I won!

Well, I did not exactly “win” the Indy 500 Mini-Marathon, but I did win! At least, that is what my friend Ann tells me. :)

The first time I ran [the Indy 500 Mini-Marathon], the kids kept saying, “Mom, you won!” and I told them “sometimes finishing is winning.” -- Ann

With that, I am going to re-cap my Indy 500 mini-marathon experience for you in sections. Please, read as much or as little as you would like to. As always, I will try to insert humor and tid-bits on inspiration to keep you reading… :)

[the sickness]

Since about Thursday, I have been battling a head cold of sorts. At first, I thought it was “just allergies”, which I have actually been tested for and have “no allergies” (but that’s another story…). However, it quickly turned into a sore throat, sinus pressure, a headache, nausea, and dizziness by Thursday night. Luckily, this was only the second time I became ill since I started my training in January. [I take Zyrtec (for the allergies I don’t have, haha), calcium and Vitamin D (to build stronger bones), Vitamin C (to help the immune system), and a multi-vitamin for women every day.] Sadly, it was the worst timing possible.

Consequently, I was very discouraged and upset the few days leading up to the race because I felt that the last 15 weeks of training (see chart below, click to enlarge) were basically out the window. [Yes, I document most of my training. I do not document walking. Haha.]

To remedy the sickness, I tried a 4 to 6 hour nasal decongestant. No luck. I tried 12 hour Sudafed. No luck. I took Tylenol. Still hurting. I slept more hours. Still exhausted. I tried to de-stress by thinking happy thoughts. Nope. I drank a lot of water. No change. The list goes on…

If you know me at all, you know I am competitive. You know I love numbers. You know I love to analyze things. You know that I strive to do my best whenever possible. You know I struggled with pride. You know I am my own worst enemy because I am overly critical of myself.

I will admit it... When I realized that my sickness was not going to go away before the big race, I let out a few tears (a few times). I mean, seriously, I have been training for this one day for a long time. Actually, I had been training for just over a two hour period race for 15 weeks. I had every right to be upset and discouraged. Right? RIGHT?! RIGHT!!!

(At least, that is what I tell myself.)

[the expo]

Friday, I left work a little early to go home and get things together. I wanted to make sure I did not forget something – like my running shoes! I got all of my stuff together. I attempted to make a playlist on my iPhone for the race; I like the background distraction. Though, I ended up just putting a bunch of my favorite artists in a playlist – 21.6 hours is a bit much for a half marathon, you know. Finally, I was ready to make the trek down to the Expo.

It takes about an hour to get to Indianapolis from my house, which is not bad at all. When I got to the city, I tried to figure out where to park. I ended up driving around for a little while before parking on the road by the Bourbon Street restaurant (fabulous place, by the way). That was a bit of a hike from the Convention Center, but I was looking forward to stretching my legs a bit.

The convention center was swarming with people! There were all sorts of vendors and information stations and packet pick-up and vendors…

I picked up my packet without a hitch, and I was very excited to find some fun gear – a hat and a long sleeved technical tee -- inside the bag! Then, I wandered around for a bit looking for a good deal on some shoes in my size, style, etc., but I did not see anything. Before I left, I talked with a guy at the information station about parking, which put my mind at ease. In fact, I was more worried about parking then I should have been. After getting what I needed, I headed toward the door.

When I got to the door, my heart sank a bit. It was raining. Oh, no! I had to walk quite a way in the rain. Oh, no! What if I melt?!

I sucked it up, and I realized it could be refreshing and relaxing. It was not that bad until it started to really pour. Then, it was not relaxing at all. So, I ran to the car.

When I got to the car, I was seriously soaked. Luckily, I had a towel in my gym bag to put on the seat and sort of dry off with. I had about a 40 minute drive to Fishers, where I was staying with a friend for the night. The plan was to drive to the nearest Subway, change clothes, eat dinner, and head to my friend’s place. Of course, plans never work out like you plan.

I was 2.5 miles from my exit when I realized traffic was backing up, and I was going to be stuck in it. Crap! I was sick. Tired. Wet. Cold. Hungry. CRAP! I could not exit either. Bummer. So, I turned up the music and tried to drown out the situation. I think it took 20 minutes to go those 2.5 miles…

I found the nearest Subway. I changed out of my wet clothes. I felt better. I ate. I felt even better. I drove to my friend’s place. It was not hard to find. Awesome.

The plan was to go to bed right away, and we sort of did. Six hours of sleep would have been fine if I could have actually slept. However, my body decided that it did not want to sleep. I am pretty sure I slept about two hours that night. Ugh.

[pre-race]

I got out of bed at 5 am to get things ready and head to the city. By 5:30 am, I was on the road with my Power Bar, water bottle, and drugs.

I followed the Indy 500 2010 pace car (a Camaro!) into the city. (Well, I passed it. But… I did follow it for a few miles.) That was fun! When I got to the city, I was there so early that I got to park for free on the street. Awesome!

I talked with this random lady for a little while; she and 4,999 other people were running the 5k. Then, Katie, the running partner, sent me a text, and I managed to locate her and her sister without too much trouble. Given it was windy (20 mph!), we ducked into a nearby storefront area to stay out of the wind as long as possible. After getting our headphones and racing bibs ready, we took this picture.

I decided that it would be a good idea to use the port-o-potty before the race. So, I headed over that way to stand in line for about 20 minutes. Maybe, it was 15… Of course, I met a random stranger in line. She was running the mini for the ninth time. Very cool!

Then, we made our way over to the corrals. We wanted to be closer to the front, but we could not just move up in line because people actually check your bib for a letter. Though, we did jump over one of the plastic ropes from the T corral to the S corral. (Shh!! Don’t tell anyone.) And we found Colin there…

And Katie’s shoe twin…

After waiting around for about 30 more minutes, no joke, the race finally began! Of course, we still had 20 minutes of walking before even getting to the start line. And… We of course chatted it up with another random person while walking to the start line. This time, it was a guy about my father’s age who was in the army. He was running for the third time (I think..). He gave us some tips on how to get around people and on the pit areas since they did not have very many around the track area.

We finally made it to the start line, and the fun began…

[the race]

Previous to starting, I did mention to Katie that I was still feeling sick. Though, I had decided to suck it up and not complain after we started the run. Looking back on this, I think I should have just told her from the beginning to go on without me. Of course, I did not do that.

We weaved in and out of the crowd the first few miles. This was actually pretty fun! Katie would lead the way. Or I would. Then, we would meet in the middle and run side by side. It was interesting given the race was 35,000 people.

We started settling into a pace around mile 3, I think. We were averaging about a 9:30 pace or so. Like I said, I did not feel well when we started – sinus pressure, nausea, dizziness, could not fully breathe, etc. – but I just figured it would “be okay”. Around mile 4.5, Katie pulled out in front of me, and I just could not keep up. She went on. I stayed behind.

Around mile 4.8, my lungs were getting tight, and I started to wheeze. I had to walk. I had no other choice. And so I did.

I must have looked horrible because this guy came up and asked me if I was okay. I said that I was sick and that I could not breathe. He coached me a bit and walked with me for a while. When I would get ready to run again, he told me I was not ready. At one point, he said, “So, is this your first half?” I told him it was my second. He asked, “Is it your last?” I just grinned and said, “Nope, I am running a marathon in October.” He was quiet after that. He probably thought I was crazy. Heck, I think that at times, too! However, I am still running the full marathon. You better believe it! :)

So, I walked a bit more until he let me go on. He said, “Now, go run YOUR race!”

(Thanks for the encouragement, Scott! I do not know anything but your first name, but I do appreciate the help more then you will actually ever know.)

It was all downhill physically from there…

I started running again. Then, I would walk. Then, I would run until I reached the next pit area where I could walk again. It was a horrible cycle that I could not stop. I felt like I was either going to throw up or pass out. It was not fun. And… I did not have my running partner to pull me through. So, I had to coach myself through it.

I entered the Indy 500 speedway around mile 6. Those 2.5 miles were the worst! The track was super boring to run on after the first 0.1 miles or so when you think, “Sweet! This is the Indy 500 track. I am running on the Indy 500 track!” When I was walking this time, two different people on the sidelines asked if I was okay. Did I seriously look that bad?!

I finally made my way off the track, which is also about the point at which the wind was going against my back. YES! Though, I still felt like crap. So, it really did not matter.

When I got to mile marker 10, I could only think of the last two long runs I did with Katie – one was 10 miles and one was 10.3 miles. I did that without too much trouble with a 10:16 and 10:19 pace, respectively. This was right in line with our goal of a 10:00 pace for the race; you typically run anywhere from 30 to 90 seconds per mile faster on race day. I looked down at my Garmin GPS watch and checked my average pace. It read 11:02. My heart sank…

I decided that I would at least try to get an 11:00 pace for the race. However, my body was not having anything to do with that. I would run. Then, I would be even more dizzy and nauseous. So, I walked.

Since I cannot run and drink water, I tried to run from one station to the next with the anticipation that I would at least be able to walk soon. Or I would pick out people in the crowd – scrub outfit twins, bright green shirt guy, butterfly outfit girl, girl with blood on her calf, attractive man about my age, etc. -- to run with for a while. When that was not working, I tried to at least run 0.5 mile. Then, I would settle with 0.25 miles of running. I was so close to finishing!

The last mile was over a bridge, and I was determined to run that final mile. However, my body just would not cooperate. So, I gave in, and I walked some more. I kept looking at my watch, and I knew I was not going to hit the 11:00 pace goal. It just was not going to happen. And my heart sank a little more…

[the finish line]

I finished with a time of 2:27:22 (11:15 min/mile pace). 1:15 slower than I had hoped for just a week before. 1:15 slower than what I know I am capable of. 1:00 slower than what I ran back on October 17th with Allison in my first half marathon. 0:15 slower than what I had hoped for back when I was on the track.

That was the worst run of my year long running career. It was the hardest. It was the longest. It was the most frustrating. And it was the most humbling…

However, I did finish!

And… I have certainly earned the nickname “Trooper” from Katie, and let me tell you that she earned her nickname (“Rock Star”), too! 2:06:45 (9:41 min/mile)!!! Way to go, Katie!!

[insert funny story, here]

Katie’s sister and I also “lost” Katie after the race. We searched for about 30 minutes, and she was nowhere to be found. Luckily, she ended up at Panera, where they thankfully let her use their phone. We made our way over there and chatted for a while about the race. Then, I moved to the floor to stretch out a bit more.

While stretching, I must have held it for too long because this guy comes over and taps me on the shoulder. I looked up, and it was a police officer. He asked, “Are you okay?” I said, “Yes, I am just stretching.” “Oh. I just wanted to let you know that I am a first responder.” “Uh, yeah. I am just stretching. Thanks, though.” Then, he walked away, but I must add he was hesitant to walk away…

Did I seriously look that bad?! Geeze!!

[the take home message]

A day later, I will admit that I am still upset about the race. However, I received a lot of encouragement from friends and fellow runners, which is very much appreciated!

My worth is not defined by how hard, long, or consistently I train. My worth is not defined by numbers. My worth is not defined by setting PRs every single time I run in a race. (Thanks, Jon-A-thon!) My worth is not in whether or not I can run 13.1 miles without stopping. My worth is not in what others think of me. My worth is not in what I think of myself.

NO!

My worth lies in Christ and Christ alone.

Hebrews 12 1:3 -- “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”