Indianapolis Monumental Marathon

Finisher swag.

 

EEEK! I finally finished a marathon this fall!! Bahahaha!!! Ok, I'm finished making fun of myself now.

I bought these shoe charms at the expo. I didn't wear them for the race because I'm a huge believer in not doing anything new on race day!

 

For those who aren't familiar, here's a quick recap of my marathon race year:

• Little Rock Marathon at the beginning of March (3:52:??), 6-7 months postpartum...I was ecstatic!
• Carmel Marathon at the end of April (3:46:??)...again, ecstatic about a 6 minute improvement.
• Erie Marathon at the beginning of September (DNF)...quit at 12.3 miles.
• Columbus Marathon mid October (DNF)...I decided to do the half instead.

 

I was hoping the fall might bring me a BQ, but something was happening with my body that I couldn't quite figure out. Long story short, the theory is that a new medication I was taking might have been the culprit. In hopes that I could make things change in time for Indy, I went to my doc and he changed me to something else. I think...THINK...MAYBE it might have helped. In my DNFs, I seemed to bonk around 7-8 miles. Today was much different.

 

**********

Expo fun.

 

I ALWAYS go into marathons with a time goal. I don't want to be that person that says I don't have a goal, but really I have a goal that's none of your damn business because I might not reach it. Ha!! After two DNFs, I honestly didn't want to give myself any expectation. I had no idea how my body would feel with this new med in my system. I told myself two things: 1) have fun. 2) damn it, Lisa, FINISH A FREAKING MARATHON THIS FALL! (enter all the eye rolls)

Wave 2!

 

I didn't get to see all of my pals at the start, but I was able to snap a pic with Jackie and Jeanne.

Two of my favorites at the start line.

Of course, it felt cold but I ran to the start line to warm up a bit. It took a good 2 miles to warm up during the race. My strategy was to not look at my watch and break up the race in sections in my mind.

I love the start/finish area of this race. Beautiful.

 

My first goal was to make it to the 7-8 mile mark without being nauseous. Goal met! During Erie and Columbus, this seemed to be the point in which I knew my fate was not good. I wanted the feel of my first mile or two to be obnoxiously slow. [8:41, 8:27] Go me! After that I wanted to allow myself to speed up, but only if I felt happy and my body was not nauseous. Sometime around mile 6, I realized I was just behind the 3:40 group. I decided I would try to stick close to them in case I continued to feel good. Miles 2-8 are as follows [8:03, 8:19, 8:15, 8:14, 8:18, 8:18]. Pretty decent consistency for not looking at my watch!

 

After this point, the marathoners were without the halfers. I was still without nausea and not yet fatigued (hello Erie and Cbus). Up to this point, I had been entertaining myself by looking for people with Buckeye gear so that I could yell "O-H!" It worked and helped me to stay distracted. The next mark I was awaiting was the infamous 10.5 miles where I quit the marathon two years ago. When I passed it, the memories flooded back, and I had a big smile on my face because I was still feeling ok! I finally made it to the half marathon marker in just under 1:50...feeling like I had more to give. Miles 9-13 were [8:19, 8:22, 8:13, 8:21, 8:17].

 

At the halfway point, I was feeling positive about the possible outcome. I knew that I would finish, but I didn't want to get too excited because there was still plenty of time for fun things to happen. At this point, I was still hanging with the 3:40 pace group. I was able to stick with them for the next two miles [8:25, 8:21] before crap hit the fan.

 

At around 16 miles, I started feeling nauseous. My pace slowed down [8:47], but I didn't let it get to me mentally. I could still try to speed up if I could just make it through the nausea. I promised myself that I would take it one mile at a time when I started to feel this way. Mile 17 is when things really took a turn. My belly felt very crampy/gassy. When I tried to let it out, I let out things that needed to stay inside. Thank goodness I wore a feminine product to save my undergarments. All I could think about at this point was getting to the next potty. The bad part is that I wasn't sure how far away it was! Ugh. This mile ended up being [8:43]...pretty consistent with my last mile. I guess you can call the 8:40s my gassy/gotta shit my pants race pace.

 

...And there it was...

 

Was it a mirage? Or was it the port-a-pot that was going to save my favorite shorts? As my watch read 17.9 miles, I realized I was finally approaching a potty! YAY!!! There was no line, and I was able to get right in. Just as I was thinking that I was the most disgusting human being on the planet, I heard the runner beside me grunting three times as loud as me. Phew. Due to this potty break, mile 18 was [12:51]. BOO!! Based on that time and the previous miles, I'm guessing my break was approximately 4 minutes. Bummer.

 

I temporarily felt better and tried to remain optimistic. I continued not to look at my watch because looking at my watch would make me unhappy. My next mile ended up being [8:52]. After 19 miles, I knew the rest would be trouble. I started to walk a bit during this mile, but got super frustrated with myself. I told myself to just make it to 20. If I can keep running to 20, I'll give myself permission to walk. This mile ended up being [9:23].

 

At mile 20, they had an arch and hype team announcing that you had only a 10k left! This actually pumped me up...but not enough to keep running. I was feeling unhappy. It was then that I had to remind myself of my two goals: finish this marathon and run happy! At this point, I kept walking and forced myself to smile. After forcing the smile and listening to everyone cheering me on, the smile was no longer work. It was natural and genuine. The next four miles consisted of walking when I started to feel unhappy and running when I felt the urge. Miles 21-24 were [11:48, 11:33, 12:12, 10:59].

 

At some point in my interval miles, Jackie and I met up. We were both struggling. We decided to try to motivate each other and finish this together. She got ahead of me at one point because I just couldn't run...I couldn't even force my legs to progress faster than a walk. I was starting to cramp like crazy and it was HURTING!

Ouch.

 

I'm not sure what happened, but things took a major turn with about 2.5 miles to go. The cramping stopped, and I felt this tiny bit of energy rush over my body. It was the craziest thing. I started looking at my watch because I wondered if I'd be able to break 4 hours. When I realized I'd be close, depending on the actual Garmin distance, I started to run and never turned back. Mile 25 was [9:09]. So much better...I am almost there!

 

Sometime after this point, I saw Jackie ahead of me. She was walking. I tried my best to catch up to her and said "C'mon Jackie...let's finish this thing. RUN!!" After this, I could not speak words. All I could do was put one foot in front of the other. JUST. KEEP. GOING. Mile 26 [8:38]!

 

We all know our Garmins hit 26.2 before the finish line, but I wasn't sure how much the difference would be for this course. I did realized that I wasn't going to break 4 hours on the race clock, but I sure as hell was trying to run as if I could. Because I'm a weirdo, I looked at my watch until it hit 26.2. If I broke 4 hours when my watch said 26.2, I was going to count it! LOL. It was 3:59:??. LOL. I knew now that I would be mentally ok after crossing the finish line. As I was going down the finishing chute, I heard the hubs and got super happy. I crossed the line with my Garmin reading 26.4 miles, 4:01:18, 9:08/mile average. My last 0.4 miles at [8:37]. I DID IT.

The third shortest marathon I've ever run. HA!

 

My official time:

 

4:01:16.

 

 

My fourth best or worst time depending on if you are glass half empty or full.

 

**********

 

I can honestly say that disappointment never crossed my mind. One might think I would be unhappy, but here's why I wasn't:

• I was so happy to say "I finished" rather than "another DNF."
• In my other fall marathons, I felt fatigued and nauseated by miles 7-8. For this race, it didn't hit me until mile 16!
• If I didn't have such a long poop break, I would have had another sub 4. For some reason, that made it easier to swallow.
• I enjoyed it. I've run shitty marathons of which I've absolutely hated almost every moment (i.e. Columbus 2012...Veteran's 2015).

  

  I spontaneously decided Friday afternoon that I was going to get a tattoo after the race. I couldn't wait! [26.2 + runner girl]

 

A few side notes:

• Nutrition: I took gels per my usual method that seems to work: 15-20 minutes pre-race, miles 4, 9, 14, 19, and whenever I feel like taking one after that. I also took a salt tab anytime I felt tight or started cramping. I'm still not sure if the salt tabs help me. I just know that they don't seem to hurt me.
• Course: Despite what my BFF says, I liked this race and course! There was never one moment that I felt lonely. Maybe it was because the weather was great (mid 40s to low 50s, light wind maybe close to 8-10 mph), but the spectators showed up and made us feel like rock stars. There were some areas of the roads that were a little rough, but it didn't seem to affect my running. I never lost my balance or twisted my ankles because of the road. I also didn't feel like I was in an agility class. I enjoyed running through downtown and the beautiful residential areas. The course is definitely flat as advertised. I can only recall 3-4 inclines during the whole thing...and they weren't even that significant.

While the hubs slept in, I went for a recovery mile followed by coffee, donuts, and exploration. Loved this solo time.

 

I would certainly consider doing this race again in the future. The volunteers and spectators were great. They made it a great experience despite not having my best time.