If you've been following my last few posts leading up to this race, I am RELIEVED that it is all over. With all the injuries and struggles I've had this season, I was afraid I was going to struggle (even more than usual) to finish this race, or even end up hurting myself. Luckily, I was able to finish the damn thing without injury, passing out, or projectile vomiting. I'm not proud of my finish time, but at least it IS a finish time (GTFO DNF).
The Food
By far the best thing we had there was the Hot Brown. An invention of the Brown Hotel in the 1920s, it was a dish quickly thrown together to satisfy dancers looking for something to eat late at night (or early in the morning). It's an open faced turkey sandwich with bacon, a couple tomatoes, all drowned in a cheesy mornay sauce.
The Bourbons
The Kentucky Bourbon trail, what a great a way to dupe tourists into visiting all the major distilleries and giving you a "free" t-shirt in the end. We only had time for 3 out of 10 distilleries. It would have been 4, but...more on that later.
Our first stop was Four Roses. They didn't have their full tour available for some reason (who cares), but they had tastings available. Who DOESN'T want to drink the bourbons at 9:30am?! Their standard offerings included yellow label, small batch, and single barrel, each one better than the last.
Our next stop was the Buffalo Trace distillery in Kentucky's capitol, Frankfort. The distillery is a national historic landmark, and we did a whopping 2 tours here. It was tiring, but worth it to see their barrel building and their hand bottling line. The historic landmark tour took us deeper into the distillery, and the raw smell coming from the buildings smelled just like a ham sandwich (bread, mayo and all). Their tasting including their white dog (bleh), standard Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare 10, Wheatley Vodka, and finished with their dericious bourbon cream.
Our last stop was the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse (oh hai there Mila Kunis). Not the distillery, but a spot in the ever so touristy 4th Street Live! The tasting included Devil's Cut, Urban Stillhouse (exclusive to the stillhouse), Knob Creek Rye, and a 4th of your choice. I went for the single barrel and the wife face went from Jim Beam Black. I bought a bottle of their Urban Still Select which is exclusive to this location. You can even hand bottle it yourself and get it engraved (tourist trap alert!) which I didn't bother with.
The Race
For the 10 days leading up to the race, I was religiously checking on the forecast, and every day it said THUNDERSTORMS. On the morning of, I checked the race's Facebook page, and they delayed the start time by 30 minutes. I hung out in bed and watched the usual prerace TBS sitcom reruns. No Fresh Prince OR Married with Children this time around it was Everybody Loves Raymond.
I mosey my way down to the start line at the new projected start time, only to find out they pushed it back another 30 minutes. We found some shelter in a parking garage, and soon found out the race was pushed back another 30 minutes! At this point, I honestly thought that if they canceled the race, I would be somewhat relieved. I was still worried about my injuries, and the warmer temp made even worse by the delayed start time.
Finally, we were clear to run 1.5 hours after the initial start time. I completely understand that the race was delayed with runner safety in mind (there was even a tornado warning the previous night). Luckily, the thunderstorms were just north of Louisville, and never really crept into the city. The main side effect of that, is that it made Louisville that much warmer.
Even thought it was hot and muggy, at least it was cloudy. During the first 11-ish, it stayed most cloudy, with the sun threatening to pop out at any moment. Luckily, we hit the park between mile 11/12, and the trees provided adequate shade for about 3 miles. Not so luckily, the park had some nasty rolling hills. It was a huge relief to hit that last downhill out of the park, but the moment I was out of the park, the sun was out and not messing around.
The back half of the race was flat again, but there really wasn't much shade. The only relief I had from the sun was my hat, and dumping water over my head at the water station. One of volunteers took it upon herself to grab some ice at the nearby Walgreen's and hand them out to runners. It wasn't until maybe the last 6ish miles where the hydrants were opened up, spraying water out into the streets.
By the time I was approaching the finish line, it was nearly 3pm and mid to high 80s. It was devastatingly hot, but I was able to finish somewhat strong. In the end, the heat might have helped me prevent injury, forcing me to walk a large chunk of the race.
After the race, I was planning on hitting up the Evan Williams Experience, and even paid in advance for a speakeasy tasting experience at 4:15pm. Since there was a big delay in the start time, I had to cut my losses, make the long walk back to the hotel and rest.
Overall
Louisville reminded me a lot of Austin, where it's this little blue blip in a sea of red. Louisville is also a college town that seems to be used to diversity, and I never once felt out of place. I even bumped into my metal brethren, coincidentally bumping into an Avatar show!
With Marathon 21 donezo, I'm only 4 away from the halfway point. I seriously considered stopping if I was able to somehow make it through this one, but the day I got back home I was already looking at my next race. I am going to switch up my running show in hopes that it will help with my injuries. Up next is hilly Portland, ME! Allagash and Maine Beer Company here I come!