Caid and I decided to make it happen this year, and pay the nonrefundable bucks (a lot of bucks for poor newlyweds) to run the Indy 500 mini (the largest one in the nation--yeah!). We made sure to start running longer and at least 4 times a week. And then Caid hurt his knee. And then I realized longer runs were supposed to be longer than 30 minutes (5k). Opps.
But that NONREFUNDABLE kept glaring at me. So I asked a friend to join me as "Caid," and went for some longer outdoor runs once the snow stopped (by some, I mean two). We came back from California Friday evening, and the race was Saturday morning--5am California time. I decided that walking Disneyland counted as training.
But Carina was amazing, and the weather wasn't too cold, and having thousands and thousands of people around you is an amazing feeling (I will add that I also felt better after seeing some of the other racers who were less prepared than myself--but that one old man KILLED it!). The music was pumping from speakers everywhere and I felt proud of my Indianapolis--we rock.
We were in the last wave, letter "W," and the bagpipe players played us off the starting line. Carina and I gave each other high fives and yelled "Come on 3 hours!" as our goal. Every quarter mile or so there was either a band, someone singing, someone with signs, or someone cheering us on. It was like the world was on Supercamp fire, and I lapped it up.
Mile 6 saw us entering the Speedway, which is pretty cool, because everyone in Brazil only knows my town by "Indy 500." Now I get to brag that I've actually been there (first time). By mile 9 we were talking about boys and relationships, and when we got to mile 10 and the Clif break, I was grossed out to find it was Clif shots instead of a Clif bar...what? GROSS--runners eat that gummy sugar goo?
Mile 11 saw cramps and blisters. I was sure I had at least six, but currently only one shows, and it is on my fourth toe, left foot. Mile 12 and 13 were challenges, but Carina and I knew that if we could do this--anyone could--gotta prove that. Finish line, people yelling "Go random stranger Go!" and then lots of free snacks. Exhausted plopping down under a tree. And, of course, the final selfie.
And guess what? First mini? 2 hours and 39 minutes. Pretty darn good.
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