A Whole New Experience.....

Well, it was a VERY busy but VERY fun weekend.

Let's start from the beggining. I met Ashley at her place after work on Friday to head down to the expo and pick up our bib numbers and other goodies. Downtown was packed and I have to say that the expo was a bit of a disappointment, but we did make it down there and back before the storms hit. When I got home Chuck, Hannah, Mom and I all sat down to have our traditional spaghetti dinner then it was early to bed for all of us. Unfortunately, the night before things like this I have trouble falling asleep and I was up way too late! Anyways, the alarm went off at 4:45 and Chuck and I just laid there listening to the wind howling outside, when the news finally came on we learned that the temperatures would not be above 50 and that we could be running in wind gusts up to 20 mph, Sweet!! So after trying to figure out what we should wear and making a couple PB & Banana sandwiches we picked Ashley up and headed downtown.

Once we got downtown we stretched, put our bib numbers on and headed to our corrals to wait for the start, it was FREEEZING, but iat least in the corrals we were protected from the wind! The Indianapolis Mini Marathon is a HUGE race, we started in corral I, so it took us 8 or 9 minutes to get to the starting line then the first mile is always long because there are just so many people. Our first mile was rough, both Chuck and I were cold and stiff from standing around, the wind was at our faces and there were just so many people, it took us 10:13 to see the first mile marker!!! After that the crowd thinned out a bit and we started loosening up, I think both of us felt great and the miles were flying by. It really wasn't until mile 10 that both of us started feeling a bit sluggish, our legs were just getting heavy, but at mile 10 you only have 3 more miles to go, and that is what we kept telling ourselves. Chuck is a wonderful running partner, even when he could use a little encouragement himself he can always remind me of the chocolate chip cookie waiting for me at the finish line (yes I look forward to the crappy chocolate chip cookies that they hand out at then end!).

Even with the wind and the chilly temps, Chuck and I had a great race, we finished in 2:07:56, which happens to be a personal best for me. So I still haven't done it in under 2 hours, but we did beat last years time by 10 minutes (although last year was just a complete bust all around), and we had a great time.

Here are our times for all 7 Indianapolis Mini Marathons!
2010 2:07:56
2009 2:17:56
2008 2:16:52
2007 2:13:02
2006 2:17:25
2005 2:28:08
2004 2:32:27

The rest of the weekend flew by, we spent it hanging out with family and friends, doing yard work and celebrating Mother's Day! Can't wait for next year.....