Speedway

Friday, 710 and I headed out to Indianapolis for a short trip. 

g-d love him, I sign up for races and he shows up for them. Well.........some of them. I don't expect him to make these treks to stand around while I run around. 

Since it was May 1st, and he had not taken a single day off of work in 2026, he was happy to tag along with me to the Indy Mini Marathon. 

To be clear: the 'mini' part is a half marathon. 

Don't get me wrong - 13.1 miles is still a feat, especially at my advanced age. 

The idea was to take Shep. I scouted many dog-friendly hotels, but 710 was right that it would be limiting what we could do, and where we could stay. No guarantee of a lower floor and packed elevator rides were a recipe for disaster. 

And they were packed. 

We boarded Shep for a total of 36 hours, though he yelped upon our return like it was 36 days. 

Anyways, the hotel I did select was purposeful -- it was about 100 yards from the start line. And about three blocks from the finish. It was extremely nice to just take the elevator down 20 minutes before the start and walk right up to my corral. Pressure, off. 

What I failed to realize was how big this event was. Six continents represented and participants from all 50 states.

I should have guessed the size when I found out two weeks in advance that my bib number was in the 23000 range. Media said there were 30,000 participants. But that had to have included the 5k, as there were only about 22,000 who finished the half.  

Only. <eye roll emoji>

This was the second biggest race in which I've participated. 

The rationale for selecting this race was the flatness of it - which meant for a potentially speedy time, and that for 2.5 miles of the course was on the Indy 500 Speedway. 

Yes, you got to run a full lap on the track. 

I'm not a car racing kind of guy, but this was kind of fun and impressive. The size alone is kind of amazing. With cars going ~220 mph, you have to have a big track, right? But there are parts of it that are so far out, you don't  / can't even see the where the grandstands should be. 

There is the outer track, which is banked, and the inner track, which is not. We had the inner one. While I had my camera, I was one of few who didn't take it out, stop and pose. At the heart of it all, I still had a goal. I also didn't drop to my knees and kiss the 'brickyard'.  That's not even a euphemism. 

It was after that portion of the run I was a little nauseated after ingesting an energy gel. That lasted for about 1.5 miles, which didn't help my run. 

All said, it was a good run. I shaved almost 5 minutes off my time to get my fastest half-marathon time. And yes, I should be happy / proud. I was immediately disappointed to not make the time I wanted, which would have been 3+ minutes faster. 

This is a constant discussion with my therapist, and it will be later today as well. I just can't appreciate the wins. 

But being close to the hotel meant I got to take a nice shower and change my clothes before we headed back home. 

BTW - I do not recommend running a half-marathon and almost immediately getting into a car for a six hour ride home. I was not comfortable - though truth be told, on my best day can only stand about two hours in the car before I need to get out and move. 

Shep was thrilled to see us. We hung out with him all night, and then I got up first thing Sunday morning to run another 5.22 miles. I swore to myself - and told the group - I was taking it slow. And I did. For the first half mile and then ended up at a decent pace, ending up back before any other runner or walker. 

I'm sure there are lessons to be learned with all of this - though I'm not exactly sure what they are or how to achieve them..... but whatta gonna do? 

Song by: Morrissey