My sister was coming into town this weekend for her bridal shower and I knew this would be the most fun way to get the run in. Otherwise I’d lay in bed until 7 when Marshall woke me up and I’d waller around until I convinced myself to get going around 9 or so. I knew a few people who weren’t using their bibs, so I was able to get my sister a bib too.

Marshall and I headed to the expo on Friday to pick up the bibs. He wore his jammies, because at the young age of 10 months, he realized how much more comfortable it is to just wear pajamas than regular clothes. I stopped by my parents house to grab something on the way there and  forgot my wallet there. We parked in a parking garage so were stuck for a bit until my parents could bring my wallet. They were heading down to the expo anyway, so it worked out fine. While we were waiting for them, we posted up in a “living room” area set up at the expo. Marshall was everywhere, crawling all over the place. He was having a good time and was a crowd pleaser for sure.

Someone put some shoes on that baby.

Grandpa showed up and they had some fun. Anyone else think they look alike?

About the run- The workout was supposed to be 10 miles easy, (7:30-8:10 pace) and 4 at race pace. (6:50ish)

We had bibs for Corral M. If you’ve ever ran the mini, you know that being in a corral far back is a big headache if you are running even remotely fast. Even though this wasn’t a “race” for me, I didn’t want to be forced to run 9 minute miles for the first 4 miles. So we snuck up just a little, but only had a few minutes to spare, and landed in corral J. We just hopped the barricades. The people working the entrances to the corrals would not have let us in. Turns out corral J is also really slow. I found myself running the sidewalk for much of the race. Had I been racing I think I would have needed to be in corral A or B and for this run, at least C would have been nice.

As soon Ericka and I hopped into the corral, I saw Doug, one of the very first Members of Back on My Feet Indy. Doug was on team Progress House. I had only seen him one time in the past year or so and it was just in passing on the monon while running. It was great to catch up- he is doing great, 4 years sobriety and when he was on the team, he was in school for heating and cooling and he’s now working in that business and doing well.

Doug and I ran the first 5 miles together and separated a little before we hit the track. As soon as I was about to enter the track, I saw another old friend from Back on My Feet, who used to run as a volunteer. She had a baby a few weeks before I had Marshall and recently got her first Boston Qualifyer at the Carmel Marathon. I was so excited to see her and hear about her race and training. She works out with the Jordan YMCA Mutlifit group and is also training for Ironman Muncie 70.3. I am more than tempted to look into getting involved with that group.

I ran with Danielle for most of miles 7 and 8- we lost each other at a water stop though, which was fine because she had actually been running with friends before this loud mouth came up and starting talking her ear off and I think she wanted to get back to them anyway and I needed to do my fast finish so the talking had to stop for me. You’ll notice I slowed quite a bit when I was talking with Danielle. I consciously thought about that, and quickly reminded myself, that the reason I was doing this run in the race rather than on my own was for the fun of it and I was having fun running and catching up with her. If you take yourself too seriously, you’ll never have fun with it.

Also- for miles 1 and 2, there was nothing I could do about going any faster without tripping over people or making myself look like a crazy person- it was obnoxious. So I decided to not worry about that and enjoy the warm up.

Splits:

Mile 1– 7:57
Mile 2- 7:40
Mile 3- 7:27
Mile 4- 7:23
Mile 5- 7:22
Mile 6– 7:33
Mile 7– 8:10
Mile 8– 8:04
Mile 9– 7:25
Mile 10- 6:54
Mile 11- 6:50
Mile 12- 6:55
Mile 13- 6:57

Total Time: 1:38:26 – before the race, I figured I’d run somewhere around 1:36-1:39, so that was about right.

In my mind I had wanted to run 7:25-7:35 pace for 9 miles and then 6:45 for the last 4 miles. Things turned out different though and that’s totally fine. I mostly wanted the end to be faster but I gave it what I had at the end there. My legs where honestly tired this whole run. As soon as I got through mile 1, I thought about how happy I was that I didn’t decide to try to race this or even try for another baby PR. My body wouldn’t have loved me for that. I think I would have miserably ran something similar to what I did at Carmel had I tried to do that. Racing on tired legs will only get you so far for so long.

During those first 9 miles, as my legs were so tired, I was a little nervous about being able to put out those fast race pace miles. I’m not gonna lie, it took some discipline and work. I could have easily decided to finish it off in 7:15s. I really think all the biking is making my legs tired in a different way.

It was weird running that pace at the end and being so far back. I was 9 minutes from the gun time. I had already been passing people the entire race, and it had at least spread out a little by mile 9, but was still super crowded. During the first half of the race I stayed on the outside and sidewalks to get past people. In those last four miles, I stayed more in the middle and felt that I was able to do less weaving that way.

In the mini, you pass mile 12 as you approach New York St., which is the last straight away. It’s quite the long straight away. You run over the New York Street Bridge and if it’s at all windy you feel it strong there- the wind kind of hurt a little and again I was glad I wasn’t racing. I let my pace slow down to 7:08ish for a bit there and knew it didn’t matter much, but I needed to pick it up if I wanted to keep with that fast finish. Honestly I was tired and I just wanted to keep it under 7 minute pace. My mom was chillin on a corner about a half mile from the finish line and smiled at me and told me to put some pep in my step. She knew it was a training run for me, but also knew I was trying for the fast finish.

Using these races as “training” runs is much more fun than running alone,  but when you see other people running PRs or great races you feel like you missed out. Part of me is saying “Well if I was really running my best, I’d finish so much faster” but the smarter part of my brain says, “does it really matter if you run 4-5 minutes faster and end up with a strugglefest and wearing yourself out, when you are supposed to be somewhat chill?”. You can only have so many quality races close together though, it’s just hard to force yourself to not be competitive in a race atmosphere sometimes.

I think I’ll race the mini at some point in the somewhat near future- it’s flat, fun and if your in an appropriate corral is an excellent course for a PR. 

Congrats to everyone who ran on Saturday- there were a ton of friends out there who accomplished big goals!

Sister & I- she wasn’t racing either, and ran a 1:55. She had sore crossfit legs.

With my parents after the run. The recently moved just north of downtown so they rode their bikes down to spectate the race. This is a running family. We all love the atmosphere. Do you ever use races as “training runs?” Do you like it or not?

Immediately following IMWI, I remember telling Lindsey and my family that I was never going to do anything like that again….but I also said that after we ran our first marathon together in 2008. I am currently on number 12. Slowly but surely in the days following the race my mind began to wonder. What if I do this? What if I buy that? Maybe I could try this? If only? Blah Blah Blah….it could go on and on. In the week following Wisconsin I kind of had a strong urge to race another one in 2013 but man I am glad now at this point that I did not pull the trigger and go sign up for one.

I do have a strong desire to race another Ironman in the future just not anytime soon. Maybe 3-5 years from now? All those questions in my head about what if I do believe I have the answer for them and can make big jumps in my performance (I’d like to crack the Top 10 in my Age Group and depending on the course flirt with breaking 10:00:00 hours) but alas that will have wait for another day and I am okay with that.

Ironman training is hard. Really hard actually and not just on the athlete. If you are not single this means getting a huge buy-in from your wife, girlfriend, SO, partner, whatever because if you are racing an Ironman they essentially are as well. Throw a pregnancy and a newborn 10 weeks out from the race and you  reach a whole new stratosphere of buy-in/commitment. Because when you are training, everything you do revolves around the training. I mean everything! You are consumed by it. It was all that I thought about. Day and night. It would not be fair to Lindsey and Marshall for me to jump back into that sort of thing and frankly I don’t think I have the mental horepower to jump back on the horse in 2013. I will live to fight another day.

I will never fully understand what Lindsey had to go through with Marshall and everything while my training block was at its pinnacle. I can only begin to imagine what it was like. I am and will be forever grateful for her sacrifice. Thank you Lindsey!

Moving forward my focus is shifting back to running. As that is what I really love to do. I believe running is a great test of mental and physical strength and endurance. I look forward to lacing them up again and really getting after it.

My current plan is to ride the wave of fitness from Wisconsin into a the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon in early November. I raced the Indianapolis Mini Marathon on May and really enjoyed racing that distance so I am going to take another crack at it. My goal for the race is break 1:20:00. That will be hard but I believe I can do it. In May, I ran in the low 1:24’s in some god awful conditions. Sunny and unbearable humid. So I am thinking in November race conditions should be a little more favorable. We will see how it goes.

After that I am going to do nothing! NOTHING! I mean nothing!!! I am planning on unplugging and recharging the mind and body for a few weeks in November. Probably until after Thanksgiving. I know so many people that go, go, go all the time. They never step back and recharge. 2012 has been a huge year for me both personally (Marshall…hello!) and training volume wise so I want to use the month of November as a   rest period and pivot point to mark the end of one year and the beginning of a new year because come December 1 its Marathon season.

In April 2013, I will run 2:45:00 at the Carmel Marathon.

-Be Consistent.

Glenn

 Back on My Feet (BoMF) is a national nonprofit organization that is dedicated to creating independence and self-sufficiency within the homeless and other underserved populations by first engaging them in running as a means to build confidence, strength and self-esteem.

Personally, I think the $1,000 FundRacing minimum scares people away, but if you break it down it’s really not that bad. You have to be creative and you have to be fun with it. AND I think one of the most fun ways to raise the money would be to partner up with your friends and do it as a group. Of course if you do it that way….. then you have to already have your bibs- which a lot of people do!

Weather you have a bib already or not-you can FundRace for Back on My Feet Indianapolis for the 500 Festival Mini Marathon! Back on My Feet has bibs for the SOLD OUT race.

FundRace as an individual or with a Team!
We will set up an on-line fundraising page to help with your efforts!

• FundRace as an individual – With 15 individual FundRacers for the mini marathon, we can raise $15,000 for the Indianapolis program! That is a huge contribution! It costs $1,800 to put a member through our entire program, by raising $15,000 we can put 8 new members through the program.

• FundRace with your Running Group  – Do you run with a group of friends who are training for the mini? Why not make it a group effort and raise the money together? With 10 runners, that’s only $100 each! It’s as simple as recruiting 10 people to contribute $10 to your campaign! Your group of friends would have their own fundraising page as a team effort that you can all share with your different networks- the donations would come in from all over!

• FundRace with your fellow employees – Are there a group of runners at your place of work who are training for the mini? Create a corporate team and FundRace together as a department or entire corporation! What a great team building way to give back to your community!

The fundraising minimum for this race is $1,000 – which may sound like a lot at first, but break it down and be creative!

• Analyze the Goal – Think of it as 25 donations of $40 or 20 $50 donations.

• Examine and Activate Your Network  – Start off by making a list of individuals who would be targets to support!

• Create a Personal Fundraising Plan with Benchmarks – Give yourself goals along the way, breaking it down is less overwhelming!

• Look for “Multiples” – Often times companies offer matching gifts programs and sometimes a family member or friend will match donations as well!

• Step Six: Develop a Communication Strategy – How will you communicate your efforts? How about a blog specific to your efforts -create entries about your workouts and keep supporters updated on how your training is going. Doing this will remind everyone why you are working so hard. Utilize facebook and twitter! Make it a challenge for not only yourself but those supporting you as well! Example Tweet – “In the next 100 minutes, help me raise $100 for my Back on My Feet FundRacing Campaign!”

Still need ideas for fundraising?

• Host a fundraising party!
• Clean out your closet and basement – sell items on ebay or consignment shops with all proceeds going to your fundraising efforts!
• Partner with a local restaurant – often times restaurants will donate a portion of proceeds to a worthy cause, see if your favorite restaurant will partner with you for your efforts!
• Make it a contest for your friends- the first 10 people who donate to your campaign will be in a drawing to win a $25 gift card.
• The best advice is to have fun with it and remember you have joined a special team of people who are all part of helping those overcoming homelessness to become self sufficient.

Benefits of FundRacing:

• Free Entry to the 500 Festival Mini Marathon!
• Opportunity to meet members who benefit from your fundraising efforts!
• FundRaising Kit !
• Team Atmosphere!
• BoMF running gear as an incentive for how much you raise! More details on our website!
• Knowing that there is meaning behind every step you take during your training and race experience!

Are you ready for the challenge? Register today and secure your bib! Do you have more questions? Contact Lindsey@backonmyfeet.org or call at 317.517.8699.

Since I last posted, we ran the Flying Pig Marathon in Ohio on May 1, as Lindsey blogged about the other day. It was fun to run the marathon with Erik, even though he took off at mile 10. It is always fun to experience someone’s first distance attempt. It was a great weekend! It was fun as well to run with Lindsey the last six miles, despite my lack of food attack at mile 23. All in all a good marathon.

The following weekend was the Back on My Feet 5k, which was the first timed 5K they ran and was in conjunction with the Indy Mini downtown. They were loving the massive crowds! I’ve got to say it is pretty cool to see 40,000 plus people at the start and all together, even though the actual course sucks I think. So that was a great time to see all of them racing. My plan was to run the 5k with Mitch but we were separated at the start. I guess I ran the weave through the slow moving traffic a little too fast. I ended up running an 18:43. So that was pretty cool. The legs definitely felt tired from the previous week. The only thing that kinda sucked about the race was I ran under someone else’s bib so I can’t get any time glory…oh well guess I will just need to run another 5K.

The next weekend found me in the back woods of the Ozark National Forest of Arkansas doing the Syallamo’s Revenge 50 mile mountain bike race. Let me just start by saying that the first 27 miles of this race were by far the absolute most difficult trail I have ever been on. The race started down in Blanchard Caverns and went straight up a steep fire road for about 1.5 miles upon which time you entered he$$, also known as the trailhead. I knew it was going to be difficult riding but I would have never imagined the amount of greasy roots, up hill and down hill rock gardens, and mud that I encountered in the woods.

Greg, Lindsey’s Dad, and I decided beforehand that we were going to ride together. I usually leave him at the start of these things and do my own racing but it was actually a lot of fun to have someone to suffer with…even though we were moving slower than I prefered…no big deal though.

All in all, Syallamo’s was a great time. A hard time but a great time nonetheless.

The next two weekends were spent hanging with our respective families in Crown Point and Bloomington for my Mom’s birthday and then Mother’s Day.

May was definitely a hectic month but a fun month. I don’t think that we would have it any other way….we wouldn’t know what to do if we didn’t have something going on every weekend

I’ll see if I can do a better job of keeping up with this…I do have triathlon news to talk about now.

-Glenn

I guess it’s appropriate that I’m writing my very first blog about my very first half-marathon. I am the black sheep in a family of runners. The very last to run a big race, 13.1. I didn’t want to be the only one to say that I hadn’t done it, which is a big reason of why I ran. When I signed up several months before the race I had every intention of training and being totally prepared. Alas- my lack of motivation got the best of me and I ended up with almost zero training. I’m going to go ahead and advise this as the OPPOSITE of what you should do. It makes for a very long and difficult race, and a pretty miserable rest of the day.

Race day we were up bright and early. It was FREEZING and I wasn’t a happy camper but, once the sun came up it started to warm up a little bit. I met up with my friend, Chelsea, in our start corral. Coencidentally she had not trained either so we pretty much decided to stick together the whole race. Once we got going the first 6 or so miles were a breeze for me. Once we got past that point things started to change. It got hard, and easier, and hard…. back and forth. I found that it’s good to have a running buddy when you plan on pushing yourself…. because you can push each other. Our goal was to run the whole thing without stopping- even if we were running slow. And we did run slow towards the end, I remember thinking at one point that I feel like I look like an old woman. Weather conditions ended up being PERFECT for running. It rained just a little bit and it was overcast.

Near the end of the race I can’t tell you how much I wanted to stop and walk…. and if you are a runner yourself you KNOW that feeling. My knees hurt so bad, my stomach hurt and after a couple of hours you are just OVER IT. I think a huge thing that got me through towards the end was that I wanted to finish and be able to say that I did it and I ran the entire thing. So- I DID IT. I ran the entire race- crossing the finish line at 2 hours and 38 minutes. What a great feeling !! And although during the end of the race I swore I’d never do it again…. I think I might.

– Shelby

I stayed with Sierra, Liza, Courtney, and the Amber’s for most of the race. Although we’ve been practicing for quite some time- I have never seen this group work so hard. They were all determined to finish and had really great attitudes the whole time. I really felt honored to be able to experience this race with these girls.

Once the group I ran with finished, I made my way backwards on the course to find the rest of the group. There were four in front of us, but the rest were behind us. Ideally I would love to run with everyone, but there is the obvious fact that you can only be in one place at a time. Part of me wanted to run back and forth between groups, but I felt that would prevent me from having quality time with any of them. So, as I headed back to cheer the rest of the team on in for their last mile or two, everything in me wanted to stay with each and every one of them to the finish, but I knew I was heading straight back to Tyla. Tyla has worked so hard during this training and this girl was determined to finish her race. I found her at mile twelve. She was with one of our amazing volunteer pace leaders (Carol Franz… you rock!) who had stayed with her the entire race and encouraged her. She had also picked up another lady, who was from Utah and had already finished the race. Tyla’s new friend had made her way to the back looking for a friend. When this woman couldn’t find her friend, she made it her goal to get these last struggling runners and walkers to the finish line. What a woman. She knew Tyla by name and together we all finished that last mile with her. I think everyone can learn a little bit from the lady from Utah.

Two weeks prior to the race, we completed our longest run which as 10 miles. At the end of that practice, Tyla busted into the classroom completley emotional, but and worn out with tears streaming down her face. At this point, I knew I had to see her and be with her when she crossed the finish line on race day. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. Tears of happiness and exhaustion came over her face and once again, I was reassured that this program had a positive impact on the life of a kid that really needed it. No matter how you train, who you train with, how fast, or how slow you run or walk- YOU are the person who got yourself to the finish line. Nobody else can put in the work for you, and that is something you can own and truly be proud of. The fact of the matter is that, while Tyla may have been one of the last individuals to cross that finish line- she did it, and I know she is proud of herself- one step at a time her confidence has improved and I am thankful for that.

A lesson I have been learning through this whole process is- the race isn’t always about YOU- the race can be about you sometimes- but incorporating others into your racing journey makes it so much more worth it. Of course- I love having new PRs and improving myself, but there is nothing better than being with someone when they have that same moment of pride you had when you crossed the finish line of a new distance for the first time. At the end of the day, if just one of the kids or seniors who participated in this journey decides to regularly incorporate these kind of activities in their lives, then mission accomplished. We did what we set out to do.

One more mention on about Race Day- Thank you to the United Hope Foundation for our awesome Team Legacy shirts! Not only were they bright, which made it easy to spot one another in the race- they were super cute!

As one might imagine, there is a lot of cost and support that goes into putting on a program such as this. From M&I Bank paying for the entry fees to all of the individuals who stepped up to purchase new running shoes for the kids- we are sincerely grateful. We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to each and every supporter of this team. You all were just as much a part of the team as the next- and because of you, a positive impact has been made in the lives of individuals who needed just that.

Jimmi (our only male on the team) and Victoria showing of their medals after 13.1!

And let’s not forget the Seniors from JHBCC who completed the 5K! Some of these ladies are in their eighties folks! Two years ago a handful of this crew walked the entire 13.1. You can read a little bit about my reflections on doing these walks with the seniors here.

Thank You:

M&I Bank, INHP, United Hope Foundation, The Runners Forum, 2012 Super Bowl Host Committee, John H. Boner Community Center, Arsenal Tech, Ernst & Young, Northview Church, Mass Ave. Pub, Steer In, Office Max, Kroger, Sam’s Club, Spades Park Library, Riley Area Developement Corporation,  Kimball Lloyd-Jones, Kitti & Tom Drake, Lori Andersen, Carol Franz, Patricia Griffin, Lance Ratliff, Moria Carlstedt, St. Patrick’s Day Party Donator’s, Liell Lloyd-Hostetter, Cairo, Melissa Deer, Joan Morris, Kathy Helman, Leslie Wright, Susan Voght, Connie and Greg Server