2019 indy mini

I ran my 2nd Indy mini-marathon this past Saturday. We also spent the weekend in Indianapolis with friends. I wouldn't say it was the 'best of times and worst of times,' but there was plenty of both good and bad.

As for the good... Well, I unintentionally ran my fastest half marathon since 2012 (which was also my 1st half)! I clocked in at 1:59:02. If memory serves me correctly that's the first time I've been under 2 hours since the 1:47 - when I was 7 years younger and 20 lbs lighter. So I was pretty happy about that even though I didn't set out to run that fast and didn't really even think about it until about the half-way point of the race.

I actually ran each 5k faster than the previous. My overall placing was 4,186th out of 19,207 finishers; gender was 3,098th out of 9,102; and age-group I got 174th out of 742. My friend Tim was 169th in the same age group (he ran 158:31).

Unfortunately - and this is the bad - it was a miserable, miserable day to run. It rained the ENTIRE race from start to finish, and I'm not sure if it ever got much above 50f. The heaviest downpour was going around the Indianapolis 500 track. I was soaked inside and out, and actually just held my glasses for probably 11 of the 13 miles because I couldn't see out of them anyway. Given that this event is always so overcrowded with runners, the rain and resulting puddles were unavoidable, and it was just not very pleasant at all. Even at the finish, where they would normally hold the post-race party, it was nothing but mud and wet and yuck. When I crossed the finish line and finally found Jane, we just headed straight for the hotel. I was shivering most of the way there.

Overall I guess it was a bittersweet weekend. The biggest bummer was that Jane didn't get to run. She had to scratch the middle of last week due to her shin splints. I felt bad about her not being able to participate, and not being able to chat along the course. However, we wouldn't have been doing much chatting anyway, and it was probably good for her she didn't have to run in those conditions.

I also forgot to put my anti-chaff ointment on before the run. I had one bloody nipple, and also rubbed a sore on another area of my body that I will save you the details of. It's the first time THAT has happened. Of course, even though I'd avoided any blisters so far this year, running in sopping shoes and socks resulted in a blister on my right foot in the same spot I had one almost all last year (between my big toe and ball of the foot).

Otherwise, we had a pretty good time with our friends and the hotel was nice. We stayed right at the starting line in the Springhill Suites. The rooms were nice, there was a free breakfast, and for as busy as I'm sure it was, it was quite quiet. 

We arrived just before 3 pm on Friday and stayed until late-morning Sunday. I drove us down, but Tim had to drive us home because I had too much whiskey after the race Saturday (ugh! the Sunday hangover was the worst part of the weekend for me).

It was pretty much a weird weekend altogether. I rarely get hangovers; I didn't feel very well prepared for the race; I was sort of mentally out of it since I wasn't expecting to run alone; and yet even though I ran faster than I expected, it just didn't seem like a whole lotta fun. Probably the most miserable race I've ever done.

I'm still sorer than usual even today. I didn't cool down or do much stretching afterward, and I've got to think that anytime you start drinking whiskey before noon... is probably not a good idea (I'm not entirely sure why I did it to begin with).

I will likely take a week off and try to get this blister to heal. We then have a trail run in a couple weeks, and I suppose it will be about time to start training for the marathon this fall. Until then, here are some pics from the weekend...

Waiting to start.

Room view of the starting line.

My splits