The Indy Mini

Pics from the Mini:

1. The entry to the Speedway...quite thrilling for the pseudo-NASCAR fan...
2. Entering the infield area--this, incidentally, was the worst "hill" of the race...gotta love the flatlands!!
3. Running down the main straightaway...and heading toward the famous "yard of bricks".
4. Coming down from the track itself after a water stop...
5. Theresa and I after the race...it was her first half marathon (and first race, period)--pretty cool!!

Tales from the Mini:

Last weekend, I ran my third half marathon--the Indy Mini, a not-so-small affair with ~35,000 runners and walkers--far and away my largest race so far. A bunch of Kraft folks signed up last fall and, being the joiner that I am, I also signed up for the fun of it all. Unfortunately, a few of the Kraft gang couldn't make it--Erin was tied up with start-up stuff for her project, Sue just got clearance to start running again last week, and Michele came down with a doozy of a case of bronchitis. But, Nate, Amy, Nicole, and I managed to make it to the start corrals bright and early Saturday morning (although I didn't see any of them at any point during the day).

More impressively, another Kraft-ite and my good friend Theresa queued up with all of her siblings to do her first race (nothing like starting one's road race career with a half marathon)--having stayed with them Friday night, it was really cool to see them get ready for the race, talk through their strategies, pin their bib numbers onto their shirts, etc., etc. Plus, knowing Theresa as I do, it was amazing to see her tackle this new challenge...and a bit humbling to find out that I was part of her inspiration to start running in the first place.

When we got to the race start Saturday morning, it was cold--one of those days when you just aren't sure what to wear. I originally had tights on, but opted to peel those off and go with tri shorts, a long-sleeve shirt, and a jacket--in theory a good wardrobe, but in reality, the start corrals were really cold (thankfully, things warmed up a bit through the course, and it ended up being a darn near perfect day for running). I ended up in one of the preferred start corrals, having sent in a qualifying time--and as I was in corral E and the last corral was literally corral Z, I was grateful. While I was trying to stay warm before the start of the race, I met a woman from Michigan who had also recently run her first marathon--we chatted about our experiences, when we hit our respective walls, our recovery issues, etc., etc., and then decided that we were both targeting about the same pace. We opted to try to run the first few miles together--we ended up running together until just before mile 6 when we went into the Speedway.

As often happens in races, I took off a little faster than I was thinking I would, especially considering how @#$%! tired I was heading into the race given the work chaos of the past couple of weeks. But, my new running buddy and I kept up the pace pretty well, and I have to admit I was feeling great. Right before we entered the track, I noticed the guy in front of me had an IM tattoo on the back of his calf. I asked him what race he had done--he's a veteran of IM Florida, Canada, and Lake Placid, and he's doing Florida again this year. He asked me the same question--I told him I was training for IM WI, and his only comment was that if I was a flatlander Midwesterner, I should steer clear of IM WI and hit the flat course of Florida instead...but then he wished me good luck on the hills as I passed him (which, frankly, was a great mental boost--it's always fun to pass people, but even more so when you know they've had significant athletic achievements like IM).

It was pretty cool entering the track--just before mile 6 and following a very pleasant course through Indy neighborhoods. Having a dad and several friends who are racing nuts, I can certainly appreciate the history and the excitement surrounding the Indy Motor Speedway...which gave me goosebumps as we ran into the infield area. Unfortunately, those goosebumps died down with the realization that I had to run around a 2.5 mile track that was, frankly, boring and the most challenging mental part of the course. It didn't help that, at about mile 6.5, my stomach and digestive system decided to rebel against me--thankfully, I was able to make it the rest of the race without a trip to the port-o-lets, but it was a close call for a while. Admittedly, it was fun to run down the main straightaway and cross the yard of bricks...but that's still a really long way to run in a big circle. I mentioned that to Jeremy when I got back to the office...his comment (he's an IN native, by the way) was that I was insane as there is a ton of history at that track--fair enough, but that history didn't help me run any faster.

The second half of the run was pretty good--again, through random Indy neighborhoods. My pace was still faster than I was expecting to run (hovering between 8:20-8:40/mile), and by mile 11, I had decided that, come hell or high water, I was going to finish at that pace just to prove I could. Perhaps it wasn't the smartest decision as I knew I had a long bike ride the following day, but sometimes I can't help but get caught up in the excitement of race day. By the mile 13 sign, I had a huge grin on my face as I knew I was going to hit a PR, which I totally didn't expect to get...and my finish at 1:52:17 had me grinning ear to ear. More impressively for me, the pacing-challenged one, all of my splits were within 20 seconds of each other, and my mile 13 split was actually the fastest of my race. Could be I'm finally figuring this whole pacing thing out...

After working my way (slowly) through the finish chutes and picking up my various post-race food items, I went back to the parking garage and grabbed warm clothes (it was still chilly, especially with me being very sweaty), then took care of said digestive issues and headed back to the finish area. After waiting by the mile 13 sign and watching diligently for Theresa and her siblings for several minutes, she called and told me they had actually finished about a half hour earlier than they had thought...meaning they all had one heck of a great race. I met up with them in the post-race area, gave them all the customary post-race sweaty hugs, and took some pictures (see above).

When the results were posted, it ended up being a great day for Team Kraft--all of us (Nate, Amy, Nicole, Theresa, and I) ended up with PR's--pretty darn cool and a fantastic end to a great day. I think it's safe to say I'll be doing that race again in the future--it's a great course, very well-organized, and apparently pretty fast if our results are any indication.

All in all, a great start to the summer racing season...and if this was any indication of things to come, it should be a great one!!!! Bring it on...tri season, here I come!