So I haven't posted a race report on my blog in forever...but decided that I would post this one so that I can find it again when I am looking for it in the future.
Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
November 4, 2017 8:00am
1266th out of 4678 overall//93rd out of 394 AG//360th out of
2045 females
Chip time: 3:43:57
(My 18th race of the 2017 season)
10K Split: 52:42 (pace 8:30)
13.1mi Split: 1:50:44 (pace 8:28)
30k Split: 2:38:18 (pace 8:30)
Last half: 1:53:13 (pace 8:39)
Finish: 3:43:57 (pace 8:33)
*This is, without a doubt, my most steadily paced marathon ever*
50 States Marathon Challenge:
Illinois
Iowa
Indiana
Virginia
California
New York
Washington D.C.
(44 States to Go! HA!!)
13th full stand-alone marathon
OK, guys, as many of you know I haven’t run in two weeks (as of
Monday, November 20). I ran the Indy Monumental Marathon on Saturday, November
4. Then, the next day I ran the Canal Connection 10k. After these two feats, I
actually felt pretty decent, but I took the day following Canal (Monday the 6th) off. Then, I ran 4 miles on
Tuesday the 7th - negative splits with the stroller, not exactly an "easy
run.” Surprise, surprise - after this run, my right knee was toast. As I have
stated over and over (mostly to myself), I deserved it - it’s “fine”. It certainly made sense to
have SOMETHING give out after the blatant abuse of my body! Come on, Rachel, use your head!! :) Yeah - runners aren't always good at making wise decisions.
So, here is my Indy Monumental Race Report…or Part 1 in the saga of
Rachel Jacking Up Her Knee…
So, backing wayyyy up to this past winter and spring - I had an
absolute blast training for the U of I marathon with my good friend Holly-Rae (and others, of
course, but namely Holly-Rae because she and I were both gunning for Boston
Qualifying times together at the full at the U of I). When HR had a
disappointing race, it sucked. Of course it sucked the most for her - but as
her friend and training partner it sure sucked to watch! I was really hopeful
that she would be able to rest up, train hard over the summer, and then run a
strong race at the Geneva Last Chance BQ Marathon in September. Well, as
you may know from reading her reports - that race didn’t happen. She was
stricken by some awful illness in late August/early September and was unable to run that event. I had been planning
to spectate with Gabey (and, in my mind, witness her big victory!!) and of course then was greatly disappointed for her again. In the words of the great Holly-Rae Van Hoof, “BARFO!”
After this series of unfortunate and just plain SAD events, I let
her know that if she wanted to run the full at Indy, I would run with her for
as long as I could last. In my head, it would be FUN to run a marathon WITH a
friend - and if it were me, I might appreciate the company. Plus - I had never run Indy and had heard good things...and it would mean adding another state to my Run-A-Marathon-In-Every-State list. HA! So, I offered it
up, not sure what she would end up deciding. She ended up going back and forth
and I was kind of thinking that she wasn’t going to do it – which was fine with
me. I could really go either way. However soon it became apparent that almost
ALL of "our runner people" were doing this race - seriously. Between the half and the
full, we had a ton of race team teammates and other friends running. I
started to send Holly-Rae some “encouraging” texts (HAHA!) such as reminders
that the race was filling up, the deadline to get your name on your bib was
nearing, etc. etc. Well…believe it or not (which of course, at this point,
you’ll believe it since you already read her report ;)), she registered!
This became kind of an, “oh crap!” moment for me…I had been talking
such a big talk and had been telling her that I would run with her…I HAD to put
my money (or Clint’s money…hahaha!) where mouth was! Truth be told, my
training had really been lacking leading up to the Indy weekend…feel free to
skip on past my little review if this doesn't interest you, but heres a synopsis of my running August-October:
-I ran a PR 5k in August at Evergreen on 8/5/17 of 20:20 (no stroller). This was a
definite HIGH!
-Later on in August, I completed my longest EVER stroller run of 17
miles with Clint and Holly-Rae. This is probably more impressive for Gabey than for me! ;) What a tolerant child I have!
-Then, on Wednesday, August 23 on an easy family run with Clint - I
had to literally stop (I can count on one hand the number of times this has
happened in my life) and walk it in because I was having breathing
difficulty/weirdness - and it honestly freaked me out more than I admitted at the time
-I didn’t run again for six days - still dealing with breathing/lung weirdness (honestly, sadly, it was all probably due to anxiety due to some increased life stressors at the time)
-total August miles: 97.4 were significantly less than July (139),
but would be the most by far that I would run during a month’s time for the
rest of the year…
-in September, I didn’t run anything longer than 8 miles (9/2/17 with my sister on our Labor Day mini-vacation in Michigan)
until the end of the month when I paced my sister in the Quad Cities Half
Marathon…and then ran Clint in for the final 10k of his full there…for a total
of 20.2 miles for the day. WHAT?!
-total September miles: 88.6
-in October, prior to registering for the marathon, I didn’t run
anything over 10k
-I did run two 5k races in October: (1)- 22:07 (1st female, without
stroller) and (2)- 21:07 (1st AG, with stroller).
Regardless of what a bad idea it all seemed to be on paper and in my
head, we also thought it could be a lot of fun. Clint decided that he, too,
wanted to run and we decided to make a late birthday date weekend out of it.
Why not, right?! He registered us on Monday, October 16th as I sat
on our kitchen floor and laughed at him as he said, “It’s done!” CLICK! He said
that if he took care of the race registrations, I had to take care of the
hotel. Fair enough.
On Clint’s birthday (Wednesday, October 25), we went out for a run
together in the late afternoon…that was mayyyybe going to be in the 7-8 mile
range. Clint had already done a morning birthday run (while I worked a
half day – he took the whole day off for his birthday) and didn’t want to
necessarily run a bajillion more miles. As we started running, I decided
in my head that we were going to actually run 10 miles. I knew that, mentally,
I needed to get in at least ONE double-digit run before the marathon…I mean,
seriously, right?! I also knew that Clint was almost always literally down for whatever
and that I would be able to sneak our shorter run into a 10-miler. HA! We
decided to run out on Route 66 toward Towanda. Our first mile was in a
conservative 7:55. Mile two - 7:49. Great! We can probably negative
split this bad boy, right?! As we were running along, Clint asked me how 8
miles sounded. I said, basically, “I was thinking we could do 5 out…” HAHA!!
Ten miles it is! Sorry not sorry, Clint! The next 3 miles of our first half
were nicely negatively split (however slightly): 7:45, 7:47, and 7:43.
After we hit the turn around…ooooh boy…turns out we would be running
straight into the setting sun. After about a mile or so it was at the absolute
PERFECT height to hit Gabey right in the eyes under the awning of the stroller.
He let us know how much he loved this by screaming his fool head off.
Clint tried removing his shirt and tying it around the awning to lengthen it -
unsuccessful. So, we simply tried to dial down the pace and get home as
fast as we could. I did think of pulling up some kids’ songs on YouTube (here's looking at you Pop See Ko) and
played the music for him which did quiet him down significantly for miles 8-10.
#promomtip
Our final five miles were in 7:37, 7:30, 7:29, 7:26 and 7:25.
When we arrived back at home I was both (a) relieved for Gabe’s sake that
the torture was over, and (b) encouraged - I know there’s a HUGE difference
between 10 miles and a marathon, but I felt SO strong during this training run
that I knew I could at LEAST hang on to Holly-Rae for the first half of the
marathon (or maybe even 15 miles or so!).
I got in four more runs between that workout and our big race and
let Holly-Rae know that I really wasn’t sure how long I would be able to hang
with her. I verbally committed to sticking with her for her goal pace of
8:30-8:35 for the first half, but was very clear with the fact that I doubted
my ability to hang on past that. I know she will scoff and roll her eyes as she
reads this (just like she did in person when I said this to her the first
time!), but I really wasn’t sure what my body would be able to withstand on
race day. I literally prayed that I would be able to fulfill my promise to her
and that my body would hold up for a half marathon with her and that I could
finish the race by run/walking it in for the final half.
Friday night, Gabe’s Gram (my mom) met us at our place after we got
home from work - we had made arrangements for her to come down to our place to
stay with him when we traversed to Indy for the race. We got on the road about
5pm - it felt weird leaving the little guy, but it was also exciting in a way
as well. We had arranged for the rest of our crew to coordinate getting our
bibs and T-shirts - it’s slightly disappointing to not get the “whole” race
weekend experience with expo attendance and pre-race dinner with a group of
friends, but the general excitement of the impending race day was more than
enough “thrill” for us (since we both had to work and couldn’t leave earlier in
the day to get to the expo ourselves).
When we arrived at our hotel in Indy (set up by Holly-Rae and her
friend Aaron, THANK YOU GUYS!!!), we met Holly-Rae and Aaron in the lobby and
got our T-shirts and race bibs. We chatted a bit about the next morning and
made a rough plan – we hoped to leave the hotel together by 6:30 to drive
down to a lot near the race where Aaron had purchased us a reserved spot and
then walk to the start to arrive roughly an hour before start time.
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| We may or may not have stayed up wayyyyy too late watching the creepy movie Split on HBO - we don't have HBO at home, nor do we have many opportunities to watch movies without the "distractions" of a little guy. Plus, once we started watching the movie - I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep if we stopped before seeing how it ended. SO. CREEPY!! |
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| Morning-of hotel-shenanigans |
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| Hotel Lobby - ready to GO! |
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| Tired girls in the car... |
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| A few minutes of warmth in the expo center |
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| Date Day Pic! |
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| Clint ordered this bib caption for me - love it! |
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| The finish line - calm before the storm! |
Aaron needed to deposit his drop bag (which also included Clint’s
long-sleeved top and my sweatshirt for after the race – THANKS again, Aaron!
This guy really was one of the MVPs of the day!) so Holly-Rae and I walked to
help him find the depository. We ended up leaving Clint in line for the porta
potties so he could hopefully take care of business (spoiler alert – he ended
up leaving the long line and just went to the starting line and used a porta
potty on the course later). I felt bad leaving him!!
After getting rid of the drop bag, Aaron made his way to the start
and Holly-Rae and I decided to chance it looking for a bathroom inside a
Marriot near the start – another girl participating in the race told us there
wasn’t a line! So, we hurried up a few flights of stairs and across a skywalk…and
there was indeed a literal light at the end of the tunnel in the form of
glorious, warm, no-line secret BATHROOMS! We used them quickly and then got on
our way…the crowds were HUGE, larger than I expected. Turns out this is the 20th
largest marathon in the country – who knew!?
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| Starting line... |
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| Gellin' UP! |
We lined up mere minutes before the start…and before we knew it,
they gave the starting signal! It became clear after a few minutes that we had
actually somehow gotten in the second wave. No big deal (obviously, with the
chip timing!), but we ended up waiting a few minutes longer before our crowd
moved up to the start line and were then released.
We didn’t do a warmup other than our running around
bathroom-hunting, so my first few strides (or more!) were a bit creaky and
unsteady. We did our best to find our
own space and rhythm as we settled into the race. Mile 1 clicked off in 8:17 – definitely a bit
too far under our target pace of 8:30-8:35. I knew we needed to be conservative
and not blow things early on in the race – for both of our sakes!
Holly-Rae cast off her large sweatshirt (an Aaron-gift that he had
secured from a Goodwill – that guy thinks of everything, I tell you!) as we
started to warm up. We were able to slow things down from our first mile and
Mile 2 clicked off in 8:41. Ok, a little on the “slow” side, I knew we were
still fine as the two miles averaged together to below our goal pace. However,
I didn’t want us to lose too much so early on!
After this, we did our best to keep our pace in check, but with my
paranoia of going too far under the pace and the inconsistencies of our watches
it was kinda challenging. Mile 4 was 8:19 according to my watch and mile 5 was
8:32. I was keeping a running total in my head of approximately how many
seconds under our pace we were. Math games are a fun distraction to me while I
am running. Another fun distraction was taking selfies and silly pictures along
the course. Inspired by Tanya who took pictures at every mile during her first
marathon out at Big Sur, I decided to bring my phone along for the ride during
this race. I wore one of my fav race gear items – my stretchy “Flip belt.” This
thing is great – super stretchy and has fit me throughout a variety of different-times-of-life
sizes without chafing or excessive bounce. My phone, car key, gels, and debit
card all fit inside perfectly. I’ve had the flip belt for years – I got it
probably 6 or so years ago at a race expo and love it! After the first half
mile or so, though, the phone came out of the belt and was in my hand or stuffed
in my sports bra for easier access for the rest of the race. At one point during the first quarter of the
race, a fellow runner actually offered to take a picture of the two of us while
we were running – fun! Ha!
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| Thanks for the snap, Random Stranger! |
The camaraderie and upbeat atmosphere amongst runners was pretty
great, particularly in the first half of the race.
Mile 6- 8:11
Mile 7- 8:20
Mile 8- 8:25
Mile 9- 8:24
Mile 10- 8:20
After Mile 11 dinged (8:24), we knew that our friend Amber would be nearing the end of her half - she was gunning for a big PR and we were reallllly hopeful for her that she would hit it (her training indicated that she should!!). I became obsessed with finding out how she did and send out texts to HR’s hubby Tim as well as AP (who was pacing Amber) to get updates ASAP. Focusing on her race and hoping for a big day for her distracted us for a while, which is always nice. I also tried my hardest to get an update about Clint from someone, anyone. Since we didn’t see him at the start (the last I knew at that point was that he was in a porta potty line!), I wasn’t sure where he was or if he had even gotten to the start line at all. I was hoping all was well…but really NEEDED to know for sure! It literally about drove me mentally batty for the first 15 miles or so of the race before I heard that someone had gotten a text update that he had crossed the half (yeah, as usual, the text updates were less than timely).
Mile 12- 8:34
Mile 13 was over in 8:20. I was ecstatic to hear my watch ding at
mile 13. I knew we were almost to the halfway point in the race and I had
almost fulfilled my commitment!
When we reached the half, my watch showed 1:51ish (later chip time
checking showed 1:50:44) which felt pretty darn great to me. I knew from my
mental calculations that this was roughly an 8:30 average pace (actually it was
8:28) – so we were well on track to meeting our pace goal of 8:30-8:35. Ok, not OUR pace goal – HOLLY-RAE’S pace
goal! I was now done – my work was complete after half right?!
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| HALFWAY HOME! |
I was somehow still hangin’ at mile 16 (8:45)…
And for the next three delightful miles…
Mile 17- 8:36
Mile 18- 8:28
Mile 19- 8:20
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| Sweet, sweet mile 20! |
Our 21st mile did usher in our slowest 10k…but it was in
no way a total slog-fest. We kept our spirits up and kept working and
fighting.
Mile 21- 8:41
Mile 22- 8:39
Mile 23- 8:42
Mile 24- 8:41. Sure, things slowed down a bit…but we had seconds in
the bank from our first 20 miles and I knew we were still realllllly close to her
(our!) goal of the 8:30-8:35 pace.
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| Twenty-Five!!! |
Shortly after mile 25 rolled over (in our slowest time - 8:58), I
saw an oh-so-familiar form in front of me running next to a less-familiar form
in a pink Grim Reaper Fitness shirt. Could it be? Yup! It was Clint! Who was he
running with though? It took me a second to figure out who it was – Rick Vincent!
Shortly after I realized who it was, Clint turned around to look behind himself
and he saw us and grinned. Judging from the grin and the fact that he really
didn’t look tired (I have seen PLENTY of tired/worn out/beaten down Clint
toward the end of other races!), I formed the hypothesis that he was pacing
Rick. About that time, Rick also turned around to see us and I saw his face
fall. Uh oh. In my mind, he was hurting and not doing as well as he had hoped
and was pissed that we were catching up to him. After he turned back around, he
actually picked up the pace – I would like to think we gave him a figurative
kick in the pants to get past a bit of his hump and finish as strong as
possible. Wait…is that…yup, Clint just mooned us. Sick, Clint! Believe it or
not, Holly-Rae didn’t even notice – her head was down and she was nose to the
grindstone, workin’ it out. I really don’t think anyone else around us noticed
either. The end of a marathon, as y’all know, is just not a time to notice much
other than your own pain. Too bad ;). Or maybe - lucky! HA!!
Mile 26 clicked over in 8:43 – of course my watch was almost a
quarter mile short at this point, so we had about a half mile to go. We put our heads down and did work. I was
sure ready to be done at this point – and I would be LYING if I said I wasn’t
moderately hurting. We made somewhat of an effort to catch Rick and Clint (in
my head it would be fun to cross the finish all together!), and Holly-Rae urged
me to leave her and catch them. First of all, NOPE – we are finishing this
together, girl! Second, I really don’t know if I COULD have!
As we approached the final right-hand turn toward the long-awaited
finish line, I heard some familiar shouts and saw AP, Tanya and Amber cheering
to our left. I motioned toward them so that Holly-Rae could be sure to
see them. She didn’t see them at first, but I motioned again and I think
she saw them! We powered down toward the finish line and I did my best to speed
up a bit more so that I could slow down right next to the finish line to catch
a pic of HR as she crossed and then I quickly crossed after.
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| Three-time marathon finisher, Holly-Rae! |
Our last 0.46 by my watch was in 3:33/a 7:39 pace – looks like we
had some speed left in our tired legs, believe it or not!
Total Chip time: 3:43:57 – this was my third fastest marathon, ever
(out of 13 total marathons run from October 2009-present). I’m calling this a
big success – not every race can be or should be a PR.
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| The finish line of a marathon is one of my favorite places |
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| Rick + Clint |
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| HR + Me |
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| BloNo crew (most of it!) |
Thanks to my less-than-stellar homing skills, it took us a while
(and a few wrong turns) before we found our car. Once we did, we got on the
highway toward Blo-No and stopped off at a Chipotle about 10 minutes away for
some post-race salty, delicious calories before heading home.
THANKS to Mitch, my teammates, Saucony (those pretty NYC Freedoms
treated my feet well during the marathon!!), and Coach Clint. Shout out to
Holly-Rae for a FUN day. I’ve never run an entire marathon with another person
and I had an absolute blast. What a ride!! Let’s do it again sometime!! I'm proud of you, girl, you ran a great race and absolutely NAILED your pace goal as well as your goal to run a strong final 10k and not totally die. Here's to big things in 2018, my friend!
Next up: Race reports for Canal Connection, Oglesby Turkey Trot, and
FOLEPI (which may or may not be posted on my blog if I get around to it! :)
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Next Race: the BRRC 5k on Saturday, December 2 (for more information about this if you are interested and didn’t see the info on Facebook – shoot me a message! We would love to have you!!)
Happy Running, all! Here's to the winter months and training for a strong spring season (and, for me, my very first BOSTON!!)
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| Maybe I'll see ya again someday, Indy! You were a pretty sweet race! |
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