I wanted to get up early and run with the Indy Runners this
morning. However, I didn’t sleep
well. I headed right back to sleep when
my alarm went off. That meant a solo run
for me. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to
run on the paved, flat Monon Trail or go for a fun run at Eagle Creek on a real
trail system. The problem with the
second option was that I’d have to pay to enter the park.
I got out there late in the morning. I forgot water in the camper, so I had to
stop and pick some up. I also went too
far out before finally finding the Broad Ripple area. The Monon Trail goes through there and on the
other side is the Central Canal Trail, that I’ve run on the last two days. I parked near that trail.
Again, the weather wasn’t too bad for this time of
year. However, it was still warm,
especially as it headed toward afternoon.
I wore shorts and my LVRR singlet.
I carried my handheld too.
Last year, I ran north on this trail from Broad Ripple. That was a beautiful run and it was
busy. This time, I decided to head
south. I knew it linked up with another
trail down the road.
The beginning of the southern section was nice. It was crowded with walkers, runners and
plenty of bikers. It is paved and smooth
and flat. This early part was
shaded. That was very nice. The first mile was a solid 8:09.
The quads are still a bit sore and being on pavement, I
wasn’t sure how far I could go. The pace
was pretty solid. I’m used to running
most places alone, so having a lot of people was a nice change.
There was plenty of eye candy too. In fact, there were so many attractive women
that few of them stood out. I did notice
a girl early on with a Bloomsburg cross country shirt. Being from PA, I obviously took note of that.
I cruised along feeling okay, but a little beat up. There were quite a few road crossings as I
got closer and closer to downtown. Most
of them were small roads and cars often waited for me to cross. A few times, I flew by in front of them.
I didn’t feel like I was working hard, so I was surprised by
my pace. Mile 2 was a 7:23 and mile 3
was a 7:11. At 38th Street, I
came to the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
There were some people camping there and I saw a horse running on the
track there.
Crossing 38th Street was kind of difficult. I noticed my overall pace was 7:36 at that
point. It dropped and dropped after
that. Mile 4 was a 7:29. The trail split with the other trail that I
was looking for around here. I decided
to keep going. I went over a giant red
train bridge. That was neat.
I passed a cute girl just after that point. I remember it because by now, there were few
people on the trail. It wasn’t near
neighborhoods and the ones by it weren’t nice.
The main people in this area were bikers.
I was starting to feel it, but I decided to continue
on. I went past this industrial section
with smoke coming out of some of the building.
I ran over 25th Street and then turned around at mile 5. I had run from around 70th Street
to 25th Street. I actually
wasn’t too far from the track at that point.
Mile 5 was a 7:13.
My feet started bothering me with how they were landing, as
I turned around. I didn’t know how far I
could make it with that problem, but I continued on. The quads bothered me a little, but they are
manageable. Thankfully, the foot problem
went away. The other tough part is that
the farther south I went, the less shade there was. It was getting pretty hot by now.
Mile 6 was run at 7:15.
I tried to tell myself to take it easier and slow down. Instead, I kind of ended up going
faster. I focused on just getting to
mile 8 and then hoped I could do more.
Originally, I was hoping for 15 miles, but by now, I figured I wasn’t
going to stop at all, so it would be less.
I was happy to be making my way back to populated areas and
the crowded section of the trail. Now,
I’d have stuff to look at. Mile 7 was a
7:09 and mile 8 was a 7:07. This isn’t
too far off of goal marathon pace and I was running easy.
The shade was a huge relief.
I was beginning to tire though. I
thought I might be slowing down; instead mile 9 was a 7:03. Mile 10 was a 7:09.
At this point, I knew I could get to mile 15, but I’d have
to stop a bit. That was an option, since
I was back at Broad Ripple. However, I
decided to keep going north on the trail.
This section would be shaded and crowded. I figured that I could run 2 more miles and
get to 12 for the run. That would be a
solid outing.
I ran out and my pace began to slow. I went out to 10.88 miles before turning
around. I passed a cute girl right
before turning around. I ran over 2
bridges over water and hardly noticed it.
I was so tired and focused.
Finally, I got back to Broad Ripple and finished up. Mile 11 was run at 7:17 and mile 12 was run
at 7:21.
It’s just 6 days after my 50 miler and I’m very happy with
where I’m at. I didn’t push much and
still ran all but the first mile under 7:29.
That includes some heat too. I’m hoping
I can PR in the half marathon in two weeks and if this run is any indication, I
should do just that. It will be nice
when my quads fully recover and I can push it again. I’ll be able to work on small things too.
After the run, I decided to head to Butler University’s
track on the way back. I wanted to do
some form drills. I did 6 strides, kick
butts and high knees. My legs were stiff
and the first few were awful. There was
a cute girl running 200 repeats. I was
sure glad not to be running that fast. I
hate quick repeats.
Tomorrow is the Indy 500.
That means I will be taking the day off.
We drive partway home tomorrow night and then come the rest of the way
on Monday morning. I’m usually tired
when we get home. Hopefully, I can run
long later on Monday afternoon or evening.
If not, maybe I’ll do a shorter run then and make Tuesday a long run
day.
12 miles – 1:27:46 (7:19 pace)
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