Indianapolis Monumental Marathon 5K Recap

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Friday, October 31^st – 0!  Travel day to Indianapolis right after work, and didn’t get in until almost 10 p.m.  Yoch was passed out by the time I got to the hotel, and needed to get up early for the race since we started pretty early.  Halloween celebrations in downtown Indy, so saw a lot of interesting characters when I was checking into the hotel.  157 miles in October, 1921.5 miles in 2014.

Saturday, November 1^st - ~12 miles (4 up, INDIANAPOLIS MONUMENTAL MARATHON 5K – 18:43, 10/1344 overall, 1/60 35-39 age group, 5 down).  Woke up bright and early on a cold and windy morning.  Ate a quick breakfast, then jogged with Yoch and warmed up before he separated to get ready for the marathon.  Got to see Crystal before she started, and made our way to watch the start before I got ready for the 5K.  Quick warmup and some strides, and I was ready to roll.  I typically run better in colder conditions, so thought this could be a good day if I didn’t run stupidly.  Was freezing my @ss off, and got out of the gate quickly but in control.  I was more or less running by myself for the majority of the race, but had a small group of runners that were about 10-15 seconds in front of me, so kept them in my sight.  The wind was annoying, but not terrible, and had to breathe out of the side of my mouth.  The effort felt great otherwise, and was shocked but happy to see a sub 6 minute 2^nd mile split – at this point, I didn’t feel I was working hard at all, and visions of 18:30’s flashed by.  On the third mile, we ran under a bridge and up a ramp then headed back to downtown – the hill took a little bit out of me, and was passed by a runner at this point.  Once we crested out, the wind hit us square in the face, and took me a minute or so to get adjusted.  Once I did, worked to get my cadence back, and passed the guy who passed me before setting my sights on the runners I had been working behind.  Realized that we were almost done, and we were getting routed to the finish so summoned what little time I had to kick, and motored through the finish with my season’s best!  Cooled down, then ran to meet up with Brooke so we try to catch everyone else.  Saw Crystal finish (strong race at 1:21), then we cooled down and ran Pat and Clint in for Clint’s PR!   Yoch ended up running a monster PR (2:46!), and we partied like it was 1999!  Crystal and I both won age group prizes, which was a nice added bonus.  My splits were: 5:58, 5:56, 6:11

 

Indy Start

1:49 guys

Bling, bling!

Group photo

Sunday, November 2^nd – 0!  Road trip back from Indy, and had a symphony date to watch Gladiator!  Pi Pizza for dinner, which spelled the end of any hopes of any mileage.  Still riding on a high from some good runs, recently!  32 miles this week, 12 miles in November, 1933.5 miles in 2014.

 

Another stunning performance by the SLSO

Awesome

Monday, November 3^rd – 5 miles.  Group run with Craig, Justin, and Tim.  Did 1 mile solo before doing the infamous Justin 4 mile loop.  Nice and easy, felt pretty good and had great company!  High 8’s/low 9’s average, overall.

Tuesday, November 4^th – 6 miles.  I don’t remember this – just the mileage.

Wednesday, November 5^th – 7 miles.  Tempo run with Harry and Justin on a perfect night at Village Circle.  Last second additions for my workout, and worked out very well.  The plan was to hit 6:45 for the first mile, then work my way down a little for 4-5 miles at half marathon pace (aiming for ~6:30 pace).  Justin set the pace for us, and Harry and I worked together and did Village Circles loops.  We got a little fast, but felt pretty comfortable.  The last mile was a little tricky, but mainly from picking it up at the end.  All in all, very, very pleased with the effort, and the help was great too.  Splits were: 6:37, 6:25, 6:19, 6:22, 6:17.

 

Fastest tempo in awhile

Thursday, November 6^th – ~6 miles.  Forest Park run with Joe and Brian Holdmeyer.  Late night loop, and ran into Brian as we were running the reverse loop (up Skinker) so he joined us.  Both Joe and I were pretty dead from our respective workouts, so we kept it relatively under control on a brisk, cool night.  46:08 overall. 

Friday, November 7^th – 6 miles.  Run with Colby after work on the trails in Collinsville.  Started from his gym, then did an out and back.  Uphill going out, downhill coming in – very nice.  Perfect temps, and we barely beat the sun before finishing out.  Legs felt pretty good, and was on cruise control for most of the run.  ~7:20 pace overall. 

Saturday, November 8^th – 10 miles.  Run with Crystal, Colby, Yoch, and Hatcher.  We did the Mud Mountain XC Course before looping around SIUE on the bike trails.  Birthday run for the belated bday celebration for Crystal!  She wanted a piece of Mud Mountain, and we ran a 5K loop of the course before jumping on the trails.  This was a little unfamiliar to me, as I hadn’t run much on these sections but was nice to run through campus and hit up some different scenery.  The wind was brutal on the way back, and I was struggling a lot on parts later on – was very happy to have this run over with!  1:16:38 total.

Sunday, November 9^th – 6 miles.  Run with Crystal and Yoch on the trails.  We looped around the Maryville area, and hit up the newer Fred Winters Memorial Park and some neighborhoods back there, before coming back.  Legs felt considerably better than the day before, and we were more or less on cruise control coming in.  46:31 overall.  46 miles this week, 58 miles in November, 1979.5 miles in 2014.  Busy day with engagement photos in the morning, then a birthday party later that afternoon/evening!

 

Grayson's 1st Birthday!

Engagement photos

Monday, November 10^th – 6 miles.  I think I ran with Yoch, but I can’t remember.  Wait, I do remember now – we did Village Circle Loop, then 270 loop, later at night.  Nice, easy pace, and went by very quickly – 50:38 total.

Tuesday, November 11^th – ~5 miles.  Art Hill repeats with Joe after work.  Very windy and cold night, but had the wind at our backs going up Art Hill.  We did 6 repeats this time, and it didn’t suck.  Legs felt roughly the same on every repeat – not the burning lactic acid or extreme tiredness I felt from last time.  So some progress is being made…

Wednesday, November 12^th – 6 miles.  Run with Yoch on the Maryville streets.  I’ve run on this path plenty of times, but for some reason I must have forgotten how hilly it was.  Cold and windy night, and I was dragging but felt better coming in.  Ran faster than the effort felt, which is always nice.  47:10 total.

Thursday, November 13^th – 5 miles.  Run with Crystal in her neighborhood.  I did a little over 2 miles solo, before she met up and I did a few miles with her.  Felt great out there, and had my first snow run of the season!    Look at these splits – Can you guess where I met up with Crystal?  7:52, 7:53, 7:30, 7:15, 7:18.  Happy 2000th mile to me!

 

Let it snow!

Friday, November 14^th – 7 miles.  Late night track workout at the middle school track.  25 degrees and no wind, so actually a nice night to get in some hard work.  Coach Kyle sent me a fun, but different workout which focused on turnover:  4x100, 3x200, 2x300, 1x400, 2x300, 3x200, 4x100, equal distance jog.  The goal was between 1-2 mile effort with getting faster as the ladder went on, but explicit instruction not to overly push it.  So a rust buster turnover workout.  Ran in the dark, so went purely by effort and only looked at 200m splits, but was very consistent and stayed pretty close to where I needed to be.  Splits were: 4x100 (17,19,17,18), 3x200 (mixed up my 200’s and 300’s) (40,38), 2x300 (62,61,62), 1x400 (77), 2x300 (61,60,59), 3x200 (37,36), 4x100 (17,17,16,16).  Enjoyed this workout, and happy with the effort.  More glad to get this in, as I was more or less ready for bed but literally made myself start at 9:30 p.m.!

Saturday, November 15^th – 0!  Day trip to Champaign watch the Fighting Illini get stomped by the lowly Iowa Hawkeyes.  It was an absolutely brutal game, and we got outplayed.  Spent most of the day crammed into the back of a small jeep, so I was trying to bend myself back into regular position and ended up opting out of run.

Sunday, November 16^th – 12 miles.  Easy long run with Mike in the morning.  We looped around Home Depot and went down the Meridian Hill and up Old Faithful and back home to get this in.  Felt like poo, and we kept it pretty slow.  It was overcast and cold, but not much wind which was nice.  And it snowed, which is always a plus.  ~8:15 pace, overall.  41 miles this week, 99 miles in November, 2020.5 miles in 2014.  In the afternoon, did a fun photoshoot with my friend for his project with New Balance.  I thought the pictures came out great!