Indy Half Marathon - and what comes next

 This past Saturday I ran the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon. I don't even know that I really have the words for it yet but I will get there through trying to type them out.

First I want to start with the bitter sweet. While many things for the weekend went exactly as I would have hoped, this whole weekend started as me and Pam looking to do the same race and have a great weekend together. We did have a great weekend but we knew going into it that Pam would have to defer her entry to next year. Because I cannot help myself and always look for silver linings, I have to say that I am super excited to have a reason to go back to Indy next year. And maybe run...more than the half...maybe?

Monument Square - From our easy run Sunday morning

ANYWHO. I don't necessarily plan to go through the weekend in detail, but the bits outside of the run were all just as awesome as the run. Pam and I had three SUPER tasty meals (Binkleys for dinner Friday night, Root and Bone for lunch Saturday, and a local Asian place for Pho for Saturday dinner).

Wedge Salad at Root and Bone - after eating A LOT of carbs in the three days leading up the race, I was dying for a big salad post race. This was insanely good.

Banana Creme Brûlée at Root and Bone

Really amazing Pho

The race itself: 

My goal: I had a spoken goal and a mostly unspoken goal. My spoken goal was to finish. That is the best approach for anything that we do for the first time. No expectations, just go out and have fun. But I have done a half, and so I couldn't help but have some sense of expectation of what I thought was doable. But with it being eight years since my last, I tried to find balance of both the spoken and unspoken goal. The unspoken goal was to finish in under 2 hours and 15 minutes. This is an average pace of 10 min 20 second miles. This would be a personal best of about 5 minutes if I did it. Through all my training this was what I worked toward. This was the pace I strived for. And I was pretty confident I could do it. 

My plan: I've been listening to a TON of running and sports nutrition podcasts, and so I felt I knew the best way to approach the race from a pace perspective, and how to fuel properly. My plan for paces was to start slow and speed up. This is called negative splits and it is typically what most people say is the goal when running a race. One of the podcasts I listen to, Running Rogue, talks a lot about "bank energy, not time". Often people go out fast and try to get ahead of their goal pace to "bank time" but really that just burns your legs out and then you slow down way more. I knew that at mile 10 I was going to kick it up a notch and leave it all on the course. My nutrition plan (and what I practiced on my long runs) was to fuel every 30 min. I am proud of myself because I did both of these things. While my miles were not a perfectly negative split, they certainly got overall faster, with my last three miles being my fastest miles. 

Honestly, this race was the best I have ever had. Not just from a time perspective but from the way I felt physically and mentally. I finish in 2:14:25, so with 35 seconds to spare. While to some being that close to the goal may be nerve wrecking, for me I was excited because it meant that I set a realistic goal that I would have to work for but that was doable. It reinforced that I know myself and I know what I am capable up. And as I get ready for these next goals, that is important. 

This was as I approached the finish, knowing that I would make my goal. 

So, what's next? 

Well, as I said in my last post, I want to focus on strength over the winter. For November and December, my general plan:

November:

• Monday: Core and Upper Body / 20 min ride
• Tuesday: 30 min interval run
• Wednesday: Swim and strength for runners
• Thursday: Full body strength / 30 min endurance ride
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: Long ride (60 min)
• Sunday: Long run (60 min)

All that will change in December is increasing the long ride and run to 75 min. 

So, what's really next? Welp...today this happened:

So, I have officially signed up to do a Half Ironman. September 11, 2022. However before that, I have my first Olympic distance triathlon on June 12. I will likely continue a schedule similar to above through January and February, and then I will start a more specific training plan for my Oly. 

What may be next? Maybe the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon? If not that, definitely the half will also happen next year. 

So! Lots of exciting things to come. I am excited to take you on the next steps in my journey!