Monumental Half Marathon 2012

My most sentimental race was this Saturday. The Monumental Marathon/ Half Marathon in Indianapolis. I did my first half marathon there in 2008 and my first full marathon in 2009. It's an easy race to get to from Bloomington which means I get to sleep in my own bed and not pay for a hotel room. AND all kinds of crazy fun friends from my running group go to this race! AND we can all hang out indoors until minutes before the race starts, give hugs, take pictures and giggle nervously! Magic!



This year I had just scheduled the Columbus full marathon two weeks before this half marathon and I managed a ten minute PR so I had Zero expectations for this race. I didn't even care to walk most of this half marathon, I just wanted to be there with my friends and shuffle along.

This is how my week started out....

This was still early on in the bruising process for the sweet broken toe I acquired on Monday morning. Because that's the way you want a race week to start. You know, walking down the steps and your foot slips down a stair but your pinkie toe stays on the stair... So, ouch, that happened. But I've done this before. And I've run on it before, so I knew that would be ok.

Then on Thursday's easy threesy (easy three mile run, cute name makes it more fun) I roll my ankle and sprawl out on the road. But, I hopped back up thinking it was fine. After the adrenaline of falling on the road in front of oncoming traffic wore off I did realize that my ankle was a bit stiff. Ok ok ok... here's where the crazy comes in, never once did I think of not running this race.

RACE DAY!

When I'm not running a full I'm always so grateful to not be running a full! That's how I felt on this race day. The weather was not looking good. It was cool/cold, which was great for me, but we were looking at a good chance for rain as the morning wore on. I wanted no part in the rain+cold equation.

Thoughts from the race:

-Am I running too fast?
-Why is that woman wearing a full size fanny pack? And what is making so much noise inside of it? Is it filled with tic tacs?
-Am I running too fast?
-WOW that guy is dressed just like Forest Gump right down to the old school Nikes with the red swoosh.
-Aw, guy missing many teeth screaming, "JUST DO IT! Anyone wearing Nikes? JUST DO IT!" That guy is good stuff
-Am I running too fast?
-Why didn't I look at the map? I have no idea when these water stops are coming
-Why does that woman stopped in traffic have a GIANT cardboard cut out of a cat in her car? WHO CARES?!?! It's fantastic!
-Am I going too fast?
-Wait who am I? I didn't know I could run a race this fast????

5 minute PR, HUH? I did not expect this result at all. I just felt good and kept going. What a pleasant surprise! The tiny hail/slush for the last half mile or so, not a pleasant surprise. But boy-o boy, those full marathoners got stuck in some crappy cold rain! I grabbed my warm clothes, acquired some hot coffee and spent a bit of time cheering for strangers and friends. Thoughts while cheering:

-Man I sure did win at finding coffee!
-Why is the coffee gone already?
-Why didn't I bring more clothes?
-Tracking says my friend just passed the 30k. I AM TOO TIRED TO DO MATH! What does 30k MEAN?!?!?
-Is that long grey haired, shirtless man wearing white jorts (jean shorts)?
-How do I break it to my friends that they got beat by the guy in the full elephant outfit?
-So glad I didn't run the full marathon...

Everyone finished! I even ran a friend in for the last .4-.5 miles. Of course, I thought she would be a bit more tired than she was. But, how do you tell someone, "oh sorry, I didn't want to run this fast, I know you've been going for 25 miles, but could you please adjust to what I'm comfortable with?" Yeah, I didn't think that would be a very good option. So I kept up with her, and she finished strong!

Afterwards we had more coffee, giant hamburgers and lots of laughs at a late lunch with some friends. Days like this make me love being a runner....