Henry County Mini Marathon–Race Recap

 

It was the inaugural year for this event and I had been signed up since early January, if I remember correctly.  I figured it would be a small race but didn’t realize they were limiting it to 500 participants.  It also had a 5K & 10K option.

I drove to New Castle the day before to get my packet.  Its less than an hour east of Indianapolis and although I could have picked up my packet race morning, I wanted to see where I was going, was there any road construction I should know about & how long would it take me…knowing my drive time would be quicker oh so early in the morning.

Packet pick-up was at the YMCA.  I didn’t have any problems finding it and although it wasn’t supposed to open until 5pm, I saw other people coming out with packets so I went in around 4:45.  The course would be (mostly) a double loop of the 6 mile route.  I’ve never done one like that & must admit I had some concerns.  Don’t know why; I’m just a natural born worrier.

As I was driving back to Indy, I noticed that the Steve Alford All-American Inn had advertised a King bed room for only $55.  I was so tempted.  The extra 1 1/2 hours of sleep sure would be nice.  But decided to stay with the original plan. Side note: Steve Alford is from New Castle, played basketball at IU and now coaches at the college level.  He’s the local celebrity to say the least!

I got up at 4:00AM (UGH!), took a quick shower and ate my usual pre-race meal of peanut butter on wheat toast, a banana and a Starbuck Frappuccino. I went to the bathroom as many times as I could before leaving the house at 5:15AM.  This was really too soon to leave but;    1)I wanted to give myself some wiggle room in case I needed a bathroom stop, 2) you had to pick up your timing chip that morning and 3) there was a pre-race meeting at 7:00AM.  I was pretty sure the meeting would be worthless & I was correct.

I did stop at a rest area in Greenfield on the way and used the bathroom again.  I think mentally I was making my stomach more nervous because this wasn’t my regular routine.  I got to the park with plenty of time, got my timing chip and then got in line for the bathroom.  Luckily this was an indoor facility – The Smith Building – but only one women’s restroom and there were only two stalls.  At about 6:50AM I ate a packet of Sport Beans and then waited for the meeting.  Just like the last event I did with this organization, the main purpose of the meeting was to go over the course.  If you aren't already familiar with the area, are you really going to remember all of this 30+ minutes from now while you are out there?  I highly doubt it.  After a few minutes I went back inside to wait and get in the bathroom line one more time.

There was a nice sunrise to start the race.  It was cool and windy.  I had taken a throw-away and some gloves but decided not to fool with them.  All three distance started together and the race started on time. Probably two-tenths of a mile into it we are running up our first hill.  There was elevation chart so I had no idea want to expect.  I told myself to run the hills the first time around but could walk up them during the second loop if I needed to.  I had my iPhone with me and there were a couple of things along the course that I wanted to take a picture of but decided against it.  I thought if I really wanted to I could just go back after the race and take them then.  The course was well marked but the roads through the park/golf course were in bad shape; lose gravel and lots of pot holes.  Between miles 2 & 3, I felt like I needed to make a bathroom stop but the restrooms in the park were still closed for the winter!  Luckily, this feeling eventually subsided. The first loop wasn’t bad although the wind was still crazy and it wasn’t at my back very often.  Some of the roads in the park were banked so I tried to stay in the middle when I could.

Since this was a small race and I’m a slower runner, I approached the second loop alone.  And I was confused at one point when some runners were headed back toward me and was worried that I was doing it wrong. I remember passing the 7 mile marker and then some time later looked at the time on my iPhone and thought I was having the slowest race of my life in quite some time.  The phone said that it was 9:00AM and I still hadn’t seen the 8 mile marker.  Seriously?  Were the hills really taking that much of a toll on me?  Then I remember that we started at 7:30 and not 7:00 so I wasn’t 30 minutes behind…but I still hadn’t seen the 8 mile marker.  Well I must have completely overlooked it because when I came upon the 9 mile marker I certainly felt better about things.  The strangest thing about the course was an extra “turn around” on the second loop.  It was on the south side of the road but they didn’t want you to do it until you had gone through the main turnaround point.  So that meant as we are running east we now had to cross the road so that we could run this little loop (maybe two-tenths of a mile) and then cross the road again to get on the proper running side of the road. (it wasn’t a closed course and there was a officer there but there was some traffic).  It just would have made more sense to do it first while we were on THAT side.

The best thing that the last part to the finish line was downhill.  Wheeeee!  It also had a hairpin turn that you had to be cautious of but going downhill was fun.  When I crossed the finish line I was fairly certain that I had a new PR but I wanted to wait until the final results to be sure.

Back inside the Smith Building and the Optimist Club was serving breakfast – FREE!  I enjoyed two pancakes and a water.  YUM!  The award ceremony was scheduled to start at 10:30AM but they started early and again, small race so I hung around…just in case.  Well, you gotta love being an older runner in a small race because I got an age group place award! 

      

I got a PR by one minute and a place award  I’d say it was a pretty successful Saturday.

Some Bunny Loves You

My niece is training to walk her first half marathon and signed up to do the Bunny Rock 5K in Indianapolis.  She had tagged me in a Facebook post about it so after confirming that she wanted me to walk it with her, I signed up as well.  I had received an email for $5 off and it was still before the rate went up so registration was just over $30 with taxes & fees.  Not too bad in my opinion.

This seemed like one of those races that I could dress “themed” especially since I would be walking it instead of running.  However, I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to find something Easter-y and/or Bunny themed.  Eventually, I found a T-shirt and “skorts” in the Girls Department at Target that I thought would work.  The T-shirt was a little tight but I figured with a sports bra it would fit better.

Hannah drove over Friday night and stayed with us so that she could get some extra sleep.  She lives a little over an hour west of us.

Morning came quickly and we left a little earlier that we ended up needing to but you had to pick up your packet THAT morning and we weren’t sure what the parking situation would be like.  Better safe than sorry.  And I didn’t want her to feel rushed since this was her first official event.  We got our packets and I put them in the drawstring backpack I brought, put on our bunny ears, took a few pictures and then lined up near the back of the pack.

It was a crowded start because the course is narrow there but she did a good job of speeding up and passing some people.  The original plan that we discussed was that the first mile we would do at her pace, the second mile I would pace her to go a little faster and then we would back it off the last mile.  I stressed that along with completing the even, I wanted this to be enjoyable for her.  I ran ahead of her at one point so that I could get an action shot.  We talked about various things along the way and then asked her if she wanted to kick it in once we were .1 away from the finish line. I thought she would just start walking faster but she took off running.  YEA!  I wasn’t even thinking about it but glad she crossed the finish line before me.

     

We both had our pictures taken with the Easter Bunny, got a water, banana and granola bar but sadly they were out of Peeps.   There was a petting zoo for the smaller kids that would be doing the Easter egg hunt later so we took some time to look at all the animals.  She said that she enjoyed it.  I hope she really did.  I wish I could be there for her when she does her first half but I am doing one that same day in a different city.

           

We stopped at Denny’s for brunch on the way back but then she had some errands to run before heading home so she packed up her stuff and left not long afterward.

I’m glad that I was able to do this with her.  I hope she enjoys her half marathon or at least continues with 5Ks or maybe even 10Ks.

“Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?”

That is an often misquoted line from the movie Dirty Harry.

Get Lucky!

Not sure how or where I first heard about the Get Lucky!7K & 21K Chicago.  It was probably from an Active.com email.  I was certainly interested because the medal was different looking from the standard round medal.  I didn’t have any races scheduled in March so I was interested.  But Chicago in March?  Who knows what the weather will be like!  So I waited as long as I could before signing up.  Which sadly I waited through one price increase.  My husband did NOT want to do this one; he said that I was crazy and that it was going to be cold.  (His weather predication would prove to be correct!).  But 10 days prior, the extended forecast didn’t look that bad.  Since he didn’t want to go, I invited my best friend Mary.  I thought maybe after the race we could have some fun in Chicago.  We’ve know each other since the age of 4 but don’t get to spend much time together anymore.

We headed up to Chicago on Friday, checked into the hotel, went to the Expo, grabbed some dinner and called it a night.  Originally she was going to go to the start of the race with me but the shoes she brought were hurting her feet so I suggested that she just hang out at the hotel until I got back, save the wear & tear on her tootsies for trekking around the city later.

The weather was not stellar.  If I remember correctly the current temp when I left the hotel was 32 degrees but “felt like” 27.  I almost walked in the wrong direction the the start.  But after asking a policeman at the first intersection, he pointed me the correct way.  Thankfully I then saw two other “couples” wearing running gear and followed them.  Struck up a conversation with one of the couple who turned out to be a husband & wife from St Louis and they were going to do the 7K.

The start line was just east of Soldier Field and the walk there was just over a mile so a good warm-up and the weather didn’t feel too bad.  However,It was really windy.  The race started mostly on time (a minute late) after the National Anthem and then an Irish Jig!

 

The routed us south down the Lakeshore Trail.  It was a nice path; scenic with Lake Michigan on our left.  I had worn a throw away but something in my gut told me to hang on to it.  So when I felt that I was getting overheated and just unzipping it wasn’t working anymore, I pulled it off of my shoulders but kept it on my arms.  Let me just say, that was smart thinking on my part!  There was a water/Gatorade/Hammer Gel station between miles 5 & 6.  Although I had a GU with me I took the “free” gel.  It was tropical flavor and I did not care for it.  BLEH!

Made it to the turnaround and the weather took a turnaround as well.  All of a sudden we were running straight into a headwind and were being pelted with sleet & snow.  It was brutal.  At one point I remember just laughing.  I think it was at that point I also questioned my sanity.

     

 

Sadly, those weather conditions took everything out of me.  I slowed down considerably and started taking walking breaks.  EVERYTHING WAS COLD!  I couldn’t believe there were people out there in shorts.  People in the back of the pack with me – in shorts!  CRAZY TRAIN!!

Finally crossed the finish line, got my medal, a Mylar blanket and my food bag.  The food bag only had a plain bagel, a banana that wasn’t ripe and a mini Snickers bar.  Not a Fun Size but a mini and there was only one.  LAME!  I asked some random person to take my picture; I didn’t see a finishers photo area,  Then I texted Mary and my husband to let them know that I was done…and frozen!  It took everything my little fingers had to type those two texts.

Walking back to the hotel I briefly stopped (along with others) in an emergency weather shelter at Soldier Field in an attempt to get warm for a bit.  Not sure it was really helping and I just wanted to get back to the hotel so I only stayed a few minutes.  Crossing one of the streets, you could see some of the staging area for their St Patrick’s Day parade.  I walked right past four DeLoreans.  Had I not still been frozen I would have taken a picture.  The walk back seemed so much longer than the walk there and the pedestrian traffic was much heavier because the parade was over that far south.

Got back in the room and sat on the bed, shivered and gave Mary a brief recap before getting in the shower.  When I booked the room I was verbally told that we’d have until 2pm for check out.  When we checked in, they said they would “give me” until 1pm.  Gee…thanks.  Anyway I was still drying my hair when we heard a knock on the door and the guy wanted to know how much longer we’d be.  I didn’t realize that it was already after 1pm.  I asked for 15 more minutes and he said okay.  Thus I had to hustle up getting ready and finish packing.  Mary and I agreed that the city was going to be crazy with everyone from the parade so we got the car and headed for home.

We stopped in Merrillville, IN at a T.G.I. Friday’s for a late lunch.  My turkey burger and sweet potato fries were scrumptious.  I was eye-balling a dessert but was just too full.  We got back to Mary’s house in Frankfort around 6:30pm and I was back on the road for home a little before 7pm.  I wanted to stop & get a coffee hoping that it would wake me up a little ( I was so tired) but once I started driving I just didn’t want to stop.

It was so good to get home and see the pooches and my husband.  But I was not out of bed very long.  I think I made it until 9:30.  It had been a long day.

So thankful that Mary went with me and it was good to catch up, even though all of this didn’t go exactly as planned.  But after 44 years of friendship, the time together was what mattered.

Us…back in the day. 

Thelma & Louise ride again…

The “new age” Thelma & Louise that is. And by “new age” I mean we are in our late 40s and the car was a Prius! 

My best friend Mary (who’s middle name oddly enough is Louise) and I road tripped to Chicago Friday night.  I was going up there for the Get Lucky! Half Marathon and she was just being a great friend.  We’ve known each other since the age of 4. 

When I was first eye-balling this half marathon, I asked my husband if he wanted to go.  When I told him that it was in March, in Chicago, he said that I was crazy and that it would be too cold (this would prove to be true) and that he didn’t even want to go up there on a little road trip with me.  LOSER!  But it was fun to go with Mary.  We don’t get to spend much time together anymore so it was a great way to catch up.

The trip up there was relatively uneventful.  It IS Chicago and traffic always seems to be a mess.  Things were probably a little more crowded since their St Patrick’s Day parade was the next day and the Big Ten tournament was taking place up there that weekend as well.  The weather was drizzly and gloomy.   We got checked in and then went down to the Expo to pick up my packet.  She kept trying to talk me in to buying things!  I did cave in and got a cute T-shirt which was only $15 so that wasn’t too bad,  Luckily she had her wallet because I had forgotten mine.  Oops.

Back up to the room to just relax for a bit and try to figure out what to do for dinner.  Then we got sucked in to watching The Help on TV (I had never seen it) and the next thing you know its 7:45 and we still haven’t eaten or have any idea where to go.

We checked out the restaurant downstairs but not much to choose from and the bar – which was packed – had the same menu.  Luckily, Leon at the concierge desk recommended a restaurant that was just two blocks away called Pazzo's  I was not impressed with the service.  We stood at the hostess table forever before being greeted/seated.  We got water fairly quickly but then no one came by to take our order.  I finally flagged down someone and although I don’t think we were in his section, he did end up waiting on us and did a fairly decent job.  My meal was fair but you could certainly tell it was FRESH pasta and it was really good.  Best part of the dinner was that we had a card for a free dessert.  We had no idea what is was going to be but in was Tiramisu!   SCORE!

Back to the hotel and it was lights put by 10:15pm.

A philanthropic and educational night

Last night was “date night” and we were going to go see a movie – something we rarely do but decided to go to a fund raiser instead.
There is a local organization called Mended Hearts.  Their mission: Mended Hearts Indy is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and re-homing of animals of all breeds, ages, and capabilities into responsible, qualified homes, while educating and encouraging responsible pet ownership and companion animal adoption.

Source

They were having an event called Cocktails for Canines (which was Mardi Gras themed) at the Indianapolis War Memorial.  So we thought this would be a fun night out while helping a cause dear to our hearts.  We currently have two rescue dogs and our very first dog was a rescue as well.  
There was an open bar (beer & wine so only water for me) and the food was pretty good although some of it was too spicy for my wimpiness.  But they had cupcakes that were divine!
We also had the opportunity to walk around and check out the museum itself.  I had been in there a few years ago but it was prior to a running event so I didn’t check it out.  And my husband was there last year for a Charter School graduation when he was on the board but he had no idea what all was in there either.
The auditorium is beautiful and within the museum there is a section dedicated to every war. 

             

There is also as a section dedicated to the U.S.S. Indianapolis which is considered The Worst Naval Disaster in US History.  The story of it’s sinking on July 30, 1945, and the ordeal of the 316 men who survived in a shark-infested sea for days without food or water until spotted by chance because, when the ship failed to arrive on schedule, it went unnoticed by the Navy, can be read here: U.S.S. Indianapolis
You could spend all day there looking at all of the displays and reading the history of men and women from Indiana who have fought in these various conflicts.  I picked up a form to have my Dad’s name added to the Indiana Veterans Database, specifically those who served in WWII.
This evening started out with us just wanting to be philanthropic but it ended my giving ME so much more than I anticipated.

Is the end in sight?

I’m over the cold and the snow – bottom line!  It makes me want to be back in Arizona visiting family.  But then I have to remind myself that I would need to visit them again in August so that I would remember how much I HATE the oppressive heat out there.  Never happy, right?

But this was a lovely vision on the drive through my neighborhood after work.  A melting snowman.  I’ll give these folks credit, it was a good snowman up until today but I am happy to see it begin its demise.

It suppose to get up to 56 degrees tomorrow and I am hoping to run outside.  Technically there is a training 10K Saturday morning but I don’t want to pay $20 to do it so I need to just run that distance myself near the house. 

Warm again on Sunday but 100% chance of rain.  As if the backyard isn’t a wet soggy mess already from all the melting snow.  It is quite the task wiping the feet of three dogs before they come back in.

But hopefully the end of cold weather is near.  We “Spring” forward Saturday night/Sunday morning and then the first day of Spring is March 20th.  Only 12 days away.  YES!

Ladies that Brunch

Its been quite some time since my high school and college days and seeing friends from those stages in my life doesn’t come as frequently as I’d like.  It use to be that weddings and baby showers brought us together but sadly now, we are gathering because some has lost a parent.

Back in December our friend (MND) lost her Mother.  Many of us gathered at the visitation that night and then went out for dinner afterward.  I went through a phase a couple of years ago where I was pretty good at organizing lunches or dinner with the girls either in our home town or in Indianapolis but everyone is busy and it got more difficult to do.  So seeing everyone again really made me want to get us together under happier circumstances.

So I sent out an initial email and everyone thought it was a splendid idea but then no one would commit to picking a date.  So I had to get bossy.  Our lawyer friend (PEF) graciously said she would host brunch at her house.  I put a few dates down for people to vote on and then we had the date.  Now, what was everyone going to bring.  Again, I had to list everyone’s name and some choices for them to pick from.  Sheesh…its was like herding cats.

Some of the girls couldn’t make it because of the drive and others had last minutes things come up.    But there were six of us (with WAAAAY too much food) and we had a lovely time.  PEF set a beautiful table and was very excited to use her pink china and she made all of us strawberry jam.

 

 

Once the weather breaks, we’ll try to get another one of these gatherings organized.  Time is too short.

On the drive home, I could see in my side mirror that the moon had risen.  It was a full moon that night and it was so big and bright in the mirror.  There was a beautiful sunset as well. I really should have pulled over to get better shots of them.  The picture of the moon is from when I got home so the majesty isn’t the same as what I saw while it was rising.