And just like that, I’m 2/3 of the way towards finishing my goal.

A couple weeks ago I ran the Kentucky Derby mini marathon (half marathon). I had never been to Kentucky before. From the start, it was memorable. My sister and I arrived in the airport and as we were headed to our Uber a guy asked if we were there for the race (I was sporting Boston gear since I am still riding that high). I said yes and asked if he had any food recommendations. His response “Don’t get shot”. Um, okay. Was just really planning on some good snacks and running but I’ll add that to the list.

Off we went to the expo. It was a good one, all the basics plus some fun special booths such as the rubber ducky derby. We got our bibs, bought some rubber ducks, and race gear.

After that we went to dinner where we enjoyed some derby pie. It wasn’t my favorite but when in Kentucky you must try the local cuisine.

From there we went to the hotel – we stayed at the Moxy. The phone next to the nightstand had a button that you could press for a bedtime story. Of course I pressed it expecting to hear something about counting sheep….I was wrong.

Saturday morning it was race time. Luckily the start line was like two blocks from our hotel room. The weather was perfect. Cool with mild wind. I had no idea how I was going to run as I was still a bit tired from Boston so I decided to just enjoy myself.

The crowd support was pretty solid, and I ran into Ted Lasso and crew twice which was fun because I was watching the newest season on the plane ride over. I freaking love that show.

I also made friends with Doc and Marty, especially after they helped me when I took a tumble into a wall. We were coming into Churchill Downs in a tunnel and there’s a divit on the side and I rolled my ankle on it and hit the wall. Doc asked me if I was okay, I responded yes even though my ankle and shin/calf were on fire.

I looked down later to see that my ankle was bleeding and I had wall rash all over my leg. That was new, I’ve hit “the (metaphorical) wall” while running but never hit an actual wall.

We continued through Churchill Downs and it was really cool to see the horses practicing and running around the track.

I kept on running, as that’s what one does in a race, and finally got to the end. The course was a bit long but I still managed to run it just over 2 hours so I was happy with that. Waiting at the finish line was an ice cold carton of chocolate milk, my absolute favorite thing to have after running. Also, a picture of my boss…that was kind of surprising.

I waited for my sister (she did great!) and once she finished we walked back to our hotel. We showered and then went to lunch at The Brown Hotel to try the famous hot brown sandwich.

After that we decided to shake out the legs with a 2 mile walk to a brewery so I could enjoy some smoothie style sour ales. If you haven’t tried that style, I highly recommend. When we arrived, they were out of what I had wanted to go there for, but I improvised and tried some other beers and we relaxed while drinking and watching the Princess Bride.

We then took an Uber back to the hotel before going to the festival to watch the Kentucky derby duck race. We missed it. And we didn’t win. Oh well.

From there we walked to dinner at a Mexican restaurant (that seems to be our food of choice after running). We tried some pretty wild things including a kangaroo taco. For those wondering, kangaroo is very lean and tough.

Overall it was a great trip. Got to see the sights, eat lots of new foods, and spend time with my sister. Next up is Connecticut and Vermont!