Indy Mini

Last Saturday was the 2016 Indy Mini Marathon.  While this was the 40th running of the event, it was the 11th time that I have participated (I had to miss the 2010 race due to injury).  This is usually my goal race each year - the jewel that I aim for.  This year's goal was to finish in the top 500 overall and get that second medal.  Going into my taper week, the Sunday prior I got an easy 10 mile run in and I felt really confident that my training was in a pretty good spot.

And then the wheels came off.  Wednesday morning, my throat was a little scratchy and by the end of the day my sinuses were donezo.  A cold had settled in.  Thursday night, Jess and I went to the expo and got my packet and I couldn't breathe through my nose.  We stopped for dinner at Scotty's Brewhouse on the way home and I ate super spicy foods which helped temporarily, but by Friday morning it was back to congestion-ville.  I ran by Walgreen's and got about as much over the counter medicine as I could without being suspicious of being a meth-head and I took everything I could for the rest of the day.

Saturday morning I woke up at 4:30 and realized I had actually slept decently (or however decent a person can sleep on just under 6 hours of sleep).  It was in the mid 50s out and a little breezy at race start.  I purposely held back - instead of shooting for top 500 I decided to take aim on running consistent 7:15-20 pace.

Through the first 5k, I was right on track with an average pace of 7:22.  Things felt pretty well - my body felt rested, I could breathe, and life was good.  I decided to take my gel around mile 6 which is a little early for me, but I found a water station and figured time-wise I needed it.  I cut some time off between the 5k and the Brickyard by averaging 7:18 pace.  However, that's when the wheels came off.

As I was going around the track, the clouds picked up and the winds came back and shortly after, my nose closed off.  My head felt stopped up and again I couldn't breathe well.  Between Brickyard and 11M marker I average 7:34 per mile.  It took all I could to push to the finish but my lungs were on fire.  I finished in 1:38:12 - good enough for 778th place overall.

I was left wondering what could have happened had I not been hit with the cold bug.  I feel that top 500 would have been pretty easy.  Oh well - next year.

However, Meb was the main attraction this year.  He started the waves and then after the last walkers started, he and his crew took off running to see how many he could pass.  While technically he did stop and take selfies with other runners, his finishing time was 1:41:18.  Yep - I beat Meb.  It's official.  It's on the internet so it must be true.  We did catch up post race to meet him and he is as genuine of a guy as there is - you can't not like him!

Another big name ran the race - Tony Kanaan.  Tony is an Indycar driver and won the Indy 500 back in 2013.  He ran the mini in 1:43:29 and after the race we spent some time talking to him, his wife, and their son.  All of them are world-class individuals as well!

On to the next round of training and racing...
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It's Race Week!

We are 5 days, 11 hours, and 26 minutes away from the One America Indy 500 Mini Marathon!  I remember blogging months ago about there being 75 or some odd days left and how things were going to get serious.  So where the hell did the time go?

Am I ready?  I think so.  My training as been on point this spring, outside of roughly two weeks where my ankle was weird.  Going to the doctor, getting the x-ray and putting my mind at ease is what I needed.  I don't feel that it has completely healed, but I believe the support with the brace has helped and has helped me stay focused without as much worry.  There is time to heal next week.

My training has included a little of everything.  Multiple runs of 10+ miles, fartleks, easy runs, mile repeats, and even one minute intervals.  And a lot of that has sucked.  Those one minute intervals really do help, but damn, do they hurt!?  I feel like my short speed has been at levels that I haven't had in years, as was evident with the Durbin Classic 5k race last month.  And I have logged more longer runs this spring than years past.

However, I am a little nervous.  I always am for this race.  It is THE race each year.  Am I ready?  Is my speed going to hold up for a longer duration?  Will my mind stay calm and I can stay focused?  I have a goal - I want to be Top 500.  Is that too aggressive?  All I know is I have done the miles, done the speed work, and the weather appears to be decent to start the race.  The rest is up to me!

However, I did spot this guy this morning on my 10 mile run.  Hopefully it isn't a sign or what my pace is going to be like Saturday

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So Here We Are...

Crap.... it's been a month since I was last on here?  Yeah, I am a failure.... A lot has happened over the last month so let me see if I can recap some of it.

A)  Jess ran her first "real" race by doing the Carmel 5k a week and a half ago.  I say "real" because it actually had more than 200 people.  So far, she has done small races and I was curious how a bigger race such as this one would make her feel.  The girls and I made signs and cheered as loud as we could.  You could tell that Jess was nervous, but I was anxious for her.  As I thought might happen, she admitted to going out a little fast.  It's hard not to - a large crowd like that just gets your adrenaline going!  Smartly she reeled it in and finished within about 20 seconds of her PR time.  We were so proud of her!  And now she has the bug to jump into another one ASAP.  

After her race, we got some food and then found a spot around the 10 mile marker for the marathon (the what?).  Ella wasn't done cheering, and we were still on a runner's high, so we got out and cheered on the rest of pack coming through all the way up to the pick-up bus.  It was a blast... well, except for Ananbell.  She is like a 90 year old woman and just wants to be at home.

B)  We signed the girls up for the Indy 500 Rookie Run.  The week after the mini (so about two weeks from now) the girls will get to run as part of the Indy 500 festivities.  I think Annabell has to do like a 1/3 mile and Ella has slightly more.  Since they have both run 5k's before, they probably won't have any trouble with the race but they do get cool finisher medals.

C)  The Blue Man Group!  Jess and I voyaged to Dayton this past weekend for a little getaway as she had bought me tix to see BMG.  She had never seen them before, so I was curious what she might think - but she loved it!  Those guys put on quite a show.  OH - and before the show we ran into some Super Friends just across the street from the convention center....

D)  Indy Mini is now 10 days 21 hours 55 minutes away... but let's not talk about that just yet.  I don't want to get MY nerves going.

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Durbin Classic

My left foot has been bothering me all week, but yesterday I decided to test it and test my speed.  Jess, Chuck, and I met Jonathon and Ian for the Durbin Classic 5k.  It was about 34 degrees with a slight breeze from the south which just made it feel colder.  I had noticed in the past that the winning times for the 5k were just faster than 20 minutes, so I had planned to run somewhere around 21 - 21:30 and come in the top 3 or 4.

What pre-race jitters?

I made my way to the front of the group and started right behind a group of guys and about 10 kids under the age of 15.  I figured out right away, with the race being for the benefit of the Durbin Elementary School, that these kids were going to go out hard and have fun.  And I was right.  Gotta give them credit - many of them stayed up there for the first half to 3/4 miles.

About that time, four of us guys took off.  The race had both a 5k and 10k and I had no idea who was running which race.  The overall leader took off - he must have been running just over 6 minute mile pace.  After a mile or so, I made my way up to second place after running the first mile in 6:26.  Then the breeze kicked me.

My second mile dropped to almost 6:40 and I was sucking that cold air hard.  Just after the second mile marker, someone passed me and I could tell another guy was on his way.  That was about the time I could see the school and the race finish in the distance and it set in that nobody else was going to pass me.

I kept the second place guy in my sights and then made my move in the last quarter mile.  With just a couple hundred meters to go, I passed him and strided out to the finish.  It was at that point that I found out the guy who was in overall first was running the 10k - which meant I had just won the 5k in 20:27!

Striding hard to the finish

I went back to the course and cheered everyone else along.  I saw Jess and Chuck coming down the road.  I ran with Jess the last little bit, and while trying to provide inspiration to help her to the finish line, she essentially told me off.  She told me she had nothing left in the tank.  However, what she didn't know until later was that she had ran some of that second mile at a pace faster than she has done before (thanks Chuck!) so it made sense.  When all was said and done, she had actually ran a new PR in a time of 31:54!

Jess and me after the race

Not too bad for either of us, considering we only got about 5.5 hours of sleep after staying up for the entire IU game the night before.

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Damn Ankle

This has been a pissy week for me.  Last Thursday, I woke early and nailed 2 mile repeats.  Completely kicked my butt, but felt good.  After work, I met Jess and we did a "Brew Mile".  Think about it - for $5 you get to participate in a 1 mile run / walk and then afterwards get a free beer!  A pure genius came up with this idea!  Maybe someone can come up with a 2 mile fun run and you would get TWO beers afterwards.  Or maybe....

Anyway, I didn't run Friday but Jess and I hit the gym on Saturday.  I struggled through 4 easy miles.  My left ankle felt weak and sore on the outside by the ankle joint.  I spent the afternoon icing it and relaxing.

Due to a busy week, and wanting to play it safe, I took a few days off.  Outside of getting my 10,000 daily steps (damn Fitbit...) and volleyball on Tuesday, I did nothing.  It was somewhat glorious, but I also felt very lazy and anxious.

Thursday finally rolled around, and we hit the gym.  I tested it with just over 3 easy miles.  A little sore, but maybe I was just being overly nervous and careful due to not wanting to make it worse.  Regardless, I got through it, no issues afterwards, and have been nursing it all day today.

Tomorrow, Jess and I have a 5k with many of our friends.  That will be the real test.  I plan to do some easy jogging warm up to get it ready and then see what it can do.  I am shooting for somewhere around 21 or 21:30 tomorrow so we'll see how it goes.

Oh, also over the last week I have done Pilates twice with Jess at gym - once Sunday, and once this morning.  My abs have hurt from both days!  We'll see how that factors into tomorrow's adventure.

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