Saturday I did my very first half marathon in Indianapolis and it was amazing! The Indy Mini Marathon is the nations largest half marathon and sells out every year! I have watched the half marathon on TV for a few years and always wanted to be apart of it. Finally, my chance had come to be one of those 35,000 people to get up early and run/walk their heart out! Chad and I took Lillian and Kyle with us to watch. We stayed the night in Indy on Friday so that I could pickup my packet and wouldn't have to drive the long distance down in the morning. On Friday night we checked into the hotel and walked to the convention center to pickup my race packet. Oh my the amount of people, a long line to check in the hotel, cars backed up on the roads, crowded sidewalks. Then we make it to the convention center pick up my packet and surprisingly we seen people we knew! We went to TGI Friday to eat and had to wait forever for our take out food, we decided to do take out since it was only a 30-45 minute wait rather than a 1 hour and 45 minute wait for a table! By the time we got our food walked back to the hotel it was 9:30 at night! Of course we had trouble getting to sleep once we went to bed, except for Lillian, the room was way to quiet!
Saturday morning we got up at 6am and headed to the start line. I left Chad and the kids behind and walked fast to get to my spot as the 5K was just starting! Yikes, we left a little later than we should have! I stopped by the porta potty on my way and my just my luck everyone else wanted to use the row of potties too! Took me 20 minutes for my turn. I ran to my spot right in front of Panera, way in the back of the pack corral U. I couldn't even get in the corral until the others ahead of us started to move forward. A half and hour later I was at the start line.
I decided I would walk the first three miles and possibly run the rest. It was so hot and humid out already and with that many people close together the whole way made it even hotter. Here is a break down of my miles.
Start line~ I crossed this about a half an hour after the first runners (who by the way finished in 1hour and 5min, now that is moving pretty fast! The winners were with a group from Kenya that run marathons for a living so that they can go back to their country and retire young, or at least that is what I was told!)
Mile 1~ crossed the bridge and looked at the pretty water, passed the zoo seen the baby elephants, caught up to the ladies that I was following in the corral, talked to them a bit they have done this before, wished them good luck and started to jog a bit. First water station and oh my the amount of cups on the ground.
Mile 2~ Read a sign that said "no one made you do this!"
Mile 3~ I find a group of ladies I decided to keep up with, some were running, some walking they were of all different ages
Mile 4~ See a girl with a megaphone cheering everyone on, she was so full of spunk, gave some little kids high fives along the way
Mile 5~ Talked to a lady who asked how I was doing, I tell her great, she asks if I have ever done this before and I tell her no. This was her second time, I decided to run on ahead, then to slow down and take a picture of the Speedway. Run down the huge ramp into the speedway and than up the same ramp. Oh my did the speedway look really really long!
Mile 6~ Finally make my way onto the race track and passed lots of high school cheerleaders. The music was extremely loud
Mile 7~ Choked on some water, thankfully I was okay and that nobody noticed. Stood on the yard of bricks and took my picture (even though it looks like I have one long pant leg and one carpi pant leg!)
Mile 8~ Finished up on the race track and ran through the sprinklers
Mile 9~ Thankful for the shade along the road, listened to two girls talking behind me about going on a half marathon vacation, they mentioned doing a Disney half marathon with their kids or a Vegas half marathon without the kids. (I already checked out the Run Disney website about their half marathon!)
Mile 10~ Pass a little girl wearing a cheerleader outfit cheering with her dad along the road
Mile 11~ Met a 10 year old boy named Cameron who was running with his dad, he seemed very tired so I encouraged him and ran on
Mile 12~ So glad I put sunscreen on as the sun was beating down on me and I noticed a lot of people walking rather than running
Mile 13~ I ran faster than what I had before to the finish line with only a few minutes left. I ran as fast I possible could once I was close to the finish line tried to pass as many people as I could.
The Finish Line~ Amazing feeling once I finished a lady gave me a bottle of water, I got my medal all I wanted to do was sit down since I felt like I could pass out. Made my way out of the area and sat on the grass in front a building and called Chad to let him know where I was. Lillian liked my medal!
I finished in a horrible time, 3 hours 33seconds! I was a little upset with my time since I was planning on around 2:30 or 2:40. I could not believe the humidity and how hot I got! I have decided that I will do another one in October which is much closer to home so I can sleep in my own bed and this next one wont be as packed! Although I had such an amazing time I told Chad I wasn't sure I would do the Indy Mini again since we do have to spend the night there and the place is so packed along with watching the weather for a week worrying what it will be like. I did have an amazing time and I know Chad, Kyle and Lillian enjoyed themselves while I was running. They seen the winners before they went to eat breakfast, of course to bad I was just a little busy to see them!
I talked with so many people while down there, everyone was so encouraging and friendly. The crowds cheering along the way were amazing and the entertainment was great. It was just a
little 13.1 mile run through town! Blessings, Lisa
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