Mini-marathon weekend!

So two weekends ago was the Louisville mini-marathon (half marathon) and I decided I needed to sit down and blog on it or the weekend would soon be a distant memory as life at the Taylor house has been non-stop for what seems like forever!! Chris and I both took that Friday off from work and headed out of town with my parents up to Louisville. We got in town about 3 or so and checked in our super-nice suite and went to the runners expo to pick up our numbers/packets/shirts and check out the vendors and free goodies. Luckily our hotel was only a few blocks from the expo center (and bus pick-up for the following morning) so we walked to get our stuff. I have to say I was very disappointed in the shirts this year...one because they were ugly (i'm talking an xray of a foot with Pegasus wings for the derby) and two because it was a short-sleeve coolmax shirt. Honestly, I never ever run in a short sleeve...it's either cold enough for long sleeve or I'm in a tank. Anyways, I digress... After picking up our stuff, we went in to visit my grandmother before heading to Aunt Donna's for a yummy pasta dinner with the cousins/spouses and kids, since 3 of my 4 cousins (siblings) were running the next morning too! Donna cooked a lot of yummy pastas and sauces along with salad, fruit, and bread. We then headed back to the hotel after dinner to get a good night's sleep (hopefully...)

The last bus pick-up time was 6:15 and they instructed runners to be at the expo center no later than 6 which meant getting up about 5:45. The hotel was very nice however I have to have "white noise" when I sleep and I realized I left my travel fan at home. Usually you can hear when the air comes on in the hotel room, but this place had the new, quite kind. Ugh! And, to make matters worse, about 11:30 that night I was awoken by the room above us...someone was running (and pounding!) on the floor/out ceiling and yelling and carrying-on. After a few minutes, I calleld the front desk to complain. They were very nice about it (as I told them I was running in the morning and HAD to get back to sleep!) but it was about 30 minutes before the room finally calmed down. So, it was not the best night of sleep...

Since we were pretty close to the pick-up area for the bus, we left the hotel about 6 and went to get in the line for the buses. Weather predictions had originally predicted major storms for the morning of the race, but that later changed to expecting them in the afternoon. The balloon race was postponed that morning as well. On our walk to the buses, it wasn't raining but it was humid and maybe a fine mist. It was similar when we got to the starting area...where we stood in line for the porta potty for a good 40 minutes! Luckily we got there and in line when we did, because we literally got out of there right when they were counting down the start! We took of in a semi-sprint to get to the road with the start and had to squeeze between the barriers to get into the actual race! The weather during the race varied...a little rain, a little mist, and sun at the end...all with tons of humidity! Ick! We hadn't had any humidity to train in, and even though I had water or gatorade at each hydration station, it never felt like enough! About mile 8 or so I caught back up with my dad (we were all apart since separating in the park) and we ran the last half of the race together! That helped me to keep going...I was getting really back cramps in my right hip and calf. It felt like my calf was going to rip in half! I was terrified of getting sick like I did last time we ran the race (electrolytes got way out of whack) so I was very conscious to drink and I even took a Gu pack along with me...I probably could have used two! Luckily, I did not get sick so I was very thankful for that!

Our hotel was a block from the last turn into the finish area, so we planned for Chris to be on the corner so he could cheer us on and snap a few pics! I had (the great!) idea of having an orange and white balloon for Chris to have with him so it would be easier to spot him in the crowd. When we turned on to main street and I saw those balloons still kinda far away, I got excited because I knew it was Chris and that meant we were almost done!! It's the little things that boost ya! When Dad and I finished, we waited for Mom and the end of the finish/food area before heading down to the reunite area. Little did we know it would not be easy to reunite with others...it took Chris forever to get down there because he had to walk all around town (it seemed) to get there from the side of the course he was on! After finding him, we went back to the corner where he was originally to wait for Megan and Amy to come by! We got to see them run by and cheer them on! (Adam had already finished and was back with the family). When we were all together, we snapped a few pics of the "runners of the family"! I was and still am so excited that we've passed on the running bug! =)

Mom, Chris and I ate at a cute little place called Toast, where we ate last time we ran. I ordered a lemon souffle pancake with blueberry compote and ohmygosh this was the best thing I have ever tasted!!! I found a recipe online to try to make some at home one day too!! Lousiville got hit with major storms that afternoon and evening so our plans for heading to Churchill Downs to bet on the races was nixed, along with going to the Cherokee Triangle arts festival. We took Mamma to the mall...Chris and I sat and people watched while Mom shopped with her. Then we all met for dinner that night at some bistro...the company was good but the food was, in my opinion, overpriced for what you got and we had one server for 20 people...and never enough bread! Oh well! We got in the hot tub after dinner that night and Amy, Maddie and Cam came over to swim. Oh the hot tub felt so good on my sore muscles! Sunday morning we had brunch at the hotel, made a quick stop at the art festival bc the weather was perfect, then headed on home. It was a great weekend (minus the storms) and I can successfully say I completed another half-marathon! =)

Almost done!!

Finally found Chris!

Part of our cheering squad! =)