KDF Mini Marathon Recap

I haven’t talked a lot about it, but I trained for and ran the Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon two weeks ago. I knew training would be tough with work, class, and the winter weather but I decided to go for it. It was so difficult to set goals for this race. At first I was disappointed because I knew I would be nowhere close to the times I was running two years ago. It took a few pep talks before I realized that it didn’t matter what my time was as long as I did the best I could given my current situation and time constraints.

As always – it was great to be back in Louisville with the old running crew and be a part of all the usual race traditions.  We kicked off the weekend with some carbo loading at Rockey’s followed by a trip to the Expo. I usually try to avoid most of the vendor booths, but they made you walk all the way through. Your timing chip could only be activated by walking through the “exit” expo doors. Bummer. I did sign the “I Run Because” banner. It was pretty cool to read all of the reasons people were running before adding my own.

On race morning, I tried to eat before I left the house, but my stomach was not having it. I did manage to scarf down a banana while were driving to the course. I was MUCH more relaxed and excited once we got our warm up out of the way.

As usual I took the first mile out way to fast (8:57) but I settled into a grove after that. I was planning for a 10:15 pace but I was feeling really good so I decided to pick it up a bit. Just as I was starting to feel tired, I reached my favorite part of the course. My #1 fans(s) were waiting for me just before the 8 mile mark. My mom, dad, and Justin gave me the boost of energy I needed before heading into Churchill Downs (which is one of my favorite parts of this course!).

I held a 9:30 pace all the way through mile 9.5 and then I hit a wall….maybe not a wall…but definitely a very tall fence. The next 2.5 miles were rough! Of course I was looking my worst for the cameraman at mile 11…why couldn’t he have been at mile 5 when I was still feeling/looking great?! Right after the 12 mile mark (as I was giving myself a DO NOT QUIT pep talk), I passed my #1 Fan(s) again. I guess that was all it took because I got a burst of energy (which I NEVER have at the finish) and finished the race at a 9:30 pace.

My goal in life is to get a great finish photo. I was actually pretty happy with these J I’m not gonna lie – that smile lasted about 10 seconds. It was a rough couple hours after the race. I got back to my parents’ house and slept on the floor of their sunroom for almost 3 hours before feeling human again. I was super pumped with my finish time: 2:08:02. 

I actually had some pretty decent finish photos...which never happens! I might actually order one of these. My finish time was way faster than expected and gave me the motivation to sign up for a fall half. Now I just have to decide which one!

Here are my splits if you’re interested:

Mile 1: 8:57     Mile 4: 9:37     Mile 7: 9:29     Mile 10: 9:49      Mile 13: 9:38

Mile 2: 9:33     Mile 5: 9:39     Mile 8: 9:31     Mile 11: 10:07    Last 0.3: 3.22

Mile 3: 9:30     Mile 6: 9:34     Mile 9: 8:44     Mile 12: 10:31

My Garmin clocked mile 9 short and the last bit of the race as 0.3 instead of 0.1. I'm running with it (pun intended :)

Have you ever run the KDF half? Or full?

What is your favorite fall half marathon?

Mom Came to Visit!

Did I ever tell you guys that my mom is a teacher? She teaches junior high. In my head, I think about smelly boys and girls who are super dramatic….that’s probably why I don’t teach junior high. Anyway…the benefit of being a teacher is that you really do get a Spring Break every year! My mom’s school got two weeks this year (kids these days have it so easy). She spent the first week in Florida with my bother and his family and came to visit me the second week.

I had to work on Friday (what a drag) but I came home to a delicious dinner and a clean kitchen (that made me want to kidnap my mom and force her to stay forever!). We spent the weekend doing what we do best: shopping, eating, and watching movies. I was introduced to this salad which I have eaten every day since April 4^th.

We watched Frozen on Friday night – my mom hadn’t seen it yet. This is my favorite seen. I want an Olaf.

We pretty much spent the entire day Saturday out shopping. I was peer pressured into buying 4 pairs of shoes and a new purse among lots of other house decorations and random Target “must haves.” We then went to a shoe shoppers anonymous meeting. Just kidding! But seriously...I need an intervention.

On Saturday night, we ate a ridiculous amount of snack food and watched a double feature of Just Go With It and Water for Elephants. Just Go With It was funny. You can’t go wrong with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler. Both of us had read Water for Elephants, but never saw the movie. The movie was great but as usual, did not live up to the book.

Despite my kidnapping attempt, my mom did leave when the weekend ended. So sad! She had to get home though to host a “Meet Levi” party. My brother and his family made the trip up to Clarksville and Levi got the meet the entire Huber family. I didn’t make it home, but I did get to skype in after class. These generation pictures are my favorite.

Do you get a Spring Break? What’s your favorite “Spring Break” activity?

What’s the last movie you watched, either at the theater or at home?