A weekend of running….

What an odd week it’s been. First, we had the Twitter incident. Then, on my way back from Kansas City, my flight got so delayed that our best option for returning to Indy was to rent a car and drive.

Luckily, I was in this situation with the best possible driving companion imaginable. Caitlin and I made the most of it with a lot of snacks, tons of stories (good ones too), and plenty of laughs. In 7 hours and 20 minutes, we rolled into Indianapolis having had quite the adventure.

Saturday morning, I woke up at 5am to meet the girls for our 18 mile run. Karen, Meg and I started in Broadripple and met Kelly, Jen, Amy, and Christi along the way. The weather was AMAZING! We have been so used to thick air, heavy humidity and high temps, so with Saturday’s temps in the 60s, it was perfect! This meant our breaks were less frequent and shorter in duration. We didn’t have to walk the way we did the week prior.

Amy and Karen have been on vacation for the past few weeks so it was great having their added dynamic. We kept a strong pace – typically around 9:30-9:45/mile which was exactly what I had hoped for. And the Monon was packed! It was obvious that everyone was eager to get out and enjoy pleasant summer running.

As much as I would like to sleep past 6am on a Saturday, I do secretly love the fact that we start so early. When we finish, some are just beginning. When we get home or go to breakfast, we still have the whole day ahead of us.

So when I got home, I had plenty of time to prep for the rest of my weekend. Which included a lot more running – just not done by me!

JD + 4 other guys were signed up for the Red Eye Relay in Bloomington, IN. It’s 104 miles around some very hilly areas. And the catch is that your team must finish between 6-9am on Sunday morning. The start time can be whatever you want as long as you pace your team to end in that range. So these guys mapped out their team, pace and strategy, and chose a start time of 4pm. Us girls? Well we had a plan too. Though initially we discussed riding in the van with them and supporting them throughout the night, I put a stop to that idea.

The thought of doing another relay where we eat like crap, don’t sleep and hang out in close-quarters for that duration, even if not running, just brings back memories of Ragnar. And I realize that this isn’t PTSD here, but I just couldn’t do it. So we opted for a girls night in Bloomington, stayed in a hotel and met the boys Sunday morning for the finish.

We wished them well at the start….

And 15 hours and 1 minute later, we cheered them on at the finish!

They were all incredible. They wanted a time of 15 hours and did it perfectly. Huge hills. Overnight running. No sleep. They killed it.

So we all celebrated by spending Sunday at the lake.

Maybe a weird week. But a perfect ending.