After all the miles of training my focus race finally arrived. We spent the night in Indy and I slept like a log. I was surprised how well I slept since I went to bed earlier than normal, before bed I read and listened to things that inspire or motivate me and honestly I was anxious. It is kinda funny since Angel said there were people down the hall making all kinds of noise in the middle of the night. I vaguely remember hearing some door slam, but that might as well have been a dream. Woke well enough and it was cold. 27 Degrees. Nice. Did I mention I like sarcasm? I packed a few throw away shirts and used them well. The convention center was open so most of us stayed warm until about 15 minutes till the race began. I spent a few minutes in the elite starting area to see if I could see Paul, just to say hello, but nada. He had an amazing race. Somehow I got 3rd level seeding, I guess based on the time I told them I wanted to run. I find that amusing. Race starts well enough, always some weaving early on as some people just do not get the point of starting at your planned pace. Oh well. Here are some mile thoughts, but they blend together.. I seriously do not know how so many of you remember so much! Mile: 1- 7:42 Ok it was cold but being in the large crowd made it not so bad. Good start. 2- 7:40 The big sweat shirt went off as I was starting to sweat. 3- 7:19 Honestly I think the excitement of everything was running through me, but I was trying to remain calm :) 4- 7:24 5- 7:36 6- 7:53 My first and only potty break! I was happy I only had one, but this was coming since mile 2 so I needed it!! I am sure someone out there agrees! 7- 7:18 Really I made a mistake. I was trying to make up the lost bathroom time over the next 3 miles, but instead I made it up in less than a mile. I have to learn to control that. 8- 7:37 Long Sleeve white throw away shirt gone, down to running shirts 9- 7:33 10- 7:35 11- 7:31 12- 7:21 the coarse was almost all flat, but there were a few minor hills to note. I remember the small down hill here that was nice. 13- 7:29 Some guy was playing 'Hang On Sloopy' and being a Buckeyes fan I was yelling back to him that he was awesome. Good times. Still feeling pretty strong at the half way point. 14- 7:31 15- 7:27 16- 7:44 When I passed mile 16 we headed into some park area. There was a wooden bridge that was a bit slippery. I was recalling my training, but felt a little tired. I had been using Shot Blocks throughout, but now I reached into the caffeine shot blocks. I had 2 packs of them, more than enough, but was saving them for the end and I felt like I needed a boost soon. 17- 7:43 18- 7:41 19- 7:26 Me thinks the caffeine is kicking in! Okay I admit, this was one of the other down hills. Some exit ramp. 20- 7:39 I keep chomping blocks, more as a way to keep my mind occupied than actually doing any more good at this point. 21- 7:29 Good mile here, mentally I knew when I hit 20 I wanted to stay sharp. I may have expended a bit more energy, but that was the edge I wanted. I was starting to feel it though. 22- 7:35 The wall was coming... think think.... 23- 7:52 'I can do hard things' Phil 4:13 kept racing through my mind... 24- 7:44 Legs were starting to give some... I heard someone yell 'Its all heart from here' and I was trying to focus on anything. When I saw the mile 24 marker I felt like I passed the wall... good thoughts were coming... 25- 7:15 An old movie I used to watch was running through my head. The lines went something like "You done everything you came here to do?" "Not yet" So yeah I was digging deep. One neat thing was you were headed right to the center of Indianapolis here and it was beautiful to look upon.... if my legs were not killing me! 26- 6:59 Best mile for the end. I was reaching for anything I had left and it was not much, but I was surprised what the garmin said! I was thanking God and running everything motivation thought through my head I could! .2- 7:00 I could see the kids and camera and threw the hands up at the finish! Total time- 3:19:04 Pace 7:36 Boston Qualified, yeah I am happy. Some of you better go to Boston in 2012, I have to meet some of the people who inspired me. My first marathon just over a year ago was 4:26:35. I will take a 1:07:31 improvement. Thanks to God, thanks to the loving family, thanks to those of you who have honestly motivated me and just helped make the blog enjoyable!!
| 