After a disappointing week last week, I gave my best effort to get my runs back in....but it just didn't go as planned. I got in one run on the treadmill, but it just didn't feel like enough. I planned on getting another run in on Friday as a way to keep my legs under me but it didn't happen. I'll be honest, I was a little disappointed with myself.
When Sunday rolled around, I was thinking I might not have my best run ahead of me. However, my brother Cory was competing in the half marathon and I decided to be positive and boost him up a little bit. We talked about training programs and goals on the way down. We both had a goal of a great race and both also had goal times stored in the back of our heads. We arrived, got our packets, and put on our bibs. I could tell Cory was a bit nervous. He was pacing a little bit, and looking around for a good place to warm up. We took a picture in the "selfie" area with our heads in the face holes for some elves. Cory decided to head over to the empty area of the parking lot to warm up and then head to the long lines for the port-a-pots. My mom and I continued to walk around a bit. I checked our gear at the appropriate tent and then waited for the beginning of the half.
After Cory got his start, I focused a little more on myself. I also headed to the port-a-pot and did some static stretches. The walk down to the stadium from our parking location got my muscles relatively warm, but I had been standing around for a while. I lined up in my corral tried to keep my muscles loose. I got my music started and took a quick selfie to use specifically for my blog. I know...cheesy right? I finally got to cross the start line about 34 minutes after Cory took off on his half. And away we go.
They say, the most mistakes happen in the first 2 minutes of a race. I was prepared to run around some walkers based on my time corral, but as soon as I crossed the line I immediately had to jump to the right to get around some people. I decided that the sidewalk was a little less crowded than the street for the first few hundred meters, so that was where I stayed until the next intersection. And, it worked. However, when I glanced down at my Garmin the first time, the words in my head were "Crap, I think I went out a little too quick!" I reeled my pace back in and tried to keep it steady while still dodging people. To be honest, the course was not the most interesting I have ever seen. Basically we started at Lucas Oil Stadium and headed up Capital for a mile followed by a left for about .35 miles with a sharp turn around and basically running back the way we came. The only difference on the way back is that you ran around the other side of the stadium to come back into the finish. Running through the tunnel on Capital really messed with the Garmin and I wasn't sure it was totally accurate, but the updated pace at least worked when I was back in satellite view. I think the worst part of the race was the tiny hill coming back in to the finish line. It seemed a lot steeper than it was. And, after I saw the hill that Cory had to run up behind the Major Taylor Velodrome, I no longer had a complaint about it at all.
After pushing through and fighting to keep pace, I finished in a time of 37:15 for a pace of exactly 12:00 min/mile according to my chip time. That would be a PERSONAL RECORD and 1 minute and 6 seconds quicker than my previous 5K. I was a little pumped when I crossed the line, but the pictures show a little more struggle than pump. HAHA.
I went grabbed a banana and some powerade and went to retrieve our backpack from the gear check. I changed out of my sweaty t-shirt, considering the temp was 60 degrees, and waited patiently for my brother to finish. I knew his previous finish time was somewhere around 1:44 but I wasn't sure how quick he was going to run this time. I started getting closer and closer to the finish line at about the 1:35 clock time. I made sure I could get him coming across the line. I spotted him 30 yards out at 1:39:?? and hit burst on my phone to pick up 27 pictures of him coming across the line. His official finish time...1:40:09...besting his previous half time by over 4 MINUTES!!!! So proud of him. And, that is on limited training and without a real training plan. I can't wait to see what he does in the Mini in May after actually following a training regimen including his planned cross training of biking and swimming. He was super disappointed that he didn't come in under 1:40:00 but I managed to talk him up about it and got a smile on his face. That is, until the pain set in to his legs. He had a hot spot on his foot and some arch pain but you could tell the real PAIN was in his quads and hamstrings. I forced him to lie down so I could help him stretch. (Check out the picture) His legs were trembling but we got him stretched out and he was able to hobble to where my mom parked.
We headed to Shapiro's Deli, where none of us had eaten before, to get some calories back in the system. That was when we found out his time was actually 1:40:09 and not 1:40:21 like the clock said in my picture or what his watch had said that was also different. After lunch we headed home and you could tell he was still hurting. I made him promise not to run for the next 3 days until he had healed a little. We'll see if he listens.
This morning I got on the scale to find 260.2 lbs. Another gain of 0.2 pounds. Son of A....!!! Gotta lot of work to do. I HAVE to get my eating lined back up and my training back on point. I will be running another 5K on Christmas Eve in Shelbyville called the Rudolph Run. Join me if you live close. This will be the first time myself and BOTH of my brothers will be in the same race. I can't wait. I also can't wait to drop even more time off my 5K PR and hopefully set yet another one. Until next week...Food. Feet. Water. Repeat!!!
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