Marathon #8 Race Recap: Indianapolis Monumental Marathon

The 26.2 crew pre race

After much debate about what to wear due to the weather prediction, I opted for capri tights (just below the knee) and short sleeves. It was 33 degrees at the start, but going to be about 50 by the time I finished. I had a throw away zippy that I ended up wearing until mile 4 or so which is a little longer than I normally wear throw away clothes.

Me and my new friend Dan

I started out with the 3:55 (8:58 minute/mile) pace group. I didn't really like them though. We were too fast, then slowed down and it was very difficult to follow the group in the early mile congestion. I finally settled in just ahead of the group when I came upon 2 runners I had seen with the pace group the first few miles. I started chatting with them and we continued to run together. The girl fell back after a short time, but the guy (I later found out his name is Dan) and I ran from mile 6 to mile 22 together. We would chat for miles, then be silent for miles. It was actually really nice. We kept each other in check and made small marathon talk.

We had an amazing cheer crew: Carter, Steve, Marissa and Jeff. It was an awesome surprise to have so many friendly faces to look for. And of course you could hear Carter and his ginormous cow bell from a mile away!
I felt really great the whole race. I had been very worried all day Friday because I had a really bad knot in my upper left calf. The course was very pretty and every time we passed a gigantic house I looked for Peyton Manning. Unfortunately I never saw him.

The first hill I remember was not until mile 15 and even at that point in the race, it didn't seem like a very big hill. I was feeling strong and knew I was on track to PR.

Thankfully I didn't have any dehydration issues like I did in Columbus.

Mile 23

The last 2 miles I just didn't have a whole lot left in me. I remembered Maureen telling me after Columbus that's how you should feel if you have given it 100%, but I still had 2 mile to go! I knew this was the mental part. I kept a decent pace and crossed the finish line in 3:53:20.

A NEW PR!!! Only by 2 minutes and 35 seconds, but it's still a PR!

Some of our group ran the half marathon, so they were at the end cheering us in and had a nice morning cocktail waiting for us!
I went and sat by myself for about 10 minutes after finishing then headed back to the finish line to look for Megan, Jen, Erin and Jess. We all met up shortly after that and everyone was happy! We had a first time BQ (way to go Megan!), PR's and just feeling good, solid races all around.

I would recommend this race to other runners. It was a great size (but I'm sure growing each year as it is only a few years old), however they need to close more roads or have more cops on the course. I know this adds a cost to the race, but there were a few times I was afraid a car was going to hit me or someone near me. Overall though it was a well run, well organized race with a pretty (and flat!) course. Downtown Indy is also very nice and the hotels, start, finish and packet pickup are all very convenient and it is easy to walk to everything.