<p>Great long runs and speedy runs everybody.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I got to Indianapolis last night and checked out the park where the race was this morning. Even though the course was rated 3 (1-5) for hills, I didn't think they could actually have hills there and I was right. The largest was about 12 feet high and most of the race was on hardpacked single track dirt trail. I walked out to the entrance of the park to decide whether to warm up on the road or the unfamiliar trail. I jogged a small section of the course and it looked pretty well marked. The race was going to be a 5k loop followed by a 10k loop. I decided to run the 5k loop as the warmup. Everything was going well as I passed the mile mark. I kept going and got to 1.55 miles according to my garmin. Since the start was about .2 from the finish, I thought I still had a little way to go before the course would head back. When I got to the 5 mile mark, I knew I either took a wrong turn or ran the 10k loop by mistake. I turned around to retrace my steps knowing I couldn't try to find any shortcuts since I didn't know the trail. I knew I was going to be real close on being late for the start but I also didn't want to wear myself down too much before the race. When I got close enough to see the finish area, I took a small shortcut, stopped my watch and looked at the time. I had 3 minutes to take a restroom break and get to the start line. My warmup ended up being 4 miles instead of 5k. I threw my shirt in the car and got to the start just in time. Actually the start was delayed a couple minutes to make sure all the aid stations were set up. It turns out I ran the right way on the warmup, but the aid station hadn't been set up yet where we were directed to turn for the shorter 5k loop.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The race started and I got into a nice medium effort. I started hitting 6:50 miles and pretty much kept that pace for the first 6 miles as I passed a handful of runners. The seventh mile opened up a little as we ran under a bridge and I sped up to 6:40. The eighth mile was even faster at 6:30 and the rest of the race was a little short. The race director told us before the race it was probably only 9.1 but it was probably closer to 8.9 as the last part took me 6:05. I finished in 60:15 11th overall out of 144, 2nd master, and 1st in my age group.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was a nice faster trail race except for getting yelled at after the first loop for having headphones on. I guess they aren't very headphone friendly in Indiana. I pulled them off my head before I came out of the woods for the finish. I didn't want to tempt a 2nd consecutive DQ<span id="user_yui_3_3_0_8_131449180518425"><img alt="alien.gif" id="user_yui_3_3_0_8_131449180518424" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/alien.gif" style="width:15px;height:20px;"></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Qdoba buffet after the race was great also. Possibly one of the best post run meals I have had.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.dinoseries.com/indiana-run-results.html" target="_blank">http://www.dinoseries.com/indiana-run-results.html</a><span style="display:none;"> </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span id="user_yui_3_3_0_8_131449180518414"><span style="display:none;"><a href="http://www.dinoseries.com/indiana-run-results.html" target="_blank">http://www.dinoseries.com/indiana-run-results.html</a><span style="display:none;"> </span> <a href="http://www.dinoseries.com/indiana-run-results.html" target="_blank">http://www.dinoseries.com/indiana-run-results.html</a><span style="display:none;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>I got to Indianapolis last night and checked out the park where the race was this morning. Even though the course was rated 3 (1-5) for hills, I didn't think they could actually have hills there and I was right. The largest was about 12 feet high and most of the race was on hardpacked single track dirt trail. I walked out to the entrance of the park to decide whether to warm up on the road or the unfamiliar trail. I jogged a small section of the course and it looked pretty well marked. The race was going to be a 5k loop followed by a 10k loop. I decided to run the 5k loop as the warmup. Everything was going well as I passed the mile mark. I kept going and got to 1.55 miles according to my garmin. Since the start was about .2 from the finish, I thought I still had a little way to go before the course would head back. When I got to the 5 mile mark, I knew I either took a wrong turn or ran the 10k loop by mistake. I turned around to retrace my steps knowing I couldn't try to find any shortcuts since I didn't know the trail. I knew I was going to be real close on being late for the start but I also didn't want to wear myself down too much before the race. When I got close enough to see the finish area, I took a small shortcut, stopped my watch and looked at the time. I had 3 minutes to take a restroom break and get to the start line. My warmup ended up being 4 miles instead of 5k. I threw my shirt in the car and got to the start just in time. Actually the start was delayed a couple minutes to make sure all the aid stations were set up. It turns out I ran the right way on the warmup, but the aid station hadn't been set up yet where we were directed to turn for the shorter 5k loop.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The race started and I got into a nice medium effort. I started hitting 6:50 miles and pretty much kept that pace for the first 6 miles as I passed a handful of runners. The seventh mile opened up a little as we ran under a bridge and I sped up to 6:40. The eighth mile was even faster at 6:30 and the rest of the race was a little short. The race director told us before the race it was probably only 9.1 but it was probably closer to 8.9 as the last part took me 6:05. I finished in 60:15 11th overall out of 144, 2nd master, and 1st in my age group.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was a nice faster trail race except for getting yelled at after the first loop for having headphones on. I guess they aren't very headphone friendly in Indiana. I pulled them off my head before I came out of the woods for the finish. I didn't want to tempt a 2nd consecutive DQ<span id="user_yui_3_3_0_8_131449180518425"><img alt="alien.gif" id="user_yui_3_3_0_8_131449180518424" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/alien.gif" style="width:15px;height:20px;"></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Qdoba buffet after the race was great also. Possibly one of the best post run meals I have had.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.dinoseries.com/indiana-run-results.html" target="_blank">http://www.dinoseries.com/indiana-run-results.html</a><span style="display:none;"> </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span id="user_yui_3_3_0_8_131449180518414"><span style="display:none;"><a href="http://www.dinoseries.com/indiana-run-results.html" target="_blank">http://www.dinoseries.com/indiana-run-results.html</a><span style="display:none;"> </span> <a href="http://www.dinoseries.com/indiana-run-results.html" target="_blank">http://www.dinoseries.com/indiana-run-results.html</a><span style="display:none;"> </span></span></span></p>
