Thursday, May 15, 2008

Update #1

The RACE! Two weeks ago I was really dreading the Indy Mini Marathon. I'm not sure why; I think it might of had something to do with several facts - I was going to run the whole thing alone, the longest distance I had run was 5 miles (although I was regularly walking much longer distances), & our plans for accommodations were really last minute. In the end, everything pulled together really nicely & we all had a blast. I drove over to Indy with Autumn & her co-worker/friend Jessica. We stayed with a couple that Jessica knew (she is the ultimate networker; I'm totally impressed by her people skills). They had a fabulous huge house & we were all very comfortable & were able to get a wonderful night's rest. The next morning it was off to the race! I was a little anxious about the time I was going to have to wait in the corral before I got to the start line. I was all the way back in corral U which meant that it took about 29 minutes to get to the start. I am not a crowd person. I get really antsy when I can't move without bumping into someone. And I am super protective of my personal space. Those were the longest 28 minutes of the whole race for me!

I had come up with a little strategy for running. I knew that I could easily run at least five miles. So my plan was to go at least that far before I hit any of the pits or before I started walking. Last year I hit every pit & had to stop to go to the bathroom 2 or 3 times. That was a mistake I did not want to repeat. I ran the first 5 & felt pretty good. So the next goal I had was to run all the way around the Speedway track. I knew that once I had reached that goal I was well over half way through. I wore my Baby G wrist watch & used the stop watch feature all through the race. I'm not sure when I decided it was important but I determined that I wasn't going to walk. I was just going to keep running no matter what. I was willing to let the pace slide if I had to, but I was keeping a close eye on that as well thanks to my Baby G. I was also carrying my cell phone (to make sure I could meet up with everyone after the race - no, I'm really not that psycho about having my phone with me all the time!) & my sister sent me a very encouraging text about mile 10 that gave me just the boost I needed to finish up strong. I completed the race in 2 hours 15 minutes with an average 10:22 mile. Definitely a personal best & I was thoroughly pleased. I think I have discovered that if I want to run the race to have fun I'd best bring a friend. If I want to run the race for a good finish time I'd best run alone. All in all a wonderful experience!

After the race we cleaned up & then headed to P.F. Chang's for dinner. I had never been there before & it didn't disappoint! Great food & wonderful company. I have picture here of Autumn holding her niece Audrey, me, Abby (Autumn's sister) holding her daughter Adeline, & Jessica. Autumn, Abby, & Jessica all did a fabulous job in the race, too! I'm excited for next year & for the next race I run in - yet to be determined!


So that's the scoop on the race. I've been pretty lazy since & I've only been running once. I'm hoping to go a couple of times this weekend though.

And by the way, here's a shout out to Anonymous...who are you???

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Fantastic job at the race, girl! Wish I had your stamina or motivation to do anything active. I am pretty good at drinking cups of coffee . . . does that count as a skill? :)

Erin said...

I'm proud of you!!!! I'm so glad that you were able to run it. I was worried about the foot problem.

Mary Ann said...

Alicia - drinking coffee does definitely count as a skill! I practice every day ;-)
Erin - the foot problem really hasn't been any worse than it was before. I wish it would go away but I suppose I'll just continue to live with it. Could definitely be worse!

Anonymous said...

Just so you know, I'm pretty sure that you have more than one Anonymous reading your blog. I've made one anon. comment, but not two, so ....... There's someone else.

ExploreColorado said...

Good Job!! Did you ever run cross country at northland? I was on it for one year.
Vickie

Karis said...

You are amazing! I cannot even imagine running that far. I love to powerwalk, but I despise running (after the first three minutes). Great job!