Indianapolis Monumental Marathon 2024- Race Recap: A New PR at 41 Years Old

Wow! A new marathon PR at the age of 41. I do not take this for granted!

Last Saturday I ran the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in Indianapolis, Indiana, and it was definitely a special weekend. I had a great build and knew I had a 2:56/2:57 marathon in me. I thought on a good day, I could hit 2:55, and if all the stars aligned, I could run sub-2:55. I ended up running 2:56:57, which was 73 seconds faster than my previous PR from CIM in 2022. It has been two years since I ran a marathon. Last fall I had my miscarriage, and I didn’t feel ready to do a marathon this past spring, which brings us now to the fall of 2024. The overachiever in me is a little bummed I didn’t hit my A or B goal, but I have too much to be thankful for, it is hard to stay in a negative headspace.

I ended up traveling to Indianapolis for the marathon by myself. It was opening weekend of deer hunting, so Craig wanted to stay back for that. I have mixed feelings about traveling with my family for a race. It is nice to have them there: for moral support, to share in the adventure, and because they make me feel at home. But the logistics are easier by yourself: no need to worry about anyone depending on me, I was able to focus fully on the race and race prep, I had a lot of time to knock out a bunch of work, and I didn’t feel guilty for spending the entire time resting in my hotel room before and after the race.

I flew into Indianapolis on Thursday around 10:00 a.m. for the race on Saturday. I wanted a couple days to rest and relax before the race. When I got to my hotel Thursday morning, my room wasn’t ready (obviously, since I was so early), but they were able to hold my bag, so I went for my four mile run. (I had an early flight out of Minneapolis, so I wasn’t able to do it before leaving.) I ended my run at Whole Foods and bought what I would need for my carb load the next two days. When I got back, it was about 1:00 p.m., and I was able to get into my hotel room. I spent the rest of the day resting, working on athlete plans, making a reel for Instagram on my carb load, and eating all the carbs. (I will have more details on my carb load soon.)

Friday was much of the same: a run, ending at the grocery store because I ran out of contact solution, making a reel, more athlete plans, and trying to get content made for next week so I don’t have as much to do when I’m busy with the kids. I also went to the expo to get my bib. It was a relatively small expo, so I didn’t spend too much time there. I also laid out everything I would need for the next morning and went to bed around 8:30 p.m. that night.

The one big perk of this race is that race morning is not a crazy-early morning. I didn’t have to leave my hotel room until 7:00 a.m., and it was a mere 15 minute walk from my hotel room to the start area. There were plenty of hotel rooms in the downtown area that were within walking distance. And while they were more expensive, it was worth it to me to pay the higher cost to be able to walk to the start and back again to my hotel after the race. (The start and finish are in the same area.)

I got up at 5:00 a.m. to give myself plenty of time to get ready, start eating my breakfast, foam roll, and not be rushed getting ready. I also made THIS reel if you want the video version of my morning. At 5:30 a.m., I had a package of Nature’s Bakery fig bar and coffee. Around 6:15 a.m. I had a banana and a few bites of a bagel, but it was so dry I couldn’t do any more. I left my room just a few minutes after 7:00 a.m. and made my way to the start while eating a package of Gu energy chews. It was a beautiful morning for racing with temps in the mid-40s, little to no wind, and no rain. I had applied and was accepted into the elite field for this race, but I don’t remember being told where the elite warm-up area is, so I had to ask someone. Luckily I was able to find it, but this left me with very little time to warm up. In the past I’ve done some light jogging, but on Saturday I only had time for a few drills plus some strides before the start. Luckily it ended up being okay, and I feel find once I start racing. As I was walking to the start line, I drank my Ketone IQ shot and took a Maurten caffeinated gel before getting into the elite corral. My total calorie count prior to the race was about 600 calories and almost all carbohydrates.

One thing I did not realize until the day before the race was that the half marathon also starts at the same time and in the same place as the marathon. Honestly, I would say this is a drawback to the race. I was seeded in the elite corral with those of my similar pace, but then right behind me were men running the marathon (who may be faster than me), and men and women running the half who are going to be faster than me. As soon as the race started, there were so many people, and it was hard for me to find a good position. I felt like an hindrance to all of those people who wanted to run faster than me, and I definitely almost tripped a couple of time and had to watch for flying elbows.

I did my best to stay locked in at the pace I was hoping to run: right around 6:40 min/mi pace. I came through mile one at 6:38, so just a tad quick but okay with it because it felt like the appropriate effort. The first few miles of the course weaved through downtown and luckily there were a lot of crowds through this area. However, I wasn’t getting a great GPS signal as I would often see my watch jump up to 7:00 min/mi pace, and I really don’t think mile three was 6:50 pace. I did my best to stay in the right effort and just focus on that until we got out of the downtown area with tall buildings.

Mile 1 – 6:38
Mile 2 – 6:46
Mile 3 – 6:50
Mile 4 – 6:40

Since there were a lot of turns for this race, I was constantly looking ahead to make sure I was running the tangents as best I could. (Spoiler alert: I ended up doing a really good job as I ran 26.3 miles, which I was proud of. Someone prior to the race said she thought most people ran about 26.45, so I was happy to run just a tenth more.) Watching for the turns helped distract me, which was nice. At 30 minutes into the race I took a Maurten gel at 30 minutes into the race and continued to fuel every 30 minutes after that.

I believe it was around this time the 2:55 pace group came up on me. I tried to gauge if their pace was something I could hang with, but I quickly realized their pace was just a little too quick for me. I was optimistic I could catch back up to them during the second half if I played my cards right, so I kept them within my sight during most of the race.

Mile 5 – 6:40
Mile 6 -6:37
Mile 7 – 6:38

It was finally at this point we separated from the half marathoners, which thinned things out a bit. During this next section we went into some more residential area and there were big, stately homes, which were pretty to look at. (Honestly, I get so focused on the race, I hardly take in any sights, so I am kind of proud of myself for noticing these homes.) I took my second gel (a caffeinated Maurten gel) at 60 minutes into the race, which I could definitely feel kick in within about 10 minutes after taking it.

For the most part, the miles were ticking by pretty quickly, and I was staying within the pace range I wanted. I got to the halfway mark and saw high-1:27 on my watch. This is what I was aiming for, but I knew I would need to make the second half faster if I wanted my A or B goal for the race.

Mile 8 – 6:40
Mile 9 – 6:44
Mile 10 – 6:42
Mile 11 – 6:40
Mile 12 – 6:41

One other drawback to this race–and one I am not used to when I’ve run other marathons, is that you are still sharing the road with traffic during portions of the course. There would be areas where the parking lane on the road was sectioned off with cones for the runners while cars were zipping by just an arm-length away. It probably didn’t help I was running with a group of about 15 others, so there were times people were three-abreast, and I wanted to pass them but didn’t feel I could safely do it without stepping into the lane of traffic. In every other marathon I’ve run, the entire road has been closed to traffic, so you have the entire road to yourself. This situation was not the case for the entire marathon, but once again enough for me to notice and be slightly annoyed with it.

Mile 13 – 6:43
Mile 14- 6:41
Mile 15 – 6:43

Somehow these mid-teen miles always seem to be a blur to me afterwards, but they are some of my least favorite during the race because you are still counting ‘up.’ I tried to focus on how good I was feeling (relative!), taking my nutrition (gel number 3 at 1.5 hours in was a Precision gel), grabbing hydration at the aid stations, and watching for potholes.

Which would be another drawback for this race: the condition of the pavement. Some of the roads in the city are not well maintained, so there were a lot of cracks, potholes, and uneven surfaces to watch out for. Luckily someone did warn me of this prior to the race, so I at least had it on my radar, but it does take some mental focus of constantly be watching your footing. This wasn’t the case the entire way, but I definitely noticed it, so enough to make mention of it.

During the next few miles, my pace started to slip a bit. There were a couple of rolling hills during the middle, but honestly they were so short, and I barely noticed them. But I could tell I just wasn’t feeling quite as good anymore. I continued to take my gels, which definitely helped, but this is when I had to start using my mantra of the day: “Your well is deep.”

Mile 16 – 6:50
Mile 17 – 6:46
Mile 18 – 6:49

Mile 19 and 20 were okay, but then I started running in the upper-6:40s and couldn’t quite bring my pace to the low-6:40s down again. I took my fourth gel hoping it would snap me out of this a bit, which was a Gu Roctane caffeinated gel. I definitely had thoughts of, “The marathon is SO hard.” “I still have over an hour left to run.” And, “You never have to run another marathon again, Michelle” to try and convince myself to keep going. I also told myself to just focus on one mile at a time.

Mile 19 – 6:43
Mile 20 – 6:43
Mile 21 – 6:48
Mile 22 – 6:47

Around mile 22 was my fifth and final gel: a Maurten gel, which can feel easy to forego with just a few miles of the race remaining, but I have learned how critical this gel is. I then had mile 23 as a landmark in my mind because that’s when we turned and started running towards downtown and towards the finish again. There were a lot of people cheering through this section since it was getting close to the finish and we joined up with the half marathoners again.

By this time, I was gutting it out and trying to give it all because I wanted to see how much I could improve my PR. I knew I had would be able to PR, but I also wanted to see 2:56 on the clock. From my calculations and how I was feeling, I knew 2:55 wasn’t possible, so I was hoping I could at least dip under 2:57.

I was hurting real bad during these last few miles. I could feel my big toenails were bruised (I am most definitely losing both of them.), my legs were shot, but mostly my breathing was starting to get labored, which is a sign I am at my max. I really had to will myself to keep going during this last stretch.

Mile 23 – 6:57
Mile 24 – 6:49
Mile 25 – 6:48
Mile 26 – 6:34

As I made the final turn towards the finish and the finish chute, I looked up at the clock and saw 2:56:45. AHHHH!!! I NEED to go now! I gave it everything I have. (The finish line photos confirm it.) and was counting the seconds in my head as I crossed the finish line. I thought I crossed at either 2:56:59 or 2:57:00. I immediately sat down, closed my eyes, and the tears came.

I couldn’t decide if the tears were happy tears and that I was so glad to be done or sad tears that it was all over because it had been such a fun build. Happy tears that I got a new PR or sad tears that I didn’t get the time I was really hoping to run. Or maybe they were happy tears that I knew my family would be so proud of me or sad tears they weren’t here to celebrate with me. Honestly, it was probably a little bit of all of those things.

After letting my breathing slow down and heart rate come down, I stood up and made my way through the finish chute. I shuffled back into the elite hospitality room and checked my phone to see what my official time was. It came up as 2:57:01, and I was like, “Really, 2 seconds!” Ugh!

After texting a few people, it then hit me that that was my gun time and not my chip time. I finally saw my chip time of 2:56:57, and I was so much happier! I finally pulled my clothes on and went back outside to have a couple random strangers take my picture since I didn’t have any family or friends with me. I had a few followers say hi to me, which I always appreciate and then finally made my way back to my hotel room for the rest of the day.

Despite not hitting my A or B goal, I am still so proud of this race. I had a great build, but it was abbreviated due to my summer and fall races. I don’t regret spending time working on my speed, but I didn’t quite have enough to get the long, grindy marathon-paced workouts on my legs to callous them a big more. I only did one 20/20+ miler, which is far less than I usually do. I am also proud of my splits and having a 16 second spread in average pace over the course of the marathon, which is pretty good but not quite as good as my 6 second spread when I ran CIM in 2022. I will say ever since incorporating a carb load into my pre-race routine, I have never hit the wall. (I also fuel more during the race.)

This new marathon PR marks my 5th new PR of the year: mile, 5K, 10 mile, half marathon, and now the marathon. If you were like me, I honestly thought my fastest days were over after my mid-30s. (I also thought they were over once I had kids.) But thankfully I have proven both of those stereotypes wrong. And I’m not about to stop here. (Honestly, who can stop when they’re on the upswing.) So the fun continues . . . . .after a proper rest.