From Zero to Marathon: Indy Monumental Marathon Recap

I chose the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon as my fall goal race because it is a fast course with
historically good weather. At the age of 46 (almost 47) I believe that I am “peaking” in my running career, so I want to run fast courses to see what kind of lifetime marathon personal best I can achieve.

I had run the Indianapolis Monumental half marathon twice, setting a PR there in 2019. I ran the marathon in 2017, and had a monumental bonk. I was registered for this race last fall, too, but I had to take four weeks off of training due to Covid, so I wasn’t ready in time.

I knew this course had huge PR potential, and I wanted to get revenge on the 2017 race.

Training Cycle

This was going to be my year to finally break 3:10. My training cycle went extremely well, and I set multiple training PRs. My weekly mileage averaged around 65, topping out at 70 with multiple weeks between 65-70. Here are the workouts that made me believe I was capable of running a 3:10 marathon: 

Speed: 6 x 800m in 3:15, 3:12, 3:09, 3:05, 3:03, 3:04 (400m recovery jogs) 2 x 400m in 1:29: 1:31. It took the legs a few reps to get warmed up, but once they were, I was able to run the 800m reps very quickly. 

Lactate Threshold: 3 x 5K with 4 minute recovery jogs: 21:41 (6:58 pace), 21:26 (6:54 pace), 21:13 (6:49 pace). These would be good 5K race times, and the fact that I ran three of them in a row with only 4 minutes recovery jog gave me so much confidence. 

Finishing a 22-miler

Endurance/Marathon pace: 20 miles with 13.1 averaging 7:06 pace, non stop. That’s a 1:33:15 half marathon in training, as part of a 20 miler. The full 20 mileages averaged a pace of 7:30 These were some key workouts. I also ran a 19-miler with 10 marathon pace miles, an easy 20 miler and an easy 22 miler. I was very confident in my fitness. Throughout all of this, I didn’t have any aches, pains or niggles. My body was absorbing the work beautifully.

The Paris Trip

And then I went to Paris. I wrote about this in my previous blog. I ran my 20 miles with 13.1 at 7:06 pace on a Friday morning, and then I flew to Paris the following Sunday evening. It was a work trip. It was not mandatory, but I had been asked to present my company’s global marketing strategy to other marketing leaders and I didn’t want to turn that down.

I was able to squeeze in two runs on this trip, but also took three rest days. This was quite the interruption to my normal flow of training and my main focus was to avoid getting sick. The last time I traveled internationally I ended up with Covid (see above reason for not running Indy last fall) and I was dreading a repeat.

While I managed to not get sick, I was thrown out of the rhythm of my training. I went from 50 days of daily running to three days off in a week plus two long flights. When I came back, that’s when I strained my calf, and from then on, I only ran twice in the remaining 13 days. Both runs were about two miles each. When race day arrived, It had been nearly three weeks since I was on my “normal” running routine. I believed that my fitness was still intact, but I don’t think my legs were prepared to make the sudden leap from 0 to marathon.

As for calf rehab, my physical therapist dry-needled the calf on the Monday before the race and that seemed to help with the final bit of healing. I went back to him on Wednesday and he said he thought the calf would be fine for the marathon.

Race Weekend
The Sunday before the race, Greg and I decided to cancel our flights and drive to Indianapolis instead. I wasn’t 100% sure I would do the race, given my calf wasn’t healed by that point. Driving offered more flexibility and Greg prefers driving to flying. Plus, a lot of flights were being cancelled or delayed with the air traffic control situation. The drive is about 8.5 hours, but we stopped a lot to stretch our legs and eat, so it took 10.5 hours.

I did not do a shakeout run on Saturday because I wanted to allow my calf every possible minute of healing. Instead we did a good bit of walking around the expo and to get lunch and dinner. In retrospect I think this was a mistake. Shakeout runs serve a purpose which is to keep the legs loose and prepare them to run. I can’t say for sure that doing a shakeout run would have made a difference, but if I had it to do over again, I would not have skipped the shakeout run.

At the expo, it was really cool meeting so many runners who recognized me from social media. I purchased a short sleeved shirt and a half zip running top. Part of me is always afraid to buy too much expo merch in case the race doesn’t go well or I don’t finish, but I was determined that I was going to have a great day no matter what, so I bought the merch with that mindset. Side note: I did once buy a half-zip for a marathon that I DNF’ed and I never ended up wearing it.

As for eating, I like to document my food so I can remember in future races what worked and what didn’t. My digestive system behaved itself nicely so it’s worth detailing my food intake. Breakfast was pumpkin spiced waffles, a small serving of berries, and an apple cider doughnut. A banana nut muffin for a snack. Lunch was a turkey wrap with lettuce, tomato and mayo. Pretzels for a snack. Dinner was chicken parm with bread and pasta. I drank about 75 ounces of water, including a packet of Skratch labs hydration mix. 

Before the race
I woke up at 4:00am naturally. I slept solidly from 8:45 to 1:00. I was awake until about 1:30 and then asleep again until 4:00am. I had recently discovered that magnesium glycinate helps with sleep, and I had been taking it all week long. This resulted in high quality sleep all week so I felt very well rested.

I had my typical race breakfast of a banana + almond butter filled pretzels along with 18 ounces of water mixed with Skratch labs hydration. I foam rolled my calves, used a lacrosse ball to massage my glutes (which helps activate them) and did some dynamic stretching for my hip flexors.

We hung out in the hotel lobby for about 15 minutes where I used the bathroom for the final time, and then went outside at 7:30 for the 8:00am start. I did some light jogging back and forth on one of the side streets and everything felt great, including my calf. Not even a slight hint of any problems. We then walked to the corral where Greg dropped me off.

Greg’s plan was to use one of “Pacers Bike Share” bikes to cheer for me at various places along the course. The race website had instructions on exactly how to do this. Greg couldn’t be 100% sure that a bike would be available so his back up plan was to use one of the electric scooters that were located all throughout the city.

Inside the corral, my first order of business was to have my UCAN gel. I like to take a UCAN about 20 minutes before the start because it’s a slow-release energy that gradually activates over an extended period of time. Inside the corral, I was recognized by a bunch of people who follow me on social media. It was really cool to talk to everyone and a great distraction from the fact that the marathon was just minutes away from starting.

Weather and outfit
The weather at the start was 43 degrees and sunny with 4 mph winds. Throughout the race the temperature rose to about 53 degrees, but cloud cover quickly came with it. I give this a 10 out of 10 on my personal race weather scale. IDEAL! That said, I did get warm early in the race before the clouds rolled in and I poured water over my head to stay cool. If it weren’t for the cloud cover, I might have downgraded this to an 8 or 9. 

I decided against wearing sunglasses because I knew that the majority of the race would be cloudy. I wore Zensah calf compression sleeves for added calf support. I opted for the Nike Alphafly because they had worked well in training. They were horrible for the track 5K I ran over the summer, but I ran two long runs with marathon pace miles in them during training and they felt great. My favorite all-time carbon fiber racing shoe is the adidas adios Pro 2, but they are now on version 4 which unfortunately doesn’t fit my feet.

I wore a necklace for the first time ever! I recently had a thin delicate necklace made from small stones in my grandmother’s wedding ring. I’ve seen other runners race in jewelry and I’ve admired it.

Miles 1-6
I wasn’t quite sure where to position myself within the corral. I didn’t want to get caught up in a large pace group because the course is crowded for the first 8 miles until the half marathon splits off. I also remembered from previous years that there were a lot of sudden turns and potholes and you really had to be careful where you were stepping.

About a mile into the race I found myself behind the 3:15 pacer. That pacer had gone out way too fast, as pacers tend to do, so I didn’t mind being behind that group. I also planned to negative split my way to 3:10 and I wanted to start at a pace that would yield around 3:15. In a perfect world, I would pace the first 10K at around 7:20 and then gradually speed up to 7:10 or faster by the end. All of my marathon pace workouts had my marathon pace at 7:06-7:08. So it felt super conservative starting at 7:20.

Mile 5

I relaxed into the race and I didn’t even think about my calf. I focused on making sure I didn’t run too fast and that I didn’t trip on a pothole. Admittedly, the road conditions here were much better than I remembered them. Perhaps they fixed the potholes or maybe I just remembered it worse than it was. I had read my 2017 blog the day before and I had stated that I was really frustrated during the first five miles with all of the crowding and the road conditions.

Things went much smoother for me yesterday. In terms of hydration and nutrition, I carried a 24 ounce bottle of water mixed with Skratch Labs hydration, which has both electrolytes and sugars. I drank from it every 12-15 minutes which allowed me to skip the water stations in the first half of the race. My plan was to take a Maurten gel every 40 minutes and use the Skratch Labs hydration and honey stinger chews intermittently. I had two of the chews 20 minutes into the race.

Greg had written “Elizabeth Clor” on my back which resulted in many runners on course saying “I follow you Instagram” or “I love your content” or “I’m a huge fan” as they passed me. I got to meet so many runners along the way and it perked me up whenever someone cheered for me by name. The name on my bib was “Zebra” so anyone cheering for Elizabeth likely knew me from social media.

Mile 1: 7:22
Mile 2: 7:28
Mile 3: 7:09 (not accurate after running under a bridge)
MIle 4: 7:20
Mile 5: 7:18
Mile 6: 7:17

Miles 7-13
My plan was to start increasing the pace after the first 10K. But instead of doing that, I found myself continuing to run around 7:20. Not the end of the world. I would have been fine holding 7:20 for the first

Around mile 8

10 miles if that’s what felt right. I still had the 3:15 pace group in my sights and by my math, they were on target for somewhere in the 3:13s. I seriously need to retire from competitive running so I can be a pacer!

I expected the crowd to really thin out when the half marathon runners split off during the 8th mile, but it did not. It wasn’t overly crowded, but there were still a lot of runners around me. It was somewhere during the 8th mile when I started to realize that my legs were already starting to tire. I was supposed to be speeding up, but instead I found it difficult to maintain my 7:20 pace. I had to work harder than expected. After having run 37 marathons, I know what the effort level should feel like at mile 8, and you absolutely should still be in control of the pace at that point. It shouldn’t feel strained.

During the 9th mile I realized something was wrong. I had executed according to my plan, taken my gels and chews and hydration mix. Paced it conservatively, but my legs started to feel tight and achey. Specifically, it was my high hamstrings on both legs. Was it from sitting in the car for 9 hours two days before? I wouldn’t think so. I didn’t want to do it, but I thought that if I stopped for just a few seconds to stretch my hamstrings, maybe I could get some pep back. But no. It did feel good to stretch them, but it didn’t seem to help matters. 

It was also my upper calves (gastroc) that felt tight. I had strained my soleus muscle, which is the lower calf, and that felt 100% fine. I kept running with the realization that I would not be able to speed up, and instead I was being forced to slow down. The immediate urge was to start analyzing the heck out of it, but I quickly shut that down and told myself that I didn’t need to figure it out. I just needed to deal with it the best I could.

I knew that I would see Greg at mile 11 and I wanted to look strong for him. But I also knew he would see the 3:15 pace group ahead of me and wonder why I wasn’t ahead of them by that point. When I saw him I smiled and waved. He said, “feel good?” as I passed and then I yelled back “no!”. I had to be honest with him. I was not feeling good, but I was going to still try my best. A nearby runner said “don’t believe it!” which was good advice. You can’t run a successful race if you are focused on how bad you feel. And I wasn’t focused on it - I was just being honest. I was determined to keep pushing along even though I had to stop at several points to stretch.

Mile 7: 7:17

Mile 8: 7:17
Mile 9: 8:19 (stopped to stretch)
Mile 10: 7:30
Mile 11: 7:39
Mile 12: 8:03 (stopped to stretch)
Mile 13: 7:56 (stopped to stretch)

Miles 14-20
My official half marathon split was 1:39:36 which is the equivalent of a 3:19 marathon. I had ruled out a sub 3:20 a few miles back, it was now just a matter of if I could beat my time from 2017. That was my next goal. In 2017 I ran a disappointing 3:43 on a goal of 3:18. If I could set a course PR, that would feel good.

Another benefit of my name being written on my back was that I didn’t want to be seen walking. I was supposed to inspire people, right!? Once when I was stretching, someone asked me - “oh no, is it your calf?” I replied, “no, it’s everything else!”

It’s kind of surreal when so many of the runners know your life story. At one point, multiple runners said to me, “Hey- I recognize you!” This led to another runner asking me if I was famous. I told her no, but that I had a lot of social media followers.

Miles 12 through 18 were the hardest miles of the race. I had to stop about once each mile to stretch. Greg was cheering at me in the 17th mile and I stopped and talked to him for about 30 seconds. I told him I was having a really hard time, but that I would finish. Miles 16-19 were also net uphill. The course is mainly flat, but this section was an exception. I struggled my way through it, keeping a positive mindset throughout.

When I reached mile 18, there was an aid station labeled “Vaseline, Ibuprofen, and Sunscreen.” I had never taken pain killers before or during a race, but I knew that Ibuprofen was a muscle relaxer and that could potentially help. After all, I had nothing to lose at this point, so I might as well try it. The woman at the aid station handed me a cup with two ibuprofen and another small cup of water. I swallowed them quickly and hoped for the best.

Shortly after, a runner came up from behind me and told me she followed me on Instagram. Her name was Jill. Jill was my savior during this race. She told me that she had been running with the 3:25 pace group, but that they had gone out too fast and so she couldn’t keep up with them. She seemed content to run at the same pace as me, so we chatted on and off. I totally would have stopped more if it weren’t for her. I felt like I was holding her back, but she said she was running the pace she wanted. Chatting with her was such a great distraction from how I was feeling. And my goal was just to keep on moving forward with her.

Mile 14: 7:57
Mile 15: 8:59
Mile 16: 8:47
Mile 17: 9:41 (stopped to talk to Greg)
Mile 18: 8:56
Mile 19: 8:26
Mile 20: 8:22 (Thank you, Jill)

Miles 21- Finish
After about two miles, Jill said she needed to stop. I told her I was starting to feel better so I kept going. My legs started to feel much looser and I am guessing this is from the ibuprofen kicking in. We were also past the uphill section and I had two miles with a new friend to distract me.

From then on, I miraculously did not have to stop and stretch anymore. I could run straight to the finish. Back at the halfway point, I had envisioned myself walking it in, but that’s where my training came into play. Even though my legs failed me so early in the race, I was still able to keep running. Sure, I wasn’t going to get the 3:10 I wanted from my training, but it didn’t go to waste. It enabled me to still run strong during the final 10K.

I was running faster than I had been during the middle 20K! It’s probably rare to have the first 10K be the fastest, the last 10K be the second fastest, and the middle 20K to be the slowest, but that is how I ran this race. It’s the best I could do with the legs I had!

I really perked up during these final miles and I finally felt like I was racing the marathon. No more stopping and stretching. I did get a cramp in my foot during the 25th mile, but I just ignored it and kept going. The crowd got bigger and bigger as I approached the finish line. I looked around for Greg but I did not see him.

It almost felt as amazing as the Boston Marathon finish line. The crowd was going wild and I felt like a rock star. I was so proud of myself for making it there and getting a second wind! My official finish time was 3:32:28, which honestly feels like a miracle. If you would have told me I would run that time at the halfway point, I would not have believed you. Based on how I felt, I was thinking that I would be lucky to run under 4 hours. I ran over 10 minutes faster than my previous Indianapolis Monumental marathon from 2017. I qualified for Boston by over 12 minutes! A huge victory!

Mile 21: 8:33
Mile 22: 8:13
Mile 23: 8:11
Mile 24: 8:15
Mile 25: 8:25
Mile 26: 8:27
Last 0.41 on my Garmin: 7:45 pace

After the Race
No vomiting for me this time. That only happens when I run at max effort and my legs didn’t allow that to happen during this race. In fact, I think I set a PR for the most fuel ever consumed in a marathon.
Everything went down smoothly - 5 gels, 10 honey stinger chews, and 1 serving of Skratch labs hydration.

Our hotel was literally right at the finish line so the walk took maybe two minutes. I met up with Greg and I was so happy to see him. His biking plan worked out perfectly. He was at the finish line taking photos, but I did not see hi in the crowd. I was eager to start relaxing, so I didn’t hang out at the finish line. We went straight to the hotel room.

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
I’m not sure if I would call this a bonk or not. I didn’t hit “the wall” - my legs just failed me early on in the race and I kept having to stop to stretch. I guess speeding up for the final 10K means I didn’t actually bonk. I just had a 13-mile rough patch in the middle of the race.

I didn’t do much walking and my Garmin data supports this. I have only 29 seconds of walking time for the whole race but about 90 seconds worth of “idle” time - which is stretching or talking to Greg. Strava has me at 3:30:25 for moving time. For some reason, if you stop moving, Strava stops the clock! If you look at my Strava splits, they are different from what's in the blog because Strava removed all of my stopping in the splits and only included the walking. The data in the blog is directly from my blog and includes all the stops.

This obviously wasn’t the race I wanted. I would say “this wasn’t the race I trained for” - but it actually WAS the race I trained for. If I hadn’t done all of those workouts, I would not have been able to run so strong on dead legs. Even after they loosened up, they were still very fatigued. You don’t just train for a particular time, you train to be able to handle whatever the race throws at you.

I was determined to finish strong and stay positive, and that’s exactly what I did. I think this race was a win for me, even though it wasn’t what I was hoping for. Nobody hopes for dead legs.

As for why this happened, it could be a million different things. I’ll never really know for sure. My best theory is that the Paris trip three weeks before the race got me out of my groove, and then I strained my calf after having a few extra days off. Not running for 13 days made running feel stale. Even though my fitness was intact, my legs were shocked by the task and they didn’t want to cooperate. That’s my best guess.

If I had to do anything differently, I might have run longer on the anti-gravity treadmill on the Wednesday before the race and done a shakeout run on Saturday. I would have spent more time foam rolling and stretching the day before. Would I have turned down the Paris trip? Maybe. But there was no way to know that the Paris trip was going to be such a disruption. I knew there was a risk of getting sick, and I went anyway. Running is a big part of my life, but my life doesn’t revolve around running. I was invited to speak at a marketing event, and I saw that as an honor. While I do think the Paris trip set off the chain of events that led to my race day issues, I don’t regret it.

My biggest takeaway is that I truly enjoyed the marathon and it was surreal to have been recognized by so many people. And not only to have been recognized, but to have so many people tell me that my book inspired them, or that they appreciate my posts. I pour a lot of my time, energy and soul into my social media, and experiences like this show that it’s really making a difference to people. A BQ by over 12 minutes and a course PR by over 10 minutes is not too shabby given everything that happened in the three weeks leading up to the race.

Thankfully my soleus strain is 100% recovered and I don’t have to worry about it anymore. I can recover “normally” from this marathon and look forward to winter training.