I did it!
I did it! This past Saturday I completed my first half marathon: the Country Music 1/2 Marathon. It went extremely well, almost easy!
On the Friday evening before the marathon, I flew into Nashville around 8:15 pm. My mom and I had dinner at Outback and then drove the course so I would know where I am running. The course has some "Tennessee" hills on it but nothing I can't handle. They are gentle hills. I finally went to bed around 11 pm. I woke up at 5:15 am to get dressed, eat breakfast and get ready to head downtown. Fortunately we were able to park in my mom's office lot so we were right across from the start line on West End in front of the Parthenon. I found my corral (19) and then went to corral 20 to look for my friend, Sarynna, that is also running. I couldn't find her so I started the race alone. I started wishing I had my MP3 player with me. I reasoned with myself, though, that I didn't need it since I had just run 11 miles last weekend without my music. The race started at 7 am and as the race began, I felt the urge to pee but decided to hold it. In hindsight I should have immediately gone to the port-a-potty because I didn't start running until just after 7:30! I didn't notice passing my family at the start line. It was amazing to see this sea of people spread out before me as I started down West End Ave.
Around mile 1 I saw Sarynna and Leslie ahead of me and to my left. I ran a little faster to catch up and called out "Hello Ladies!". Sarynna seemed happy to see me, but I didn't stay long and continued ahead on my pace. I had completed the first mile in just under 11 minutes. I was right on pace but I wanted to be faster...I felt good and I was passing people. Things got a little crowded as we headed up Demonbreun to the Music Roundabout. We came across our first water station and apparently there were a lot of walkers in this area. I had to slow down and it was a bit frustrating. I noticed three young college age guys to my left side. They were goofing off but pulled on ahead of me and I wasn't able to keep up. We'll come back to one of them later....
We headed down Music Row and then into some residential areas past Belmont. I was feeling so good and getting faster each mile. At this point, I really noticed all the people that were running for a certain cause and I took the time to read the shirts and signs around me. "For Dell" "In Memory of Papa" "In Honor of Lisa". Some shirts had multiple names on them. I respect every person out there that had someone else in mind as they were pounding the pavement. I also realized what a good cause and organization Team in Training is. There were so many teams and from all over the country! The Capital area, Virginia, Georgia, even Iowa! They were extremely supportive of each other and could identify each other by their purple shirts.
Back to the race...The urge to pee was growing stronger and stronger. I was looking for port-a-pottys but they all had lines and there was no way I was going to waste time standing in line. I tried to pace myself off of certain people but the crowd was thick at times and sporadic so I just did my own thing. I did follow this big football player-looking guy and his girlfriend for a long time to simply observe his calves in motion...he had very nice calves. It's funny the things you notice as you run. There were bands along the route but I didnt really pay much attention to them for the most part....except there was a very cool bluegrass/strings band of older people that I thought were most impressive. They obviously weren't part of the "official" program, but were so happy to be out there. The couple of songs I did notice were familiar songs from the honkey tonks such as Midnight Rider. I sang along. Finally around mile 7 I noticed two potty's over to the right in an obscure area and NO LINE! I darted over and of course it was hard to get the pipes going and when I finally did, I peed forever! I should have timed how long that took! Too much information?
At this point we are heading back along the same course to the Music roundabout where I finally see my family. I run over to the left so I could run right by them. It was odd, they kept just looking into the distance and there was no recognization that I was right there! I finally shouted "Hello!!" and waved my hands and arms. I was practically on top of them and they were stunned! I then turned onto Division St. and headed towards downtown. We then went down 12th ave and by Union Station. Finally at mile 10, fatigue set in. I slowed some and was starting to wonder if I had gone too fast up to this point. I just kept hoping I wouldn't lose steam. I drank a little powerade at a stop but refused the sports beans. I was definitely hungry, though! We ran down and looped the Farmer's Market and ran through Bicentennial Mall. Remeber the college guys? Somewhere around here, I recognized one of them running in front of me. He looked to be in great shape but was visibly struggling. I passed him. That felt good...I know, I am competitive at times.
Finally I was at mile 12, still wasn't back to 100 percent but once I thought about where I was, I picked it up. Then, when we turned the corner and the spectators were saying "Look, there it is, the Coliseum!". I could see it! I powered up to the bridge and then it is downhill from there. There was a coach next to me on the bridge and he kept telling his group: long strides. I took his advice and lengthened my stride and let my legs carry me down over the bridge and into the stadium area. The finish line was packed with people and I had no idea where to look for my family. I turned the final corner at mile 13 and sprinted to the finish.
Stopped my clock and noticed my time was 2:18. Better than goal!! I kept walking, got water, had my picture taken, removed my chip and then headed to get my goodie bags and some food.
I thought it was around 11 am (I was on eastern time) so I headed to the pedestrian bridge to meet my family. I was there in time to see Dr. Smith (my professor from Tech) finish the full marathon. It was good to see a glimpse of him since I had read his book during my training and drawn inspiration from him. I finally caught up with my family, but they had arrived at the finish line too late to see me finish.
It was such a good feeling to be done and feel fine. I wasn't in pain, I wasn't hurting, I wasn't out of breath...I was great. We headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then I went shopping with my mom in the afternoon. The outside of my thighs were a little sore but not nearly as bad as they had been after a couple of my training runs. The training pays off and, ultimately, is the difference between having an "easy" race or a difficult one. When you have practiced, it does appear easy.
My official time is 2:18:15. An interesting note, the winner of the full marathon's time was around 2:15. He ran double what I did in the same amount of time. Amazing! My pace was 10:33 minutes/mile which is better than my goal of 11 minutes/mile. I placed 6,802/14,641 overall. Out of the females, I placed 3316/9211. In my age division (25 to 29 years old), I placed 828/1939. Better than half in all cases.
Would I do it again? Of course! How about next weekend? Kidding....but seriously in the late summer/fall.
On the Friday evening before the marathon, I flew into Nashville around 8:15 pm. My mom and I had dinner at Outback and then drove the course so I would know where I am running. The course has some "Tennessee" hills on it but nothing I can't handle. They are gentle hills. I finally went to bed around 11 pm. I woke up at 5:15 am to get dressed, eat breakfast and get ready to head downtown. Fortunately we were able to park in my mom's office lot so we were right across from the start line on West End in front of the Parthenon. I found my corral (19) and then went to corral 20 to look for my friend, Sarynna, that is also running. I couldn't find her so I started the race alone. I started wishing I had my MP3 player with me. I reasoned with myself, though, that I didn't need it since I had just run 11 miles last weekend without my music. The race started at 7 am and as the race began, I felt the urge to pee but decided to hold it. In hindsight I should have immediately gone to the port-a-potty because I didn't start running until just after 7:30! I didn't notice passing my family at the start line. It was amazing to see this sea of people spread out before me as I started down West End Ave.
Around mile 1 I saw Sarynna and Leslie ahead of me and to my left. I ran a little faster to catch up and called out "Hello Ladies!". Sarynna seemed happy to see me, but I didn't stay long and continued ahead on my pace. I had completed the first mile in just under 11 minutes. I was right on pace but I wanted to be faster...I felt good and I was passing people. Things got a little crowded as we headed up Demonbreun to the Music Roundabout. We came across our first water station and apparently there were a lot of walkers in this area. I had to slow down and it was a bit frustrating. I noticed three young college age guys to my left side. They were goofing off but pulled on ahead of me and I wasn't able to keep up. We'll come back to one of them later....
We headed down Music Row and then into some residential areas past Belmont. I was feeling so good and getting faster each mile. At this point, I really noticed all the people that were running for a certain cause and I took the time to read the shirts and signs around me. "For Dell" "In Memory of Papa" "In Honor of Lisa". Some shirts had multiple names on them. I respect every person out there that had someone else in mind as they were pounding the pavement. I also realized what a good cause and organization Team in Training is. There were so many teams and from all over the country! The Capital area, Virginia, Georgia, even Iowa! They were extremely supportive of each other and could identify each other by their purple shirts.
Back to the race...The urge to pee was growing stronger and stronger. I was looking for port-a-pottys but they all had lines and there was no way I was going to waste time standing in line. I tried to pace myself off of certain people but the crowd was thick at times and sporadic so I just did my own thing. I did follow this big football player-looking guy and his girlfriend for a long time to simply observe his calves in motion...he had very nice calves. It's funny the things you notice as you run. There were bands along the route but I didnt really pay much attention to them for the most part....except there was a very cool bluegrass/strings band of older people that I thought were most impressive. They obviously weren't part of the "official" program, but were so happy to be out there. The couple of songs I did notice were familiar songs from the honkey tonks such as Midnight Rider. I sang along. Finally around mile 7 I noticed two potty's over to the right in an obscure area and NO LINE! I darted over and of course it was hard to get the pipes going and when I finally did, I peed forever! I should have timed how long that took! Too much information?
At this point we are heading back along the same course to the Music roundabout where I finally see my family. I run over to the left so I could run right by them. It was odd, they kept just looking into the distance and there was no recognization that I was right there! I finally shouted "Hello!!" and waved my hands and arms. I was practically on top of them and they were stunned! I then turned onto Division St. and headed towards downtown. We then went down 12th ave and by Union Station. Finally at mile 10, fatigue set in. I slowed some and was starting to wonder if I had gone too fast up to this point. I just kept hoping I wouldn't lose steam. I drank a little powerade at a stop but refused the sports beans. I was definitely hungry, though! We ran down and looped the Farmer's Market and ran through Bicentennial Mall. Remeber the college guys? Somewhere around here, I recognized one of them running in front of me. He looked to be in great shape but was visibly struggling. I passed him. That felt good...I know, I am competitive at times.
Finally I was at mile 12, still wasn't back to 100 percent but once I thought about where I was, I picked it up. Then, when we turned the corner and the spectators were saying "Look, there it is, the Coliseum!". I could see it! I powered up to the bridge and then it is downhill from there. There was a coach next to me on the bridge and he kept telling his group: long strides. I took his advice and lengthened my stride and let my legs carry me down over the bridge and into the stadium area. The finish line was packed with people and I had no idea where to look for my family. I turned the final corner at mile 13 and sprinted to the finish.
Stopped my clock and noticed my time was 2:18. Better than goal!! I kept walking, got water, had my picture taken, removed my chip and then headed to get my goodie bags and some food.
I thought it was around 11 am (I was on eastern time) so I headed to the pedestrian bridge to meet my family. I was there in time to see Dr. Smith (my professor from Tech) finish the full marathon. It was good to see a glimpse of him since I had read his book during my training and drawn inspiration from him. I finally caught up with my family, but they had arrived at the finish line too late to see me finish.
It was such a good feeling to be done and feel fine. I wasn't in pain, I wasn't hurting, I wasn't out of breath...I was great. We headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then I went shopping with my mom in the afternoon. The outside of my thighs were a little sore but not nearly as bad as they had been after a couple of my training runs. The training pays off and, ultimately, is the difference between having an "easy" race or a difficult one. When you have practiced, it does appear easy.
My official time is 2:18:15. An interesting note, the winner of the full marathon's time was around 2:15. He ran double what I did in the same amount of time. Amazing! My pace was 10:33 minutes/mile which is better than my goal of 11 minutes/mile. I placed 6,802/14,641 overall. Out of the females, I placed 3316/9211. In my age division (25 to 29 years old), I placed 828/1939. Better than half in all cases.
Would I do it again? Of course! How about next weekend? Kidding....but seriously in the late summer/fall.
posted by Aud at 11:05 PM
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