I hope you enjoy my recollection of this race as I helped Molly to her first finish line!
I flew in to Indy around 3:30, hustled over to the expo to
get my packets, and then met Molly and the kids at Olive Garden in Anderson for
our “carb load” dinner! We arrived home
at the same time that Tracey and Joe arrived.
We got settled in, kids to bed, and we followed shortly, down by 10.
Alarm was set for 4:40 a.m.!
Had everything sat out and ready to go, so quick dress and Abby arrived
to babysit at 5:05. Met up with the YRC
caravan at YMS at 5:15 and we were on the road by 5:30. Uneventful trip down, got parked and group
photo! One last pit stop at our usual
hotel, and it was high fives all around as we parted for our corrals.
Ted and Norm were the front runners in corrals A and B,
while Molly, Tracey and I lined up in corral V.
Everyone else was somewhere in between.
I could sense Molly’s anxiety rising as the announcements increased, the
beach balls were flying, and the fireworks exploded.
On your mark, get set, Go….nowhere! Typical for Indy is the “how long did it take
you to get to the start line” - in our case - exactly 30 minutes! Amazing to be on your aching feet that long
just waiting to start the race! But once
we got there, we were all smiles and off and running..or walking as it were
today.
The race plan in my mind was that we would walk comfortably,
yet briskly until we could clearly see each mile marker, and then we would jog
to the mile marker. The girls agreed,
and I held them to it. So here comes
mile 1, and we’re jogging strong to complete the first mile in 16:13! Wow, if we could do that all day, this will
be great! Everyone is smiling and
laughing, talking with and about strangers, and enjoying the sites of the
river, the zoo, the bands and entertainment.
Miles 2 was almost an exact repeat of mile 1 at 16:24. We got water (at every station) and continued
to enjoy the crowd with no worries. Miles 3, 4, and 5 were all between 16:53 and 17:24, so we
were beginning to labor somewhat, but there was not a lot of negative
talk. I asked them to pick it up just a
little bit when I would occasionally glance at my Garmin to realize we were
slowing, but there were no real concerns.
We were all feeling the need for a bathroom, and I had suggested we wait
until we were inside the track because there was a bath house there with no
wait as opposed to standing in line for a portapot. As we drew nearer the track, I reminded Molly
that this is where it ended for her previously.
Her last attempt got her this far, ended with her on the sidewalk
while I lapped the track, and ultimately ended with a bus ride to the finish
line. Not today!
We ran down the hill that goes into and under the speedway,
climbed back up the other side to finish mile 6 in 17:40. Grabbed a bathroom break and headed out onto
the track. The temps were rising and we
were all starting to hurt a little. Even
I had started to get some cramping in my calves; I realize now that my walking
stride uses a slightly different set of muscles than my running stride does. As we hit mile 7, I was alarmed by the 21:05
that it took, but I’ll blame Molly’s 4 minute urination on that!
Hoping we could pick it back up we made our way down the
front stretch, posed for pictures on the yard of bricks and scoring pylon, and
grabbed every drop of water spray that we could. Molly seemed reluctant to run to mile marker
8, but she did stride out to complete a 18:42 mile. At this point, I begin to have stress over the
pace and what if the bus could catch us and pull us off the course if we
continue to slow. As we round turn 2
near the exit, my fears are confirmed as I realize that no one else is entering
the track, and the first water stop is now cleaning up. I again encourage them to pick it up as the
last walkers are now on the track, and as we exit the track, there sits the
buses awaiting those that don’t exit in time.
By this time, most of our running friends are done, and I’m
playing on Molly’s phone getting facebook updates on everyone’s finish
times. Molly doesn’t act too interested
and I sense her anxiety, and pain, are rising quickly. Back out on 16th street I spot mile marker 9,
and ask them to run with me, but this time the only thing running were the
tears down Molly’s face. I saw the lip
quiver and as she uttered the defeating words, “I can’t”. My heart is breaking inside, but I am trying
to remain calm, confident, and encouraging without saying “suck it up and let’s
go”. I reminded her of how far she’d
come, I made her turn around and look at the buses waiting there. I told her I was proud of her, and that I
thought she would appreciate being able to say that she ran to the end of every
mile. I put my arm around her and
squeezed her, and then I shut up. I
waited about 15 seconds before I then said.
It’s not too late, you can change your mind whenever you want, and when
you’re ready, you can still run to the mile marker. It was only a few short strides later, that
without warning she took off…*tear*…I was overwhelmed with joy that she found
the strength inside to stride out, even if for only a hundred yards, she still
did it. I didn’t know what else to say,
so I just jogged beside her. When we
slowed to walk again, I reminded her that we only had to do that 4 more times -
mile 10, 11, 12 and the finish! Mile 9
was 18:26
We stopped very briefly because Molly had mentioned a pebble
in her shoe since mile 4. It had worked
its way around and was uncomfortable. I
ran back to her and bent down on one knee to help her out of and back into her
shoe. I feared if she stopped too long,
or bent over, she might become dizzy or worse.
We pushed on confidently and as we neared mile 10, I advised her that
she could take off running whenever she wished and I’d go with her. She didn’t wait too long, and off she went
with a consistent 18:49.
Just 3 miles to go!
The crowds are thinning at this point both on and off the course - we’re
taking lots of water, but the heat seems to be winning. We’re 3 hours into our race, which means it’s
almost 11:00 a.m. and I can tell both Molly and Tracey are struggling. There is a timing mat at the mile 11 marker,
so I try to use that to motivate them to run up and score a good time, but
Molly reminds me she doesn’t care what her time is, she just wants to finish -
I half way believe her. Mile 11 was
18:32, slow, but consistent.
Molly paused at the sidewalk to stretch her calf, and does a
deep knee bend or two. She stays down a
little too long and I insist she gets up before she cuts circulation to the
point of getting dizzy, it’s getting difficult for me to maintain this slow of
a pace, but there’s no reason for me to leave her side, so I continue with my
half motivating- half annoying comments.
We make the next to last turn on the course which brings us back to the
familiar part of the course near mile 2.
I spot the “super-soaker” lady and suggest that these ladies around me
would really like to be sprayed. Molly
makes the mistake of saying how good that might feel, and so - she got
sprayed!! It was hilarious to hear her
squeal in shock and even funnier to see.
A short jog to the 12 mile marker in 19:39 - yikes! Let’s go!
At this point I tell her that if we can do this last mile in
under 19 we can break 4 hours! She just
looks at me and says again, I don’t care what my time is! That’s fine - and yet, she chose to jog down
this little decline in the course coming off the bridge, so I say it again - If
we can get there in 15 minutes, we’ll break 4 hours, wouldn’t that be
cool? Again, I get the look - but no
response. With a half mile to go, I just
look at my watch, then her, then my watch and say 10 minutes. She half smiles, and asks if we can see the
finish line, but not quite yet. Repeat
actions - 5 minutes, and now she can see it - and the crowd - and hear the
music. Repeat actions - 3 minutes, and….cue
the Chariots of Fire music!
We hit the 13 mile marker in 18:35, and off she goes -
running as fast as she did in mile 1 - smiling through the pain - waving to the
cameras - waving to Pete and Amy who are standing the in bleachers waiting on
us - and ultimately FINISHING 13.1 MILES - total time - 3.59:29! We embrace with a hug, and now she’s ready to
sit - no, keep walking! We shuffle to
get our medal and pause as if they’re going to now play our National
Anthem! But there are no songs - no
flags - no fireworks - the fruit is gone, the cookies are few - but we had each
other. We started it together - we
finished it together - we stayed by each others side through the joy and the
pain, the tears and the smiles. It wasn’t
easy, but it was very rewarding. I admit, I wanted to run today, but no PR could be as meaningfull as this moment. It was
emotional, and very special. Truly a
moment I will cherish forever. I’m so
proud of her for sticking with it. I
hope she now sees herself the way I see her.
Strong, confident, and inspiring - she can do anything she wants
to.
When we got to the reunion tent, there was no one to reunite
with. I suspect most of our group was
home and showered by this time, but we enjoyed the food and drink just the
same, and made our way back to the car reliving the memories we had just made
together. A perfect day in so many ways!
