So without any further ado…(drumroll, please)
MY ROCK N ROLL NASHVILLE COUNTRY MUSIC HALF-MARATHON RECAP
I didn’t get a personal best in Nashville…
***sigh***
I am really surprised at how much it is bugging me…
Should I be, though?
It’s taken me a long while, but these last few years, I’ve really started to get to know myself in a truly honest way. I have my children to thank for that. Seeing some your own, how should I say… not-so-redeeming qualities staring you sassily back in your own face will do that to you. And no, I shouldn’t be surprised that it bugs me as much as it does.
More on that later…
My strategy was simple: Listen to my body.
I was going to try not to look at my watch at all. I even changed the settings so I only saw the actual time of day and not my pace or even my actual time. I was going to walk through most of the water stations just to take a few sips. It was much hotter there than at home recently and I knew that I’d need the water. My husband and my friend had tried the “not looking at your watch” strategy at one of their last halfs last fall and they both surprised themselves. Hopefully I’d do the same.
There were over 30,000 people racing that day. It took a long while of feeling like a bunch of cattle on the way to the 9th corral where I was supposed to start. There were like over 30 corrals!
*Insider’s tip, don’t try find the starting line and then walk past it to your coral unless you are in the first 4 or so. It took FOREVER! Start walking in that direction on a street parallel to the street you start on and then cut over.
We were off! And there wasn’t really much congestion, thankfully. As we rounded out the long downhill, we ran under the large bridge that crossed the Cumberland River. There were a dozen or so people standing on the bridge. JUST STANDING THERE! Not cheering, just watching us. A guy next to me yelled up to them, “C’mon! Cheer or SOMETHING!” They did and the rest of us around laughed. I said, “Well, they’re probably pretty tired. I mean, it’s EARLY!!” Which got a laugh out of the rest of us.
I tried a few other times to be the race Pollyanna and lighten the mood of those around me. When the full marathoners broke from the rest of us halfers, I yelled out, “Ok Full marathoners! Way to be! You got this!” One guy was appreciative and yelled back, “Thank you!” But every other time, it kinda fell flat. Oh well, at least I tried.
The music on the course was really fun! I really enjoyed seeing and hearing each of the groups as we passed them every couple of miles. I really think it did give me a jolt of energy as I approached their bandstands. Some people really poo poo country music, and I’m a former poo pooer. But say what you will about it, at least most of the country music artists out there are actually singing themselves...withOUT autotune. And many of them actually play instruments. And I don’t know the stats for sure, but I bet way more of these artists actually write their own music as compared to those on the pop circuits.
The first 8-9 miles felt really great. I wasn’t looking at my watch, but every time it registered a new mile done, my pace for the mile is on the screen. I instinctively looked at it a few times. I was averaging around 9:10-9:15 and I still felt really great. It could feel my body start to slow down in the 9th mile. It was around that time that the 2:00 pacer passed me. I was a little bummed, but I thought, if I could just keep him in my line of sight, I’ll still finish close.
He continued to get farther and farther away from me.
That bummed me out a bit.
A lot.
I tried not to let it, because I was having fun and the whole trip was such a blessing. Being able to just go down to Nashville at all. Being able to just run at all. I love how running has changed me for the better. I love my life now. I love running. You can’t always beat your time. It’s not a big deal. Just enjoy the rest of the race.
These were the things I kept telling myself.
The last few miles were hot and sweaty and rough. There were some good inclines in those last few miles. But thank the Lord Almighty the end was a great decline! I sped up and raced through that finish line and something that’s never happened to me occured. Rather, something that ALWAYS happens to me DIDN’T occur.
No matter the distance, whether it’s a 5K, 10K or a half or the full, every race I’ve ever done, I get to the last little bit and an overwhelming feeling comes over me. My chest gets really tight, I feel like I can’t get enough air and I seriously wonder if I can even finish the race. It’s so weird.
But that didn’t happen this time. I flew right through the last half mile, and over the finishing mat
LIKE
A
BOSS
Darn...
Honestly, just writing about the whole thing makes me feel better about it. I know I’m being whiny and most people would probably think I’m being a major punk complaining about this. I know you can’t always get a personal best and I know that just finishing is an accomplishment. I know. I really do know.
On the whole, the trip and the race and the experience of traveling for a race was INCREDIBLE! Some highlights:
On the trek from the parking lot into downtown and the starting line, I spotted and spoke to one of my favorite characters from the show Nashville, Sam Palladio!! He’s so dreamy! It is a funny story and if you want to hear it next time I see you, ask me about it, but I’ve gone on long enough here for now.
Marathon training starts in 2 weeks!!! Oh and did I mention that I’m signed up for TWO full marathons on the fall???? And they are only 4 weeks apart...I might be crazy, I might not be able to do it, but I’m going to try!! More on that next time.
Thank you so much, friends for reading! If you’ve made it this far, you’ve been reading a while and I so appreciate your support and love! I hope you have a wonderful week or two! Do something between now and then that challenges and frightens you, at least a tiny bit, just because you can!