The Race That Sucked {Mini Marathon 2012}

Saturday was not my day. Half marathon #2 kicked my butt. 

Big time.

I woke up on Saturday morning with a fair amount of nervous energy, got ready, had my mandatory cup of coffee, a little breakfast {egg beaters and toast}, then my dad, brother, and I headed downtown for the race.

After a little searching, we found a parking garage {the one we had planned on was closed}, then went to the downtown Marriott to use their bathrooms. We made it to the corrals minutes before the 7:30 start, but after the National Anthem and the start of the race, it was about 20 minutes before we got to the start line. 

still in a good mood here

the start line is just to the right of the "D"

Within that first mile, I knew this race wasn't going to be pretty. The temperature was in the mid 60s, but the humidity was 90 percent. Yeah, 90 percent humidity is not fun when you're running a few miles, let alone 13.1 miles. It was sticky, and I quickly realized that my energy level was not where it should be. There was no spring to my step...it was a major effort every time I put one foot in front of the other. I ate a Gu gel around mile 3, hoping and praying that a little sugar would give me some energy, but it didn't help one bit. I had a big-time battle going on in my head those first 3-4 miles...run? walk? run? walk? I pushed through till around the 5 mile mark where I finally gave in and slowed down to a walk. 

Unfortunately, I spent the rest of the race alternating between walking around 13 min/mile and running around 10 min/mile {at least that's what I remember from glancing at my Garmin}. Even though I took water or Gatorade at all the stops except for one, my thirst kept growing and all I could think of for the last few miles was getting to the finish so I could drink a whole bottle of water. 

Despite feeling awful, the course is very fun...you start in downtown Indy and make your way to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After running the 2.5 mile track {which can get very hot}, you start the trek back to downtown. The finish line is right by Military Park, a nice park where they have a huge post-race party. 

Since I already knew my time was down the tubes, I decided to stop and take a picture on the main straightaway of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Pretty cool.

After what seemed like an eternity and a never ending cycle of looking down at my Garmin and seeing how much farther I had to go, I finally made it to the final stretch down New York Street. It is lined with people along both sides of the street, so I forced myself to run this part and resist the urge to walk. My mom and TJ were pretty close to the finish, cheering me on....only about 0.2 miles left at this point. I was so happy to cross the finish line, and yes, extremely happy when the volunteers handed me a bottle of water. I got my medal, a banana, and a couple fruit cups before walking to the post race party to meet up with my brother, aunt, uncle, and cousins. My dad met us there a little bit later, then my mom and TJ shortly after that. We hung out, took some pictures, drank some chocolate milk, then left to clean up a bit before a yummy lunch at Weber Grill. It was nice to decompress, eat, and catch up with my family, aunt, uncle, and cousins. TJ's aunt met us out too...she walked her first half marathon and loved it!

me and my brother

my aunt, uncle, & cousins...my cousin in the blue shirt finished #176 out of 35,000 with a time of 1:25...go Andrew!

me and Rebekah...my cousin & god-daughter...she's getting so tall!

yummy chocolate milk

walking through downtown to lunch

Surprisingly, my time was just about the same as last year's. Garmin time was 2:28:09 {and it clocked 13.22 miles with all the weaving between people}; official time was 2:28:18. Definitely not what I wanted to do, but I guess okay considering how much I felt like I walked. I still feel quite defeated because it just totally kicked my butt and I feel like I failed. I know I didn't, because not everyone can run 13.1 miles, but still, it sucks. You runners out there understand for sure.

I'm determined to do another half this year, and definitely several 5K's in the coming months, mainly to prove to myself that I can do it.  Saturday was just not my day to PR, but I know there will be another race where it is my day.

Have you ever had a race that totally kicked you in the butt? Please tell me I'm not alone here!

Happy Monday!

emily