Day 4 was the end of the (bourbon) road. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of the end of the race. Or the bourbon tasting, for that matter. Just this Kentucky-made pottery horse (you know, because Kentucky is famous for horses and horse breeding).
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Bon weekend à tous!
À lundi,
k.
We’re into Day 3 in Kentucky, and Day 2 of the Bourbon Chase relay race. It’s a loooong day. Only 2 hours of sleep the night before and a middle-of-the-night run. (I ran 5.1 miles starting at 4am.) Our final runner for this leg passes off the bracelet and we head to get some breakfast (at Dairy Queen, as it turns out). The hand-off from our van to Van 1 takes place at the Woodford Reserve distillery. Unfortunately, the weather is crappy, with spitting rain.
the bar (at 9am)
the distillery
I’m fascinated by shutters…
the old-fashioned method of transporting bourbon barrels across the premises
more barrels
another bucolic setting
runners chill before their next legs
traditional Mint Julep cups for sale
antique riding boots. cool, but not for sale : (
horseshoes
leaving Woodford Reserve after our first runners sets off
Happy Halloween!
À demain,
k.
It’s late in Day 2 of the Bourbon Chase and I’m finally running my first leg – 5.8 miles. And let me tell you, as prepared as I thought I was, it was brutal. Although I trained up to 10 miles, I failed to consider the rolling hills of Kentucky into my training regime. It was also over 70 degrees and the sun was beating down.
But the scenery was pleasant…..
bucolic farm land
a Mexican restaurant (?!)
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FINALLY at the top of a gigantic hill
flat ground, with horses to admire across the highway – yay!
a stream runs through it
getting closer to the hand-off point
1 mile to go!!
home stretch
still in the home stretch
a mere 50 yards from finishing the leg!
moving into the night shift
meat, anyone?
night running..
More to come….
À demain,
k.
Ooohhh…clearly I’m very behind in my blogging. Anyway, without further ado…
And for the record, I realize these photos are not great quality, especially the ones taken indoors. I didn’t bring my fancy new external flash : (
– The Maker’s Mark Distillery was the hand-off point from our team’s first van to our van. We got there early so that we can tour a bit. –
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red shutters..note the shape of the Maker’s Mark bottle carved in each of them
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The sweet little covered bridge.
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– Then we headed into the building where workers complete (put labels on, etc) the bottles for shipment. –
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– Next, we checked out the Tasting Room for a special Maker’s Mark cocktail. (Yes, I had one, pre-run!) –
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– Then it was on to the shop. –
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yum.
– Finally, we were back outside to see our van’s first runner take off. –
Go Barb!
Yep. Cheers to that!
All of that and we’re still on Day 1 of the actual run, and I won’t run my first leg for another 5 hours! More tomorrow (promise!).
À demain,
k.
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After a little break, I’m back to continue the story of my Bourbon Chase race through Kentucky. On Friday, we all woke up (that’s 4 women in 2 double beds in a cheap hotel on the outskirts of Louisville) and got dressed in our running gear.
I should stop here and explain a bit about how it works. (This was my first relay race of any kind, let alone a 24-hour continuous relay, so it was all new to me!) The race covers 200 miles total in Kentucky, starting from outside of Louisville and ending in Lexington. Each team has 12 members, so each person runs a total of about 16 or 17 miles over the course of 3 “legs” (segments). The fact that the race is continuous means that someone from each team is always running – whether it’s 3pm or 3am. Each runner has “slot” in the “line-up”. I was runner number 10, so for each of my 3 segments, I would receive the “baton” (actually a snap-on bracelet) from runner #9 and hand off to runner #11. (Although I cheated and switched places with a marathon runner for my last 8.1 mile leg. Thanks, Molly Purdue!)
The starting times for teams vary. Faster teams start later, while slower teams start earlier in the day so that they can get a head-start. The goal is for all of the teams to finish within a few hours of one another in Lexington on Saturday night. Because were one of the slower teams, our start time was 8:45am on Friday morning. There were teams starting every 15 minutes throughout the day, and the fastest teams started as late as 7pm on Friday night! (That means the fast-ies had 24 hours to make up a 10+ hour head-start!!)
Most teams have two vans of runners, so that one van is always “off” – resting, trying to sleep, showering, eating an actual meal… The van that’s “on” drives along with each runner in that van and waits at the “baton” exchange points, picking up the runner who has just finished his/her leg, and dropping off the next runner.
Back to Friday morning. Our Van 1 headed to the starting line for our team’s 8:45am start. Everyone in our Van 2 (which included me) headed to Cracker Barrel for a big breakfast. Then we headed to the starting line. Our team had left hours earlier, but we wanted the chance to see the starting line and check out the Jim Beam distillery.
The starting line.
There was even a band at the starting line! (Too bad it was drizzling, though.)
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There’s plenty of Jim Beam merch. to buy, I don’t think the bike is actually for sale…
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This tee was cute and so soft. But I’m trying to go easy on the clothing purchases, so I resisted the temptation.
So that was the Starting Line of the Bourbon Chase in Clermont, Kentucky. After 30 minutes or so of wandering around, everyone in Van 2 piled back into the van and headed to where we’d be getting our hand-off from Van 1.
The adventure continues. Tomorrow.
À demain,
k.
I did a really cool thing last weekend: I ran in the Bourbon Chase relay from Louisville to Lexington, Kentucky. It was brutal and fun. (Maybe that’s fair descriptor of life, too?) Even with my misgivings at the time (horrible stomach cramps, lack of showering, lack of sleep), I would do it again.
When I signed up for the race a few months ago, I had a few specific reasons for doing it:
1) It pushed me out of my “comfort zone” (“living” in a van with 5 strangers/new friends and running repeatedly without showering are not in my usual program).
2) It forced me to get back into running more than 3 miles.
3) As I’m still relatively new here in the Twin Cities, I jumped at the chance to meet people with a shared passion (running!).
4) It was a sneaky way to travel and see a part of the country that I didn’t know. (Although it was really a working vacation ; )
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As not to bore you with dozens of photos all at once, I’ll tell this story over the course of a few days.
This is, of course, DAY 1:
Not wanting a sugary drink, I opted for a Corona Lite. I took the photo because I couldn’t believe how cheap it was – less than $3!!!
24 hours before race time: beer + chips
Dinner of champions? No carb loading here.
In retrospect, Mexican probably wasn’t the best meal to prepare for a challenging run the next afternoon. But hey, I didn’t choose it, so c’est la vie. (Breakfast the next morning were eggs, grits and a biscuit at Cracker Barrel.)
À demain,
k.
I know that’s a silly blog title, but seriously, I’ve been taking a break from more than just blogging. This weekend I ignored my normal fairly healthy diet. We were up at the cabin again, so we felt compelled to have a big Sunday brunch at Viddles & Joe, the local “Northwoods” (Minnesota’s northern woods, that is) diner.
{Breakfast #10: 2 blueberry pancakes + 2 poached eggs = $7.99}
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Just to clarify, the eggs are in the little cup in the upper-right-hand part of the plate. The other gigantic white mass – on the plate – is butter! Yes, I scraped that glob off of the pancakes before I dug in.
Late that afternoon, I went for a run. Or tried to. Digestive issues stopped me after a mile and a half. The heat didn’t help, nor did the Baked Cheetos I snacked on. After an evening of painful cramps, I’m back on the wagon and eating (somewhat) healthy. Until next weekend ; )
À bientôt,
k.
Photo: Dusan Reljun for InStyle via Connie Britton’s website/blog
I was startled and elated, in that order, when I came across this photo of Connie Britton in InStyle magazine this month. Women’s magazines, especially ones devoted to fashion, beauty and celebrities, are not known for featuring women’s bodies that fall outside of a certain ideal shape and size.
Women’s magazines have long been accused of only featuring extremely thin models (which they do), but in the past couple of years, featuring plus-size models/actors/celebrities has become “forward-thinking” or “chic-in-a-forward-thinking-way”. I enjoy seeing thin bodies and plus-size bodies, but what about muscular bodies?! And I don’t mean female body builders. I mean “regular” women who happen to build muscle very easily (without trying!) and are very fit, but don’t have slender calves? As a girl with very muscular legs, I notice these things, I promise. The last big-leg-muscled gal I saw in a magazine was Lisa Marie, when she was married to Tim Burton. That was, what, 7 years ago now? (Yes, I DO keep track of these things!)
And then, low-and-behold, Connie Britton, in all her big, strong, muscle-legged glory. Thank you Connie Britton, and thank you InStyle!
À demain,
k.
One Stylish Life 