Bourbon Derby Half Marathon

Since I hadn't completed any long runs since the KDF HM in late-April, I was concerned about the Bourbon Derby. Lack of long-distance training coupled with June weather made for a race that, during the hour long drive to Paris, KY, I was not looking forward to. Jim and I had to wake at 4:45 to leave the house by 5:15 to make it to the race location, pick up our packets, prepare for the start, and head off for our second HM of the year. It was a brisk fifty degrees and low-to-no-humidity morning which, as anyone from Kentucky knows, is a rarity for mid-June. The race was set to begin at 7:30, which made the prospect of a hot race even less likely. The air-horn went off right on time and the HM participants (from what I hear there were only about 250 of us) took off. I hadn't looked much into this race prior to, or after signing up, so I wasn't sure what to expect as far as the shape of the course and the elevation. Jim had told me that there seemed to be some rolling hills but that it didn't look too bad. Well.... rolling hills was an understatement since it was hardly anything but ascents and descents throughout the entire race. I had decided ahead of time that I was going to go with my run a mile, walk one minute routine that had worked so well for me during KDF, which actually ended up being not too difficult to do even despite the hills. Up until earlier this year I had tended to walk up hills - deeming them too intimidating and taking up too much energy to put forth the effort, but since I have been working on endurance, stamina, and intervals at Orange Theory Fitness (OTF) for the past month, the hills actually weren't that bad. My heart rate and breathing seemed to stay pretty normal throughout, and for the first 7-9 miles the only thing that was really bothering me were my sore hamstrings, but that was due to the M-W-F workouts at OTF. It wasn't until mile 7 or so that I started to break away from the one mile run, one minute walk routine, as it began to get a little warmer and the hills were starting to get to me. I had broken away from Jim between miles 5-6 as he was uber-tired from a Tough Mudder the weekend before as well as his own OTF workouts that week. As I made my way to the turn around at mile 8.5, I came back down towards the finish and passed Jim yelling out to him, "One hour and thirty minutes at 8.65 (miles)." I hadn't really been keeping track of what my mileage and time meant in terms of possibly having a PR since I was sure I would not considering the hilly course and lack of training. As I did the math, however, I figured that I could at least get in one of my top four HM finishes - as long as I came in under 2:27. I was okay with that. When I hit mile 10 I started to feel the fatigue coming on and by mile 11 my feet started to feel the effects of the pounded pavement. When I got to mile 11 I checked the Garmin and noticed that I had only clocked about 10.5 miles and was a bit concerned that my mileage was so far off from what the road markers were telling me. I thought maybe it was a fluke as I've been one or two tenths of a mile off during races before, but never by a whole half-mile. As I made my way to mile 12 I checked again and, sure enough, I was still a half mile short per the Garmin. At this point a few things crossed my mind: one being that I could quite possibly finish the race in less than 13.1 miles which would mean less time on the course which would feel fabulous at this point. The second is that the mileage would be made up closer to the end of the race and I would have to mentally prepare that I really did have the mileage on the Garmin left to run rather than the mileage per the markers on the side of the road. Third was that I could also have a PR on my hands, which was very quickly followed by the realization that if that were the case I would not be able to (ethically anyway), count it as a PR given that the course was .5 miles short. As I crest that last hill I could hear the cheers at the finish line and see where the runners took their last right hand turn to make their way down the chute. A few yards from that chute, I hauled ass and sprinted faster than I have ever ran in my life to get across that finish line as quickly as I could, making my official finishing time a swift 2:20:18. I grabbed myself a cold electrolyte drink and looked back towards the finish line to see if I could spot Jim. I walked back down towards the last turn and saw that he had just crested that last hill and was making his way towards the finish. I ran alongside of him around the corner and down the chute once more, breaking away just prior to the finish line - not wanting to possibly throw off my own finishing time by crossing twice. At some point I checked the Garmin after finishing and noted my mileage at 12.64 miles. I even checked with a few other runners who also wore Garmin's to see if theirs came up short and, sure enough, they did. All in all, it would have been nice to have another PR this year - especially for the same distance as my last PR a month and a half ago, and I guess technically if anyone were to look up my time on the KDF and the Bourbon Derby then THIS race would be considered my PR. But because I know in my heart and in my mind that I didn't complete the full distance (through no fault of my own) I cannot claim it. I figure that considering my splits for the course I would have come in at approximately 2:26:30, which would have made for my fourth best time I believe (out of 22 half marathons) and I still feel pretty good about that. Hills and heat have never been my friend - or any runner's for that matter - but my workouts at OTF have completely changed at least the hill part for me, and I can tell that I'm getting stronger, more confident, and able to conquer my nemesis like I never have before. Up next: More OTF and the Waterfront Challenge 5k obstacle race next week. I can't wait!