Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon Race Report

This was it, my "A" race for the first part of the year.  The hard training, the losing weight, the taper tensions all added up to this race, my goal to go under 1:18:00 for the 13.1 miles.

I rode my bike Friday and had a great time, didn't try too hard and felt great.  On Friday evening I headed down to Louisville, there's no race morning packet pick-up, so the day before race trip was necessary.  Instead of facing the drive home again and the 4am wake-up to drive back down to Louisville, I stayed at a hotel out of town near the Cyclocross track at Eva Bandman park.

Louisville looked pretty good in the spring evening sunset

I ate pasta with my family before leaving Columbus, later in the evening I had a baked egg

Protein & Carbs

from the Skratch Labs Feedzone Portables book as well as a U-Go bar, this "last supper" was washed down with some Hare Trigger beer and a large glass of Beetroot juice - not exactly an inspiring culinary experience but quality fuel for the task ahead of me.

Waking up at 6am was far better than the 4am alternative even if the price paid was not sleeping in my own bed and a hotel air conditioning unit which sounded like a small aircraft trying to take off in my room!

A short drive had me parked about a mile from the start location, it was a cool morning, but not cold.  I started a short warm up run, after about half a mile I picked up the pace to what felt like a comfortable race effort.  Looking at my GPS, I was at 5:45 min/mile - faster than my target pace, and my legs felt good.  Sometimes in these brief warm up efforts, you just get the feeling that it's going to be a good day - today was one of those days.

After 2.5 miles of warm up I arrived at the start.  I hadn't appreciated how big this race was going to be.  With the mini-marathon and full marathon combined, there were over 16,000 participants - that's a lot of people trying to use a porta-potty within 30 mins of the start!

I was seeded in coral A based on my projected finish time - this was great - only the second time in my life I've been brave enough to stand right at the front of a big race & watch as the elite athletes (who don't get a coral) finished their warm ups and lined up just ahead of us.  My Quaff ON! Racing team mate, Danny Fisher was running the full marathon and as a previous champion was seeded #6.  It was great to see a friendly face and shake hands before the start, even though I knew I wouldn't see him again until he finished his race!

There were two things I noticed about my peers in the race - this is a group of people who've all trained and are strong enough to run a half marathon at around 6 min/mile pace, so they're all experienced runners
First - within the first 5 miles, 2 people stopped to tie shoe laces, one of them ran past me again, then stopped again to tie the other shoe lace!
Second - the number of people not running the shortest course.  USATF certifies the course over the shortest distance, the roads are closed which means you run corner to corner.  I passed people running the left hand gutter like it was a training run expecting oncoming traffic.
So my takeaways from this, even for experienced runners is (1) always double tie your shoes, really, it takes no additional effort, just do it! (2) run the shortest course - turn off the training mentality and look for the line corner to corner.
Sounds basic, it is basic, but there are plenty of people running semi-elite times that aren't paying attention to these basics.

My race quickly settled into a rhythm with my pace at or just below my target of 5:58 min/mile.  It quickly got thinned out and by 10k there were really only 3 or 4 people around me. The course goes through the Churchhill Downs race course, as we dipped back under the tunnel to start the dead straight 4 miles to the finish, Paul Althoff, caught up with me and we exchanged a few panted words about our objectives - both wanting to break 78 mins - we came through 10 miles in 59:33, I knew it would be a close call to hit my goal time - we remained in sight of each other to the finish briefly exchanging positions as one started to fade, or the other felt strong it was good motivation to stay on pace and definitely helped me when the going got tough.  We were running into a head wind which at first was hardly noticeable but the closer we got to the down town, the taller the buildings got and channeled the wind directly at us.  The final mile of this was truly miserable, culminating in running under the long bridge of the conference center which was like a full-on wind tunnel.  I kept telling myself that once we turned out of the wind onto Main Street for the final 0.6 miles, I'd find some speed but when we finally made the turn, there was nothing left to accelerate, just maintaining pace was taking my full effort.  Finally I made the last turn to the down hill finish and found something to pick up the pace.  I could see the clock already past 1:17:00, with a weak surge I crossed the line with an official race time of 1:17:45.

Finishers medal 1:17:45 - new PR!

I had beaten my goal time, I came 23rd overall (out of 11,800 starters!) and won my age group.  A result I'm really proud of - the preparation in training paid off.

After a short cool down run back to the car, I was able to cheer on Danny Fisher who finished 4th overall in the marathon with a PR time of 2:30:18 - he'd just run two half marathons back to back faster than my personal best - a humbling thought!  Also running the full marathon (his second in 7 days) was team mate Joe Bell, who come in at 2:58 - sub 3 hour marathons are becoming the norm for Joe who's endurance and persistence are inspiring.

Tim Proctor, Danny Fisher, Joe Bell
Quaff ON!

Link to my Strava activity for this race

A very Good Friday

For the second year in a row, I've been on vacation Good Friday whilst the kids have to go to school as a make up for snow days over the winter.  I planned to take advantage of this some time ago with a buddy of mine, we'd ride about 50 miles to Bloomington and meet our wives for a lunch date whilst the kids were in school - this year the Easter weekend coincided with the Kentucky Derby Half Marathon which is the focus of my training in an attempt to set a new PR.
To avoid tired legs on Saturday, the ride to Bloomington was much more leisurely than normal.  The slower pace, actually trying not to try hard, combined with a beautiful spring morning and great conversation found me reconnecting with the child-like joy of riding my bike to get somewhere, just for fun.  In a life with continuous pressures on time, I end up feeling that every moment I get to ride or run has to contribute to the training objectives.  I enjoy working hard and feeling my body responding to the training but the focus & intensity can get in the way of the magical pleasure of being outside, enjoying the world moving by at a pace dictated solely by personal propulsion.  I realize that I need to do more of this to prevent things getting stale, making space for just fun as opposed to training activities will be a priority in my plans for the rest of the year.

Lake Lemon - South Shore Drive on Good Friday

Taper Tension

Like many people at this time of year, I'm in a taper week ahead of a big race.  For me it's the Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon.
Some people (like Danny Fisher) hardly taper, but normally these are seasoned runners with high mileage weeks being the norm in their life.  My experience leads me to taper quite a lot, this week I'll run about 50% of a normal week.  That sounds great "just run a lot less than you usually do" but actually it's hard.
In training, I feel in control - I set objectives which I either meet or fail to meet, this guides me and gives me feedback on how my body is adapting.  This close to the race, there's no more adapting going to happen - the "money is in the bank" and this loss of control, no more chance to influence the outcome, is what plays on my mind.

Beet, Carrot & Apple... Quaff ON!

Doing less work, means watching the diet more closely to avoid last minute weight gain, but it also means eating the right foods to ensure muscles and metabolism are recovered & fully charged for the hard race effort ahead.  I'm a big believer in raw vegetables and this week I'm drinking a lot of beetroot, carrot & apple juice made fresh with a juicer.  Beetroot has a scientifically proven benefit for endurance sport performance, helping the body transport oxygen to the muscles more efficiently.  The rest of the diet needs to ensure enough protein and vitamins to help recover strength as my body rests as well as the carbohydrates needed to charge up the muscles ready for work.

Taper doesn't mean no work, it's important to keep some intensity so I went to Track Tuesday and completed a short, but fast pre-race workout just as we did before the Hoosier Half a couple of weeks ago.  I've got a short run planned today where I'll hit target race pace for 1/2 - 3/4 mile just to remember what it feels like.
Normally Friday would be a complete rest day, but it's the Good Friday holiday here and the one day in the year when I don't have to go to work but the kids have to go to school!  I'm making the most of this and riding with a friend to Bloomington where we'll meet our wives for brunch at Farm, before driving home again.  An easy 50 mile spin on the bike will loosen up my legs without adding significant fatigue and I'll recover with some good food and an early night.

Hoosier Half Marathon - Race Report

I planned to run the Hoosier Half as a training event building up to my PR goal race in Louisville 2 weeks later.  It was also one of the focus races for the Quaff ON! Race team as we celebrate the soon to open tap house, Quaff ON! Bloomington, QOB (on Grant St just north of Kirkwood) so we wanted as much representation as possible.  The promise of a party afterwards at the new QOB location was the icing on the cake!

This was my first time running the Hoosier Half Marathon in Bloomington.  I'd heard tell of the hilly course and most of my team mates at Quaff ON! ran the course in training whilst I was enjoying the warmer weather in Alabama over Spring Break.  This left me unprepared for the variations in pace over the course but since this was a training event for me, I decided to roll with team mate, Danny Webb, who had a master plan which went something like this:

• 6:15 average for the first 3 miles (18:45)...19:30 5k
• 6:05 average for the next 3 miles (18:15)...19:00 5k 38:30 10k
• 6:10 average for next 3 miles (18:30)...19:15 5k 1:01:40 @ the 10 mile split
• 6:05 average for the next 3 miles (18:15)....19:00 5k
• Finish with whatever is left in the tank

There was a great atmosphere at the start, the event was hosting the NIRCA national championships so lots of teams representing their clubs, everyone got pretty pumped up. The start of the Half Marathon was simultaneous with the 5k race start and it was downhill so we fully anticipated a lightning fast getaway from the gun. In an attempt to stick to Danny's pacing plan, about 5 of us had deliberately hung back from toeing the line and then had to cut through 30-40 slower runners in the first quarter mile.

The reality of the challenge in this race really came home in the 4th mile - just as we were supposed to be picking up the pace to 6:05 there was a serious hill climb which had me gasping for breath and legs hurting from the effort - I think Danny must have forgotten about that one when he put the plan together! We regrouped and made time back up on the downhill hitting our target time at the 10k mark.

I always feel some relief at the 10k mark in half marathons, it's not really half way, but psychologically it always seems to be OK to think "I've just got to do that over again and I'll be in the final mile..."

This course however had no respect for the false hope instilled by getting to halfway, miles 8 and 9 were really hilly forcing big variations in pace and effort which are much more tiring than just running steady on the flat. As we hit the biggest of the hills in this section of the course (leading up to mile 9) Danny started to fade and I was feeling pretty good so pushed on, opening up a gap as we climbed.

I passed the 10 mile mark at 1:01:35 - the 10 mile mark is another huge psychological moment for me in half's - it means there's "just" 5k left to go. I knew from our short warm up run that the final mile was pretty much all uphill. My original training plan had been to cruise the last 3 miles but the excitement of the race got the better of me and I pushed on. The course was still hilly but the fluctuations were much less, more steady grades, and I found I was able to settle into a pretty good rhythm, right up to the final hill around 12.5 miles. It felt like I was crawling up it - some spectators gave much needed encouragement and I was passing other people, but it didn't feel like I had any forward momentum.

My race time was 1:20:10, I won the 40-49 age group and was 43rd place overall. It was a really challenging race and this result gave me great confidence in my training & preparation for Louisville.

 After the race, we regrouped at QOB, with pulled pork from Big Woods in Nashville and Quaff ON! beer to enjoy on the deck. I got the chance to meet up with new Quaff ON! team mate Matt Flaherty who's the "real deal" - a professional runner, owning the US 50 mile road race championship course record and numerous Ultra Marathon running victories. He'd run the 5k race (winning in 14:59) with team mate Danny Fisher, who came home 2nd (15:27) - It's an honor to call great athletes like them my team mates.

Spring Break, Spring Sickness....

We had a great Spring Break family vacation in Gulf Shores, AL - despite early season cool mornings and some showers there was plenty of time to relax with the family but also time to take advantage of the warmer temperatures to run and ride in short sleeves since, well it felt like forever.

We did a great ride out & over the Dauphin Island Bridge, including a ferry trip, puncture and time-trial effort back into town - see the Strava activity with pictures of this day out.



Returning to Columbus, I had a "big week" planned to boost my preparation for the Louisville race where I'm aiming to PR (target is to go under 1:18:00).  The big week went like this:

• Sunday - 11 miles with 6.5 miles at 5:58 pace
• Tuesday - Track work out, 2 sets of 2k - 400 - 1.2k - 400 - 1k - 400 with the "long" intervals at 5:40 pace and the 400's at 5:20 pace
• Wednesday - 7 miles recovery in Brown County State Park (pavement & trails)
• Friday - 13 miles with 9 miles at 5:58 pace

This left me feeling pretty tired and I was playing single Dad for the whole of the next week as Clare visited the UK so I knew the opportunities to train would be limited.  However, even my limited plans got thrown out when I was hit with a stomach bug Saturday night leaving me mostly in bed on Sunday and Monday morning.  Just as I started to recover, both kids were hit with the same thing Monday night so by Tuesday evening I had three straight nights with almost no sleep and almost no calories consumed.  I'd lost 5.5lbs and felt pretty weak.
Typically, the kids had bounced back much faster than me and were pretty lively come 5pm Tuesday so we agreed to go to Track Tuesday with the Quaff ON! team - it was a beautiful spring evening and they enjoyed messing around on the grass whilst I ran some repeats.  It was a light session in preparation for the Hoosier Half Marathon which was good news for me as I felt pretty much on the limit as we completed the following:

• 4 x 200; 2 x 400; 1 x 800; 2 x 400; 4 x 200 all at 5:20 pace

It was great to see so many people at the track taking advantage of the warm weather, these sessions are very inclusive - whilst there are groups running at different speeds, we all re-group over the rest periods and everyone's yelling encouragement as people go past.

Quaff ON! Track Tuesdays normally start at 6pm at the Northside Middle School track and everyone is welcome.  We normally retire to a Columbus location service Quaff ON! beer for a recovery drink at the end of the session.  All are welcome!