I signed up for the Indianapolis Mini Marathon way back in Nov 2010. I went to High School in Indy and I figured there’s nothing better than combining races and visiting old friends. I was wrong…there is something better: Loop meetups!
Other than spending time with two of my college BFFs, I had a really relaxing week with my parents. They are normally in the PNW making sure my brother doesn’t do something stupid (he’s 27 and still lives at home…he’s ALWAYS doing something stupid) but they came to Indy to see their darling daughter.
When I say relaxing I mean my mom did nothing but try to force feed me every chance she got.
Expo was lame. No Loopsters. No kamikaze Barbies. No scoping out freebies with MK. Only plus – free pre-race dinner (thanks Dad!). 
The race instructions said to arrive early and be in the corral by 6:45. This seemed like BS to me…the race started at 7:30….when was Port-a-Potty time??? They must have read my mind because this race had a SQUILLON port-a-potties. I went twice pre race and never waited in line. I’m serious! NO LINE. I had so much time to spare I ducked into a hotel to sip my coffee. I had no friends…so I had to talk to my Kinvaras.
Boo, Indy. Boo!
The start was crowded. No, not the start, the whole race the whole 13 miles was crowded. It was hard not to go out too fast. I held back a lot, let the wave after wave pass me, and still went too fast the first mile.
Nothing really sticks out about this race…except they did a good job advertising “Pit Stops.” Water stations were marked with banners held high by cranes or fire trucks with arrows to show if it was on one side or both sides of the road. Each stop had huge banks of port-a-potties. Not one or two like you’d expect…but a ton. I never had to go…but good to know.
They also had water stops basically every freakin mile! This made congestion a pain, even Trying to blow through the middle was like a game of Paperboy. Why weren’t there this many stops at Nashville when I was melting??
The course is pretty much run from downtown to the speedway, run a lap, run back. Heading out to the Speedway, my legs felt heavy. My pace was ok (I wanted a 2:10), my breathing was good, temps were good (50s and overcast) but my legs felt untrustworthy. They felt heavy and groggy. Miles 1-5 9:35, 10:02, 10:14, 10:06, 10:09.
I took my gel before heading into the track. This stretch SUCKED! It was like running on a TM. You ran and ran and the scenery never changed. It dragged on forever and felt longer than the first 5 miles. The only amusement I had was looking at the HS cheer leading teams. I was looking for my High School (North Central to you Indy natives) but never saw them…but I saw all the old rivals and tried to see if the stereotypes were still true. Miles 6-8 10:21, 10:36, 10:26. I hated these miles.
The run back was on different streets but they all looked the same (I had never ever been to this part of Indy). My legs really started to protest after the track. They were angry about the hilly Nashville Pikermi, and the hilly Raleigh Tri, and the hilly Raleigh Pikermi all within the month. They said “we hate you” with every step. They didnt even care that Indy is pancake flat.
Overall I still felt good…but I couldnt help slowing down. Slowing didnt upset me but it was annoying that the miles seemed to take FOREVER! It didnt help that I looked at Gary every 10 seconds thinking that a minute had passed (kind alike how it stays 3:30 for hours on Fridays at work). Miles 9-12 10:32, 10:41, 10:43, 10:42. Blah, Blah, Blah.
The final mile was nice. They lined the street with checkered flags and had signs to say 1 mile to go, and every quarter mile until the finish line. At this point I said screw you Gary and please go-go-gadget legs. Mile 13 10:02.
