Something New

Those of you who have read my blog over the past 2+ years know me, I think. You know that I decide to do crazy, insane things, right? So when I told you over the past couple weeks that I had no races scheduled, you probably thought that wouldn't last. Am I right? Actually, you are right! A couple days ago, I signed up for another marathon. Now, that doesn't sound crazy, I have done that a lot. What would make it crazy. Hmmmmm....... I'll give you a few seconds to think about it.............................................I signed up for a marathon that takes place in only a week and a half. Not crazy enough for you? Well, it is another indoor marathon. Heck, Bill, you have already run 3 indoor marathons, what is so crazy about that? Well, this one is 204 laps on a raised track surrounding a basketball court. OK, there is the insane.

Yep, I signed up for the Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon in Goshen, Indiana put on by the Two Rivers Running Club. I don't know what the 2 rivers actually are, I suppose I will have to ask next weekend. The race takes place on Saturday, February 26th, only 9 days from now. I am going not only to run the marathon, but also see how they run their indoor marathon and maybe we can exchange notes in order to make their marathon and the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon better.

This is the 3rd year for the Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon and just like the Icebreaker, they have seen in increase in interest in their race. Since it is a smaller track than at the Pettit Center in Milwaukee, they only have 30 or so runner in the race. New this year, though, is a SECOND marathon taking place on Sunday. OK, I don't know if the Sunday race is new or if Saturday is, but they will have 2 heats of the full marathon. Icebreaker only has 1 heat. So about 60 or so runner can run the Maple Leaf which is cool since more get to run. They even have a crazy challenge where you could run BOTH days. No thanks, I did that in January and on different courses. Imagine 408 laps, uugghhh. I do like the idea though.

So I will be running on Saturday morning and have already come up with an approximate lap time I need to achieve to reach a goal I have in mind. I am sure this one will be a lot hard to run that the Icebreaker for a few reasons. The turns are much much tighter and I assume their temperatures will be higher than at Pettit. I may be wrong on the temps but I can't imagine they will cool it down to the upper 40's, though I would not mind. Also, since the turns are very tight and you do 4 per lap, they have instituted a reversing of the course every 30 minutes. Basically, every 30 minutes, they will put a large Traffic Cone at the start/finish line. When you pass the cone, you do a 180 and run the opposite direction for the next 30 minutes. It is suppose to help with the knees and I am sure it will.

This race will have 816 water stops. That is is you put water on each of the 4 tables in each corner. Like the Icebreaker, you can put whatever drink/food/gel/etc. you want on the table and pick it up whenever you like. Very Cool! I do not have any knowledge on the whereabouts to the restroom. Hopefully it is very close to the track. But wherever it is, you probably pass it 204 times.

The race is not chip timed, but each runner is assigned a personal lap counter who helps you keep track of laps completed. Maybe even a little personal cheering section??? Maybe I should bring a little something for my lap counter in exchange for extra cheering, what do you think?

So that is my next race. After that, who knows. I have altered my weekend long run in order to rest the legs a little for the race. I do want to run well, but it is not like I am going for a PR here or anything like that. I haven't run on a track like this, well, ever. Maybe a few laps when I visited the Y long ago, but never long. I am really looking forward to this race. It should be a blast!

Keep on Running!!!