Derby Half Marathon - April 30

in , by sarahmfry, June 15, 2011
 Our first half marathon (13.1 miles) was the weekend after IHC.  On Friday, we loaded up the kids and drove to Louisville for the Derby Festival Half.

The night before a long distance race, runners have a bizarre practice called "Carb-loading."  This helps your body store up valuable glycogen, which is running fuel for your muscles.  The downtown Old Spaghetti factory was packed with carb-loaders.


Before and after the running expo (where we picked up our race packets, shirts and bibs) we enjoyed walking around downtown Louisville, seeing the sights.
And we stopped for some of our own carbo-loading.  Our normally jolly Corin-boy was cRAnKy!
Kayla and her almost-"singing in the rain" moment, a la Gene Kelly.
  

Mom and Rachelle drove to Louisville to be with us.  We  had a separate room for them and the kids so that David and I could get a great night of sleep and not wake the kids up when we got up well before dawn for the race.  Our bibs and running gear were laid out, ready to go.  And we slept great!

 The race was incredible.  My  most miserable time of running is usually the first mile or two.  But the feeling at this race was so fun & relaxed, I don't even remember feeling that warm-up time.  We started way in the back, so it was a blast.  The people up front tend to be a lot more intense (obviously).  We didn't have a time goal, so we enjoyed starting in the back where people wore costumes and signs and happy smiles instead of compression socks and GU's and scowls.  And the fact that we passed people the whole 13 miles was kinda fun, too.


We enjoyed the route through downtown Louisville.  It's absolutely amazing how much energy you get from the crowds cheering from the sides of the streets.  I felt like I was on a high the whole time.  We even got to run a lap around the inside of  Churchill Downs..just days before the Kentucky Derby!  I wished I had a hat.  And then...the finish line! And Cheering!  And Medals!



  This race was sponsored by Walmart, so the post-race goodies are plentiful.  It is extremely important to feed your muscles right after a race so they will rebuild well.  Free chocolate milk, bagels, bananas and more abound!  AND we got free massages.  So yeah.  It was a pretty awesome time.



We let the kids do a few fun things at the after- race party.

Corin needs to work on his contentment level.  He was not happy with his allotted number of rides. : )


I just absolutely love this sight.  The silver things are disposable warm-up blankets runners use before and after races to keep from chilling and keep their muscles warm.
See the stacks of Powerade and boxes and boxes of bananas?

 
 
We knew this experience was going to be hard to beat.  It was an absolute blast.





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