9/50 - Flying Pig Marathon

And here we are - a couple of post-race beers, a shot of bourbon and 100 miles later.  Cincinnati has its charms as a small, Midwestern city with great local restaurants that thrive in part due to the college town atmospheres that surround the city.  We arrived at the expo and soon met a couple of guys that were also running the Flying Pig Marathon after having just run the Kentucky Derby Marathon (it was hard to miss their bright orange long-sleeved shirts that only the Derby full marathoners had received). It was nice to see that I'm not alone in my obsession. 

We made reservations at Local 127 (http://www.mylocal127.com) largely because we have a soft spot for restaurants that focus on locally sourced ingredients and this space also had a uniquely modern decor.  My wife ordered the Porkopolis, which was pork four different ways (quite appropriate for the Flying Pig Marathon!).  Most everything was good, and the pork belly was the best I’ve tasted.  I also sampled the panna cotta which, as you’ll find out in the next paragraph, was not only delectable, but downright forbidden!  All-in-all, the restaurant is worth a visit if you’re in town. 

I failed to mention one other detail about my training plan for this double marathon weekend – I had given up sweets.  Well, I had mostly given up sweets.  I say this with hesitation because my ancestors pride themselves on their sweet tooth and there I was, spitting on the very thing they fought for!  Alright, the only fighting they likely did was over the last piece of pie.  Regardless, beginning March 1^st, I decided to only allow myself one dessert per week and that would be on Sunday evening.  If you know me, this was a far greater challenge than running up and down Pikes Peak Mountain; I had quite the addiction to sugar!  My addiction came to a head on one particular day when I had been in the office for one hour and, after eating six Pop Tarts, I was in the break room looking for a donut.  In fact, I realized this was a pretty common occurrence.  It just so happens that the group I was training with had given up sweets for some time prior to this and raved about how much better they felt so I thought it might actually help with running.  If nothing else, I had a support group!

After two weeks, I was officially detoxed and I really didn’t crave sugar anymore.  I didn’t alter my diet in any other way – in fact the notion of dieting as a runner always baffled me (we run more so we can eat more!) and as a result, I probably made up for the calories with more beer and bigger meals.  However, I lost 5 lbs.  This is notable in that ever since college, I have weighed the exact same regardless of what I did.  I suppose I felt marginally better after giving up the sweets but this tirade doesn’t get me off the hook for having dessert at Local 127 on a Saturday night when I was only allowed Sunday night dessert!  I tried to trick my wife into ordering the panna cotta so that technically it would be her dessert (even though I planned to eat it all along), but she insisted on the cheese plate!  Alas, I failed the training plan. 

There I sat in shame on the hotel bed watching the (arguably equally shameful) remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street as I tried to fall asleep but just couldn’t avert my eyes from that train wreck.  The race was at 6:30am and in all, I got about four hours of sleep.  At the start line, I located the 3:10 pace group and quickly discovered this group to be too serious to have an enjoyable run.  I missed Kentucky already!  Not only was the company not as friendly as I would have liked, it rained for most of the race and in the history of my marathon races this was only the second time that had happened.  Out of 18 races, I suppose I was due.  I found the steady rain and occasional lightning to be quite relaxing. 

The course was less scenic than Louisville and a bit hillier.  In fact, this race has quite a reputation for being difficult because of the hill aspect.  However, I’m convinced that after mile 9, it was mostly downhill.  It always surprises me what runners’ opinions of hilly races are.  The race went well and I kept a pretty even split at the half to finish in 3:09.  Other than just wanting this one to end at mile 22, I didn’t feel any significant difficulty in running back-to-back marathons. I wasn’t sure what to expect so I let the pace group push me and I felt like I ran both races conservatively.  In the aftermath, I walked away unscathed – no sprains, no pulls, not even a blister!  I might even have something left in the ol’ legs to race the Vermont Marathon in two weeks.