And They're Off......

Kentucky Derby 2013 will go down as one of the wettest Derby's ever and the 9th largest in attendance!  Yeah that is how important the Kentucky Derby is!  This weekend I was going through instagram and looking at some other bloggers I follow who live in Arkansas and Florida and they had their Derby hats on and was celebrating the day as well. I smiled and thought how neat that states all over celebrate and dress-up for the Kentucky Derby and how fortunate I am that it is in my back door and I am lucky enough to get attend!!!!


As always we have been planning our outfits and hats for weeks now.  But the anticipation just wasn't there to begin with this year.  Knowing that rain was in the forecast, I was kind of dreading it.  But Saturday morning rolled around and as I was getting ready, the excitement started to set in.  Especially when I put my hat on!  Jessica and JT came over and we made our pre-Derby pictures, the ONLY dry ones of the day!!  We stopped at Cracker Barrel for some breakfast on the way to Louisville.  We wore our hats inside and the waitresses were all stopping and asking if we were going to the Derby and complimenting us on our hats.



Loving the Muck boots in the corner, we decided we needed
to wear them instead of our heels!



Note, Muck boots again!!! It has been a very rainy, wet and muddy
May here in KY!!!

We packed our "emergency ponchos" and wore them all day long!!! It was more than an emergency!  But the way we looked at it was, we could have been ill, fussed, been miserable, but what good what it have done...NONE, might as well as smile go on and be happy.  There wasn't a thing we could have done about it!

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We are very thankful for plastic!!

the starting gate



The Derby Goers!!!!!!

There is always next year!  I am already excited to look for next years hat.  I know I want a pretty color next year.  Last year I wore black, this year was taupe, I want either a yellow, mint or pink!!!! Think I might go hat shopping this weekend and try to find some on sale!!!

TGIF!!!

This week has been 100 days long!!!!  You might have guessed, yeah a long one!  Linking up with Lauren for H54F.  My top 5s from this week and a couple of pictures are from a year or longer ago, but have either been looked back on or an event that occured last year that is up and coming.

Here goes!!!!

Clockwise -  1. My half marathon finisher's medal 2. Chris, Jessica, me and JT our first year at the derby showing off our very Large winnings!!! We hit big!!!! 3. Jessica and I last year at the derby 4. My new baby kitties, 3 days old, the Mama had them in a flower pot and moved them under my gas grill!! no grilling for us for about 2 weeks!! 5.  Jessica's first celebrity meeting...Calvin Borrell at the Derby!!!



Have a good week!!! Don't forget to watch the fastest 2 minutes in sports entertainment , right here in My Old Kentucky Home!

A Random Mess

This week has been a crazy mess!!!  My kids are knee deep in baseball, t-ball and Maddie with dance and tumble! Crazy times, but oh so fun!!!

On Tuesday one of my very best friends' mom was killed in an auto accident.  My heart broke immediately when I  heard it.  Teresa and her mom were very close.  I visited with her that afternoon to comfort her and tell her that I am there for her if she needs anything.



Teresa and I

This weekend is the KY Derby!! I am usually so excited about it, but with the pending forecast of RAIN RAIN...URGH.... and thinking of Teresa, it just isn't there this year.  I did check out the horses and Orb seems to be the favorite and I will be rooting for GoldenScents, the horse is owned by Rick Pitino, for those of you that don't know, he is the head coach of the UofL Cardinals, National Champions and the only coach to win a NCAA title at 2 different schools!!! He is on a roll of winning so I feel like his horse can win it all as well!  However with rain in the forecast, the track will play a huge roll in it.  It will be muddy and sloppy!!!

Have a good Weekend!!!

KY Derby Festival Mini Marathon -Recap

Our 2 hour rode trip began on Friday around 11:00.  Chris, JT and I left from our house and we had to make a stop by the Louisville Zoo to pick Jessica up!!! Yeah she was visiting some extended family! LOL No she was there with her son on his end of year school trip.  We then headed to our hotel.  We stayed at the Hyatt on 4th St.  I have stayed there before and it is a nice place.  When we got to the parking garage, Jessica and I jumped out and went down to my super sweet "sister's" office, (Robin is like a sister to me, life long family friend and neighbor.) to get our Derby tickets!!  It was really neat to be able to go in one of the tall office buildings downtown....the 23rd floor!!!



The Hyatt

After that we walked across the street to the KY Convention Center to the Runner's Expo and picked up our packets.  It was really neat.  Very well organized.  Picked up a new headband.  I have baby hairs around my face, and when they get wet/sweaty, they go wild, so I was very excited to wear it on Saturday!


With our Bibs!

We headed down to 4th Street Live to meet up with the guys and to grab a bite to eat.  We went in a little Piano bar, Howl at the Moon and listened to them play a few songs and then to TGI Fridays to carb up!!!

Jessica and I headed back to our room and the guys caught a cab and headed across the river into IN to the gambling boat!  We were so excited  and nervous trying to decide what we were going to wear.  The weather had us tore up, it was a 40% chance of rain and cool.  So I opted for black UA capris and a long sleeve pink UA shirt. The main reason I wanted to wear it was it had a zipper pocket and I could have somewhere to put my poncho in case of the rain.  Jessica wore a tank top under her shirt, so she could take it off along the way and tie it around her.



In the hotel lobby right before we walked down to the start line!



 
At the start line, just as the Bugle was being played for a call to post, just like the Derby! Check out our super cute new headbands.  Mine is pink with bright polka dots and Jessica's says "i just felt like running"!!!! Go Forrest!


About to run 13.1 with 18,000+/- people!!!!

The race was super FLAT!!! If you are ever considering a Half Marathon, this is a great one for you to begin with! Great atmosphere, and super course!!! Miles 1-8 went by super fast!  We saw some Elvis runners, some people we knew along the course. I was looking for my blogging friend Savannah, that was like searching for a needle in a haystack or the swamp as Jace Robertson says..... and never did see you!! (BTW can't wait to hear how you did).
However on mile 10 I was starting to spend out!  My knees were starting to hurt and I could feel a blister coming on.  And sure enough when we got back to the room there was a NICE one!

This is the crazy thing, our time was exactly the same as our last/first Mini. 2:20:11.  To be honest, I really wasn't concerned with our time.  Since I had not trained like I needed to, I was just looking to finish, run the entire time, have fun and enjoy the moment. And I did!!!!!  But still crazy especially since this one was flat and the other one was hilly.  But I think I can justify it a little.  We had to walk about a minute at the start due to the congestion of people and then about the last 7 or so water stations you had to slow down a lot and wait for the water.  Not sure what the problem was, but at one they didn't have any cups of water and were filling them up as we got there.  Also we ran one lap inside of Churchill Downs, home of the KY Derby.  Which was awesome!!! There were horses on the track warming up, Saturday was opening night of Churchill Downs.  We goofed off in there taking pictures of each other, the spires and a nice lady asked if she wanted us to take a picture of us together.  But we never did stop, we dropped a gear to a very slow jog.  And at Mile 11 I was spent, I was so ready to get this over with, and I had slowed wayyyyy down.  I know I was holding Jessica back, that is why she is so awesome, she stayed with me every step. It was an amazing experience.

Elvis Lives!

Going into the tunnel

inside the track!!!! aka the infield

At the finishline, we saw the lady/friend that owns the nearest running store to us, Trax Running in Bowling Green, KY.  She is amazing, and has ran several Marathons including Boston and NYC.  Saturday she ran the Half.  She said her Full days are long gone, the knees can't handle it anymore!

Lilly, me and Jessica

finisher's medal!

I am so glad I was able to be a part of this neat experience and so glad that I have running partner that will hang with me through all my belly aching!!! We understand each other and almost know what the other is thinking, even though you can be a tad annoying Josssisca!!!! Love ya chick!!!!
 

25 days

25 days and counting until my second Half Marathon!!! Yikes!!! Am I ready physically, NO, am I ready mentally, NO, will I be ready, I hope so!!!! The course has been re-routed and it is a really flat course.  So with knowing that I feel better about the race knowing that I don't have any mountains to climb!  The Kentucky Derby is the biggest sporting event in the world and the fastest 3 minutes in sports entertainment.  And I am very happy to say that it is located in my home state.  The Marathon and Half Marathon is the weekend before the actual Derby.  The Derby is always the first Saturday in May, which I might add that we will be attending as well! I am so excited for both events!

Manic Monday

My Monday started out really crappy!!!  I was getting ready and Carter came into my room saying that we had a calf out!  So I went to check and sure enough there he stood in the middle of the back yard.  So I threw on some old pants, shirt and slipped my muck boots on. Told Carter to put on some clothes that we had to try and get this calf up.  We tried herding him in the barn and no such luck.  He then came around the barn like a bullett and through the yard, down the road he went!! So here goes me and Carter after him.  Remember I have on muck boots, that are heavy and it is about 25 degrees. 

The calf runs into my parents side yard then turns and goes back up the road.  I get back to the house and my feet are killing me. It is then I realize I have on no socks and I have 2 huge blisters on my heels that feel like a I have knife stabbing me!

Ended up having to call Chris to come home from work to help us get the calf in, luckily he wasn't ill.  Called my Mama to come and take kids to school so they wouldn't be late.  And I was only about 5 minutes late for work.  However it was a no make-up kind of day!!

But the day ended very well! Jessica and I got registered for the Derby Half Marathon!!




Cannot wait to run this race!!  The KY Derby is one of the Greatest Sports in all of Sports, and we are so lucky that it is in our back door!! We are spending the night in Louisville on Friday night at the Hyatt and will run the race on Saturday!

Yesterday was also a score because we got our Derby Tickets!!!  We are usually having to wheel and deal to find some and have to pay a large sum of money but this year, we had some connections.  Can't wait to here that bugle sound!



Jessica and Calvin Borrell



This was the first year and we won big!!

The ended so good...Maddie started a new gymnastics class. She is right there on her back walk over and cart wheel. So we thought having one class that is just gymnastics is what she needed, and on the first night she got her back bend kick over!!!! Talking about one proud mama!!!!!!! And all I have is video and no pictures!!! But I will make sure I get some!