Fun Run (Geist 1/2 Marathon)

Pre-race photo

I am going to make this a relatively fast race run down b/c as usual life is busy and I gotta keep moving. I signed up for the Geist half marathon only a few weeks ago. I knew my friend Kimberlee was doing it and I thought, what the heck, I need a fun run too. We had agreed to run it together for fun. No going for time. This was our post Indy mini (where we both got PR's) "fun run." I was not nervous about the race at all except whether or not my IT band was going to kill me the entire time. There were no pre-race jitters to work out like the race 2 weeks ago. I had a very busy Friday so even had I wanted to think about the race, it would not have happened. Like most races the day started very early. I got up around 4am so that I could make my way to Kimberlee's house by 5:30ish. Neither of us had done this particular race so we were not sure how much time we needed to allow. Needless to say we were the first 2 people there. Neither of us minded b/c we are both early people. It gave us plenty of time to make several port-a-potty stops and do some pre-race hydration. I don't know exactly how many people do this race but is was a MUCH smaller scale than the indy mini. I would say less than 5-6,000. Maybe way less...not sure. It was very relaxed. About 15 minutes before start time we made our way to our corral. Again, no stress.

The pre-race ceremony was interesting and strange to say the least. We had a local glee club sing a song. Followed by a good luck from Spongebob Squareparts (who was in a boat on the reservoir). Next Brooke Roe (never heard of but was apparently on American Idol in the past) sand the National Anthem. Then Jared Fogel (the Subway guy) said some words of inspiration. Finally 3 fighter planes flew over. Again, it was in interesting mix of complete randomness. It was perfect weather for the race. Initially a little overcast and in the low 60's. No rain.

The race started and we were off. I have to say this was a much much slower pace than any of my runs (race or training) but it was nice. I wore my garmin so we knew our avg pace for each mile but it was really no concern to us. Neither of us were pushing ourselves. I basically let Kimberlee set the pace (which was a easy pace for her too) and then we chatted it up the entire way. The view was beautiful. I loved running by the water and through all the fancy neighborhoods with lots of big houses to admire. We got drinks at every single water/Gatorade station b/c well why not, time didn't matter. At mile 6ish, I was still barely breathing hard at all. At mile 7 they were giving out free gels. I thought this was as good as time as any to try it. I got the raspberry cream one. Problem was I had my sip of water first and then took the goo. I thought I might hurl but did manage to get it down. I was thankful Kimberlee gave me the rest of her water to wash it down. It was nasty but easy and over quick, so I can see why they are popular. Had I known they were giving them out, I would not have needed to wear my belt b/c we never took anything else the rest of the race. Just past the goo station Kimberlee and I made a comment to each other about how we thought everyone said the race was hilly. So far we were not that impressed. We spoke too soon. Most of the hills were on the second half. Still I gotta say I was expecting the hills to be much more daunting. They were not bad at all. Kimberlee and I usually passed people on the hills. Not so much b/c we sped up but just b/c we didn't have to slow down either. We pretty much stayed at our very slow but consistent pace the entire way. Each mile ticked on. I felt like I could have kept going forever (although starting at mile 10 I really needed to go to the bathroom). I went thru every little spray station just for fun. At the end Kimberlee has quite the kick. This was our first time running together so I was not sure what to expect but knew that whatever she did was what I would be doing. She asked me if I kicked it in at the end. I told her whatever she does, I will keep up. Well, let me just tell you....that girl has a KICK at the end. Really it was an all out sprint. I loved it. Wasn't expecting it, but loved it just the same. We finished, and our breathing just about as normal as when we started. The run itself was a BLAST. I had so much fun doing this fun run with Kimberlee. I can't explain it really but I just enjoyed every minute of it. I think this is the start of a tradition. This will likely never be more than just a post Indy mini "fun run." I think my body and my psyche needed that run.

As for my legs......really they held up great. I did get my shin pain right on schedule but it also ended by mile 4 like it ALWAYS does. I never felt my IT band. I have said this many times but I am a huge huge fan of Mobic. I took it the 2 days before the race (one pill each day). I also used my topical anti-inflammatory drops just prior to the run. It worked. I kept waiting for the stabbing pain to start but it never did. I felt fine. Today I feel a little tight and I could feel my IT band both last night and today but still better than I expected. I have no plans to run for a couple of days so who knows how things will be with my next run.

So in the end this was a great run that was very well organized. I would highly recommend it. The hills are luckily not all people make them out to be. Is it flat...no, but is it going to kill you....NO!! Kimberlee has written a much better post race update on her blog (on my blog list). It was hard to follow and not just write the same thing.

Post-race photo (my shirt was soaked...some b/c of sweat but also because we went thru every spray thing along the way)

I will write my stats but please keep in mind that this was a fun run only!!!

Time: 2:03:03 (avg pace of 9:24)

Place Division 64/257

Sex 284/1389