Indy Mini Marathon - A Great Race! (and a wrist update)

Jim and I had been planning to do the Indianapolis Mini Marathon for months and were super excited to spend the weekend in Indy.  It is Nation's largest half marathon with just over 30,000 runners and has sold out 11 years in a row, but the race has been going on for 37 years.  It was going to be a great weekend!


Jim & I at the expo - there were several cars around

Little did I know that I would wreck my bike just 3 days beforehand.  When I woke up Thurs morning after my wreck, I felt like I actually had been hit by the truck.  I was sore and stiff, scraped and bruised, and my left arm was in a cast due to a possible broken wrist, but definite severe wrist sprain.  I honestly couldn't imagine racing.  We were leaving for Indy right after work on Thurs, and I wasn't even sure I was up for the car ride.  I half heartedly packed and threw in some race clothes "just in case" for Saturday....but had a strong feeling I wouldn't be racing.  I highly considered not even going, but thought I could at least enjoy a quick trip and hated to leave Jim on his own.

 

Messing Around the Expo

Pace Car (I think)

Jim met some adoring fans

Two crazy turkeys

Caution driver with one hand!

 

When I woke up Friday morning, I was feeling a little better and started thinking racing might be a possibility...hey my legs weren't injured right???  Jim and I headed to the expo Friday and messed around.  So yes, I guess if I could pose for cheesy pictures I had to be feeling better.  By the end of the day I had decided that I would at least plan to race in the morning.

Beautiful shot from Downtown

The weather was supposed to be rainy and cold, so I had packed long pants and a long sleeve shirt, but also brought capri pants and a t-shirt - or so I thought.  The forecast changed, and looked like temps would be in the low 60s with no rain so I knew the pants would be too hot, but somehow I managed to not get my capris in my bag......argh.  Luckily we were literally staying across the street from the expo and it was open until 9pm.  So at 8:30 we headed over and I'm pretty sure I found the last pair of black capri pants size medium in the place! 

Pre-race dance

So if racing in my condition wasn't bad enough, I was also going to break running rule #1 - Never race in anything you've never worn before.  Oh well...that's how it goes sometimes.

Police walking the Mini in full gear

Race morning came and I was feeling ok.  I knew I'd be disappointed if I didn't run.  I didn't know what to expect, and thought there was a possibility that I would need to stop, but I would at least make it to the start line.  I decided I should probably take it super easy so I set my Garmin for a 9 minute run/ 1 minute walk to keep me in check.

Crowds lining the street going into the Speedway

There were thousands of people everywhere, but it was so well organized.  It was easy to get in and out of corrals and they had tons of bathrooms.  For a 30,000+ race I was able to get in and out of the porta potty line in 5 minutes.  It was pretty impressive.  While waiting in my corral I heard the best quote of the day.  Two guys behind me (I think father and son) were trying to stretch and warm-up.  The younger guy was showing the older one a stretch and said "This is how we did it in Marching Band", and they started doing a calf stretch while touching their shoes together.  I don't know why but it totally cracked me up.  No offense to those of you who might have been in marching band, but I just don't think it's the "gold standard" for running stretches.

Running around the Speedway track...this is at mile 7 and look at all the people. Just shows how big the race was

The race started at 7:30, but I was in Corral P, so I started about 12 minutes later.  I finally crossed the timing mat and started running.  I had worried about whether my wrist would hurt, but immediately I realized it wouldn't be the issue.  I had a huge, deep purple bruise on my left hip about the size of a grapefruit.  Every time my left foot hit the ground it shot a shock wave of pain through me.  I immediately thought, "Man I don't think I can do this".   It hurt, but I kept telling myself it would eventually go away, and it did about MILE FREAKING 7!  All through the race I was very protective of my arm, just trying to avoid getting bumped because I had the wrist injury, but also some nasty road rash on that arm.

Press Box at the Speedway

I seemed to manage ok, and took it pretty slow and easy.  I ended up finishing in 2:39 which is my slowest half in well over a year, but at least I was still able to finish.  It was disappointing because the course is flat as a pancake and the weather was perfect.  It was the perfect set-up for a PR, but oh well maybe another day.  I was just proud of myself for getting out there and getting it done.

Jim somehow managed to find me after the race in the crazy post race festival.  He had done great and set a new PR!  We hung out for a short time at the post race and then headed back to the hotel for showers and some lunch!  We had a great weekend in Indy and experienced a great race.  I would highly recommend this race to anyone.  I didn't give a lot of race detail but below are some of the highlights:

Great location.  Downtown Indy is clean and vibrant.  There is plenty of shopping and a host of restaurants and hotels.  Getting around is easy and most hotels were in close proximity to the race.

Super flat course

Excellent crowd support and volunteer support. 

Bands all along the course every mile or so.

Water stops were every 1 - 1.5 miles. 

Great long sleeve tech shirt, hat and medal

Large Expo with Race Cars (if you are in to that kind of thing)

You get to run on the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Awesome post race festival and plenty of food

A huge race that is so well organized it feels like a small race

Excellent traffic control and security

Shirt, hat and medal

 In other news, I just got back from the Dr about my wrist.  I got some good news, and some inconclusive news.

My wrist is not broken, that's good.

What I still don't know is whether I have a sprain or ligament damage.  The only way to tell if it's ligament damage for sure is through and MRI, but my Dr wanted to wait it out a bit longer.  So, in the meantime she is treating it as a bad sprain with bone bruising.  I am to ice it and keep taking anti-inflammatories and wearing a wrist splint.  I go back in 3 weeks.  If it's much better then we'll know it's a sprain.  If not, than it will be an MRI and possibly surgery....but I'm not going there yet.  I am having happy positive thoughts that it's just a sprain and I'll be good as new in a few weeks!  In the meantime, no biking or swimming :(     .....but at least I can run!