose in a picture with me.
The post race party was small, but these race organizers thought of everything and even had veggie burgers for us vegans to eat...I LOVE THAT and made sure to send them a big thank you afterwards as many race officials just don't think of us veg-heads. So Indy was a huge success and a very enjoyable weekend and I will be sure to post official race pics when they go up. Mom and I have one more big race on the calendar for this year in three weeks we head over to West Virginia to tackle the Marshall Marathon and Half-Marathon where she will hope to improve on her time, and I will hope to have a repeat of Indy.
I leave you with the Adele video of Someone Like You as I wish you all nothing but the best!!
