Last Saturday, I ran the Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon with my BFF & Soror MsPattey. I was amazed at how good I felt throughout the entire race and even afterwards. The goal was to run the race in HR Zone 3 (160 or less for me) and I did that…avg 155 the entire race. As a result, I KNOW that I can give more, push harder.
If I wanted to. When I want to. I know I have it in me.
I wanted to work on a hydration/nutrition plan during this race, manage my heart rate, practice my form and try a few things that my coach told me about. I got to do all of that and even came to a screeching halt for almost 10 min when we entered Churchill Downs (which I had only seen on TV) to take pictures and video.
TOURIST!!!
As for my hydration/nutrition plan, I put the Hammer Electrolyte mix in my belt cups and carried 1 bag of those energy jelly beans and one Hammer Gel. I drank my mix at miles 4, 6, 8, & 10. I ate half of beans at mile 5, other half at 8, and the gel at mile 10. Like I said, I felt great. Not tired, no pain (I did take 600 of motrin 1 hour before the race)…and more importantly, NO TUMMY ISSUES! WOO HOO! BTW – Hammer Gel tastes a WHOLE lot better and easier to get down than that GU stuff – at least for me.
I had a little mishap at around mile 5-6. I decided to try this drafting thing (find a runner with a nice pace and get in behind them to catch your breath, block the wind etc). Well, I found someone and was putting in a nice clip. We entered under an overpass and it was very dark in there. I didn’t take my glasses off. Not smart. Little did I know that the road was littered with little hazards & holes which one of my toes found…and JUST LIKE THAT…I busted my azz. Since I know I am a klutz, I have perfected the tuck and roll. Still…I hit hard. So hard, in fact, that a couple of people stopped and insisted on walking with me a bit till I was absolutely sure I was okay.
System Check. Minor scrape on knee. I’m good. Get moving.
So, if I took out the time to recover from the fall & the tourist stop in Churchill Downs, I probably would have come in around 2:45 which would have been more like what I was going for, but this is what I finished at:
Not a stellar performance, but considering…I’m happy with it and know that I have gas in the tank to push through. I had a BLAST with MsPattey the whole weekend, I got a great piece of bling, some great cigars and yak…This is what great times are made of.
WINNING IN LIFE!
