Notes
Last leg! Actually last two legs, since I picked up an extra short leg to cover for Jimmy after he rolled his ankle.
I nearly shivered to death waiting for Yammah to find the exchange after he had to run a couple extra miles due to poor signage. I fell victim to the poor signage too and couldn't figure out if I needed to be running on the road or sidewalk after I took the handoff. After working in conjunction with another runner, we found a blinking cone to get us back on the right path. It felt pretty cool to breeze right though the exchange in Versailles and set off on my regularly scheduled run towards Woodford Reserve.
This run ended up being absolutely amazing. I felt like I got stronger as the run went on. It was just so cool to be gliding down this beautiful run at dawn. Normally I'd be pretty destroyed at this point in the Chase. I passed a few people on the long, straight stretch out McCracken Pike. Eventually, I was treated to a gorgeous sunrise as I ascended a hill and the sun crested a rise on the opposite side of the valley.
This is when it really got fun. I started reeling in a guy in orange ahead of me. I'd been making slow progress catching him for quite a while so I knew I had more in the tank, but he really kicked it up when he heard me approaching. We ran single file for a decent while, but when we finally got to the next uphill he threw in the towel and said "Alright, you win" and let me go.
That wouldn't be my only impromptu race, though. This time I was the one being tracked down. At this point I was only about a mile from the exchange and I really didn't want this to be the first time I got passed during the whole 10 miles. So I kicked it up a gear. However, I couldn't definitely tell the challenger was still closing the gap. With a half mile to go he pulled up on my shoulder and we were racing side by side. Eventually there was on oncoming truck so I pulled back and gave the the guy room to get over ahead of me. I figured that was going to be the end up it and he'd pull away. But when the exchange came into view downhill, I turned on my kick and surprised myself that I managed to get back ahead of him!
This Bourbon Chase was such a blast and this impromptu race in particular maybe the most fun racing experience I've had (even if it's not a *real* race). I'm so excited with how I did and really encouraged to see how my training is paying off.