Tackling the Marathon Indoors

For the past 3 years I have been the official "direction changer" at the Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon. This involves setting a cone out every 30 minutes and instructing the runners to circle around it and switch directions. While this may sound like an insignificant task, there is an art to the proper timing and placing of the cone so that collisions and bottlenecks do not occur. Additionally, I have found that runners are usually happy to see me as it means they are a half an hour closer to being done. I took great pride in this role and never once wished I could change places with one of the runners.

This past fall Justin suggested that I run the indoor marathon 2012. I was not a fan of this idea and was relieved when we agreed that the risk of injury was too great to run it. The idea of running the race didn't cross my mind again until I was helping with the race on Saturday. For those of you not familiar with the 204 lap event, there are multiple installments of the race (Saturday AM, Saturday PM, and Sunday AM) as the field is limited to 35 people per race.

So, what would cause me to change my mind? Was I inspired by my brother-in-law Jake's race execution that led to his indoor marathon PR and win? Was I moved by Chase Merriman's determination to finish despite terrible cramps and not being able to keep anything down for a large portion of the race? While it is true that these 2 and many of the other runners showed incredible strength and perseverance that I admired, it did NOT lead me to want to test my own ability to fight through the pain.

My reasoning for deciding to run the marathon on Sunday was more a logical decision than emotional. Our plans for a babysitter for the weekend fell through at the last minute meaning that while trying to help with the marathon, I also had to keep my very energetic 2-year-old from darting onto the track. This was quite an exhausting task and by the time the Saturday morning marathon was winding down, I wanted a nap. It was then I realized that in addition to helping with the marathon, I needed to find time to get my weekend long run in. I was scheduled for a 22 miler at 7:15 to 7:30 pace. Would it really be the different if I just ran it indoors?

After a quick discussion with Justin, it was decided that I would run the Sunday morning race. I made it clear that I was just going to run it as a training run. I didn't want any expectations since I hadn't exactly altered my training to run this as a race. My week had already included a 19 miler and two hard track workouts.

My race plan was to run between 57 and 58 seconds per lap (about a 7:30 mile pace) for at least the first half and possibly speed up the second half if I felt good. I knew going into the race that the women's world record for the indoor marathon was 3:16 and thought that I would have a shot at breaking it if I felt good. I just wasn't confident in how I was going to feel. The indoor marathon is notorious for causing all kinds of cramping. Plus, with at least 30 other people on the track, there was going to be lots of weaving and running in outside lanes adding extra distance.

The race surprisingly was not nearly as bad as I imagined it was going to be. I think it helped that I did not think of it in terms of laps or miles but as time. Every 30 minutes we switched directions. Every 15 minutes (after the initial 45), I took a little squirt of GU. Every 10 minutes, I got a drink of water. It wasn't until I was nearing the end when people started telling me how many laps I had left that I started wishing I was done.

I didn't exactly follow my pace strategy, but I did follow the spirit of it. I started out a bit faster than planned but I felt comfortable. I hit the half in 1:35:55, and was able to pick up the pace the second half. My finish time was 3:08:53, a little more than 7 minutes under the previous world record.

I have to admit that I am having a hard time knowing how to feel about this world record. Although it is exciting to think I hold a world record, I know I haven't done something that somebody else couldn't do and that many runners will view this as a really weak record. So far, I have felt obligated to inform people that aren't as familiar with running times that my time doesn't come close to the times elite women marathon runners run on the road. They just aren't crazy enough to run a marathon on an indoor track. Maybe that's the key to how I should embrace this: I may not be the fastest runner, but I am the fastest crazy woman to run an indoor marathon. At least for the time being...

I, of course, have many people to thank for making this possible:

My mom for backing out of babysitting (I probably won't have run if I hadn't been stressed out from trying to keep Miles from tripping runners on Saturday!)

Justin for convincing me to run marathons and to marry him

Doug for putting on an excellent event and letting me decide to run at the last minute

Jake, Chase, and the GC CC runners Alita, Billy, Jake and Andrew for handing my water and GU and cheering for me

Alita and Billy for taking over my "direction changer" responsibilities

Grant, Chris, and John for providing me some company during the race

Laura and Natalie for helping entertain Miles

All the Sunday indoor marathon runners for putting up with me weaving through them and occasionally elbowing them (on accident!)

All the volunteers and spectators for cheering me on

T&H Timing for having all 204 of my splits

My running friends Lisa, Micki, Katie, and Ryan for keeping me in shape and pushing me to paces I never thought possible