Indy 500 Mini-Marathon Training Series - 15k
I decided to use this race as a dress rehearsal for the Mini-Marathon next week. However, at the back of my mind was the fear that if things did not go well with my pelvic organs, this could be my last race. The good news is that everything was ok. I had some pain, but everything seemed ok "down there." And unlike the 10 mile run I did earlier, I did not have any cramping. I really made an effort to hydrate and I think that made a big difference.
The evening before the race, my coach sent me a text that told me to relax, stick to the plan, and smile. Perfect advice. I wrote his words on the back of my hand to be with me throughout the race.
RELAX: Relaxing was difficult at the beginning. My heart rate was 113 before the gun! During the race, I focused on relaxing physically – and kept asking myself where I was expending energy that I didn’t need to be expending. Usually, the answer was in my neck, shoulders, and hands.
SMILE: Smiling was easy. I smiled at every police officer and volunteer and said thank you as I passed.
STICK TO PLAN: I was grateful as I watched others, that I had a plan to follow.
I felt totally confident coming into this race about the plan and my ability to execute the plan. My only worry prior to the race was about my silly organs submitting to gravity – and I was MAJORLY worried about that.
I used iSmoothRun to announce my walk-run segments – and followed the 5:1 run-walk ratio throughout the race. I adjusted slightly a couple of times when I saw a hill approaching so I could walk up the hill and keep my HR down. It took discipline to walk when I had just passed someone and then I’d hear “WALK” in my ear. So I’d walk and the person I had just passed would pass me. Ugh.
I drank two swallows = 2 oz (yes, I measured!) of water each walk. I ate a gel during the walk near mile 3 and mile 6 (about every 40 minutes). That seemed like a good reward for reaching every 3-mile mark. I drank some Gatorade at mile 8. Not sure how I feel about that.
During the walk segments, I tried to really relax all of my body. I let my arms swing loosely, took deep breaths, and took long strides which allowed me to stretch my calves. I think that helped with the cramping. I also tried to keep my pace up during the walk. I was pleased with the result.
I felt fine during the entire race until mile 7. At that point, gravity seemed to win the war with my inner parts – and there was significant pain but I just kept going. I appreciated the walks at that point. I was happy at mile 8 to see there was just a mile left.
At mile 9, I had LOTS of fun. There were 7 people in front of me who seemed totally spent. I decided to pass them all – so I kicked into running as fast as I could for the last 1/3 mile. According to Garmin, I got up to a 9:49 pace! And I sped by all of them - one by one!
My husband filmed the finish and I learned that my “run-fast” form is terrible. My cadence was 97 and I was majorly heal-striking in front of me. Oh well . . . still lots to learn.
While I felt great at the finish, that was not the story two hours later. Nothing permanent – but every joint hurt, especially my ankles. I felt like a 97-year-old hobbling along. Totally, totally tired. The good news is that while my joints hurt, my pelvic floor recovered almost immediately.
Finally, to put things in perspective: When I first started doing large 5K's, I was the walker who came in dead last - and was thrilled to finish. Today, I finished before 17% of the rest of the women. Super, super satisfying!
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