Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon Race Report

Goal: 3:20. Secondary goal: beat my time from the fall (3:26:11)

About the secondary goal: it is kind of funny that I remembered that my fall marathon was 3:24:xx, when in fact it was 3:26:xx. So during the race, I felt my secondary goal was to break 3:24.

The race start was 7:00. Brutal for a night owl like me. I couldn't sleep until 1:30am, and my alarm was set for 4:00. So I got about 2.5 hours of sleep. Not great, but probably doesn't matter that much.

I did my usual morning routine: plenty of food, bathroom, drive to the race, park in the soccer filed parking lot, about a 1/2 mile from the start line. A nice morning walk in the dark. The temperature was about 55 degrees and falling. Theoretically ideal, but it was a bit humid. Indeed, my clothes were soaked after the first few miles.

I came prepared. I had a throwaway sweater and 3 small bottles of water. Good thing. The port-a-potty I chose before the start somehow didn't have toilet paper in it, so I used one of the three bottles to clean myself.

I met up with the group for a picture, proudly sporting my new the Korfedge singlet. I met my pacers (3:20) in the corral. Good guys. They did try to get me over the finish line on time. It's not their fault I didn't succeed.

I felt funny through the taper. The night before the race my whole body was hurting. I had stomach issues, a mild cold, felt sluggish and all. Mike Korfhage ensured me this was normal, but my race day was not great. Thinking about this, I realized that I *never* had a strong spring marathon. Winter training is hard, and I always have maximum stress and workload in the weeks before the marathon at work.

I met one of my heroes, Rick Torres in the start corrals. He was running the half. Look him up. A real inspiration.

After the anthem and all the other things in the starting ceremony, we were off at 7:00. It took us about 30 seconds to get to the start line, and I started my watch right when I crossed it.

The first five miles were uneventful, but a bit weird. We went through downtown, all the way out to 18th street (some of the less wealthy neighborhoods), lots of turns, and my slight struggle to keep at pace, because I want to go faster or slower, just not at this pace. Spectators were great. It was cool, but very humid, and I was heavily sweating.

The first time I saw my cheer squad was in Mile 5. Thanks folks! You are awesome!

Mile 1: 7:41

Mile 2: 7:27

Mile 3: 7:23

Mile 4: 7:47

Mile 5: 7:34

I started to feel better. Finally, my old body got into pace, the joints got lubricated, breathing got easier, and I wanted to run faster. We approached Central Park, where I expected that one of my friends and his children would cheer for me, so I didn't mind to pull ahead of my pace group. Just 50 yards. Enough that I could still hear them having conversations. The good thing is that this pace for the official pacers is very easy, so they can have conversations the whole time.

My friend wasn't out there (no worries, Evan), I circled the park, and I realized I enjoyed being in front of the group. It was actually less effort, because I didn't have to slow and accelerate the whole time. This is one lesson from this race. Don't run with the pace group at the beginning. Join them later in the race, or never. The pace group has the same issue as treadmill running. You must maintain the same pace exactly, even if you don't want it.

I kept ahead of the group the next few miles.

Mile 6: 7:35

Mile 7: 7:27

We took a right on Central Avenue to the famous Churchill Downs. We entered the building, underpass, path outside the track, another underpass, out. This adds difficulty to the course: elevation that Strava doesn't even count, many turns, etc, but it's still nice. It is a hallmark of Louisville, and horses were practicing on the track already at 8 in the morning.  

Mile 8: 7:34

Mile 9: 7:32

My boss at BGHD (motorcycle training) has her house on the course, so she came out to cheer for me. Thanks Carol, it meant a lot!

Mile 10: 7:36

Mile 11: 7:20

After Mile 10, I told my pacers that this 3:20 is not happening today. I didn't feel terrible, but I also didn't feel super fresh. I have enough experience to know what this means. If I want to finish this race without walking, I have to slow down. I told them not to worry about me, and leave me behind in the park, when the hills start.

We hit Iroquois Park and the hills. My legs and lungs told me this isn't the day. I slowed. I changed my goal from 3:20 to 4 hours. Literally. I just decided "I need to finish". OK, maybe 3:30. But honestly, with my experience, I thought: "If this won't be my slowest marathon, that's a partial success."

Many runners passed me. I told them to go on "it's not my day to shine". They were all super nice.

This is the hilly part of the course. There are 3 hills, peaking at 12, 13, and 14 miles, plus a little bonus incline, which is as steep as the other, peaking at 15. I took it easy on the uphills to survive the park.

Mile 12: 8:06

Mile 13: 8:06

Mile 14: 8:07

Mile 15: 7:53

Exiting the park, once the hills were done, I felt a bit better. We also had better organized aid stations, so I was able to drink Powerade at almost every one. Since I always run without gels, I need the sugar and salt in those drinks. Straight course, more cheering from my friends, so things were temporarily marginally better.

Mile 16: 7:29

Mile 17: 7:47

Mile 18: 7:38

I kept counting how fast I needed to run to get the race under 3:30. Things started to look better. In fact, I noticed that I could still see my pace group in the distance. I knew I couldn't catch them, but the 3:30 chance was good. I also knew that every mile I run at or under 8 minutes will get me closer to that goal.

Still, it wasn't easy. My body started to fight back. To keep a reasonable pace and good amount of strength one needs for the last 6 miles, I slowed a bit more.

We rejoined the half-marathon walkers, but this year the organizers did a good job of keeping them on the left side of the street, while we were running on the right side.

Mile 19: 7:56

Mile 20: 7:58

Mile 21: 8:08

We got back downtown. It was maybe just a bit easier with the crowds, and the changing scenery. We ran by the finish line to do an out-and-back part of the course.

Mile 22: 7:47

Mile 23: 7:57

This part got difficult. Running out of River Road, desperately waiting for the turnaround, which felt like it would never come! Fast people coming back. My former pace group (I gave them a big cheer), and many KorfEdge runners. Finally, the turnaround. Now I just have to crawl back to town.

I knew I had the 3:30 in the bag, and the 3:24 was hopeless, so I just ran, still pushing, taking the race one mile at a time. By my body was really done.

Mile 24: 8:21

Mile 25: 8:28

Mile 26: 8:26

Of course with lots of waving and not being able to run the tangents, I knew I would get some extra mileage, and from the mile markers I knew I had 0.35 left. But back in Main Street, with my friends cheering, I summed some crazy energy, running the last ~600 meters at 6:46/pace.

Official time: 3:25:26, 149th overall, 16th in age group.

So I guess I did get my secondary goal, even though during the race I thought I didn't. Still, considering the easier course and the better weather, this is no better (in fact, probably slightly worse) than my fall marathon.

Back to the drawing board. I need more miles for sure. The only time I could successfully race these longer races was when I ran 70 miles at my peak weeks. So I'll figure out how to ramp up my mileage for that. Other than that, good sleep, strength exercises, healthy eating should be more of a priority. I need a 3:15 in the fall!