Austin and I completed the 2011 Indianapolis 500 Festival One America Minimarathon as we proudly represented Anneliese and everyone with ties to Neurofibromatosis.
Here is my account of the event:
I have been due for a race with good weather and this was the one! I woke up at 5:30 and ate my traditional bagel with peanut butter and drank Powerade. Austin and I stayed downtown the night before the race which was a first for me. Our room overlooked the start line of the race where I could see final prep taking place. The Neurofibromatosis (NF) Endurance Team had a team pic scheduled for 6:30. We left for the picture expecting a slight chill in the air so I wore my arm warmers. I quickly realized that I wouldn't be needing the arm warmers or the sun glasses I had clipped to them. At the picture we met up with Team Captain Joe Gunn and several other people running the 5k or half-marathon. After the picture we completed our .5 mile warmup run and then headed back to the hotel to drop off the stuff we wouldn't need. While we were in the room the 5k race started. Seeing the race start from 8 stories up was pretty cool. I had a better appreciation for the wave in the sea of people.
Right after the 5k started we headed down to corral F (the Minimarathon uses an alphabetic coral system to stage the 35,000 runners for the race). A guy standing in front of us was a magnet for the beach balls that were flying around the pens of people. He must have been hit in the head 30 times or more before the corral compression started. Even as I stood in the corral I wasn't sure what my goal was going to be for the race. To race hard or even effort training run?
I crossed the start line about 3:45 after the start, give or take. I used an agressive weave to pass people in the first mile and still managed only a 9:25 first mile split. Mile 2 was right around 8:10, possibly too fast but that remained to be seen. Mile three was congested again and over 9:10. During mile 3 I was also feeling a little light headed. Shortly after mile 4 the feeling had passed possibly aided by the gel pack I had taken. My race strategy was broken down into a 5mile/5mile/5k segmentation so at this point in the race I was most concerned with where I would be sitting at the 5 mile point. I crossed the marker in 43:56 (my watch time). I was happy with that split since I was shooting for anything under 45 minutes.
Soon after passing the mile 5 marker I looked ahead and to my right and saw the facade of the Motor Speedway. I was determined not to be intimidated by the track this year. In past years the 2.5 mile oval inside of the Speedway had seen me go from PR (personal record- best completion time for a given distance) aspirant to holding on for dear life. As I entered the track the energy from the cheer squads boosted me. About the far turn I realized that I was no longer being passed by anyone and I was the one doing the passing. That boosted my confidence. I was feeling better than I ever have in any race! I exited the track and popped a gel right before passing the 15k point. After my second 5 mile segment I was @ 1:27:56 for the race (official time). Doing the math in my head I had even split the first 10 miles.
After a pit stop I was back on the course and headed for home. Running past the biker bar on the way back to town isn't the same since they hand out water now instead of beer. Miles 11 and 12 were comfortable, perhaps 20 seconds slower per mile than I was averaging to that point. Mile 13 included a surge until .75 when I dialed back a little, then a surge at 1/2 until I spotted my family. I ran by them before I realized it was them! I checked around me to make sure the coast was clear then I back tracked a little bit to pre-celebrate. Just then the announcer starting urging runners on to finish before the gun time struck 2:00. I gave it what I had and just missed with a gun time of 2:00:08 and a chip time of 1:56:10. I was about 2 minutes over my PR but proud of the effort.
No comments:
Post a Comment