I ran the Carmel Marathon Weekend 8K race this morning and had a pretty decent time. It was a chilly, but pretty, morning with the race temp around 35 degrees. I decided to go pantless! But, did wear gloves. Before the start of the marathon and half marathon a trumpeter from Hoosier Park horse track played the National Anthem and then played “Call to the Post”. That was a pretty unique touch, I thought. There was also a moment of silence for Boston.
When my race started a half an hour later we got the call to the post again. The people running the marathon relay started at the same time but they separated at the first stop light just a couple hundred yards in to the race. I went out pretty slowly to enjoy the scenery and completed the first mile in 9:48 as we went up Rangeline Road, then a quick jog on Main Street, and over to the Monon. Then I guess I got caught up in the race and went to 9:02, despite the rolling hills that were on 136th Street. Mile three was mostly on Keystone Parkway which was pretty much all rolling hills as the highway went up and down due to overpasses; pace was back down to 9:34 which was about what I wanted to run at. Mile 4 took us off of Keystone Parkway and back on to 126th St. I picked up a cup of Powerade at the aid station when we turned back 126th to go to the end. Mile 4 was done in 9:32. Mile 5 was back west on 126th St to the finish line and was done in 9:35. My Garmin finished at 5.04, and that last .04 showed the spring with a 6:45 pace. Nice course, and I was pleased with my official time of 47:46 and 9:37 pace.
I ended up getting two medals for the race. The regular one for running the race, and the second one for running each of the three years that the event has been run. I am now a “Certified Streaker!” I wore a Boston Red Sox hat that I had bought for the race, and pinned a yellow ribbon, that was given out at the expo, to it. The post race food spread was great. I had a banana and a sliver of pizza that really hit the spot.
I did end up with a nice sized blister on both of my arches. Maybe my shoes are bigger than I thought or maybe I lost some weight on my feet. Sorta upset that my shoes with 50 miles on them, and the fancy insoles, may have to be relegated to gym duty. Oh well.