Indianapolis Half Marathon

Last weekend I completed my second half marathon with four of my friends in Indianapolis. My goal for this race was to come in under 1:45. Overall, I was pretty pleased with my performance, here's how it went down:

Wake up call around 6:30 am; I like to wake up early enough to make sure I have time to take care of all of the bathroom business. The Indianapolis Hilton North was offering a shuttle from the hotel to the race site at 7:25 am. After getting dressed and ready to go I headed down to the lobby to meet my friends and grab some coffee. I was hoping the hotel would offer some kind of continental breakfast, but I had no such luck. Usually before a race I eat a peanut butter sandwich. I made one before we left the house and forgot to pack it. Instead, I had a power bar around 7:30 am

The four of us were riding nervously on the bus to Fort Benjamin Harrison when one of the women behind us said: “ the hills around mile 3 and 10 are brutal!” What, hills? Brutal!? We chose a race in Indy! Indy doesn’t have hills! Good thing Cincinnati does, I guess.

We arrived at the race start at 7:50 am and had 40 minutes to kill. It was really cold and windy so we huddled for warmth. One of my friends suggested sitting in porta potties until the race began. Not quite that cold!

It was finally time to line up. I lost a layer of clothes and wished my friends good luck as we headed to our separate corrals. I tried to jump around and stay warm but it wasn't happening.

After the National Anthem, the race started and we were off! The start was a little crowded and I was in the back of the corral. The path was narrow in the beginning, making it difficult to pass at times. I probably should have started a little closer to the front of the pack, but I thought since we were lined up by pace I wasn't going to be one of the fastest in corral B, rookie mistake. I finished the first mile in 8:04 and knew I needed to pick it up if I was going to meet my goal.

The majority of the race took place on wooded paths through the park. The course was really beautiful with all the fall foliage and I was feeling great, running at a good pace and taking it all in. At each mile marker I looked down at my watch, noting my time, and giving myself a little pep talk. There were some significant hills in the race, but not as bad as the flying pig half marathon (which I was thankful for).

At mile 8, I was feeling fantastic flying through the rolling hills. That feeling ended abruptly at mile 10; I got a side stitch and felt like I was barely moving. I tried hard to hold onto my pace. I slipped a little more and mile 11 with a split of 8:26. Once I passed the mile 12 marker I knew my pity party was over and I had to suck it up to finish strong!

The half marathon split from the full at 12.5 miles. I saw the split and with .6 to go, picked up the pace a little more. After being burned at my last race I wasn't going to get beat at the finish this time. At the 13 mile marker I took off and ended with a time of 1:43:03!!! Beating my PR by 6 minutes!!!

Splits:
Mile 1: 8:04
Mile 2: 7:11
Mile 3: 7:58
Mile 4: 7:47
Mile 5: 7:31
Mile 6: 7:40
Mile 7: 7:48
Mile 8: 7:31
Mile 9: 8:08
Mile 10: 8:09
Mile 11: 8:26
Mile 12: 8:11
Mile 13: 7:56
Mile .1: 45
Average pace: 7: 52

Good enough for a 5^th place finish in my division. I had a blast at this race! The whole event was organized very well. Now that this years racing season is basically over, time to start planning next year’s events! Any suggestions??



Huff, Jojo, Me





Me, Jojo, Abbey, Huff



my number one fan

post race celebratory cocktail!

*** Check out Shut Up and Run for a Saucony Shoe Giveaway***

FOO FIGHTERS

Thursday night D and I attended the Foo Fighter's show in Columbus at Nationwide Arena for their Wasting Light tour and it was FREAKIN AMAZING!! Seriously, so good!

The opening band was Mariachi El Bronx. We only got to hear them play a couple songs, but they are very entertaining and I would love to see them again sometime. 

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 Next up was Rise Against. D has seen them previously, before they became popular, but this was the first time for me. I have never seen a band with so much energy they jumped around like cheerleaders for their 45 minute set. I was exhausted just watching them.

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And then it was time for the FOOFS!

...because you don't know who the Foo Fighters are

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The show was everything I'd hoped it would be! Dave Grohl is hilarious, during the breaks he chatted it up a lot and was making us lose it. The lighting and stage set up was awesome, like nothing I've ever seen before. The band played for a good two and a half hours. Finally the show ended and they band left the stage....

our view from the nose bleeds! Who cares we could still hear them!!!

For the encore Dave came out and did a couple acoustic songs (my fav!!) and finally the whole band ended the show with Everlong (my absolute fav!!!)

D and I had a great time and I can put a check on my Bucket List!

Here is the set list from the show: source

1.)    Bridge Burning
2.)    Rope
3.)    The Pretender
4.)    My Hero
5.)    Learn to Fly
6.)    White Limo
7.)    Arlandria
8.)    Breakout
9.)    Cold in the Sun
10.)  Stacked Actors
11.)  Walk
12.)  Monkey Wrench
13.)  Let it Die
14.)  These Days
15.)  Skin and Bones (w/ Krist Novoselic)
16.)  This is a Call
17.)  In The Flesh (Pink Floyd Cover)
18.)  All My Life

Encore:
19.)  Long Road to Ruin (Acoustic)
20.)  Best of You (Acoustic)
21.)  Times Like These (Acoustic)
22.)  Dear Rosemary
23.)  Breakdown (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Cover)
24.)  Everlong

Wife vs. Food!!

Confession: I LOVE Adam Richmond!! I don't know what it is about him but I could watch him eat alll dayyy loooonnng!! So, naturally, when D and I were planning on going to Columbus for the Foo Fighters concert I thought we could hit up a "man vs food" restaurant. Cue the Thurman Cafe!

This restaurant has a HUGE list of HUGE burgers! Eighteen different burgers to be exact... HEAVEN!!!

 I had the Jonnie Burger which is:

"A bleu cheese burger with loads of bacon, horseradish cheese, and a splash of tequila cooked in; no lettuce, tomato, or mayo cuz, quite frankly, if I’d wanted a salad, I’d of ordered one! Served with fries, cuz chips are for quitters!" 

The menu also recommended a shot of 1800 with the burger, but that would have led to a completely different night altogether... I'm not sure D could have kept me off of the Foo Fighter's stage!! So instead I had a tall Leinenkugel Oktoberfest, YUM!

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 D had the Thurman burger (the burger Adam eats in the episode):

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"Our head honcho overloaded with ham, sautéed mushrooms & onions, mozzarella & American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, banana peppers, and mayo with kettle chips and a pickle spear"

The food was DELICIOUS and filling!! The atmosphere was fun and relaxed. They had dollar bills hanging every where with signatures, doodles and funny quotes. The place is really small and luckily we arrived fairly early and got a seat right away. There was a crowd and a pretty long wait when we left around 7pm.

I'm so glad I have Adam to follow to the nation's best burger joints!

 and in this battle of wife vs food...

yeah.. I ate the last bite don't worry!

..... WIFE WINS!!!! 

 And now I need to go for a 100 mile run!