Kentucky Derby Half Marathon

Completed number four in my 12 for 2012 this past weekend in Kentucky! I was excited to see the city and had no expectations for the race, especially since I had just ran a half the weekend before!

After Chelsea finished her last exam, we headed out to Cincinnati to pick up Jill and her daughter. After a four hour drive to Cincinnati, we only had two hours until Kentucky!

Our first stop once arriving was to hit the expo. We always feel better once we've collected our bib and packet for race day. Now its time to eat, since the city seems so busy, we thought it best to head towards our hotel and find a restaurant nearby. Using my Urbanspoon app, we located several restaurants. Unfortunately we learned that you needed reservations...

We found restaurants, drove to them or called, only to find they too were busy or needed reservations. By this point we are all starved and cranky and trying to figure out just where we were going to find a pasta meal that would fill us up for race day?  Finally Blu Restaurant could squeeze us in, but we had to get there quickly. After driving in circles, we end up right back in the city where we had left some time earlier...

Finally, with a pasta meal in us, we were ready to get to our hotel for some much needed prep time and rest time.

This was the most unprepared I have ever been for a race! Thinking dinner wouldn't be an issue, not finding the start line the day before the race and having no idea where we were going to park were just a few of the things I never want overlook again...

Once we arrived at the start I still had the nervous feeling in my stomach like I usually do before a race. It was colder, but seeing the sun coming out convinced me to leave my coat at baggage check, and try and stay warm until the race began.

The race itself... amazing!  I felt the best I ever have running, as each mile approached I thought "wow how did I get this far already?" Even having some left at the end to be able to sprint to the finish.  Although it made me question did I keep too much in reserve during the race.  After all I finished with an official time of 2:11:33 still shy from beating my PR of 2:11:25 yet coming in a few seconds sooner than my race from the weekend before of 2:11:38

Running through Churchhill downs was amazing, probably my favorite part of the run!  There were many bands and drumlines that made the route entertaining as well. And I ran this entire race without my headphones. It was a nice change, to listen to those around me breathing, talking and sharing stories with others!

As always two of my race day requirements aided in my successful run... My ifitness belt and my Chica band! Finally, in the fourth month I am done with my 4th half marathon.... time to get back to the list and plan for what is next!