Tom's Blog

Well, it started by waking at 5:30 am to get the prerace festivities started. Well, the dogs out, eat a little yogurt, and get the bathroom out of the way. LOL When I went outside, I was glad to see that the rain had stopped, and the sky was clear, but unfortunately it was a bit on the windy side. Oh well, at least it isn't raining.

I arrived at the preplanned meeting spot about 6:45 am. Shortly later I noticed Lee parked in the next row over. I walked his packet over to him, and shortly after Joe, and Kriston showed up. It was still quite breezy causing it to be a little cool. Shortly after Christian showed up. Once everyone had their gear on and ready, we did a mile warm up around the Papa John's parking lot. Once we had that under our belt, it was time to shuck the extra clothes and head to the port-o-pots and the starting line.

I decided I would hang back and wait for Kriston and Lee to make their stops, and Joe and Christian headed on to the line. I waited until about 10 minutes to start and the lines were moving painfully slow, so I decided to head on to the start. Once there, I found Christian. I looked for Joe, but no luck. I did however find a former RTV forumite (Andrea), and walked over and wished her a good race. Funny thing is I have just happened to be standing within a few feet of her at all 3 Triple Crown races. How weird is that? LOL

8:00 came and we were off. I started about around the front 1/3 - 1/2. It took about 3 minutes to get to the actual starting line. Once through, we were off. I wished Christian a good race and was off. There was once again a ridiculous number of walkers to have to navigate. If you want to walk, great, but start at the back. If that is too difficult a concept to understand, at least get to one side or the other, walking down the middle of the road 2, 3, or more wide is just rude. From now on if I run over you, consider this your only apology. Mile one ended just after passing the Watterson overpass. Dealing with walkers and just overall congestion, I finished mile one at 8:36.

Mile 2 was more walkers and congestion, but not as bad as mile 1. It ended about 1/2 mile from New Cut Rd. I was feeling pretty good and finished it in 8:21.

Follow up:

Mile 3 was starting to thin out a little, but not much. I did see Sharon, Kriston's mom, just before reaching New Cut Rd. It was nice to see a familiar face. I turned up New Cut and realized that the hills were starting. The run up New Cut to the park entrance is almost all uphill. Thankfully, it is not steep. Mile 3 ended just before the park entrance, and I finished in 8:31 still feeling pretty good, and mentally preparing for the park.

Mile 4 was about what I expected. I knew I wanted to take it easy to start the park, particularly the big hill at the south end of the park. I cruised through mile 4 at a comfortable 8:28.

Mile 5 was a little easier, but I knew I was still in take it easy mode. I could have kicked harder through this leg, but I knew I still had a nasty hill coming in mile 6 so I continued at a comfortable steady pace. I finished mile 5 in 8:26.

Mile 6, I entered the twilight zone briefly. About 5.16, another runner comes up from behind me and starts talking to me. I look to my right, and it was Lee. Now anyone that knows Lee knows that he runs considerable faster than I do, so how in the world is he coming up from behind me. I thought maybe aliens were trying to help me out and had transported him from the exit of the park back to the entrance. Then he said something that cleared it all up. He was still on the overpass when we started. Turns out it was 8 minutes behind me at the start, and it took him a mere 5 miles to catch me. Oh well, After being passed by Lee, I kind of pushed it a little harder, not long enough to mater much as I looked at the Garmin and realized that there was no way I was going to be able to maintain that pace. Especially with the nasty last hill. For that hill, I just kept my eyes down and kept putting one foot in front of the other.I ended up finishing mile 6 in 8:21.

Mile 7 was back up Southern Parkway. This is all flat, and I was feeling pretty good. I stepped my pace up just a bit and finished in 8:13.

Mile 8, I was beginning to feel it a bit. My feet were feeling heavy, my legs were trying to tell me to walk, but I refused to listen, and continued plodding along. I finished mile 8 in 8:28.

Mile 9, in this mile you can begin to see Papa John's Stadium, the finish is in sight. It ends at just about were the race started. I was still feeling tired and wanted to stop and walk even if just for a few seconds. I continued to refuse to listen and ran on. I finished mile 9 in 8:38.

Mile 10 sends you up to and down Central. It's not bad other than having to climb the train overpass. That little hill was the last thing I wanted to see at that point. Again I kept my eyes down, my arms swinging, and putting one foot in front of the other. Then you turn down Floyd. Ah the last road before entering the stadium. I was feeling tired, but by now the excitement of the finish was enough to keep you running. You enter the stadium, and loop around to about the middle of the opposite side. Oh sweet success, I finished in 1:26:32 official chip time. I never expected to break 1:30. Needless to say, I am stoked. I to right now am a little stiff in the knees, but not bad. I actually feel pretty good. Hope everyone else enjoyed their race experience as much as I did today!