Kentucky Derby Marathon 2015

4/23 Thursday
After work, my friend and I went to the Mastro's Steakhouse in Costa Mesa to celebrate his birthday. It's our favorite steakhouse to go to for our birthdays and it's been a tradition going back about 4 years. It's probably not a good idea to be eating so much meat a couple of days before a marathon, but hey, birthdays only come once a year whereas my marathons come almost every week! :)

One thing that I love that's back on the menu is the foie gras appetizer. I love to eat liver and fatty liver is even better. I ordered the Chef's Cut Rib Eye Chop cooked medium rare. It was good, but I didn't finish it. I had to catch a red-eye flight at about midnight and didn't want to pass out from a food coma.

Foie gras appetizer

Chef's Cut Rib Eye Chop

I got to LAX for my US Airways flight out to Louisville with a connection in Charlotte, NC. The flight would start boarding at about a quarter after midnight. I was ready to take a nap on the plane. Good thing I was able to score an exit row seat with my Gold status.

4/24 Friday
After arriving in Louisville, I took the Route 2 Second Street bus for $1.75 into downtown Louisville. During the bus ride, I liked and noticed that all of the streets were pretty much lined with trees. The bus line took us past the University of Louisville. It looked like a pretty prestigious university from the outside. I got off at Market St right in front of the Kentucky International Convention Center, the location of the marathon expo.

Pasta Party

After going through the expo, I walked over a couple of blocks to my hotel, the Econo Lodge Downtown. Check in was fairly quick and easy. As with all of my red eye flights, I was pooped. So after going through my expo haul, I crashed for a quick nap.

As I got up from my nap to use the bathroom, I noticed that the floor was completely wet. The leak was coming from the toilet tank. I first tried to see if I could stop the leak, but I was unsuccessful. So I went to the check in counter and they were able to move me to a new room a couple doors over without any fuss. After moving my stuff to the new room, I went back out to eat an early dinner and buy some drinks for the weekend.

After a quick search on Yelp for burgers, I stopped by a nearby burger bar called Sidebar. The place was pretty quiet and empty since I was eating dinner at a pretty early hour. I found a seat at a table in the bar section so I could watch some sports on TV. When in Rome or in this case, Kentucky, I just had to have something with bourbon in it. Since I wasn't at all knowledgeable about bourbon, I went with a Bluegrass Brewing Company Bourbon Barrel Stout and fortunately it was a good bourbon barrel stout. As for burgers, they had 13 different burgers to choose from and they all sounded good. That's definitely a good sign. Everything on the menu was named after a court or legal system term. I ended up going with the Jail Bird with regular fries. It also came with a dill pickle. The Jail Bird came with bacon, fried egg, and American cheese... all of which are my favorite ingredients for a burger. Their burger patty was definitely as good as they've claimed on their menu. For the price, I would've liked a bigger burger, but it was definitely a quality tasting burger. I would definitely come back here to try their other burgers.

Jail Bird with fries and a Bluegrass Brewing Company Bourbon Barrel Stout

On the way back to my room, I stopped in at the Baders Food Mart which was located at the Shell gas station just across the street from my hotel. I picked up a few drinks for the weekend. I normally drink Powerade, but all they had were Gatorade.

I laid out Mr. Flat Runner before going to bed. There was rain in the forecast for the race during part of the morning, but it wasn't going to be too cold. I was hoping that it wouldn't rain before the race while waiting for the start of the race and I definitely didn't want it to rain nonstop for a majority of the race.

Drinks

Flat runner

4/25 Saturday
The race started at 7:30 am. After getting ready, I gathered my things and made my way to the starting line area at about a quarter before 7 am. It was pretty cool to see that Mini Coopers were being used as the pace vehicles. A bunch of Marathon Maniacs gathered in a little park just North of the Humana building. There were portapotties nearby so it was a very convenient location for the pre-race photo.

Mini Cooper pace cars!

Maniac Pre-race photo from Doug Picard

At about a quarter after 7, I made my way into corral B. While waiting in the corral, I saw someone dressed up as Olaf. Do you want to build a snowman? :)

Starting corral

Olaf!

I started off with the usual plan of running the first 10k at a harder effort before pulling way back on the pace for the rest of the race. My friend caught me just after mile 5. I ran with her and her friend through 10k before slowing down. We reached the famous Churchill Downs at about mile 8. After leaving Churchill Downs, we split away from the half marathoners. We then headed down to the beautiful Iroquois Park. It was a pretty steep climb up to the halfway point. During the loop around the park, the rain started to come down pretty hard. After finishing the loop, we ran back up to the finish line on Preston St at Witherspoon St just in front of the Waterfront Park. Thankfully the rain let up shortly after I left Iroquois Park. My left foot was again pretty sore, but for some odd reason I felt pretty good during the last two miles. I don't usually feel that good in the later miles of a marathon.

Iroquois Park

1: 8:33
2: 8:09
3: 8:22
4: 8:28
5: 8:36
6: 8:06
7-8: 17:20 (8:40)
9: 9:06
10: 9:14
11: 9:23
12: 10:18
13: 10:29
14: 10:12
15: 9:58
16: 10:36
17: 11:17
18: 10:55
19: 12:12
20: 11:31
21: 11:53
22: 11:49
23: 12:15
24: 11:42
25: 8:56
26: 9:44
26.2: 1:37
Finish: 4:20:41

Besides the hill at Iroquois Park, this was a fairly flat course. I thought it was a pretty course for a road marathon that was run through urban streets.

There were plenty of post-race snacks and drinks being passed out, items such as TruMoo chocolate milk, Powerade, Sun Chips, bananas, etc. There was a post-race party at the Waterfront Park, but I didn't stick around since the rain was starting to come down again. The ground was already starting to get muddy.

Finish line

Post race snacks

After getting cleaned up and resting for a couple of hours, I finally made my way out to eat an early dinner. I decided to eat my traditional recovery meal of burger and beer over at the Troll Pub Under The Bridge. This place was hard to miss with the Troll right above the entrance. There was a flight of stairs leading down to the entrance which could pose trouble after running a marathon. Since I was dining alone, I went to the back and found a seat at the bar. After looking through their menu and checking out their taps, I ordered their Beer Cheese Burger with tater tots and a Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro. I love a good stout on nitro and this one was very good. A fellow bar patron bought me a drink to congratulate me on completing the marathon and to welcome me to Louisville, KY. It was pretty cool talking to him and his significant other. That was the first time that a stranger has ever bought me a drink. As I was starting my second beer, my burger finally came out. It was a good sized burger with a pretzel bun. I'm not a big fan of pretzel buns, but it does prevent the burger from falling apart. A combination of their beer cheese and tobacco onions made the burger very tasty and I always prefer tater tots over fries. I ended my meal with a Hipster Repellant IPA. Man, did that meal hit the spot!

Beer Cheese Burger with tater tots and a Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro

Hipster Repellant IPA

4/26 Sunday
After checking out of my room, I walked across the street to the bus stop just in front of the Shell Gas Station to catch the bus to the airport. My return flight was with United Airlines with a layover at Chicago O'Hare airport. I liked that they had different jockey racing silks hanging at each of the gates at the Louisville Airport.

Louisville Airport

During my layover at O'Hare, I decided to have lunch at Billy Goat. For nostalgic reasons, I got the Double Cheeseburger and fries. It's really nothing spectacular. At best it's similar to a McDonald's Double Quarter Pounder. It quelled my hunger but next time I probably should get the Chicago Style Italian Beef Sandwich instead.

Double cheese from Billy Goat

Martian and Athens Double Marathon 2015

Friday 4/17
I took an early morning US Airways flight from LAX to Detroit Wayne County Airport with a quick stop in Phoenix. Now that US Airways is part of American Airlines, I was able to check into a first class seat on the first leg into Phoenix. I always feel like they're trying to stuff you with snacks in first class, but I do love the complimentary booze. My booze of choice while in an airplane... that would be coffee with Baileys. That's pretty much the only time that I'll drink coffee. For the second leg from Phoenix to Detroit, I was in an exit row seat.

Coffee with Baileys

Once in Detroit, I took the shuttle to the Thrifty car rental office. There was a long line there and only 2 people working the counter. Most people rent an economy car because they're the cheapest. The pickings were quite slim. I ended up with a little black Ford Focus. I first checked into my hotel room to use the bathroom before heading over to the race expo over at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center. On the way back to my hotel, I stopped by a Kroger supermarket to buy some drinks, cookies, and bananas for the weekend.

Expo

I was pretty tired so I decided to eat at the nearby Bob Evans restaurant. It was close enough that I could've walked there, but I drove over in the car. I was promptly seated and I ordered a Smokehouse Burger with green beans and a baked potato. Service was nice and courteous, but was a bit slow. I didn't mind since I wasn't in a hurry anywhere. My waiter did refill my ice tea several times. He even offered another refill in a to-go cup when I was asking for the check. The burger was pretty good and so was everything else. The green beans tasted good with the added ham.

Smokehouse Burger with green beans and baked potato

I got back to my room, went through the expo stuff, and got my race gear ready for tomorrow's race. The bib was somewhat unique and was an odd UFO shape. It was still early in the evening, but I was pretty pooped... so I lounged around watched TV until I fell asleep.

Saturday 4/18
The start and finish of the marathon was at the Ford Field Park. An email was sent to those running the marathon that we were allowed to park in the lot just next to the start. That was pretty convenient. The marathon started at 7:15 am. After gathering with a few Marathon Maniacs, I went to use the portaopotties one last time before getting in the starting area.

Marathon Maniacs

Who is running this show?!

Starting line

The first 9 miles had us running through mostly residential streets. They had decorated a lot of the route with inflatable aliens tied up to trees and poles, some of which looked like they were being lynched! :) Pretty much the rest of the course would be a long out and back on Edward N Hines Dr before heading back to Ford Field. Since this was the first marathon of a double, I decided to hold back a little. I had also been pretty sick with diarrhea while I was at a week long work conference leading up to this weekend. I ran at a fairly good effort during the first 10k, then I slowly backed off. After making the last turnaround, the weather did get a bit warm with no shade. There were a few rollers here and there, but it was mostly flat.
1: 7:57
2: 8:05
3: 8:07
4: 8:28
5: 8:21
6: 8:15
7: 8:41
8: 8:53
9: 8:19
10: 8:50
11: 10:11
12: 9:52
13: 10:30
14: 9:58
15: 10:02
16: 9:47
17: 11:19
18: 10:21
19: 12:26
20: 12:51
21: 11:16
22: 11:21
23: 12:12
24: 12:26
25: 12:41
26: 12:03
26.2: 1:56
Finish: 4:25:06

After getting my medal, I shuffled back to my car to change out of my wet clothes. I then went back out to the final stretch to cheer on those that were finishing their race as well as look for my friends. The kids race finished parallel to the marathon. It was pretty cool to see young kids run their race. Some ran really well, while others seemed bored or distracted.

Finish

Finish line

After shooting the breeze for a little bit and taking pictures with my friends, I saw that I needed to get going. It would be almost a 5 hr drive down to Athens, Ohio. Along the way, I stopped to eat at a McDonald's in Marion, Ohio. I ordered a Big Mac and 20 pieces of Chicken McNuggets. I needed to fill the tank for tomorrow's marathon. I also gassed up the car before getting back out on the road.

Late lunch at McDonald's

At about 6:30 pm, I arrived in Athens and checked into my hotel, the Baymont Inn and Suites. It was a long drive, but it was a pretty scenic drive. My room was on the first floor and it had a bit of a musky smell. It was pretty clean and I was tired, so I didn't really care.

After resting for about an hour, I walked next door to eat dinner at the Bob Evans restaurant. I was promptly seated at a table and ordered their Country Fried Steak with banana bread and corn. I also had an iced tea with my meal. Everything was good. It wasn't anything spectacular, just good old comfort food.

Country Fried Steak with banana bread and corn

There was rain in the forecast, but it was predicted to roll in around the afternoon. I was hoping that my legs would hold up and that I would be able to finish the race before the storm rolled on through. I went through the old ritual of laying out my race gear for tomorrow and went to bed after watching a bunch of TV.

Sunday 4/19
At about 6 am, I drove over to the nearby Holiday Inn Express to pick up my race shirt and bib. There was a room full of volunteers passing out shirts and assigning bibs. This was the first time that I've seen at a race where they scanned a bib into their computer to assign it to a runner. I guess that's a good way of not wasting bibs for no-shows. Since the race didn't start until 8 am, I went back to my room to use the toilet again hoping that my GI would calm down a bit.

Race shirt and bib

It was a short drive down to the starting line at the Ohio University. I parked my car in the recommended parking lot at The Convocation Center. After gathering my stuff, I walked up to the starting line at Howard Park which was at the corner of Union St and College St. After using the portapotty again, I found a place to sit down. I ended up talking to an older guy from Pennsylvania because he was wearing a bright neon shirt that read, "you have just been geezered" on the back. He was also wearing a Marathon Maniac cap. So we ended up chatting about our races to pass time.

Ron from PA... Geezered!

Starting line

I was just hoping to finish anywhere under 5 hours. The first three miles felt okay. Then it got pretty difficult in a hurry. My legs felt extremely heavy as if I had just strapped on ankle weights. The majority of the course was a long out and back on the beautiful scenic Hockhocking-Adena Bikeway. The one picture that I took does no justice to how pretty it was. I got to the halfway point at about 2:13.

I always like running out and back courses because I get to see those ahead of me and those behind me. I kept plugging along until mile 17 where I started struggling with cramps. But this time I felt more discomfort in my left foot than I normally would. I decided it would be best to walk a little bit more during my walk breaks. From mile 24 to the finish, you could tell that the storm was closing in. The winds picked up and a little bit of rain started coming down. I was super glad to see the turnoff for Pruitt Field, where I got to run about a quarter loop on the track to the finish line. The stadium was pretty empty but still it was a nice spot for a finish line.
1: 8:08
2: 8:13
3: 8:43
4: 9:51
5: 9:04
6: 9:52
7: 10:01
8: 10:25
9: 11:02
10: 11:40
11: 10:46
12: 10:46
13: 11:17
14: 11:27
15: 11:45
16: 11:42
17: 11:35
18: 13:20
19: 13:28
20: 13:29
21: 13:18
22: 12:58
23: 13:35
24: 14:08
25: 12:40
26: 13:35
26.2: 2:59
Finish: 4:59:47

Well I managed to finish under 5 hrs. That was my goal, but it was tougher than I was hoping it would be. It got pretty grueling near the end, but I crossed off two new States. In hindsight, I don't think it was a very good idea since I had just run a PR in a half marathon followed by a PR in a 5k. I was pretty exhausted and my body was begging for some rest!

After grabbing a banana and a bottle of water, I headed back to my car so I could make my way back to my hotel before the storm really rolled in. The rain had let up for the time-being, but it was cloudy and you could tell that it was just a matter of time before it really starts pouring.

Finish

Marathon Double

When I logged my race into the Marathon Maniacs website, I noticed that I got a new star. Looks like I've hit enough different states and countries to move up in rank with 8 stars. After getting cleaned up and resting for several hours, I finally dragged myself back across the parking lot to eat dinner at Bob Evans again. That was about as far as I wanted to go to find something to eat. The place was pretty packed and the service was slow as molasses on a winter's day, but again I wasn't in a hurry anywhere so it was fine. You could definitely notice the tables that weren't as patient because they were really grumbling. The young waitress I had was really friendly and loved saying the phrase, "not a problem!" For my meal, I ordered one of their 3 course dinners. I got a Farmhouse Garden Salad with blue cheese dressing as my starter, the Black Angus Chopped Steak with Roasted Portabella Mushrooms for my entrée with mashed potatoes as my choice of side, and finally their biscuits for my bread. The chopped steak was just a fancy name for a hamburger patty, but it was not bad. The meal also came with a dessert, but I told her that I would pass on it because I'm not too into sweets and I want to go back to my room to lay down and watch the NBA playoff game between the Spurs and the Clippers.

Promoted to 8 stars

Biscuits

Farmhouse Garden Salad with blue cheese dressing

Black Angus Chopped Steak with Roasted Portabella Mushrooms

Clippers vs. Spurs

Monday 4/20
I checked out of my room and made the drive up to Columbus. The drive took about an hour and 15 minutes. I got there at about 10:45 am. I gassed up the rental car at a nearby gas station before heading to the airport. After dropping off the car, I walked over to the terminal. There was a lot of construction going on the inside. I was pretty early for my flight, so I spent the time drinking the remaining water that I had with me before going through the TSA checkpoint.

When I booked this return trip, I used my reward miles. The first leg of my trip was supposed to be a 1:45 pm flight out to Charlotte, North Carolina before heading back to LAX. As the time approached to board the plane, the gate attendant announced that the flight was overbooked and that they were looking for passengers with flexible travel plans. He also announced that they had a direct flight to LAX. So I got up and volunteered for that direct flight. I told him that I was an AA gold member and he was able to get me a first class seat. However the flight didn't leaving until 4:30 pm, so I had a few hours to kill. After checking out my food options, I decided to eat lunch at the Wolfgang Puck. I had their Chinois Chicken Salad. It was a pretty dang good salad. Also it goes to show that I don't always eat burgers. :)

Chinois Chicken Salad

My flight back home was pretty nice in first class. They really try to stuff you to the gills with food and alcohol! I had my usual coffee and Baileys with some nuts. The flight attendant kept asking if I wanted another. Then for dinner, I had their beef and mashed potatoes. It was pretty dang good for airplane food! There was also some ice cream for dessert. I could really get used to travelling in first class! :)

Coffee and Baileys

First class meal

Ice cream!