Alaska

Anchorage Mayor's Midnight Sun Half Marathon





State #23 Anchorage Alaska

I don't know who was more excited about Alaska... my wife, my mom, the kids, Keeley's BFF Coral, or my friends and family... but everyone was sure excited about Alaska.  From the minute I proposed running 50in50 they were all clamoring about who was gonna go to Alaska.

Well, one cannot simply fly over to Alaska the day before, pick up their race packet, race the next day, then fly home.  The flight over took about 12 hours with a stop in Seattle.  So, we decided to make it a family vacation and spend 5 days to enjoy the area, and enjoy it we did.  We had a party of 7 and we are all still friendly with each other after the trip.  Most of this blog will appear more like a recap of our family vacation than a recap of the race, because the race was only one day of our trip.  If you are not interested in the details of our vacation, then you can skip to the middle to read about the race.  If you are not interested in the race, then you can skip over the middle section.  If you are not interested in any of it, then you can just send cash or cashier's check to my office address.  ;)  Thanks.

When we arrived in Anchorage, we rented a minivan and headed to downtown Anchorage where we had booked a VRBO for the week.  It was less than a mile from the start/finish line and just a couple blocks from the touristy parts of downtown.  Of course, the major industry is tourism, so that was not too hard to do, but my point is that we were close to everything.  Although it was still pretty light out, we were all exhausted from the trip over and so we headed to bed.  Truth is, all I could think about was "flapjacks".  For some reason I wanted pancakes, but they made me wait till "morning".

We got a few hours of sleep and arose, sleepy-eyed to the bright light of the sun.  It was mostly overcast, but still light out.  For the record, I went for my run EVERY day.  There was a middle school directly across the street from our house that had a quarter-mile track, and I ran on that most every morning.   As you can see, if you look closely, the boys and Valerie ran out there too.  It was nice to have a training facility across the street.
  

After my run, I finally got some flapjacks, then we headed out to tour the city.  We took a nice trolley tour and learned some very interesting things about Anchorage and the earthquake that re-shaped the city.  The scenery was beautiful and majestic.  All the flowers were in bloom and there was still snow on the mountains and glaciers.  Lots of planes all around.  It was very nice to take a leisurely day to just take in the sites.  Here are a few from the trolley ride and the flight in.






It is difficult to distinguish which pictures are taken at 10:00pm and which are taken at 4:00am or noon.  It is actually brighter during the day, but there was no real darkness even in the middle of the night.  I found myself waking at 3 and 4 am and not being able to get back to sleep... maybe a little cat nap here and there, but my sleep schedule is all out of whack.

We all woke Friday at some point -- who knows what time it was -- it was light out.  Our big outing for the day was to go to the expo and get my race packet and then a dogsled tour on a glacier.  First was the expo.  All 7 of us went to the expo.  It was a small expo, but we literally stopped at every booth.  The kids and Grami got stickers and pens and pencils and anything that they were giving out.  This is not the way I normally experience the expo, but then I am not normally carrying 6 other people around with me. I finally got my race packet, which really only consisted of my race bib.

Valerie drove us north of Anchorage for about 2 hours where we came upon a lodge.  We were bundled in layers as we were told that it would be potentially very cold and windy and wet.  I think we would have been fine in a medium jacket, but we did not know that before we went.  We got all checked in and proceeded to the helicopters that were going to take us to the glacier.

  After a 10-15 minute helicopter ride we landed on the glacier, met the guide, a several time Ididerod racer and his 48 Alaskan Huskies.  Every one of them had a name and a different personality.  We harnessed up the dogs on two different sleds in a particular order.  There were lead dogs and mid pack dogs and back of the pack dogs and each was paired with their best friend.  It seems to me that this is different than humans, or at least than how i was treated.  Everyone always seemed to want to separate me from my friends.  We were able to greet the dogs and get to know them a little bit before the ride.  The kids LOVED the dogs.  They were all very sweet.
 Then we went on a short dogsled ride with our harnessed dogsled team.  Each of us had an opportunity to drive the sled and to brake and sit as a passenger.  It was fun.  There was only one small casualty as Grami fell off the sled at one point, but she was not injured.... and the dogs were indifferent.


The glacier and the scenery were very pretty.  We had a nice time.

I don't remember which day it was, but one day we had lunch at a local, popular pizza joint named The Moose's Tooth, and we had dinner one other night at a place called Ginger.  Both were good restaurants.  Good food and good service.  We were pleased.  Otherwise we ate at our house.  The Friday pre-race meal in particular was oven baked salmon and halibut with pasta and trimmings and sides.  It was a very nice pre-race meal.

Most of the races that I run begin at about 7:00am, but this one started at 9:00am for some reason.  Of course it was light out.  There was a full marathon, but it was on a different course with the same finish line.  There was also a 5k that started after us.  We all went over to the start and waited for the start.  It was about 48F but very little wind.  I was wearing Keeley's sweatshirt to keep me warm until it was almost race time.  Thanks Keeley.  The race started right at 7:00am.  There were no corrals or any markings for time or pace or even pacers for that matter.  it was a bit of a free for all.  Fortunately, I started very near the front, so I did not have to dodge too many people.  Here is a picture of me still in good spirits at the very beginning of the race.  My entire fan section was cheering some turkey call of some sort and rattling cowbells for some reason.  

The race started and finished at the same area, but it was not exactly out and back.  There was really only a few miles that were on the same trail.  We started out on a road and went mostly downhill to a trail... like a biking trail.  It was paved, larger than a sidewalk, but smaller than a one lane road.
The trail also consisted of a couple of wooden bridges.
It was open to the public and there were people out on it, but they were very accommodating and were not a hinderance at all.  (The pictures of the race route were taken from some of the Facebook pictures taken by some of the other racers in the 50 states half marathon club.  I did not take any pictures during the race).


It was a scenic route, for the most part.  This trail was designed to highlight the river and the mudflats.

There was one section that went through the woods.  I was not expecting to have a trail section, nor was I expecting a long trail section, nor was I expecting a STEEP, uphill, wet, long trail section.  There was a lot of groaning from the racers around this section.  Mostly because none of us knew how long this trail was going to go.  It ended up being nearly an entire mile.  From mile 6 to mile 7. 

Then we got back on the same trail for the trip back to the finish.  My time slowed from mid 7 minute miles to 8:12 per mile.   It took a bit of steam out of me.  The rest of the race was as one would expect except for the finish.  The last 0.5 miles were a very steep uphill.  It was the same downhill that we encountered at the start, but it seemed much steeper going up, plus it was after already having run 12.6 miles.  Anyway, I finished with a decent time.  I was really hoping for 1:38:00, but I will take 1:41:24 on this course for now.    My cheering section was there at the finish, cheering me on with that same strange turkey call and the cowbells.  They were a welcomed site and even the turkey call was good to hear.
 The shirt is nice too, but I forgot to take a picture of it.  You'll probably see it on the pictures at my next race.  probably.

After the race I was feeling pretty good.  I was not all worn out and sore.  We had an easy afternoon planned, then dinner at Ginger.  In all it was a great day and we were all kind of tired and went to be early.  It was still light out.

Sunday we got up early and ran.  I ran 4 miles and even did some speed work.  I felt pretty good... still.  Then off to the train station.  We took a train to another glacier a few hours away.  The train route was in part along the race trail, so the scenery was very similar.  ALL ABOARD!!  Once we got to our destination we were driven to a wildlife and conservation park-- basically a zoo.

There were caribou and elk and porcupine and bison and moose and bear... no lions or tigers -- oh my.



From there we got back on the train and off to the glacier where we took a raft out of the base of the glacier and down the river.  It was no class 5 rapids, but there were some splash points and we had a nice time floating down the river and enjoying the beauty of the mountains.
  Then back on the train for the trip home... but the train ride became a bus ride so we did not have to go the wrong way before we doubled back.  This was designed to save us 4 hours of travel.  The only hiccup was a wreck on the road.  Notice that reads THE road.  There is only one road.  One can only get to the glacier area by plane or train.  Then the areas that are accessible by auto are only accessible by one road.  So, the wreck caused a dead standstill for a good 45 minutes.  There is only one road, so we had no choice but to sit and wait.  So, we got home kind of late, had some dinner and went to bed.

Monday was Keeley's birthday.  Noble and I went running to the grocery store to get the appropriate birthday provisions.  We celebrated Keeley's birthday and then packed up our stuff for the long trip home.  Our flight was not originally scheduled to leave until 8:00pm, but got delayed until 10:20pm... so, we had plenty of time to go on another adventure or two.  Valerie planned a trip for us to  Alyeska resort.    We took a gondola ride to the top of the mountain and the kids made snowmen and played in the snow.    We had some lunch up on the top of the mountain.  Then headed back.  One the way back, we still had some time, so we stopped at a gold mining place.  It was a waste of time, but we had time to waste... and mining for gold meant fishing through some mud from a bucket that you paid for that had a tiny nugget of gold in it somewhere.  We opted not to do that one.  

We still had some time, so we stopped back in downtown Anchorage and watched a movie about the Aurora Borealis.  It was terrible and all I can hope for is that anyone that might consider going to see it has read this far down in my blog to read that it was not even worth the waste of time... not to mention the money... even if you have both the time and the money to waste.  If you are interested in Aurora Borealis -- Google it!! The flowers were pretty in downtown though.  So, off to the airport and a sleepless night of travel.  It was worth it!

The race was a nice one and the course was nice and the vacation was a good one.  I would go again.

Next race Narragansett Massachusetts July 14.

Steamboat Springs, CO

Half Marathon #22

Steamboat Springs Colorado

We have been snow skiing several times in Steamboat.  We like it there.  We often stay in a townhome on the mountain where we can step right out of the room onto the slope... and then ski right down to the room when we want to come in.  It is very nice and we are terribly spoiled.  I have never been there in the summer though.  So, I thought it would be fun to make Steamboat my June race and visit in the summer.

Steamboat looks quite a bit different in the summer than in the winter.  For one, there is no snow on the ground.  That seemed odd to me.  And there were lots of people out doing outdoor things.

I was headed out to Seattle for another course at The Kois Center.  Since I make my way out there multiple times per year, I am trying to combine my trips out west, so I made a stop in Colorado on my way to Seattle.  The race was on Sunday,  and the course did not start until Monday, so I was able to head out to Steamboat on Saturday and have plenty of time to see the winter wonderland in the summer, race the next day and still make the course comfortably.

The flight was uneventful.  I left super early.  The flight was at 6:00am from Tampa, direct to Denver.  Then a tiny little plane to Hayden where I was picked up by the Storm Mountain Express... the same transportation that we take when we go skiing.  The only difference this time, was that there were only two other passengers, whereas there are at least twenty when we go skiing. 

 The driver was one of the same drivers that has driven us before.  He is a super nice guy that has lived in Steamboat for some thirty years and is very knowledgeable about all things in Steamboat.  If you want to know the best restaurants, night life, hotels, or back country ski venues, he would be your guy.

The one thing that he said during the trip from Hayden that has stuck with me was: "People come here for the winters and stay for the summers."  I am certain that if Valerie had been with me, she would want to move there after seeing the summer there.  Truth is, I think she wants to move there now as it is.  Maybe I should not let her see these pictures or read this blog.  Please, nobody tell her any of this. 

 
The driver took me right to the front door of my hotel and I checked into Hotel Bristol.. right in downtown Steamboat.  It is a quaint, old hotel with tiny rooms, but it was comfortable and two blocks from the shuttle stop that transported us to the start, and four blocks from the finish line.As you can see, the room was small, but there was a hot tub.  Of course, I did not utilize the hot tub, but it was there.









I needed to get to the expo and pick up my race packet, so I headed out to the bus stop, and the bus was just leaving.  I decided to simply walk to the next bus stop, and of course the bus was just leaving.  That happened three times before I just decided to walk.  It was only about two miles and the weather was amazing.  It was about 70F, the sun was shining and the scenery was beautiful.  Here are a few pictures I took along the way.

  I have never seen so many mountain bikers.  They were out in force.  It was like everyone in town was out riding their mountain bikes.  I made it to the expo, which was at a ski rental shop, the Ski Haus.  I thought that was funny.  I even considered renting some skis just for fun.  Actually they had totally transformed the ski rental shop into a bike and kayak rental shop.  It was pretty interesting.  After receiving my race bid -- number 1111, I walked over to the grocery store, picked up some groceries for my dinner and race day breakfast, then headed back.  After getting back, I realized that I had not yet run my obligatory mile for the day, so I headed out for a run.

My run was terrible.  I ran 1.09 miles at a 8:32 min/mile pace, but i felt terrible.  I had a headache and my chest was tight.  I was a bit dizzy and breathing heavy and could not seem to breathe very well.  I was nervous that this is how I would feel on race day as well.  So, back to my room to hydrate and rest.

Race day started early, but there was a two hour time difference for me, so it was easy.  I got up at 4:00am and got some breakfast in me and made sure everything was moving.  Then off to the transport to the start.  The bus to the start left at 6:15am and it took about 30 min to make it up the mountain to the start... but the race did not start until 7:30am.  So, now we are up the mountain at the start milling around, trying to stay warm as it was about 40F.  There was one ray of sunshine eventually peaked through the mountain peaks and was beaming down on the road.  About ten of us here huddled in the ray of light pretending that we were comfortable and just stopping in this one spot to stretch our calves on the uneven pavement on the side of the road.  Somewhere around 7:20 the sun made an appearance over the mountain and gave some level of comfort to the starting line. 

The race started right at 7:30am and we were off.  The start was somewhere around 7200 ft in the air.  The race had a net downhill, but several ups and downs and arounds.  The finish was back in downtown Steamboat which I learned was about 6700 ft. elevation.  The first mile was super cold.  We ran downhill a bit and tucked in behind a mountain that shielded us from the sun.  My fingers were frozen.  I warmed up about mile three, but I started to struggle in the run.  I was breathing OK, but a realized I had a headache and my legs were heavy and sluggish.  Mile 1 -- 7:31.  Mile 2 -- 7:44, mile 3 -- 7:52, Mile 4 -- 7:44, then I blew up or bonked out or ran out of gas or hot the wall.  I recognized clearly that this would not be a PR race for me.  My miles got more difficult and my legs got heavier.  People began to pass me, I was still feeling my head throbbing and I could not make myself go any faster.  The sub 7 minute miles became 8:29 and 8:30 and 9:41.  One mile was even 10:01.  The finish could not get there fast enough.  I concentrated only on sticking one foot in front of the other.  It was ugly. 

Finish time 1:54:40.  I was not happy, but at the same time, I was thrilled to be finished.  I walked back to my room, took a shower and laid down until my shuttle was ready to take me back to the airport, where I flew out to Seattle for the week.When I sent this picture to Valerie, she responded with, "I love that it looks like you have wings!"  I thought those were my wings and I finally found a good photographer.  Truth is, I needed some wings for this race. 

Training has been rough for the last two weeks since this race.  I have had calf pain, stiff and sore legs and a super tight IT band.  I have struggled every day since this race.  But, I am starting to feel a little better.  I am hoping that pushing through the training will pay off for Alaska.  We leave Wednesday.  Valerie, the kids, my mom, and our "other child" Coral.  Wish me luck. -- almost half way!

Big Lake Half Marathon

Alton, NH -- State #21



Valerie decided she wanted to go to New Hampshire.  We don't make it to the New England states very often, so she wanted to tag along with me and even run the half.  This being only her second half marathon ever.  The above picture was just before the race near the starting line.  I'll talk more about that in a minute.

The trip started on Friday.  We left the house at 6:45am to catch our flight to Washington, D.C.  All was normal and good.  We got to DC just fine and made it to the next flight.  We had over an hour wait for our next flight, so I went for a walk.  I made my way over to the international gate area.  It was amazing the difference.  I felt like I had entered the twilight zone.  Not because it was eery or spooky or anything like that, but because of the dramatic, immediate, and stark contrast to the adjacent gates.  I walked from an area filled with crowds of people and narrow walkways and clamoring noises and a fast-food culture, and I don't just mean the food... Everything seemed quick and easy and designed for a nameless, faceless culture whom all had their faces firmly planted in their mobile device, all of which seemed perfectly normal to me until I wandered aimlessly into the international area.  By contrast, there was opulence and a capacious atmosphere.  It had the feel of a high end mall.  There were high end watch and jewelry shops.   There were restaurants, not simply chains of fast-food resellers.  These were sit-down restaurants with wait-staff and chefs and a host, probably a sommelier, I am guessing.  There were significantly less people around, and those that were there were not running and rushing around, but walking calmly to their destination.  It was a whole different world.  I did not feel like I was being punked, but it was palpably different.  I found it odd, calming and relaxing and enjoyable, but odd.  As I was walking through the oppulentport, Valerie texted me to inform me that they had cancelled our flight.  So, I reluctantly made my way back to 'Merica and then to the United Customer Service desk.  I am only using the term customer service as it was written on the sign, but rest assured, there was NO semblance of customer service associated with the desk here in "Merica at the United counter.  We waited in the line for... ummm... almost two hours.... all the while the sole working agent assisted a grand total of two people.  And when I say assisted, I mean to say that she told them all sorts of things that they did not want to hear and they left rather upset.  One was yelling and the other was crying.  Eventually, another two agents showed up on the scene and Valerie and I were able to get another flight out that evening.  We were originally scheduled to fly to Portland Maine, but we were now headed to Boston, Mass and then we would rent a car and drive to Alton, NH.  There were a few other "funny" (not funny at all) things that happened in that "customer service" line, but suffice it to say that all of the elderly people that were scheduled to go to Portland for a cruise the next morning all angrily and reluctantly found another way to get to where they were going and we maintained a laissez-faire attitude and developed an alternate plan for ourselves.  The rental car drive would take us a bit longer and would cost us three times as much, but we were able to spend the day together in the airport.  lol.

Finally we made our way to Boston and drove to our hotel.  We stopped at a restaurant out in the middle of nowhere and had some pasta as our pre-race meal.  It was average.  Then made it to the hotel and checked in, only to remember that we had not yet run that day... so, we ventured out and ran our obligatory mile just before 11:00pm... then shower and off to bed as we both had a race in the morning.  Our hotel was about 30 minutes from the race venue, but the race was not scheduled to start until 8:00am.  Packet pick-up was only the morning of, starting at 6:45 to 7:30 am. 

I woke up at 4:30am.  I don't know why.  Maybe because we stayed in the noisiest room in New Hampshire.  Our room was a "special" room called the Bell Tower Room.  It was above a restaurant and the "night life".  There was actually a bell tower and it did toll.  There was also a waterfall that was powered.  I believe the motor was right adjacent to our room.  There was also a refrigerator in the room that I eventually unplugged so that I could sleep at all.  Anyway, I was up at 4:30am and I was instantly startled to note it was bright out.  I thought I had over slept and we were going to miss the race after all.  The picture to the left was at 4:30.  Since when does the sun rise at 4:30?????  I finally woke Valerie at 6:00am.  I normally get up a few hours before the race to make sure I can get some nutrients in me and make certain I have time to get things moving adequately and out of my system before I am forced to enter the porta-potty mayhem.  Valerie finally got moving at 6:30 and we were off to the race at 6:45am.  At the race by 7:20am. we had plenty of time to get out race bibs and t-shirts.  

There were 920 people signed up for this race and there were 699 total finishers.  I am proud to report both Valerie and I were counted among the finishers.  The start was a simple start with a guy talking on a two speaker PA system and an inflatable up and over START banner.  The announcer informed us to make our way to the start and "seed ourselves", although there was no signs delineating pace or time or anything.  So, one simply walked up and positioned themselves somewhere in front of people they thought they might be faster than and behind those they thought they might be slower than.  You can imagine how well that worked out.  We started some 7 minutes late and he said, "on your mark.... GO, GO, GO!!!"  And off we went.

As we were driving in to the race start, we noticed the mile markers and cones on the road.  It did not take us long to figure out that this was the course for our race.  It also did not take very long for us to notice that we were driving downhill a LOT... which meant that we would be running uphill a LOT!  Take a look at this elevation from my Garmin.

The aspects that are striking to me, that I would like for you to notice is the significant uphill portions, but also the severe downhill portions in a couple spots.  There was one section just after the big uphill that was seemingly straight down.  I ran that portion of the downhill at a 4:58 pace.  The entire mile I ran at 7:02.  It was steep.  I struggled a bit with all of the uphill sections, but the most difficult part for me was seeing all of the rolling hills ahead.  I kept thinking we were done with the uphill part.  The course was partly out and back, and the out part was uphill like the whole way, so I figured the back part HAD to be downhill, and it was in net change, but it was steep downhill, then uphill again, then steep downhill and back uphill, over and over and over.  It really messed with my mind.  In fact, at mile 8 or 9 or somewhere near there I convinced myself that I was not going to make a PR, so I should just allow myself to slow down and not stress myself mentally or physically... what would be the point?  So, when I got near the finish and realized that with just a bit of effort in those tough moments I could have posted another PR.  I somewhat gave up, and paid the price for it with my finish time.

It was a pretty course, that is the area was pretty.  Right on the lake much of the way and through some residential neighborhoods that backed up to the water.  A long stretch was on the major road with only partial road closure, but there was a fairly wide shoulder, so it was not a big deal as long as you don't mind cars wizzing by.  New Hampshire is a beautiful place with all of the trees and colors etc...  The weather was 47F at the start and warmed to 55F or so with a light to mild breeze.  47F did not fell like what 47 feels like here in Florida.  It felt more like 55-60.  I was very comfortable in my shorts and T.

Valerie tweaked her hamstring a bit and had to walk much of the last mile, but she did the smart thing and did not push it and injure herself like I probably would have done.  She is the smart one.

There was Pizza and ice-cream and bananas and popcorn at the finish.  I waited for a while and then walked back up the course and found Valerie and jogged in to the finish with her.  Here we are post-race.

And here is the medal and my post-race selfie:

I finished with a decent time.  Overall I am happy with the results.  We had a nice time and the trip home was much less eventful.  

Next race is in a couple weeks in Steamboat Springs, CO and then a couple weeks later in Alaska.  I will post after the Colorado race to keep you up to date.  Thanks for reading this far.  TTFN, TTYL.

Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon

State #20 Race Recap

The official title of this event was The Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon and miniMarathon.

I don't know why I am so opposed to the term mini marathon, but I do not care for it.  13.1 miles is a long, long way to run.  In my mind it is not a mini anything.  Do they call the 100 meters a mini 200 meters?  No!! In fact, they call the winner of the 100 meters, the FASTEST MAN ALIVE.  Or the 400 meters a mini 800 meter race?... etc... you get the point.  After my race in Duluth, MN., I posted a picture posing with my medal.  The medal clearly read HALF finisher on it.  One of the sweet ladies from church responded to my posting, "Well good for you for making it THAT far!"  She was trying to be sweet and encouraging.  -- Of course, to be fair to the discussion, most people that I talk with do not even know the difference between a marathon and a half marathon.  I am often asked, "How's the marathons coming?", and "Marathon?!?! How far is that, like 10 kilometers or something?"... So, maybe it makes no difference what you call it, a half marathon, a mini marathon, a marathon, or a stupid long way to run.  Truth is, the very next thing out of people's mouth is either, "Oh, my son runs marathons.... ", or "I used to run...", followed by, "How are your knees?" -- either way, I do not personally like the term mini marathon.  It just seems to diminish the race.  FWIW (For What It's Worth)(I recently discovered that several people are not aware of FWIF.

The Kentucky Derby Festival HALF MARATHON is held Louisville, Kentucky.

Registration:

Registration for this event was through RunSignUp.  Accessed through the derby festival web site: derbyfestivalmarathon.com

 Fee:

The fee was $85.  plus a $7.70 processing fee -- grand total: $92.70

The Expo:

The expo was held at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. It was less than 2 miles from the airport, so I decided to walk.  I only had a backpack since I was alone and staying just one night.  It was an easy walk with the exception of having to walk out of the way to get to a place where I could cross the multi-lane HYW. Once at the expo, it was easy enough to get my bib and shirt, then one had to walk through the expo to the exit.  In this event, they decided to force the racers through the expo in an attempt to maximize the exposure to the vendors.  It was set up so that you were forced to walk a narrow, winding path in an continuous S-pattern.  That would not have been so bad, except there were many who would saunter through the maze with frequent stops and wander aimlessly, talking and forcing a line to form behind them.  It was terribly frustrating.  Once you finally got past those three people, there was another wandering group just in front of them.  I was not in any hurry, but I was trapped, and do not enjoy being trapped.  As a result, I saw none of the vendors.  I was focused only on getting through the blockade.  At the end of the expo, there was a place to take a "free" "shuttle" to downtown.  Free is in quotation marks because there was no XTRA charge.  And shuttle is in quotes because they were school busses.  I was the only rider on the bus on this trip.  It took about 15 min. and we passed right by where I needed to go to my accommodations, but the driver would not let me out when we stopped as "it would be too dangerous".  Safety first!

Shirt:

The shirt was another short-sleeved wicking, tech shirt  

Race Day:

Saturday.  I flew out Friday morning, made my way to the expo, had a good night's sleep.. woke at 4:00am to eat breakfast and get my bathroom routine working properly, then off to the race.  A two hour rest and shower, then to the airport Saturday about noon.

Race Start Time:

Race start was 7:30am.  We started a little more than 5 min. late.  They kept announcing that they would start in 5 min, then 2, then a long pause, then 5 min late.  I do not know why, but it did not matter.  The race started in downtown Louisville.  There was some construction, so instead of running straight up  main st. there were a couple of turns to re-route around the construction, but it did not seem to affect anyone.   There were a reported 13,000 people in this race.  If you look close at the below picture you cannot see me, but I am way up there near the start, which was great, because there was a whole bunch of folks gathered into a small space.  I was playing pinball at the start and there was only about 100  or so people in front of me.

Course Map:

The blue line is the half marathon.  The orange is the full - which extends beyond what I have captured here... but since the half is only a mini marathon... just kidding.  The big draw of this race was to run through Churchill Downs.  More on that later.

Accommodations:

I stayed in an AirBnB condo.  It was right about 200 yards from the finish line, and right at corral I, but just down the street from Corral B and right next to Slugger Field

I found this picture kinda funny.  They had moved the start line down a street that was already blocked off, so they did not have to close off main st. the day before.  Some time in the middle of the night, they moved the start down the street, but for the day before it sat right next to the finish.  Looks like a short race from here.  Maybe that is what they mean by mini marathon.  lol.

Transportation:

I walked from the airport.  Took the bus to downtown.  Walked to the room.  Walked (actually I jogged) to the grocery... and back.  Then I took an Uber back to the airport.  It was a super easy transportation this time.

Weather:

The weather was really great.  55F from race start to race finish.  It was clear and sunny.  I wore shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.  I was comfortable.  I thought it might warm up and get hot, but it never did.  Nice.

Race Morning:

55 F.  It was a bit windy, but not so much that it was a problem.  There was one stiff head wind that I remember, but it was short lived and really did not bother me too much.  I walked out of my room at 7:00am and comfortably made my way to the start.  It was super easy.  Location is key for the accommodations.

Race:

We started the race.  I played pingpong with a bunch of folks who should not have been up at the front, and a few others that wanted to be and maybe should have been closer to the front.  Navigating crowds of runner who are trying to find their rhythm for the first couple miles is always tricky.  I never felt comfortable with my position on the course until about mile 3.5.  It opened up a bit at that point and I was not worried about running into someone or getting cut off or clipped from behind.  I found two guys who were running about the pace I had settled into.  It was nice to have two of them because there were times when I would speed up and different times where they would speed up and/or slow down.  We passed each other back and forth for 10 miles.  One would pass and the other I would pass, and so forth.  Back and forth for 10 miles.  At the finish, I passed one of them and lost track of the other.  It helped keep me around the right pace to get a decent time.
The elevation chart showed an uphill section at the last several miles, but my Garmin showed a net downhill over the entire race.  I did not really notice the uphill at the end, and my times did not reflect it.  I felt decent and only felt like I needed to slow down one time.

Water/Food Stations:

There were several water and Powerade stations.  I think they said there were 19 water stations.  That was plenty.  I drank at 3 miles, 6 miles, 7 miles, and 9 miles.  Otherwise, I did not feel the need to.

Scenery:

As I mentioned, the draw of this race was running through Churchill Downs. We ran through the front, which in my opinion was the best part of the entire experience.  

Once through the front entrance and past the museum, we entered a tunnel to go underneath the race track, and came out in the infield, which is  a paved road.  We made a short loop on this paved road and then back out another tunnel on the opposite side.

The infield loop was a little disappointing to me, only because this race is in conjunction with the Kentucky Derby next week, and there was a lot of set up and things in disarray.  The view was obscured by half erected tents and deliver trucks.  It would have been nice if we could have seen the track and the stadium etc.  The ironic part is that I do not generally notice these things, as I am focused on my race and not passing out, but I made a conscious decision to be alert and aware so that I did not miss any of the sights and the atmosphere.  It appears there was not a lot to miss in this one.  It was neat running into the stadium, but otherwise it was just more pavement.

Race Entertainment:

There were several bands at different points in the race and a few DJs playing music, but the best part of the "entertainment" for me was the fan support.  There were people everywhere and they were all clapping and cheering and ringing cowbells, etc.  I actually found it uplifting for the first time.  They were an encouragement to me.  There were fans and cheering along the entire course except in Churchill Downs itself.  

Finish:

The finish was nice with a large fan base.  There was water and chocolate milk and Powerade and mini muffins and bananas, and a couple of other things that I don't remember because I could not carry them, so I dismissed them.  People were taking the racers pictures at every turn.  The finishers area finished in a field where there was a festival the day before and one could only presume the after party was held there as well.  I walked back to the room.  I had to walk the loooong way around as my place was right at the turn to the finish, so I could not cross the runners path to get back.

Bling:

Misc:

 My math skills were a little better this time.  My awareness was a little better this time.  I felt more aware of my surroundings as well as where I was from a time perspective.  I don't know if that means I was in better shape or my nutrition was better or what made the difference.  I did get another PR, and that ALWAYS makes me happy.    The course was pretty flat and an overall net downhill

Next race May 19 in Alton New Hampshire.  Valerie will be running with me on this one.  Should be fun.

I forgot to relay one thing about this race.  I upped my milage the week before the race and my calf was not happy about it.  Both calves were tight and one was a bit uncomfortable.  So, I was super easy with my running the last few days before.  My times were slow and my distance was short.  Before the race my calf was very tight, and for the first several miles I could feel it, and was nervous that it might affect me as I continued.  Each time I felt it, I prayed that God prevent me from injuring myself, even if that meant for me to drop out or slow up considerably.  I was worried that I would get injured and take multiple weeks to recover.  After 5 or 6 prayers in the same vein, I totally forgot about my calf and never felt it again.  God is good!  Amen.