I have lived in Indianapolis for 13 years and I have always admired over 30 thousand people running 500 Festival Mini Marathon. Last year while sitting on my couch, drinking coffee and watching the news coverage of the Mini I decided that enough is enough and that I want to do it! I wanted to experience the thrill of running through the streets of Indianapolis and feel the goose bumps while running on the Indy 500 track. That day I signed up to take part in the largest half marathon in the US, not knowing that we will have the worst winter ever and I will be going through ICore in the Spring. I was very excited even though I did not have any time to train for 13.1 miles. This year the race took place on May 3rd and I started that day very early. I had my coffee and a bagel to give me an extra carb boost. We arrived downtown around 7 am to make sure we had a place to park. As crowds were getting bigger my excitement and nerves were increasing also. I took my spot in the Corral T and we started walking towards the start line. At around 8:45 I crossed the start line and the race started. First 3 miles were pretty slow as it was hard to go around people because of the crowding. 5k into the race I had to take a potty break :) As we were approaching Indianapolis Motor Speedway I was very surprised to see so many spectators cheering us on. The energy and excitement was very high. Running on the track was an amazing experience. I did not kiss the bricks but I did take a picture of my shoes stepping on the brick :)
Once I hit the 10 mile marker I started feeling tired but the worse part was the last mile stretch of New York Street. So close to the finish line but it felt like forever. I finished the Mini Marathon with a time of 2 hours and 20 minutes. I guess it's not too bad for being my first half marathon but I was still a little disappointed for not finishing it sooner. Overall it was an amazing experience and I will do it again next year...oh yeah as soon as I cross the start line my hubby sent me a text message saying that he signed me up for next year :) I guess now I have to do it ;) I am a one lucky girl to have a husband that supports my healthy habit.
I did it!!!!!
