First of all, this is one of the least flattering photos I have ever posted of myself, and it's requiring quite a lot of mental self-talk to do it. I don't look pregnant--I just look bulgy. But I achieved something pretty awesome today, whether bulgy or not.
13.24 miles in 2:08:27, 9:42 mile (Garmin, turned off after crossing finish line)
13.1 miles in 2:08:22, 9:47 mile (official)
5k pace: 9:55
Brickyard: 9:53
11m: 9:52
Finish: 9:47
Regardless, I beat my goal of sub-10 miles at 20 weeks pregnant, which makes me pretty darn proud!!! And I got faster as the race progressed, which is always great!
This was an interesting race in that I decided less than two weeks out I was going to run it. I didn't think that I would be in a position to still run this much at this point in my pregnancy, since in past pregnancies I've been maxing out at 12 mpw at this point, so to still be running 30+ mpw is pretty darn exciting, especially being able to do long runs! In general I have felt much better this pregnancy than with previous ones; I don't know if that's because of the extra time between babies (SO nice not to immediately be pregnant 6 weeks after weaning a baby) or what. I don't think I was in substantially better shape given the 8 weeks I had to take off for the stress fracture, but I think mentally I was much more used to distance running since I'd run 2 half and 2 full marathons since my last pregnancy.
Anyway. I got up at 4:20 AM after a very fitful night's sleep, but anticipating this (see, I'm getting wiser the more I race!) I had been really careful about sleep, nutrition, and hydration all week (given the forecasted highs were like 30 degrees over the bizarrely cold temps we've had for the last two weeks). I got ready, ate my PBJ in the car on the way to meet my new friends (only one of whom I knew in passing before today!), and arrived at our carpool at 5:10 AM. We had a nice ride down to Indy, part of which I passed in being wildly jealous of their group of 15 runners who all work together for a big biotech company in our area--makes talk at lunch much more interesting! Got the car parked, found a bathroom, and then headed to the start line. I really wish I'd been able to somehow get an aerial shot because I LOVED seeing the 30,000 runners lining up...it was just amazing!
Splits:
1: 9:39--this was actually a really hard mile for me. I loved the energy at the start and seeing Meb Keflegzi waving from the cherrypicker overhead--that was AWESOME!!--but I felt SO hot already and I was really worried about how much warmer it was going to get during the day. I kept trying to slow down and when I saw my first split I was so kind of mad, because I was trying to get 10-minute splits for the first 5K and then reassess.
2: 10:01--slowed down and felt less worried mentally, although I was freaking out a little because I felt like I was sweating more than I had ever sweated on any run ever. Then I realized that my sunglasses were trapping heat, my lenses were fogging over, and I had sweat rolling down over my eyes--I put my sunglasses up on my head and the problem was solved. Took a honey stinger and some chia water at the end of this mile.
3: 10:00--still feeling pretty darn hot, so I walked through the water stop and made sure I got every last drop.
4: 9:44--felt like I was settling into the pace a little more and starting to really enjoy the running experience rather than freaking out that I was going to bonk at the 5K. :-) Another honey stinger and more chia water.
5: 9:43--is this where we turned into the town of Speedway? I really enjoyed this section--there was so much to look at and so many people out cheering! I LOVED all the crowds! This is also the point where someone running next to me tapped me on the arm and said, "Hi!" and I stared in running-brain-addled confusion for a few seconds before realizing it was Deb, one of my online running-forum buddies who I've never actually met IRL!
6: 9:39--the Speedway miles were easily my favorite of the entire race. It was SO nice to talk with Deb and not worry about pacing or general running worries or anything--and especially nice because the Speedway had been the part I was most concerned about since it's SO huge and I thought it might get me really mentally down. Snuck a honey stinger/chia stuff at this point (no gels on the track, but they didn't say anything about non-littering-stingers, so I hope that was okay!)
7:10:07--felt like we were running into the wind a bit at this point but it actually felt really nice to cool down so I didn't mind!
8: 9:43--more nice chatting miles with Deb--seriously this part went so fast!
9: 9:52--Deb split off to go to the bathroom and while I really debated waiting with her, I ended up going ahead. Immediately I felt very lonely and kept checking behind me hoping she was catching up! I took a looong time walking through the next water stop hoping to give her some extra time. :-) Another honey stinger.
10: 9:32--for some reason this mile felt awesome and was one of my favorites despite not being particularly attractive course-wise. Maybe it was the water spray thing, maybe it was the knowledge that there was only a 5K to go...
11: 9:43--started having some weird hip niggles here. Fortunately they went away after about 30 seconds; I think it may have been from the camber so I switched to the other side of the road and that seemed to help. Ate the Clif gel that volunteers were handing out about 10.5 and had some chia water to wash it down.
12: 9:42--started passing people lying on the side of the road being worked on by med staff and reminded myself to still keep my pace in check so I didn't end up there too.
13: 9:08--let the pace go and enjoyed every step to the finish line!
last .24: 1:56
Picked up my food and found Deb again just as we had made our way through all the food stuff and were heading over to the meeting area. Walked over to I and found Ted and Mark (more running board buddies) standing there; it was really nice to chat with both of them! I was sorry to miss Rod and Sandy, also from our running board, who hadn't finished yet, but I had to start the looong trek back to the car (we were parked on Market off the circle) and then had a very interesting experience changing my clothes at the Hilton which involved listening to a woman frantically trying to find a bathroom, breaking into the men's bathroom to find a guy randomly asleep on the toilet and then urinating all over the floor--in surprise, I suppose? (I could hear this all from the men's bathroom next to me and it was making me INSANELY curious to know why someone was screaming and why the security guys were telling someone to leave or they would call the police (the guy passed out on the toilet)). Fortunately my friend was outside so she filled me in on the details. :-)
I have to say that this race was WAY more fun than I thought it would be! I ran it at what felt like an easy pace the entire time--I never felt like I was pushing too hard and I still had something in the tank to pick it up the last mile. I felt like I ran a smart race with the pregnancy and kept it within good limits while also meeting my goal (under 10/mile avg pace). Definitely more enjoyable than the half I did a month ago and just a really great day.
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