Derby Day

Nothing beats a rest day on a Saturday, except perhaps a rest day on Kentucky Derby Saturday. I slept a record-breaking 10 hours and it felt amazing. I did some long overdue cleaning and organizing in my apartment, leisurely ran some errands and rewarded myself with a fun afternoon of Derby viewing at a nearby bar in Brooklyn. The Derby party was in full effect - $3 Makers Mark mint juleps, $3 Rolling Rock ponies (3 little beers), $5 sets of hot dogs and all sorts of other things an Ironman-in-training shouldn't go anywhere near. Several people were in their finest Derby attire including fancy hats and dresses, cowboy hats and stuffed horses on sticks. It was festive all around.

I arrived at 5:15 or so and enjoyed a mint julep and half a pony. And yes, I had the hot dogs. On a weekend when I'm logging everything I eat and drink for my coach no less. But hey, you have to live, right? The race was shown on a big projection screen in the back. It was hard to hear the commentary, but it was fun to see on a huge screen. As always it was exciting to watch, all two minutes of it, as the winner came out of nowhere with 50-1 odds. I stayed a bit longer to finish my second mint julep, grabbed another quick drink in the neighborhood and called it a night.

I'm back to training tomorrow, but it's relatively short as it marks the end of my rest week. I'm jumping back into full volume next week and will be re-testing my zones so it should make it a good challenge for me.