Indy was Monumental: First half

The first mile I relaxed and aimed to go out too slow; no one ever says, "gee, I wish I'd run the first mile of that marathon faster!"  Tawny, who took manual splits, had us at 6:29 and the course clock read about 6:35 when we passed, being on gun time instead of chip time.  Stella was slightly freaked out by this and pushed ahead at that point (she went on to finish in 2:44:39!).  Sam and I were happy with this, and gradually settled into a slightly faster tempo.  During the first mile, I also heard hellos from a couple of friends running nearby - Shanda, who was in the half, and Laura, who would go on to run a 2:52 marathon PR!  I felt very relaxed and was enjoying myself completely.

Tawny, Sam, and I stayed together the best we could in the crowd, and Dustin, Tawny's husband, told us each turn in advance so we could run the tangents.  The course went under several long underpasses (almost like tunnels) in the beginning miles, which I knew about from the course video I'd watched.  If you ever run this race and want accurate splits, make sure to take manual splits (I did not do this because I didn't want to look at my splits, period).

Sam & I in mile 2 or 3, & Tawny's arm & foot

Synchronized running!

You can tell it was cold

I missed seeing a lot of the early mile markers, and mostly felt like I was enjoying a nice run with friends.  The pace felt just right, and we could see the 2:45 pacer's sign not too far ahead of us.  I felt calm, focused, and collected - also excited that this event that I'd anticipated for months was happening!

Our first bottle station was around the 10K mark, and although the stations had been described extremely well in the elite meeting (they even had an example table set up!), I was a little nervous about grabbing my bottle.  The station was extremely easy to navigate, and I had no trouble spotting table 7 and my bottle in position 3.  My first bottle had UCAN in it, and I drank it gradually over the next mile or so.  I've found some 8 oz water bottles with flip tops that work great for race bottles - they are small and light to carry for a bit.

The half marathoners split off around mile 7, thinning the field, and our group of several women and a few men working together became more distinct. The 2:45 pace sign group was large and 30-45 seconds ahead of my group.  One man told us at each mile marker what overall pace we were on, which was generally 2:44:30.  It wasn't until mile 8 or 9 that we realized he was one of the 2:45 pacers!  He'd gone out more evenly paced, while the other had gone out fast. 

There was some chatter in our group, but it was minimal.  It went without saying that all of the women in the pack shared the same big goal.  We all worked together, and when we had some short stretches into the wind, the pacer and Dustin went to the front to block the wind for us, and the rest of us got in line.  The first half mostly had a tailwind, though, and I really didn't consider the wind at all at that point.

Running in a pack of women working towards a big common goal is truly something special.  In most races, if I am running with other women, I am calculating how I can get to the finish line before them - I am very competitive by nature, although the older I get the more I realize that my only real competition is myself and the other women are there to help me get the best out of myself.  At Indy, like at Grandma's, I felt like we were all on the same team, and I never had any thoughts about beating anyone.  If any of us or all of us got to the finish before 2:45:00, it would be a victory.  I wanted so badly for everyone in our group to get it.

The miles clipped by quickly, and before I knew it we were at mile 10, then our second bottles at 20K (also my first gel), then the 13.1 mark.  At each major spot, I kept thinking, "I feel so great, I don't feel like I've run 10 miles!", "I can't believe how easy a 1:22 half just was!"  I think we were all smiling and gaining momentum at this point.

The obsessively detailed series continues here.