Since this was my fist major race, I really didn’t know what I was getting into on the brisk, nay FREAKIN’ COLD morning of November 3rd. I was a tad nervous to say the least. As the time got closer to the 8am start, the temperature didn’t rise like I was hoping and I couldn’t get into the area where I wanted to start. I was trying to start with other people running between a 9 and 10 minute mile. The closest I could get was to 11 minute mile people. In hindsight, I think that was a good thing because I was forced to go out slower which probably helped me actually finish the race running!
After slowly moving towards the start line (it took 5 minutes to get there) we were off through downtown Indianapolis!
The great route took us past some major Indianapolis landmarks:
We also ran through neighborhoods, including my own, then finally sort of past the Children’s Museum, then back downtown to the finish line.
I ran with a light jacket, gloves, and a bottle of the chia seed drink (chia seeds, water, and lemon juice). It was just too damn cold to take the jacket off! The first few miles I was just kind of taking in the scene. Thousands of people running, thousands of people cheering you on by the side of the road, plus running down streets I’d driven on for years and getting to see the city from a different angle were all very energizing!
By mile 3 I was getting comfortable and clearly in a sub-10 minute mile pace.
By mile 5 I thought to myself, “Gee, I think I could do a marathon some day, this is fun!” At mile 6 I tried to unzip my jacket thinking I could take it off. Nope, too cold!
Mile 8.5 I ran by my house, but I wasn’t tempted to run to the bed and sleep.
Mile 9, I finally took my jacket off and felt warm and comfortable.
Mile 10, I thought, “OK, only a 5K left, let’s do this!”
Mile 11, I could tell I was slowing down, I was hoping to get to Mile 12.
Mile 11.2, “Where is Mile 12?”
Mile 11.5, “You’re kidding me, did they stop putting up signs?”
Mile 11.6, “Where the FUCK is Mile 12?!!!?”
Mile 12, I can do this, only 10 more minutes!
Mile 12.5, this is where I actually started to get emotional. I was thinking about how I started to run back in June, and here I was in November running a damn half marathon! How crazy is that?! I was feeling good, and tried to push it through the final .6 miles!
Mile 13.1, WOW! I finished, I feel good, not great, but good. I probably couldn’t have run another 10 miles, but probably another mile or two…who knows…
The final results were this:
Place Overall: 2814
Ave. Pace: 10:03/mile
Finish Time: 2hours 11 minutes 51 seconds
I’m pretty proud of the time, and I will definitely keep running! Here’s to another half-marathon or two next year, and maybe, just maybe a full marathon the year after…or maybe sooner!
Mythical 5th Position 
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