My Two Cents

I won twenty cents! Yay! Today I went to Churchill Downs and over the course of 3 hours ended up...twenty cents ahead. Not bad for 3 hours of entertainment. For those of you who have never been to the track, lemme tell you how it's done. This was my first time; I had a blast. It's not about the horses, well at least for me it is not. If you OWN one of the horses, I am sure you care a lot who wins. If you are a big better, you care a lot who wins.

But since I am neither, it is just a fun way to pass a few hours. First of all, I only bet 2 dollars each race. I know, you can't win big unless you play big, but I am not about to waste a bunch of money (just in case!) I am happy when I win a couple bucks and am not too sad if I lose a couple.

You can pick win, place or show. Win is self explanitory. Place is 1st or 2nd and show is 1st, 2nd or 3rd. I was not brave enough to pick "win"; although the payoff is better the chances are slim. I picked "place" all four times; I lost the first two and won the second two, hence the 20 cent gain. But the fun I had in the few hours I was there was worth a lot more than twenty cents to me!

Running On Empty

I arrived in Louisville at 11:50 p.m.on Friday. My flight was late. It was supposed to arrive at 11:15, which was already bad enough. All I could think was, "I have to get up in...a little over 5 hours." As I walked to the entrance of the airport, took the cab and then finally got to the hotel, I couldn't stop thinking, "5 hours of sleep"..."4.5 hours of sleep"...."4 hours of sleep". I finally got to bed around 12:50.

On Saturday I woke up at 4:30.

I got ready, ate a powerbar, drank a liter of water and then walked to the Louisville Convention Center, where I picked up my bib, stretched, ate another power bar and then boarded the bus to Iroquois Park, where the race would start. It was 6:30. It was freezing (it is all relative of course; it was probably about 50 degrees).

The race finally began at 7:30. I had decided that, in lieu of a partner (Mira, I miss you!), I would join a pace group this time. By joining a pace group, you maintain a steady pace of...say..10 minutes per mile... the whole time. I had two choices. There was a 4:30 pace group (these are measured by "marathon" time - a 4:30 would be a 2:15 half *which is what I ran at the Mardi Gras Marathon*) and a 4:15 pace group (2:08 half). I had planned on being in the 4:20 pace group, therefore striving for a 2:10 half. However, in the absence of a 4:20, I decided to join the 4:15. That would put me below my goal by 2 mins + and get me that much closer to my ultimate goal of 2 hours flat.

The pace leader explained to us that if you needed to go to the restroom or if you were tired, you could slow down/stop and then catch up to the group later. He suggested taking at least a mile to catch back up to the group, as you don't want to tire yourself out right by trying to hard to catch back up.

I ran with the pace group for the first mile. Then, oh horror of horrors, I felt the need to pee. So I ran a little faster (and actually at a more comfortable pace) than the group, thinking that the next porta-potti I saw I would stop at and then it would give me a chance to catch back up to the group. Around mile 2, I finally saw a bathroom so I stopped. There were about 8 people in line. I weighed my options. GO. Stay. Go. Stay? I stayed. Until the two bathrooms that were there never emptied. There were 8 people in line. We waited. Finally I could wait no more. I ran again. Into the bushes.
I ran up hills and down hills; My legs were burning; My ankles were sore...and I was only on mile 4. It took me 5 more miles to catch back up to my pace group. By this time we were at Churchill Downs. From there to the next mile seemed to take hours..then all of a sudden I saw mile 11 up ahead! Only 2 more miles to go! I sped up and raced to the finish as fast as I could go (which, by now, was not very fast at all!)

I made it to the end at 2:04...only 4 minutes slower than my goal, but 11 minutes faster than my last half marathon!
If only I hadn't had to stop and pee...

And They are Off!!!

Next Up: Louisville, KY
What: Derby Mini-Marathon
When: Saturday, April 28, 2007

This half marathon marks the beginning of Derby season. The first Kentucky Derby will be on May 6th with many to follow after that. Before the weekend of the Derby, there are week long festivities, one of them being...the mini-marathon.

Part of the race, and the most exciting part for me, is run around the track at Churchill Downs!!

This time I only have four weeks to train, rather than twelve like last time...So I have kicked it up a notch, am running more and am trying to clock as many miles as possible in the next four (well, more like three from today) weeks. Which is hard because for the last month, I have been completely slacking.

So we shall see how it goes, shant we?