#CountdownToVegas Week 11: Hookers Don't Wear Muppet Socks

Or do they?  The ones I've seen on 10th Street don't, but I'm certainly no expert.  But I think someone thought I was one today.  I'm not exactly sure what happened.  In the 24 years I've lived in Indy, I've done a lot of walking and running around by myself, and today is the first time I've ever been scared.

I went downtown this morning for the AUSA Indy Ten Miler.  I got there around 6:15 and parked on White River Parkway, and I was walking across the New York Street bridge when this car stopped on the bridge just ahead of me.  I couldn't see anyone in the car besides the driver, but that didn't mean there wasn't someone else in the car, so I got all the way over to the edge of the sidewalk, too far from the car for someone to reach me.  There had been another runner - a male - crossing the bridge earlier as I parked, but he was no longer in sight and there was no other traffic at all.



As I kept walking, the car crept forward too, so I turned around and started walking back to my car, keeping an eye on the car and driver though.  He got up to normal speed and continued to the end of the bridge, but then did a U-turn.  At that point I started running.  No, sprinting; but not flat out.  Tripping and falling wouldn't be a good idea.  I got back to my car, got inside and locked the door before he got back to the White River Parkway, at which point he turned north and drove off.

I sat in the car with my heart pounding for a few minutes.  I suppose he thought I was a hooker?  Is the New York Street bridge a hotbed for that sort of thing?  I tried to convince myself he just made a mistake and wasn't actually trying to snatch me or something, but I could not get back out of the car so I drove somewhere else to park.

I love running across that bridge, though.  The view of the city from there is always phenomenal.  So I hope I will still be able to go there without feeling too anxious.  Just maybe not at 6:15 on a Sunday morning.  And it's been 7 years since I last took self defense classes, so maybe it's time to sign up for a refresher.  I may look scrawny, especially these past few weeks, but touch me without my permission and I WILL hurt you.

After a start like that, the day had to get better, right?  And it did.  I had a great race!  I wasn't even worried about my pace - I didn't look at it at all - but just ran by feel.  I was planning to just use it as a long training run, but I felt great so I did push a little more than I would for a long run.  We started behind Carroll Stadium and ran to the Canal where we did that entire loop, which I've run hundreds of times.  Then at Mile 3, after we crossed the Pedestrian Bridge at White River State Park, the Ten Milers turned south on White River Parkway.  I've also run that many times, but I've always run it at street level.  The race course ran the trail at the river level, so it was all new to me, and that was fun.  It's really pretty down there, and shaded and cool.  Hill work paid off, because there were several hills to run where the trail went up to street level briefly and then back down again.

At Mile 5 1/2, we turned around and ran back north along the same trail, and continued on behind the Zoo.  Coincidentally, Mile 9 and the last water stop was right where I had initially parked my car.  And then we turned and ran across the New York Street bridge.  I didn't feel nervous since there were a half dozen soldiers at the water stop just behind me, and two more at the end of the bridge ahead of me, but I still don't remember taking in the view this time.  Perhaps not so coincidentally, this was my fastest mile of the race.  This race had a gun start and chip finish, and I finished in 2:02:36.  The only other time I can remember racing ten miles was back in April at the 500 Festival Ten Miler, which I ran in 2:08:45.  I beat that by more than 6 minutes even with a gun start.  I felt strong enough to keep going, too, so I'm really pleased with that.

It was a fun race on a great course.  There were less than 100 runners total in both the Ten Miler and Five Miler.  I am sure they'd have to change the course to run on the roads if it ever got bigger, but I enjoyed it like this.  A nice medal and cake at the end were welcome, too.  And the t-shirt, which is just a t-shirt and not a tech shirt, has all the participants names on the back, so that's fun and different.

Training Update

I haven't posted much this week, but I have still been running and training according to schedule.  I've been both really tired and really busy, and not felt much like being online, but everything's still going okay.  Some morning runs, some evening runs with my run clubs, #TeamMoHills on Monday with a "recovery hill workout", #LFBootcamp on Tuesday, and a speed workout on the track on Friday.  Since I raced today, I took Saturday as my rest day.  

Total weekly miles: 36.9

Total training miles to date:  306.45

Also, with last week's Indy Women's Half, I officially reached 100 miles in Energy2Action's 100 Miles of Racing.  Yeah!  Today's race will put me at 122.6, and I haven't even run my marathon yet.  Maybe I should try to get to 200?

Up Next

A quick trip to the Carolinas.  I'm headed to Greer for a reunion with my TCE friends, and of course I'll spend some time with my family in Canton too.  Addy and I are running the Benson OctoberFast 5K while we are in Greer.  I'm super excited to see everyone!