2007 Hangover Classic - Louisville, KY - Run10 Mile

There was no 'gun' that went off, just some little old lady that said, "Go." :) I'd planned on going out at 8-8:15 pace and holding that steady till mile 5, then letting go and attempting to negative split the 2nd half of the race.

I caught up with a few tri buddies who are doing IMKY and we talked briefly for the first 1/2 mile. I asked Patrick how his training was going, he said, "Today's my first day... and it's not going so good. I'm just WAY to hungover!" Haha! Me too, buddy, me too! :)

It's always so surreal the first few miles of a race when you hear all the footsteps of those running around you. It's kind of like a soft rain, very relaxing. The first 1-1/2 miles, I tried to settle in to a comfortable pace, but I looked at my watch at the first split and saw 7:22. Oops! Going out WAY too fast.

Well, I felt good and Dale said I could go out and run my race so I figured, Why not? Let's see what I have in me today. We were running into a very stiff headwind (Probably 15mph) and I just kept jumping from person to person drafting. It's amazing how much energy you can save. So I would jump from person to person like on the bike trying to 'bridge-the-gap' to catch up to the more competitive runners in Louisville. So kept on this pace till about mile 3 when I walked the first water stop. (Actually the girl that gave me the water had the top off and I got water all over my hand..... It's 40 degrees out and now I'm wet!)

This 65+ year old man caught up w/ me and I said, there's NFW that I'm gonna get beat by this guy. So I picked up the pace a bit and he stayed with me. He started talking to me and told me he'd not raced in 2 years and wanted to run 7:30's. I told him I'd planned on that too and he said he wanted to negative split. "Fine with me, lets do it," I told him.

We clipped off a 7:21, 7:24 and a 7:14 taking us over the 5 mile hump. I saw this guy Chris, a runner from Fleet Feet who I've NEVER been able to beat in a race though I've come close several times, up ahead of me. "I'm gonna real this guy in," I told myself. He seemed like he was tiring out a little and I thought that just maybe today might be the day.

Fred, the old guy I was running with, I found out his name the 2nd half of the race as we were passing all the competitive and serious runners in Louisville.. they were all calling his name and cheering for him, (I know, super run-on sentence here) was hanging with me the whole time. I felt great through mile 7. My form felt great, had a light foot-strike, running on the balls of my feet, cadence somewhere between 85-90 and though my HR was high... my form felt somewhat effortless. Unfortunately, that feeling did not last long.

We came into mile 7 and I caught Chris (Fleet Feet guy)! Fred, Chris and me were running shoulder to shoulder for almost 1/2 a mile. Chris saw my Garmin and asked, "What's our pace? My watch is all foggy and I cant see my splits." "We're hanging in at right around 7:05 - 7:10," I told him. He thanked me then promptly took off... kicking my ass like a little school kid! Haha! Nope, today was just not the day.

I tried picking up the pace and Fred told me, "You're saving me today. You're great to run with and I'm glad you're keeping me on pace." I kept telling him that he was running strong, light and quiet! "You're doing great Fred," I kept telling him.

About mile 8.5, I started running out of energy and my running was increasingly more labored. I tried focusing on my technique and form... "Efficient, efficient, efficient... is what will get you there" I kept telling myself. "Run like a Kenyan, lean with the hips, don't cross your midline...." All the stuff to focus on technique and to stop thinking about how bad I was hurting.

Fred at this point was a step and a half ahead of me. He kept burping, then yelling, "ugh" then "Fu**" to get himself going. Quite comical I must say but it kept my head clear. He then starting saying things to me like, "only 4000 meters to go", "Only 8 laps around the track to go." I think he could tell I was starting to hurt and was returning the favor of my earlier encouragement to him.

We hit mile 9 and at this point, I'm really hurting! I have this awful sidestich and he asked how I was. I said, "Good, but I'm cramping." His response was, "Only one mile to go and you don't get a t-shirt for only doing 9 miles!" Haha! Classic! Old school drill seargent type... I love this guy! We bore down and I kept telling myself to push harder and to MAKE IT HURT. By making it hurt, I'll be more mentally prepared for IM... you gotta know you can get through the pain and to suck it up.

We clipped off a 6:50 for the last mile and I finished one second ahead of Fred. After we crossed, Fred hugged me and said, "Great job!" I told him it was my PR And that he carried me the last couple miles... he just smiled and said, "Well then, you better come run my race later this year." I don't know what race that is, but I will definitely do his race.

What an awesome experience. First day of 2007, I met a GREAT guy who is simply HARD CORE and 65+ years old AND I PR'd (by over 5 minutes) at the 10 mile distance. The last 2-1/2 miles hurt like hell, but I'm so proud of myself for sucking it up, running through a NASTY side-stitch and negative splitting the 2nd half the race. It's a good feeling to know you can dig deep when you have to; I'm just so proud today!



It was cold and VERY windy. I wore running pants, a hat, turleneck, a light jacket and gloves. We had a headwind for most of the race. (River road for whatever reason has a headwind in whatever direction you're going.) Don't ask me why but those folks coming here for IMKY will know EXACTLY what I'm talking about when they get here. I should have trusted my instincts and worn shorts at the end of the race I was really overheating.

Didn't do much of a cooldown. I was meeting a friend for lunch and grabbed some water and walked to the car. After lunch on the way home, I bought a new stretching mat and will stretch out very good this afternoon.


My running base is currently not that high and I've done no speed work since last October. Surprisingly though, I ran one hell of a race. A stronger base, some speedwork and getting my weight/body fat% down will help make me faster. My clothing choice could have been much better so I did not overheat. That, I believe, contributed to how hard the race felt in the very end.


This race is a staple in the Louisville running community!