My Cleveland Experience

Back in December, after getting the internship with Mid-South Conference, I came to the unfortunate conclusion I couldn’t run the Derby Festival Marathon in Louisville, as it fell on the same weekend as the MSC track and field tournament. I had already started P90X, was getting into great shape, and knew this could be my year to run an amazing marathon time. After doing research on flat and fast races taking place in early May, Cleveland seemed to be the only one anywhere near Kentucky.

Now, anyone who knows me knows my disaffection for the city of Cleveland. I’ve never been there and really enjoyed my experience. Sorry If I offend by saying this, but it really is the armpit of America. But being my only chance to potentially qualify for Boston, I signed up and began the 16-week training process.

Along the way, my training kicked into high gear. P90X provided a solid fitness base, and the Insanity workouts (which really are insane) supplemented my running well. I PR’d in all three of the Louisville Triple Crown races, both thanks to my training and my increased focus on a healthy diet. I stayed injury free, and went into this weekend assured I could run the necessary 3 hour, 10 minute marathon required to qualify for Boston.

I left on Friday with my parents, making the drive up there a day early to not have to be confined to the car all day Saturday (the day before the race). The marathon expo took us to a shady part of the East Cleveland (pretty much the whole thing), but was a great chance to stock up on free samples and a new pair of cheap Brooks running shoes.

On race day, I woke up confident but worried about the weather. It was foggy, about 54 degrees, and showed a lot of potential for rain. I toed the line in my tiny running shorts and singlet, ready to give it my best shot. My aim was to run a 3:05, which would make it easier to get to Boston through priority registration. I started off fast, clipping off the first 10K in 42:58 and half marathon in 1:30:42. That was almost a half marathon PR, and I felt great I was not only running strong, but had found another guy to run with who wanted to run a 3:05. It allowed me to keep the pace conversational, yet competitive.

We hit a nice downhill at about 17 miles that lasted the next 3 miles, and I was able to keep the 3 hour pacer in sight. My 30K time had me on pace to finish in under 3:02. But at about 20 miles, I started to feel it. I kept it strong for 2 miles, but began to really feel it at mile 22. The crowds of support thinned, as did the number of runners around me to provide a little pacing. I was running solo, and paying for it.

With about 2 miles left, I knew I could do it. If I didn’t walk, I was going to finish strong and qualify for Boston. As I ran the home stretch (a downhill, fortunately), I looked at my watch to see sub-3:05. I crossed the finish line in 3:04:39, crushing my PR and earning me a BQ (Boston Qualifier)!

After lying on the floor of the Cleveland Browns stadium for what seemed like hours (in reality, about 20 minutes), I made the trek back to the hotel (again, only half a mile that felt like another marathon) so happy with what I had accomplished. My 6-month journey had culminated in a successful Cleveland Experience. Boston, here I come.

Me at the beginning of the race, still smiling and bandana in place.

At about the halfway point, drafting off the guy in front of me and alternating who took the lead with these 2 guys. It kept us right up there with the 3 hour pace group until about mile 17.

Coming down the homestretch, trying to not look at miserable as I felt.

Pretty pumped to cross the finish line.

 In the hotel room after the race, complete with my medal and bib.

the past year in photos

 So I know it’s been a while since my last post. And when I say a while, I mean almost a full year. In that time, a lot has happened in my life and the lives of my friends. While I am no longer in Spain, that doesn’t mean the adventures haven’t continued. Yes, there have been less weekend getaways to exotic cities. And there are less frequent cultural blunders to report. In an attempt to sum up this past year for those out there I don’t get to talk to as regularly as I’d like, I’ll now take you through a year in pictures.

After getting back from Spain, my first adventure was a family road trip to northern Ohio, where we went to Cedar Point and the great city of Cleveland. In Cleveland, we toured the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Timothy admired the clear Lake Erie.

While I enjoy time with my family, I had to move out of the house. I moved in to a nice two-bedroom apartment with one of my best friends and former fraternity brothers, Nelson. Even though we’ve had our fair share of water leaks while living here in Camden Prospect Park, it’s been a great place to live.

In August, I began my first year of graduate school in sport administration. While I had planned on attending George Washington in DC, the University of Louisville offered me a last-minute graduate assistantship that was too good to pass up. My first exciting grad school journey took me to Lexington to be a mystery shopper at a UK football game with 3 new grad school friends. We were basically customer service spies, but got some cool perks like on-field access, where I met Tayshaun Prince.

The next graduate school adventure was actually for class, at the World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park. For an event management class, we worked for Gameday Management to help operate bus transportation for people coming to WEG. While I spent most of my time working with the volunteers in the bus mall, we were able to spend some of our downtime exploring the Horse Park and seeing some of the Games.

As it was an election year, Louisville had some exciting visitors in 2010. One of those was my hero Bill Clinton, who visited the UofL campus to show support for Jack Conway. Conway ended up losing, but I won by getting to hear Clinton give an excellent speech (per usual).

While it may have been exciting to live in DC and attend graduate school, I quickly saw the numerous perks of UofL and was reassured I made the right choice. One of those was touring the new $220 million KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville. It’s an amazing arena, built specifically for UofL basketball. Timothy and I took a tour of it with my friend Michelle before the arena opened.

To keep the tradition alive, I had to throw a tacky Christmas party. In December, I put in the tackiest sweater vest/turtleneck I could find, shaved the no-shave November beard into an awesome mustache, and hosted a tacky Christmas party to coincide with the UofL soccer team’s national semifinal match. My dog Archie tried to ruin the party by eating a whole tray of brownies while I went on a quick beer run, but it was a big success. Here is a picture with my three best grad school friends and me: Per, Kristina, and Emily. Kristina left us in the spring to move her adventure to Colorado, but we had some good times.

Christmas break was the time for weddings. First, my fraternity brother and my brother’s former roommate Ryan got married to another good friend Sarah in Morehead in December. It was a great chance to see many college friends I hadn’t seen in a while and celebrate with Ryan and Sarah. Then in January, we did it all over again for my brother’s wedding to Mandy. I was definitely “that guy” at the wedding, as can be seen in the picture of me enjoying the dance floor.

Another Christmas break adventure was the new New Year’s Eve tradition at the Bush household in Frankfort. It was a great time ringing in 2011 with my closest friends, even more special as my great friends Tyler and Sara had just gotten engaged. So happy for the two of them. Here they are posing with the Halloween funfetti cake I made for them, which tasted a lot better than it looked.

The spring semester started off with a big UofL sport administration victory. Myself and three other grad students competed in the National Sports Forum Case Cup against 8 other teams from top national sport admin college programs. We were given a challenge, which in this case was to come up with a marketing campaign for the Ali Center, and had to present our solution 24 hours later. It was a long 24 hours, complete with a 5 am Kinko’s run, but our team worked really hard. We managed to make it to the final two, then just squeaked by the University of Oregon to bring home the NSF Case Cup.

As if I hadn’t had enough of Mid-South Conference athletics while running at Georgetown, I went back to the MSC to do my internship this spring. I was able to organize the men’s and women’s basketball tournament, as well as the track and field tournament. Both were extremely successful, and gave me the chance to work with some great people.

Along with organizing running events, I was able to participate in a few along the way. After completing the grueling P90X workout, my fitness reached new levels as I competed in the Louisville Triple Crown of Running. I was able to set PRs in all 3 races (17:12 in 5K, 36:46 in 10K, and 1:03:07 in the 10-miler) to come in 24th out of 2100 runners. This was just the stepping stone to my third marathon, which I will run in Cleveland on May 15 (just a week away!). My goal is to run under 3:10:00 to qualify for Boston.

Now that the semester has drawn to a close, I’m excited for a little relaxation this summer. There’ll be time in between summer school for some more adventures, along with celebrations (including one’s for new engagements of four of my best friends: Ryan and Jesse, and Jordan and Layne). But first, I’m working the 2011 Senior PGA Championships at Valhalla. It takes place May 24-29, but our operations team has already started working out on the course. It’s my first foray into golf, so we’ll see how it goes.