Kentucky Derby Mini (Half) Marathon Race Report

Goal: 1:29:59

I heard that 18000 runners signed up for this race (full and half marathon together), so I was worried that it would be impossible to park in any reasonable distance from the start line. I got up very early (4:30), and I left home at around 5:25 for the 7:30 start. I found a parking spot (the lot was empty) less than a mile from the start line, and I relaxed in the car until about 6:20. Then I walked to the start area, found a port-a-potty (really needed it this time, but there were no lines!), and then I found my corral. I was starting in corral B, right behind the seeded runners. I was actually running more like the seeded runners' pace, but this was my debut half-marathon, so I had no chance to get seeded.

The weather was ideal: 53 degrees and cloudy, but no rain. I warmed up in the corral for 15 minutes, mostly just by jogging in place and in small circles, because there was no space to do anything else. But it was OK. Corral adherence was great: I only saw one or two people who didn't belong there.

I finished the warmup at 7:15, and for the remaining 15 minutes, we heard the national anthem, we watched the wheelchair racers to start, and at 7:30 to the second, the race started. I went out at a pace that was about the same as the runners' around me, which proved to be a little faster than intended. But I felt relaxed, so I didn't worry about it.

Mile 1: 6:43

Pretty much the same was true for the next two miles. We were running through some working class neighborhoods of Louisville, but the residents were very supportive, cheering us on.

Mile 2: 6:42

Mile 3: 6:50

I was still pacing off of people around me, i.e. I fought the urge to start passing people. We turned east on Broadway into some substantial headwind, and I found myself in no man's land fighting the wind myself. I decided to accelerate to pull myself close to a big guy to help me draft.

Mile 4: 6:47

Due to my acceleration I now was running among 6:45/mile runners, but I had no problem keeping the pace. I was slightly worried that I would die at the end, especially because I was planning 6:50-6:52 pace, but I'm a gambler.

Mile 5: 6:45

We were running through the beautiful Old Louisville with the Victorian houses. The spectators were amazing. An aid station offered oranges, but I skipped it.

Mile 6: 6:45

I caught up to a guy, who seemed to follow a tactic of sprinting 100 meters, then getting winded and slowing down, then recovering and repeating the pattern. I'm not kidding: he was doing this until at least mile 8.5, when I finally left him behind for good.

I started to feel thirsty, and that worried me. I skipped the very first aid station, and they only gave very little water in small plastic cups in the later ones, so I didn't take in enough. My worst bonks happened due to dehydration, so I was worried that I could ruin this race despite starting so promising.

Mile 7: 6:40

There was an aid station right after the mile marker, and I took two cups of water just in time. After this I took two cups in the next two aid stations (skipping the last one at mile 12), so hydration was fine.

Before the race I debated if I should bring my Garmin to the race, and finally I decided I would do so. But I also had a detailed pace chart (my wife was so nice that she laminated it for me), which proved to be very useful later in the race, when the Garmin's error grew large enough, so that the mile markers didn't line up with the Garmin any more.

Mile 8: 6:47

After the mile marker followed one of the most prominent features of this course: we entered Churchill Downs, one of the most famous horse race courses of the world, which will be the venue of the Kentucky Derby a week from now. We didn't run on the track, of course, but on the service road inside the track. We crossed two tunnels to go under the track. Even though this is a trademark of this course, I didn't like it that much. The tunnels feel claustrophobic, too many turns, and my Garmin lost signal in the tunnels, so it's data was very inaccurate after this.

Mile 9: 6:42

OK, 4.1 miles left, I was still fine, my breathing was still 2-2 pattern. Maybe it's time to accelerate. I changed to 2-1 breathing, accelerated, and started to pick out people in front of me. Maybe it was the liberation from restrains, but I started to feel better, even though I was running faster.

Mile 10: 6:34

There was one mishap here: I forgot that the Garmin would only display the minutes of the total time beyond 1 hour (at least in the display mode I was using), so I wasn't sure any more how much ahead of pace I was. But it did display average pace, and I knew I was running fast, so I knew that barring disaster, sub-1:30 is in the bag. So I just concentrated on the remaining distance and I tried to gauge my effort for that. I was fast and passing runners all the time. For a while I was running behind a tall guy, who did the same, but eventually I passed him, too.

Mile 11: 6:33

Straight road, close to finish, running fast, passing people. No pain, euphoria.

Mile 12: 6:27

We were back downtown, took our last turn before the finish line. The course had a slight incline here, and I started to doubt my strategy and that maybe I accelerated too early. But it's OK. Remember, if you don't struggle, you didn't run hard enough. I passed a few more people.

Mile 13: 6:33

Finish line, downhill, usual euphoria, out of body experience. I saw the finish clock showing 1:27:xx. Dropped the hammer and shot down to the finish line in 30 seconds (4:28/mile pace).

Total time: 1:27:11 (chip time; clock time was 12 seconds slower).

Overall 122th place (out of 12108), 103th male, 14th in my age group. No awards of course.

It makes me wonder that I could have run faster if I started out faster, because I ran the last 5 kms in 20:02 (according to Garmin), which is a pretty good 5K time by itself, and down right amazing after a 10 mile warmup at race pace. But it's not that clear: the first few miles felt relaxed, but not too easy. I think that I probably could have saved a minute, tops.

The past race party was fun. I met up with friends, had some snacks and a beer. It's funny that running makes everything so much better: I liked the taste of Michelob Ultra.

With this performance I can get seeded next year. However temping it would be now to start to work on my marathon goals (I think I could BQ after a cycle), it is even more tempting to run this race next year. The organization was perfect. Seriously, I had to think hard to find just one thing that wasn't perfect. (And I did: the plastic cups. Paper cups are so much easier to drink from while running.) The last 5K suggests I'm not at the limit of my abilities. I could drop a few more pounds, devote another year for half marathon performance, and I could probably go sub-1:25 or better.

For now, I will take a bit of a break. I haven't decided what it will mean, but probably a month of very little running. Though it's tempting to eradicate those very soft 10K and somewhat soft 5K PRs of mine.

I'm ready for the race tomorrow. I got my third Hep B shot today; I hope it won't affect race performance. I was fine after the first two, so I took the gamble.

We are planning a visit to the Corvette factory next Wednesday with my father-in-law, so I'll replan the rest of the training to make that day a rest day. So tomorrow's rest day is postponed for Saturday, but that'll be fine, because I ran 5.6 miles today at 7:53, and not only I felt fine, but in fact I feel great.

Fri: 12 miles at around 8:00. Don't push it! It can't feel hard.
Sat: rest.

Week of 4/22 (37 miles):
Sun: 9 miles easy.
Mon: 3.5 miles easy.
Tue: 7 miles easy.
Wed: rest.
Thu: 3.5 miles very easy.
Fri: rest.
Sat: Race.

Last hard workout went perfectly today. In slightly warm conditions (72 F) I ran 3 x 2000 meters in 7:55, 7:51, 7:51. Felt fine, too. I probably could have done one more. I chatted with a middle school running coach, who leaded a training there afterwards. Fun day.

Heavy legs on the 5.5 mile recovery run today. It was also 81 F. Still I averaged well under 8 minutes per mile. I've definitely gotten faster. It is very tempting to find a 5K just like the week after the HM and try to piggy back a sub-19 5K on the HM training, LOL. Especially because 5Ks are so hard, and the training sucks, so I don't feel like doing another 5K cycle.

Ali Shuffle 10K race report

Goal: 40:00

My in-laws are staying in our house for a few weeks now, and late night my wife wanted to practice singing, because she has a performance today, so I had no place to sleep until like 1:00am last night. I tried to catch some sleep on the living room sofa while my mom-in-law was watching TV, but it was terrible quality. No wonder I was quite tired in the morning when I got up at 6:15.

I also had some weird stomach issues in the morning, so after an extended bathroom break, I left home a bit late. I arrived to start area at 7:35, and the race was scheduled to start at 8:00. I jogged a bit more than a mile to warm up. I felt I might need to go the bathroom again, but the lines at the two port-a-potties discouraged me. So I lined up at the front and hoped for the best.

This was an extremely low key event with less than 100 runners. Still, the idea was beautiful: start a race in the working class neighborhoods of Louisville, where Ali grew up, and finish it among the skyscrapers in downtown (at the Muhammad Ali Center). "Connecting communities one step at a time" was the motto of the race. It is also an unusual (and great) thing to see that about half of the runners were black. And the mayor of Louisville started the race!

It was supposed to start at 8:00 sharp, but apparently there was a car wreck on the course, so they delayed the start "by a few minutes". At 8:22 finally we started. The weather was great, low 60s, cloudy, no wind. The first 4 miles were almost completely flat, with a very gradual elevation of ~10 feet.

A couple of young guys shot out at the start, and then they slowed dramatically after like a 1/2 mile. I smiled when I passed them, but at least two of them still maintained a fairly good pace during the race: I saw them close to the end (the last part of the race was out-and-back), so I think they have potential, if they learn how to race. :) After I passed the younguns, there were only two guys in front of me: a 20ish guy in a black T-shirt and a 50ish in the lead, who told me before the race that he aimed for 6:05/mile. I knew I had no chance to ever catch the older guy, because he looked like a very experienced racer, so I knew he wouldn't make any rookie mistakes, but I decided to keep the young one in sight. Even though this meant I had to be a little faster than planned (about 6:15 pace), I realized this was do-or-die moment, because I have never been on the podium in any road race. The pace felt hard, but manageable.

Mile 1: 6:17

After the mile marker I was just fixated on the black T-shirt. He increased the distance, and I let him pull away, because when the adrenaline was mostly gone in mile 2, I knew the pace was too fast. I confirmed at a water stop that I was in 3rd place. I looked back in a long staightaway, and nobody behind me was in sight. So I dialed back to a more manageable pace.

Mile 2: 6:30

Not much I can remember from the next mile. It was completely straight, flat, leading to downtown. I managed my pace (not too fast), but I still saw the black T-shirt maybe like 200 yards ahead. He didn't seem to increase the distance any more.

Mile 3: 6:28

We were still running on this long, straight street, approaching the skyscrapers. The black T-shirt guy glanced back a couple of times. I started to see some subtle change in his stride. "He may be getting tired" I thought. "Maybe I should intimidate him just a bit." I started a push a bit harder. I was also quite tired, so I had to be careful, but a second place is just so much better than a third place, right? It was weird that in all my races so far, I was basically just concerned about my time, and now I found myself in a racing situation.

Mile 4: 6:24

I was closing on the black T-shirt. The next mile was all downhill, and the middle quarter was steep down (we would have to climb back up at the end). We passed the finish line, and the out-and-back portion started. Like a bloodhound in a hunt, I saw nothing but the black shirt. I'm a pretty good downhill runner, so I was closing in fast. By the end of the mile he was maybe 50 yards ahead. He kept looking back, and I think he was a bit demoralized. We chatted after the race, and he told me he didn't have a GPS watch, and he thought (hoped!) that the turnaround point is just around the corner.

Mile 5: 5:51

I remembered Pfitzinger's racing advice here. When you pass another runner for a position, you should surge, and don't slow until the other guy is considerably behind. Don't look back, because that shows weakness. So I did just that. I pulled my last reserves together, and passed him. He uttered "Good job!" when I went by. I only looked back after about 1/4 mile, and he was way behind. Still I expanded so much energy, that I was seriously tempted to stop right there. I also didn't help that we started to climb back up in this mile. But my extra effort is obvious from my split:

Mile 6: 6:17 (net uphill!)

The last portion was the steep uphill to the finish line, but once I see the finish line, it doesn't matter to me any more. No pain, just euphoria. I pushed as fast as I could, and I clinched my second place in the finish. The last portion was measured only 0.13 mile on the Garmin.

Last 0.13: 0:41 or so (waiting for the official results)

In the finish, I almost passed out, and very kind young guy asked me if I was alright. I couldn't answer for a good few seconds, I just nodded. After I caught my breath (by which time the black T-shirt also finished at 3rd place), we all high-fived with the podium finishers. I got some Gatorade, and then I hung around the finish area. It was pretty cool that people came to me congratulating, and a volunteer asked me about running, like I knew this stuff, LOL.

The course was not certified, and it was probably short, so I can't really claim this as a PR, but if I trust my Garmin (which I really shouldn't, because a portion we ran under the interstate, and the readings were hectic), I would have run about 39 minutes. In any case, almost certainly under 40. Looking at the early Garmin paces and the considering the final push, 39 minutes sounds plausible. I haven't decided how I will claim this yet.

The organizers really messed up the awards and the post-race activities. Have you ever been to a race where they forget to recognize the 2nd place runner? Because that's what happened. They went only by age groups, announcing only age group winners (and mentioning they overall place), and apparently I was in the age group 35-64, where I got 2nd place, with the 50ish guy beating me. But they didn't read the age group age limits correctly, so it looked like they skipped my age group, and when I asked them after the ceremony, they just basically gave me a medal and congratulated... weird. I think what really happened is that they were so inexperienced, they simply forgot that women are in different age group (I heard this as a rumor), and when they tried to rectify it, it was chaos.

Then I tried to board the shuttle that took back runners to the start line, but it just filled up in front of me, and I wasn't going to wait for another bus. I just jogged back to the start line (4.5 miles) for my car.

Last two weeks:

Week of 4/15 (46 miles):

Sun: 5.5 miles easy.
Mon: 9 miles at 8:00 or faster.
Tue: 5.5 miles easy.
Wed: 3200 m warmup; 3 x 2000 m at less than 8 minutes each, with 800 m recovery; 2800 m cooldown. Total of about 8.5 miles. This is the last hard workout. Nothing should feel hard after this.
Thu: 5.5 miles easy.
Fri: rest.
Sat: 12 miles at around 8:00. Don't push it! It can't feel hard.

Week of 4/22 (37 miles):
Sun: 3.5 miles easy.
Mon: 9 miles easy.
Tue: rest.
Wed: 7 miles easy.
Thu: 3.5 miles very easy.
Fri: rest.
Sat: Race.

Tuesday, 60 F sunny, Brooks.

14 miles long run today and for some reason I didn't feel great. I struggled a bit to keep the run under 8 min/mile. Probably yesterdays run was too hard (because of the terrain), or the fact that this was my 8th day without a rest day (+travel). Either way I'm glad it's over.

I just came back from mini road trip in the weekend from Asheville, NC. Still, managed to run every day. I did 6 miles in the Amboy greenway on Saturday in pitch dark - I was barely able to make out the (paved) trail, but I still managed sub-8 min paces. On the other hand, I did one of the the most beautiful runs of mine on Sunday in the Smokies: I ran 5 miles on Big Creek Trail that was leading to beautiful waterfalls.

I finished the week with 54 miles, if I count Sunday to next week (otherwise it was actually 59). My plan was 54, and I do mean to shift my week starting on Sundays, because my races are on Saturdays, and training works better this way.

Today it was 85 degrees, but I still managed 4 x 1600 meters at or close to VO2 max on the high school track. The sun was out, shining at full power, and the heat over the black surface of the track was brutal. I kept pouring water on my head during my 800 meter recoveries, and I took them really easy. I managed 6:22.82, 6:20.65, 6:26.55, 6:21.88. Average of ~6:23. Which is pretty good, because goal was 6:24.

Weekly mileage table for the rest of training.

04/02: Week 3, 54 miles.
04/09: Week 2, 50 miles.
04/16: Week 1, 46 miles.
04/23: Race week, 37 miles.

Week of 04/02:
-------------

My week is really messed up, because of the travel and all.

Mon: 11 miles at no slower than 8:00.

Tue: 4 x 1600 meters at 1 sec/lap slower than 8K-10K goal pace. McMillan gives me new goal paces for the 8K-10K as 3:57-3:59/km respectively. That is 94.8-95.6 sec/lap. So with the extra 1 sec, it should be ~96 sec/lap (how familiar, huh? the famous 4 min/km I needed for the 20 minute 5K).
Summary: 2.25 miles warmup and cooldown, 4 x 1600 m at 6:24 (1:36/lap) with 800 m recoveries: 10 miles. I hate to do this on a teaching day, but this is what happens when real life messes up the week.

Wed: 5.67 miles easy (7:39-8:09. Easy run is mandatory, Paul's visit).

Thu: 16 miles at no slower than 8:00 (on a teaching day - ugh).

Fri: 5.67 miles easy (travel day).

Sat: 5.67 miles easy (travel day).

Week of 04/09 (04/08):
---------------------

Sun: I'll try to start the week on Sunday, 04/08. This is so that Saturdays, the race days are the end of the week. It will give me more rest before the races. 4.67 miles easy.

Mon: 14 miles at no slower than 8:00.

Tue: 4.67 miles easy.

Wed: 10 miles at no slower than 8:00.

Thu: 4.67 miles easy.

Fri: Rest.

Sat: Ali Shuffle 10K and back to start. Total of 12 miles.

Sun: Start next week with an easy run.