Indianapolis Mini Marathon 2012, 13.1 Miles, largest 1/2 in the world
The morning started with coffee and a honey stinger. Yum! I tried to dress light as I knew this was going to be a hot one. The Indy directors were saying to stay cool, temps would reach in the upper 80's and very humid. Being a road race, I was a little worried not on the distance but the pounding on my knees of the road. I have been running/jogging trails mostly and have not trained on road. We lined up at the start, corral J I was in. LOTS of people and it took me back to memories of mini's before and how awful crowded it was and knowing it wouldn't break up til we got to the track 8 miles in on the course. The gun went off, took 12 minutes just to get to the start line with all the runners.....1 miles in and i really had to go to the bathroom. :) So I went, still fighting stomach issues from PA30 the weekend prior. The miles went by, as we approach the track I got this feeling of excitement when you revisit something that has a lot of history. This was the first 1/2 marathon for me back in the day and still holds a special place in my heart. We entered the track, the temps getting hotter and you could tell some runners were not doing well. I continued to pour cold water on my head as I went Thu the aid stations. Brrrr....down my back it went, but so worth it. I had two hammer gels with me and used both of them as my legs wanted to cramp so bad in the heat.
I stopped to kiss the bricks on the track as lots of runners did and continued on. We reached mile 10 and I knew it was time kick it up. Two bathroom stops, 3 walk breaks to talk to friends, lots of cold water from aid stations.....I turned to my friends and said "I got to go!". I turned up so good old 80's rock and kicked it in high gear. Mile 11... Turn to Mile 12....as I turned to head down town Indy the last home stretch I saw the checker flags on each side giving a nice feeling in my chest that it was almost over. I knew that we still had 1.1 to go but runners around me started to sprint and I thought to myself, its a lot farther than you think......so I held my pace and when i saw the camera crew above and top of the finish line in the distance.....its was time. I pushed my legs, as I could feel the heat trying to cramp my calves up and crossed the finish line. With a happy ending to my run, I just wanted to walk and stretch my legs but the bottle neck past the finish line was so packed I felt like I was at the start again. Moving Thu the finish line and photo op I got to a shade spot in the grass to wait for my friend. Nice job Indianapolis, another successful Indy 500 Mini. Done! :) PWILD
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