Running Through Life

Saturday was overcast with a threat of showers, but it was cool. We (Tom and I) got to the corrals a minute before they were closing. We left Allyson to find a parking spot and she was on her own.

We started in the X corral with approximately 30,000 people in front of us. As the gun we went off, we shuffled forward. I found a break in the fence and dashed out for the port-a-potties. This gave Tom the head start he "needed".

About 30 minutes after the gun I crossed the start line. Horray, the front runners were proably on the Speedway (the 6 mile mark) and starting to head back. Being this far back to start was a mistake. We need to be there an hour before next time. I did nothing but dodge walkers and slow joggers. Not that I am fast but that is a lot of people to move around.

Eventually I took to the sidewalks following some other trailblazers and made it through. It never really clears out though. You are always weaving in and out. But it only added a tenth of mile to the race - it sure seemed like more.

I kept to my pace fairly well for the first 7 miles. Slowing down and walking at the drink stations and then getting back up. With this process I was averaging just over 10 minutes a mile. Giving me pause to actually believe that I could, maybe if the stars were aligned right and the rest of the course was downhill, I might make my ultimate goal. 2 hours, 11 minutes - an exact 10 minute pace.

I had been fighting an urge to use the restroom for over a mile. This was an urge, I couldn't ignore any longer. While running around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I had to take a dump. A crap here and now. Why now? Up ahead was a porta-a-potty and only 2 guys in line. Out popped a woman. I headed for it. Got in, dumped and then the trouble. Have you ever tried to pull up spandex over very sweaty legs? Not easy.

My watch (my new Garmin Forerunner 405 - I love it) stopped during my lack of forward progress. I figured I lost 2 minutes here. Anyway back on and moving.

Off the track and still passing people. I was amazing catching parts of conversations. we are doing good, 8 miles in 2 hours. How far up had these people started. I was passing people that I should have started in front of.

Mile 10 in 1h 46m 10s. Not bad only 6 minutes behind my ultimate goal. I wouldn't be able to make up that time in the 5k that was left, but I could hang tough and do the last 5k at pace (31m).

Finish time - 2h 16m 49 seconds. That made my last 5k in 30 minutes and 39 seconds. I hung on and beat last years time by 11 minutes.

Training does help.

And how did Tom do? Very well. He beat me by 11 seconds. He, who wanted 2 - 3 minutes per mile advantage. What a sandbagger.

Oh well.

My hats off to you Tommie. I really thought treadmill only training was going to hurt. Apparently you trained alot more than you let on.

Numbers look hard to read so here they are. Tom is listed first and myself second.
Tom - 5mile time 50.37 - 10mile time 1.44.27 - Total time 2.16.38
Mike - 5mile time 50.53 - 10mile time 1.46.10 - Total time 2.16.49