Disclaimer: I received an entry to GE Appliances Kentucky Derby Mini to review as part of being a part of The Vibe. Learn more about becoming a part of The Vibe: A BibRave Network, and check out BibRave.com to review, find and write race reviews!
It has been 5 days since I ran the race and I want to write this recap while details are still a bit fresh in my mind and my first thoughts have settled. While I don’t have the greatest memory because when you are in the zone, you don’t notice a lot of your surroundings. Especially when trying to high five all the little kids and hit all the “power up” signs, IYKYK.
Our hotel experience was not that great. We stayed at the host hotel and were not informed of any of the runner events happening like advertised and also did not get our late check out. We also could not ever get a hold of one of the hotel restaurants and when we went down to order in person, they all bumped into each other and glass drinks flew onto the ground right in front of my feet. Some items in our room were dirty, etc. That is here nor there, I have emailed and left my review and can move on from that. You couldn’t beat the location of the hotel.
The time difference threw me off a little bit the day before and then traveling. We didn’t eat until 2pm KY time and then our reservation was at 5:45pm. I was still stuffed from lunch, so we canceled. That’s why later on we tried to get some food from one of the hotel restaurants. I did end up with some delicious mac n cheese and really good fries of Zach’s.
Race morning I was woken up by someone else’s alarm going off. I didn’t want to be up too early because I hate sitting around in my nerves. It ended up working out. I just laid in bed scrolling. Got myself ready and headed out to the race about 30 minutes before the start.
My corral was “corral A seeded.” When I saw that I was confused, but I went with it. Saw Jenny Simpson warming up and thought that was pretty cool. Just hung out in the corral waiting for the start. Then I hear them say “alright elites, we will start in less than a minute.” I started backing up, like what the heck, I don’t belong here. It was too late at that point, we were all in like sardines ready to roll. I knew no matter how much I tried to control my first mile, that it would be fast due to my surroundings.
I utilized the RaceJoy app so that Zach could have more accurate tracking and send me any encouragement along the way. I liked that the race set up automatic cheers throughout the course. That was such a nice touch.
It was fun to pass the Louisville Slugger Bat and it reminded me of when I visited when I was little with my family. That’s about all the sites I can tell you besides Churchill Downs. The RaceJoy app let me know at each mile what my pace was for the mile, my pace for the full race, and my estimated finish time. As I continued to go away from the 1:45 that I dreamed of (truly a dream that I was not truly thinking was possible, but not out of reach,) I continued with the mindset of “I’m on a long run with a bunch of people.” This helped me.
I thought Churchill Downs was going to be a lot more spectacular than it ended up being. There were a lot of gates and just felt like we were running on a back path for employees. The slopes getting in and coming out were also a buzzkill and really were killing my legs and quads. I think it was around mile 6 or 7 we had a decent incline and then downhill that my quads did not love either. I was still just having a good time and seeing what I could do. I really challenged myself to not stop and broke a HUGE barrier for myself. I fueled with gels without stopping. This was major for my race anxiety and a huge breakthrough for me and my future training and racing. I already knew I had won before even finishing this race because my training was successful, I made it to the start line and I conquered a fear of mine. All I had to do was finish!
I started before the pace groups so I knew when the 1:50 pace group passed me at mile 10 that it was going to be a struggle to hit my goal I went into the race with. “Just a 5k left!” I had gotten really comfortable in my pace and it was going to take a lot of oomph to get out of it and try to hang on to them. I tried…then could not.
When I crossed the finish line seeing 1:50 on the clock, I was so thrilled. I sprinted as fast as I could in hopes to still finish with a 1:50 time and I did with an official 1:50:45. I don’t know if I was panicking or just so happy when I finished but my hands went up to my head and I was wheezing/trying not to cry. It’s like my body wanted to cry but wouldn’t. It was out of pure happiness, don’t get that part wrong. I literally was so happy that I did not even care that I wasn’t sub 1:50. My time was perfect and exactly what I went there to do! I honestly wasn’t even sure I would be faster than my 8:39 pace that I hit for my last 10 miler. That pace was not including stops, so I honestly wasn’t sure if it would happen for me.
All in all, I am so proud of myself and this race is my 3rd fastest half marathon I have ran in my life. Another big win for myself!!! So now the question is….do we think I am close enough to be able to knock down my lifetime PR of 1:45:43 in October? Only time will tell!