Last year, I ran here, but I was only running 8 miles or
so. This year, I had to find some longer
places to run at. The weather is like
night and day between the two years.
Last year, it was unbearably hot.
This year, it is nice and cool. I
didn’t start until after 11 AM and I’m not sure that the temperature even
reached the 70s. It was cloudy the whole
time. There was some humidity though.
I went with a normal top and shorts. I used some heavier shorts with pockets, so
that I could carry money and buy a drink during the run. That worked out well.
I’m familiar with the Butler University area, so I decided
to start there. The plan was to run to
Broad Ripple, if it wasn’t too far. That
is a small bar district. There is
another trail that goes off of the canal trail that I planned on taking to
there.
I began by parking in the Hinkle Fieldhouse parking
lot. The central canal towpath was a
short distance away. I was still mildly
sore from yesterday’s hard work out, so I started out by walking briefly. I then began running toward the path. The good thing is that I began with a
downhill run.
Right as I got to the road to the canal towpath, I came to
another runner. He was going faster than
me. I decided to just hang behind
him. It was weird running somewhere with
other people that are faster than me. I
sort of tried to keep up and I certainly could’ve on a shorter run, but I
wasn’t about to kill myself this early on.
Of course he was turning the same direction as I planned on
going on the towpath. It was weird
because early on, the path became a road.
It wasn’t busy at all, but it was definitely something different.
There were people running, walking and biking this area, but
I figured that there would actually be more of them. It was far from crowded. The weather was great for a run too, so that should not have kept people away.
Time seemed to fly by on the towpath. I started with a slow 9:00 mile 1. After that, I went only slightly faster. I heard a car break behind me and I think a
guy on a bike almost got hit at an intersection. There were quite a few intersections, but
they didn’t slow me down much.
There were plenty of geese and ducks near the canal. Some of the ducks were in the grass right
next to the path and a lot of them were sleeping. They had their heads down. That was neat and I wish I had a picture.
I cruised along and before I knew it, I was at Broad
Ripple. I crossed intersections were I
could and ended up running right through the main bar area. It was still early, but there were people
out.
Just north of the main road was the trail that I was looking
for. It is an old rail trail called the
Monon Trail. It was really cool. It was all paved from where I ran it to the
north. By Broad Ripple was cool because
of all the bars and cafes. Farther down,
it was neat because it was surrounded by woods and felt like it was secluded
and not in the city.
There were many more people here than on the canal
path. Early on, it was difficult to even
get around them. There were plenty of
families, runners and bikers (including some nice looking ladies).
I really had no game plan for here. I figured that I would be able to get a drink
back in Broad Ripple, when I turned back around. The farther I got out, the less likely that I
would find a place to stop for a drink.
I was sore in the first few miles of the run, but by now,
things were pretty good. I got into a
groove with a nice and easy pace. Most
of the miles on this section were within the 8:20 to 8:30 range. It was definitely easy.
I noticed the trail markers and figured out that they trail
would go 4 miles out before ending. I
wasn’t sure if I would want to go that far, but then I figured that I might as
well. That would put me 7 miles into the
run. Getting back to Broad Ripple would
be another 4 miles, so I’d hit mile 11 then.
I continued on through the peaceful setting. I then arrived at a Kroger. I thought that that might be a good place to
get a drink, but then figured that it was too early. I would’ve continued on the trail, but it was
a busy road crossing, so I turned around.
I was at mile 6 at this point.
Although the miles were flying by, I still couldn’t believe
that it was only mile 6. I felt like I
had run through the whole city. I
started at around 52nd Street and had to be near 90th
Street when I turned around. On the way
back and dog jumped out in front of me to chase a squirrel. That was a funny incident.
I just clicked off the miles. One of the odd things was that most of the
runners seemed to be going the opposite way of me. I didn’t pass any of them or they didn’t pass
me. Then a guy had turned around and he
passed me around the outside of the trail.
He was moving pretty well. I
decided to pick up the pace. It wasn’t
too hard to stay with him. I knew I was
only about a mile from Broad Ripple (and my drink stop anyway). I kept with him for about ¾ of a mile. Then I slowed a bit. After consistent 8:30 miles, this one was a
nice 7:37. Later in my training, I’ll
have to incorporate some faster segments into my long runs.
I found a CVS and went there for a Gatorade. I was going to buy an energy bar too, but
they didn’t have any that I could find, so I opted for a candy bar. At this point, I was at mile 9.40. I did stop briefly at a water fountain within
the previous 2 miles, so that did help.
I then continued back on the canal path. I was quickly reminded why I hate carrying
drinks. The Gatorade was so
uncomfortable. Also, my legs felt funny
after the brief stop. After a while,
they came back to me again. I was glad
for that.
Although it wasn’t hot, I began to have some chafing
issues. My nipples were getting quite
sore. I was planning on running back to
the car anyway, so I figured that I would change shirts. Before I knew it, I was back to Butler. Now, that fun downhill in the beginning was a
difficult uphill. Factor in that I was 12
miles into the run and it wasn’t fun at all. I
made it up though. That must be the only
hill in the whole city. Almost all of
Indianapolis is flat.
I changed and stopped briefly for some water. My plan now was to head the other direction
on the canal path. I ran that way and
began getting a little sore. My right
quad was a problem, but that hamstring was getting tight as well. I probably should’ve stretched at the
car. I just kept focusing on getting to
the next half mile or mile. I was
struggling and it wasn't easy to keep going.
As I got about 1 ½ miles from Butler, I realized that I
would likely be able to at least get 15 miles in. That made me happy. This area was now familiar to me. I ran a lot of it last year. It was nice and peaceful, but not much
activity. I did spot quite a few fast
runners going the other way.
I was planning on turning around at 14.5 miles, but I
convinced myself to keep going for some reason.
Not long after that, a super attractive girl went flying by in the other
direction. I decided to turn around and
give chase to her. She definitely
could’ve pulled be through a few miles and I was really hurting at that
point. I tried to keep up, but she
continued to pull away. Maybe I could’ve
run that pace on a shorter day, but definitely not today. Not long after seeing her, she
disappeared. I guess she went off the
path.
I struggled through miles 15 and then 16. The good news though is that my pace was
still consistent. It was under 9 minute
miles and I was going steady. It’s just
that my hamstring and the rest of my legs were hurting.
If I would’ve run back to my car, it would’ve been over 17
miles. However, I didn't want to try to
battle up that hill again. Not this late
in a long run. I wanted to stay on the
canal path, so I did that. I started in
the other direction, but quickly turned around.
I then went out a little bit to mile 17.
A few minutes earlier, I decided that I would at least try to run for 2
½ hours since I was closing in on that time.
I barely went past 17 miles when I hit that point and I stopped my run
there. I could’ve willed my way to 18
miles, but it would not have been easy.
I had some post run issues.
I was sore as I mentioned and continued to have chafing problems. This time, it was in some other areas as
well. I even had my shirt off at the end
of the run to prevent more problems. I
knew I was dehydrated too, so I drank more water. However, I cramped up badly when I tried to
get out of the car back at the camper.
Sitting too long was a problem.
It was still a very productive run that I’m happy with. I can’t believe that I have to go at least 6
miles farther than that in training and 9 more miles for the marathon in
September. I hope one day I can get to a
point where 17 miles isn’t too hard on the legs. I’m just not strong enough for that now and
haven’t done enough long runs throughout my life.
These last few workouts weren't planned that way, but they followed the Hansons' marathon training style. The idea is to run shorter long runs, but run them the day after a hard workout. That is supposed to give the legs the impact of what running the end of the marathon feels like. I did think today might actually be harder, but I have to say it was quite taxing by the end. I just figured that it would feel worse earlier on.
17.15 miles – 2:30:01 (8:45 pace)
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