Mommy Marathon: Every Mile Is A Victory

Well, I did it!  I completed my first half-marathon yesterday!!  I finished the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini Marathon in Indianapolis, the nation's largest half-marathon, with a time of 2:33:42 according to the official results.  And my title, which I borrowed from a shirt I saw at the Expo, is absolutely true.  Every single mile of the 13.1 was a victory for me.  Actually, towards the end, every single step was a small victory! 

In case you missed my recap of the weeks leading up to the race, feel free to read this first: Mommy Marathon: In Training. 

Race Day was finally here!  Traffic was a mess and some of the roads closed much earlier than originally posted, so getting to my starting corral was a challenge but I made it with plenty of time to spare.  Standing around for 20 minutes is not how I usually start my runs, so I was getting a little antsy.  I had my phone with me since it had all my music on it, but while I waited I was checking Facebook to keep me entertained.  I was surprised to see so many friends had already left me "good luck" messages and words of encouragement! Just what I needed to calm my nerves.  Finally, my group made it to the starting line about 18 minutes after the official gun-shot start.  I'll admit that I got a little emotional as I crossed the starting line in a "wow, I'm really doing this!" kind of way, but I also place some of the blame on mother nature for her not-so-impeccable timing.


At the Starting Line - with 35,000 other people!


The first two miles were much harder than I expected.  My body always has to push through the first mile before it settles into a rhythm, but yesterday it took a little longer.  I can only assume that 20 minutes of standing around before I got to get started coupled with the initial spacing out of all the runners in my corral contributed to taking a bit longer for me to settle in.  I purposely tried to slow my pace from the beginning to give my self a better chance of actually running the whole thing (or at least most of it) so I was pleased to see that after the first 3 miles I had settled in at about 10 minutes/mile.  Miles 3-6 were great!  I slowed only at the two water stations I stopped at during that time and kept my pace consistent.  I also discovered that I can not drink Gatorade while running - it's way to sweet and after the first sip I spit it back out!  Luckily the next table was full of water cups, so I helped myself and continued on my way. 

Since most of my runs had been about 6 miles or less, I had never encountered the need to use the restroom during a run.  Though I had not had a lot to drink since the start of the race, I apparently had quite a bit of water in the morning and wasn't going to make it another 6 or 7 miles to the finish.  At every mile marker there were drink stations and porto-lets and usually long lines to use the restroom.  Luckily, I heard a couple of runners behind me talking before the race about the restrooms at the track.  Actual bathrooms with several stalls that are clean and with a sink to wash your hands were located just before the 10K marker.  Excellent! 


Running on the Speedway!


Miles 7, 8 and part of 9 went around the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway - which I imagined would be awesome.  And it was certainly a great experience, but running around that track was brutal because I felt a little bit like a hamster on his wheel wondering when on earth the wheel would stop.  To this point the scenery was constantly changing as we ran through the streets of downtown.  But the track felt never-ending.  Just before I completed mile 8 I hit a wall, both mentally and physically.  My brain and my body knew the furthest I had ever run was 8 miles and it was going to take everything I had I push through at that point.  I took a few short 10-20 second breaks, walking to regain my momentum, but I was still looking for a bigger push.  A few minutes later I would receive my motivation from the most unexpected source!  All around the track were cheerleading squads from several of the local high schools in addition to a few IU cheerleaders scattered throughout the course.  Actually, the entire course was filled with onlookers and fans cheering for their friends and family members participating, as well as for strangers as we passed by. 

The first few squads I saw on the track were a fun little reminder of how far I had come since my own cheerleading days some 15 years ago.  Then suddenly, somewhere around mile 9 the most unexpected motivators were standing right in front of me.  The cheerleaders from MY ALMA MATER were cheering us on!  Seriously, what are the chances?  I grew up 2 hours from Indy - this was the most unexpected and wonderful surprise of my day (okay, Dallas Clark and Peyton Manning on the track cheering me on would have been more wonderful and unexpected, but this was pretty awesome!!)  So in case anyone reading this knows an ECHS cheerleader, you can tell them the crazy lady high-fiving them in the pink shirt was me :)

Just before I was reunited with my past, I had crossed a pace point at the Yard of Bricks, approximately the 8.5 mile marker.  As I watched some of the coverage last night, I learned that many people stopped on the track to "kiss the bricks" as the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 winners do every year.  I must have been concentrating really hard on pushing through because I never even saw the bricks!  At this check point I was averaging 10:11/mile (with a bathroom break!) and feeling pretty good, but I knew the hardest part was still to come.  Mile 9 was a little rough but mile10 was great as I settled back into a rhythm.  I made it about halfway through mile 11 when I realized my body was having trouble keeping up with my brain.  My head was telling me I was on the home stretch, just 2.5 more miles!  My right knee, however, was throwing the white flag.  I had to walk the second half of mile 11 before I felt comfortable trying to run on it again.  My leg muscles, on the other hand, starting cramping up after a couple minutes of walking so I started with a slow jog and sped up a little from there.  My legs were happy to be running again and my knee was happy to be going a little slower.  I was able to jog miles 12 and 13.  Adrenaline even gave me an extra push at the end to finish strong! 

And much to my surprise, I was not exhausted at the end - I was exhilarated!  It was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced in my life, the sense of accomplishment was overwhelming!  I had never considered myself a runner, even in high school and college when I had to run for cheerleading - I did it because I had to, not because I wanted to.  Even still I am in awe of my most dedicated running friends who finished 13.1 in about 2 hours - 30 minutes faster than me - wondering where they get their speed and endurance!  In the end, my overall pace was 11:44/mile obviously slowing down a lot after the Yard of Bricks.  But one thing is for certain: with better planning and more consistent training, I should easily be able to beat my time next year!  Who's with me?!?

My awesome (and much faster!) race buddy



Frozen vegetables tied on with scarves...a lovely Saturday night!
Yes, I'm trying to make it so my knees will want to bend again in the near future.



Mommy Marathon: In Training

My first half-marathon experience was full of ups and downs - and in writer's terms that means the post recapping my experiences was much too long for one entry!  Here I detail some of that rollercoaster ride right up to the night before the race. 

Training for 13.1 = new shoes!

I started training in January with a 15 week program that was to prepare me for the newest adventure of my "30 crisis." :) I did great for the first 5 or 6 weeks - then we left for our cruise. Everyone knows vacations can be brutal to any workout regimen if you aren't dedicated to staying the course. I had every intention of working out three times during our five-day cruise; I managed one day for about 45 minutes on the elliptical. Then I took another two weeks off after our return because I was so exhausted from the traveling and catching up when we got home. I got back to my regular workout schedule (6 days a week) for one week before the kids and I left for a week in South Carolina with my parents. I worked out once or twice that week and when we returned from that vacation the Mini was a month away! And I was way behind in my training. I had completed the first 8 weeks of P90X in its entirety, which was excellent for building my endurance, but all of my runs to this point had been only 3-4 miles.

So I said a temporary "good-bye" to Tony Horton and tried to find time for longer runs. As any mom knows, however, finding the time was key. I generally did P90 in the basement after the kids were in bed, so time of day was not an issue. However, finding time after Nick got home, we ate dinner, did baths and got everyone in bed for even a 30 minute run in the last bit of daylight was hard enough - and I needed to at least double that amount of time to start getting my muscles used to longer runs. I was so proud of myself for being able to maintain my 5K pace for my 10K (6.2 mi) runs - just under 9 minutes/mile! But leading up the to the race, my longest run had been 8 miles so I was understandably nervous to find out what 13.1 would feel like!

Nevertheless, the night before the race I was excited and nervous. I had gone over to the 500 Expo earlier that day with my good friend Carrie to pick up our race packets so we were prepared for the next morning. My parents surprised me in the afternoon by coming up to spend the night so they could be at the race with me the next day! (A & C had a soccer game in the morning, so Nick was taking all the kids to their game and would not be able to come downtown with me - Thanks Mom and Dad for an awesome surprise!) Everyone had a carb-filled dinner to prepare for the big race and the big soccer game! I was about to head to bed just before 11pm when Nick called down from upstairs... "D just thew up!"

What?! I had no idea he was even feeling bad. He was playing and giggling with my parents while we got the girls ready for bed. How is this happening? So an hour later, after a bath for D, cleaning up puke, changing and washing his sheets and calming him down (this was his first experience with vomiting), everyone was finally ready for bed - though now I was a lot more worried about my baby and very tired from all the "excitement." When the alarm went off at 5:30am, however, I was ready to go. I can only thank adrenaline for the energy I had during the next 8 hours, because it certainly didn't have anything to do with how much sleep I got the night before. On this Mother's Day weekend, I guess it's fitting that my first half-marathon experience had "mom" written all over it!

Want to find out how I did?  Keep reading: Mommy Marathon: Every Mile Is A Victory!