Indianapolis Monumental Marathon - RunMarathon

I began with the 3:15:00 pace group as planned. I met up with Tony (Pace group leader) and made small talk with he and another runner for the remaining 20 minutes prior to the race start. Tony said he was nursing an injury that had him concerned as this race started. I had flashback of Columbus 3 weeks ago!!
The run began with a huge crowd crushing everyone into a funnel to get through the start line and across the timing mats. This wasn't like Columbus where they actually hold back various corrals to keep the mass of humans from crushing in (which I actually liked the way Cbus did it).
We were able to get up to pace fairly quickly at the start despite the mass of runners. The first mile was a little slow but there wouldn't have been any other way to go faster. At the first mile mark the pace group leader ask me what kind of pace we were running an I accidentally gave him "6:58" because I looked at the wrong field on my watch. In some ways I am glad I gave him the wrong information because we ended up running really hot for a long time.
I saw Lis inside of the first mile but I had went to the wrong side of the street so all we could do was wave at each other rather than her take pictures.
I saw her again about mile 3 where she was able to get some pictures but again we were on the wrong side of the road from each other and she could only get a couple of crowded shots.
The first 10 miles were well ahead of the required pace to get to the finish in 3:15:00. Were on track for a 3:11:00 finish which I had my doubts I could complete anything that hard at all, much less since I ran a marathon 3 weeks ago. I began to consider letting the group go around 9-10 miles but thought I would hang on and see if Tony backed it down. I had been checking my watch several times and kept seeing we weren't slowing down any. We had an average pace during the first 10 miles in the neighborhood of 7:15-7:16, well above the 7:27 needed to finish on 3:15:00.
At or around mile 14-15 I decided that I wasn't going to try to keep up with them any longer. I knew I could not hold that kind of effort the rest of the race. I knew my HR was quite a bit higher than it was at Columbus for these first miles but I didn't focus on how much higher.
A couple of other runners, Greg (378) and Terry (3254) decided to stick with me as I allowed the group to go on ahead. We talked about how the group was going way to fast and that many of the other runners were probably going to get dropped as the latter miles began. This was indeed prophetic. Lis had seen the size of the group in the beginning and at other points during the race and it kept getting smaller and smaller. At mile 18 she said there were only 4-5 still with Tony and the group started with possibly 12 marathoners. At the finish Lis said there were only 2 that crossed the finish with him. I noticed several runners drop throughout and I passed many of them before mile 22. I felt for them.
From mile 10 to 18 I knew I was going to have a difficult time on the last 6 miles of the race. My legs were already getting fatigued and I guessed it was a result of the fast early miles but there was likely some effect from 3 weeks ago as well. My heart and lungs were in really good shape and my legs weren't blown by any stretch but I knew it was going to get difficult.
At mile 20 I began to wonder if I had the guts to hold on and finish with a Boston qualifying time. My legs were feeling quite a lot of pain and my mind was beginning the mental games that didn't start until mile 23 in Columbus. The mental games were something I felt confident I could handle....The fatigue was another thing entirely!!
Around mile 22 Terry and I were the only ones left, Greg dropped around mile 20 somewhere. Terry talked me through several of the last miles and he wouldn't leave me. He looked a lot more fresh than I did and I thought he should go on ahead. I told him at mile 24 that he could go on ahead of me but stuck around and I was very glad he did. He helped keep me in the hunt for a BQ. With out him offering words of encouragement I might have quit inside mile 25.
Mile 25 and 26 were absolutely brutal!!!! There is no way to describe the pain I was in in understandable terms. My legs were almost completely blown up, my HR was into the low 170's (this only happens in short distance races). My mind was the only thing I had left! I purely willed myself to finish as hard as I could. I literally began to get angry at the half marathoners that were running near us. I thought it was a bogus way to run..."They were cheating." I have never experienced this before. It was all my mind working against me!
I looked at my watch more times in these last 2 miles than probably anywhere else on the course. Not so much to see how far I had to go but to check my pace and overall time. I knew it was getting VERY close! I was VERY nervous about finishing under 3:15:00!
As I ran across the 26 mile marker my mind wanted my legs to run faster but I couldn't make them. Terry took off and I was glad he did. He deserved to finish faster than me and I appreciated that he'd stuck around as long as he did. He could have left me and didn't. My legs were nearly, completely and totally blown up.
The last couple of turns left me about .2 miles to go and I was agonizing throughout them. With about .1 mile left I made the corner toward the finish line and looked at the gun time, "3:14:51." I poured what little was left in my legs out. I can't imagine I increased my pace much at this point but I had to make sure I crossed as soon as I possibly could....I was cutting it VERY close to the cut off time!
I didn't look up as I crossed the finish because I didn't even have the energy to do that. I was wasted!! After I crossed the finish line Tony was there to congratulate me and some of the of the other runners. I said thanks but couldn't even shake his outstretched hand. I bent over with my hands on my knees but fell to the ground on the way down. My legs wouldn't hold me up anymore. As I lie on the ground on all fours, I heard the race announcer say, "Oh how I hate the dry heaves after a race." Of course he was talking about me.....Awesome! But no dry heaves.
As the finish line assistants began to help me up I started to get a little bit nauseous and took note of a trash can that was close. This hasn't happened to me before so I stayed close for a few minutes. The feeling of nausea was pretty fleeting, 30 seconds or so, but I didn't want to take any chances. I saw a wheelchair and for a moment considered passing up sitting down in it. But my legs were beginning to get pretty wobbly again, so I took advantage of it and allowed a little more recovery time for them.
After another minute or so a woman from the local hospital came and asked if I needed something more than the rest I was using the chair for and I declined. But I did take her up on the offer to have someone stretch my legs out. I was so happy I did this!
My training was good but I have to wonder if a 3 week turn around for a second marathon also had something to do with my exhaustion for this race. BUT!!!! I still Boston Qualified and that ALONE was my goal. If I actually get selected that would be awesome too, but just to qualify is enough.....For now!

Despite the pace group leader running very hot for much of the race, I still would have started with him. I figure you have to trust that the people that are put there to do a specific job are going to do the job they were hired for, and Tony was hired.
What I would change is that I stuck with him and the fast pace as long as I did. I should have cut it off sooner and allowed him to burn on ahead while I paced more evenly. Had I done this I think I might have finished a little bit quicker and not had a heart attack when I saw the gun time.

Yeah!! I couldn't even stand up much less warm down! I got stretched out by some of the event staff and got a massage about 30 minutes after the race. Both of which I was incredibly thankful for.
I also went back to the hotel and showered and then got in the hot tub. I think this actually helped flush some of the trash from my body.


I really think the only thing to keep me from performing better was a lack of training. But I don't mean this from a negative standpoint. If you want to be faster you have to train longer. I trained with the amount of time I had available and that's that. This was a very successful race despite only have 7 seconds to spare.


I was very thankful for the support of the event medical staff at the end of the race. They were there for a couple of people that had it worse than I did. I was glad to have someone to grab a banana for me and offer me "mustard" for my recovery. I passed on the mustard, although I have heard it is an excellent recovery "food???" "Beverage???"