OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini Marathon: race recap

Whoops, I realized I still "owe" "you" (myself) a recap of the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini Marathon... and now you see why we just call it the Mini.

Okay, so the race was at 7:30 AM, which means I set my alarm for 5:30 AM - 15 minutes to hit snooze and try to wake up, another 15 minutes to get into the shower (I was given strict instructions that someone else would be taking his shower at 6 AM), and then about 45 minutes to try to get everything out of my body, if you know what I mean.  (I know, TMI, sorry.)

Around 6:45ish we headed out to the corrals.  I made one last attempt at the bathroom, in vain, and yes, this would come back to haunt me later.  (The nice thing about long training runs is you at least teach your body how to hold it with minimal discomfort.)  Around 7:30, after some fireworks, we were off.  I started 1:45 off the gun time this year, which was the closest I've ever started, so that was very exciting.  This is because I was in Corral D, which was for people who had requested and provided proof for preferred seeding (aka, had finished a half marathon in under 2.5 hours in the previous year).

I knew what my goal pace was (10 minutes/mile), which would have had me finish at 2:11, but I was hoping for 2:10.  I had been training in the Park at about 3 - 5 minutes over that, so I knew it would be a challenge to meet my goal, but luckily the Park is very hilly, and Indianapolis is very flat, so I had that going for me.  Plus I always find that race day gives me a little boost I need to go a bit faster.  That being said, I started off feeling good.

A lot of people go all out at the beginning, going as fast as they can, but I try not to do that.  I just focused on my own pace and how I was feeling, and even though pretty much everyone was passing me, I did my best not to let that bother me, because I was just focused on having a good finish.

I was feeling good heading into the Speedway, which is the best part of the race - I absolutely love running around the Speedway, it's such a unique experience - plus, when you exit the Speedway, you'r already at about mile 9, which means there are "only" 4 miles left to go.  Haha!  I got to the Speedway in record time, too, and around mile 7 or 8, I was only about 30 seconds away from my goal pace, which was pretty exciting.

However, once I exited the Speedway, I could feel myself slowing down, mentally.  I had to go to the bathroom (and I don't like to stop for potty breaks because I lose my momentum), and I could just feel myself getting overwhelmed by how much farther it was.  You'd think that after 9 or 10 miles, another 3 or 4 doesn't seem so bad, but 10 miles is about my limit, I think.  At least I know what to focus on when training for my next half (looooong runs).

Mile 10 was okay, mile 11 was even less okay, and mile 12 was the hardest (like it always is for me).  The last .1 mile is THE WORST for me.  I walked a few times, especially when I was getting some Gatorade and water, but I tried to keep moving and made sure to finish the last .35 miles running and pushing myself to finish strong.  It didn't feel like I finished strong since I did do some walking, but I finished with a new personal and course best, so I cannot be unhappy about that.

Mini Course Times

2011 - 2:14:28 (10:16 pace) {Brickyard at 1:18:13, 10M at 1:41:29}

2010 - 2:29:07 (11:23 pace) {5M at 58:53, 10M at 1:55:16}

2009 - 2:51:37 (13:06 pace) {5M at 1:00:38, 10M at 2:08:49}

Overall Half Marathon Times

2011 Mini Marathon - 2:14:28 (10:16 pace) {Brickyard at 1:18:13, 10M at 1:41:29}

2011 Hyannis Half Marathon - 2:19:38 (10:40 pace)

2010 Boston Half Marathon - 2:19:33 (10:40 pace) {5M at 53:55, 10M at 1:46:26}

2010 Mini Marathon - 2:29:07 (11:23 pace) {5M at 58:53, 10M at 1:55:16}

2009 Mini Marathon - 2:51:37 (13:06 pace) {5M at 1:00:38, 10M at 2:08:49}

Marek had also signed up for some tracking updates, which was a new thing this year.  He got an e-mail three times during the race (Brickyard, 10M, and finish points), which he showed me later.  My parents were getting the same e-mails, and that actually helped keep me motivated, too - knowing that they were following along.  According to the e-mails, I was at a 9:13 minute/mile pace when I entered the Brickyard, which is the fastest I've ever gone, so I'm incredibly excited about that.  I also wasn't dying when I entered the Brickyard, so now I know I can go faster.

I'm taking a couple weeks off and then training starts again for the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in Chicago, which should also be pretty flat (and hopefully not too hot!).  I'll be shooting for 2:10/2:11 for that half, and I'll be busting my butt this summer to make sure that goal happens, and I've already set my sights on a sub-2:00 for next year's Mini (which I signed up for as soon as this one was over, naturally)!