Indianpolis Marathon

     I signed up for the Indianapolis Marathon around the same time as I left for Flatrock. I thought it would be interesting to see how a road marathon went. Only doing marathons on trails I am used to things being a certain way and wanted to see how a city marathon felt different. BOY did it feel different! One: it hurt more. Two: lots and lots of water stops with friendly volunteers and plenty of bathrooms along the route. Three: I didn't have to carry water (water pack or water belt) which felt so much lighter and was nice to not have to worry about that.
    I had been watching the weather reports and was a little unhappy about the forecast: Rainy and cold. Brrr. My friends and I left very early for the race so we got there very early which was okay with me because I am the kind of person would rather be early than rushing to a race. That is a stressful way to start! I had packed probably everything I owned as the weather was going to be so bad I had two pairs of shows plus my vibrams, dry socks, sweatshirt, sweatpants, jacket, stuff I needed for the race, a throwaway pair of sweatpants and a throwaway long sleeved shirt and lots more. A backpack plus a gym bag. But I knew at the end I would want warm stuff on. I always get chilled at the end of races.
  We went to the packet pickup, got our bibs, saw a skunk on the way back. He was moving too! So we got ready and headed to the starting line. As promised it was raining so I had a lovely, fashionable white garbage bag to wear over my clothes. Kept me dryer and a bit warmer though except I was making a mess of it. The course was beautiful: led all through Fort Harrison state park. The leaves were in fall glory and even though it was rainy it was still so pretty. I started out pretty well...pretty consistently 10 minute miles. I kept trying to do the math but I suck at math so it was actually more dispiriting for me because I kept coming up with these astronomical numbers. "Well if I keep going at this pace and then there are this many miles....around 7 hours. No that can't be right. I need a calculator!" So I just started watching the little clocks and I figured if there were about 10 minutes between clocks I was okay. Got to the half marathon point at 2:25 something so that was good. I had gotten rid of my gloves but then found some gloves along the course so put them on for awhile and then took them back off. I found a timex watch along the route and wore it to the finish line and left it there. Bad runner karma I thought to keep someone else's watch.
   After mile 16 things started to bother me. First it was something rubbing inside my shoe, then my left hamstring started to cramp a bit. But boy my calves hurt! I think it was the cold plus I tend to have very tight calves anyway. I kept stopping and doing calf stretches. I went through sometimes it cramping and then sometimes it feeling better. It never went to total charley horse so I kept going and was really happy at mile 17 to see a couple of my friends! Then at mile 18 I saw another friend! Really a pick-me-up. I was having a great time with my 68 song Marathon playlist on my I-pod too. I started to just concentrate on my music and how pretty the course was and try to ignore my calf pain. The volunteers were great: cadets from the local military academy I guess. They were very polite and kept saying things like "Great job Ma'am!". Lots and lots of "ma'ams" One kid said I was his hero. Nice.
   At the last mile I ran into a woman who was about to complete her first marathon. She was so emotional! I talked to her as we ran the last mile and she was almost crying! So great for her! We ran into the photographer and I said "smile for the camera! Make it look easy". We ran down the finish line together and did  a little sprint at the end. So great to be there for her big moment even though I never even found out her name. I got through, changed into warm clothes, had some food and then cheered my friends into the finish line. We saw another friend we cheered in as well.

I loved my medal and the shirts! I am happy to have finished in sub-5 hours. Marathon number 4 in the bag!

Paynetown "non-race" awesome all day run

     Thanks to the government shutdown we were not able to have the race we were all looking forward to: 8 Hours of Payne. Made me mad to hear of it. I know Bill Bartley and all at Indiana Running Company had spent a lot of time and money on this race and it was a major bummer at first that it was cancelled. But then we got out there and it was a great group run. We ran loops of Paynetown, drank some ultra-fine beer courtesy of Upland Brewery and generally had  a great time! I personally met a new friend, Marcy, who had run the Indiana Trail 100!!! She ran one loop with me and is trying to convince met to run the IT 50 mile next April. She even said she would crew for me although she has  a title to defend. She got third overall female in the 100 mile. Wow!
   Salomon shoes were there and I tried a pair on...very comfy! I may invest in a pair eventually. Bill Bartley was his happy self and made it fun for everyone and I was very proud of my friends: Erin for 2 loops, Chris for 5 loops, Christy for 5 loops and I did 3!

Way fun!!!