Country Music Half Marathon, DONE

April 30, 2011

I have wanted an excuse to come back to Nashville since I left it last October.  Running a race there was just a bonus.

Let’s just say I am truly, madly, deeply in love with that city.

Also, I like running.

Also, I like pretending I don’t have 24 kids every once in awhile.

Tech Support and I ran away leaving the kids in the capable hands of Doritos and Mountain Dew and headed off to Music City.  We arrived on Thursday for the race on Saturday.  We walked to the start line from our hotel and around the area, it was gorgeous, the weather was awesome.  Great perfect day despite my best attempts to turn my head cold into a full on sinus infection.

Friday we did the expo, got the number, took the obligatory Rock n Roll “I can feel your awesome?” mirror pic

I could.  Feel it.

Got my number, my shirt and… because mother nature is a bitch, my period two weeks early.

The sinus infection and the cramps that usually require prescription strength meds would not deter me from the last 13.1 miles of this 300 mile thus far year.  Even though pain meds are contraindicated for races.

Saturday morning I woke up, got room service and headed to the park with 31,900 of my closest friends.

Where there were 16 port a potties.

After pictures with my team mates, and pictures of my shoes,

I headed back to the hotel to not have to pee in the bushes.

This not being my first rodeo, I knew that I wouldn’t be leaving the start line for about 45 minutes, so I sat down with Tech Support and loaded my bra with 47 hankies in case my nose never did stop running.  It did.  But I sat on the sidewalk while Tech Support told me how awesome I was, (he loves me).  At 7:42 I wandered into my corral and started my race.

Technically, I should probably not be running half marathons, since I cannot run 13 miles….I can run 6 miles, which left me with a 7 mile problem….During my runs over six miles I have done the run walk thing.  Four minutes running, one minute walking, so that’s what I did.

Now, there is a BIG difference between Nashville, and the City by the Sea.  Or about 700 different things.  In Nashville, the elevation changes about every 12 feet.  Uphill, downhill, lather, rinse repeat.  If you have ever been to the City by the Sea, you know that there are two hills and they are 15 miles apart.

I set forth to run my own race, at my own pace broken into four minute/one minute intervals.  The terrain was conspiring against me giving me down hills on my walk and uphills on my run.  Whatever.

Six miles went by easy peasy.  I had 1/2 liter of lime water with chia before the race, and was drinking water at every station.  Some awesome people had oranges, apples and bananas around mile 5 and I LOVED them for that.  I am not a Gu and/or gel freak.  Whole and raw for me and so I took 1/4 apple, 1/4 orange and half a banana.  I downed the apple.  No problems.  I downed the orange. No problems.  I held onto the banana til mile 8.  No problem.  Around mile 9 there was a cytomax station, (liken it to gatorade) downed that and immediately the processed drink kicked me in the proverbial nards.

About that time Tech Support texted me and indicated he was waiting for me at mile 10.  Yay, that buoyed my spirits.  As did his reminder that mile nine was taffy.

I had given myself a list of things to think about for each mile.  Things like orphans, and farms and how awesome my life is….and taffy.  Taffy because our family counselor thinks Tech and I are taffy, all mixed up in each others stuff and trying to separate us would just mix us up more.  It was sweetness.  And the perfect time.

I was happy to see Tech Support at mile ten, told him that “taffy was easy” and blew him a kiss as I sprinted by <—– (yeah, it’s my blog, I can make stuff up)

Made it to eleven, following the plan.  Made it to twelve.  Twelve marked the beginning of the hill that never ended.  You would go up, level off, go up, level off and just when you think you are at the top of the hill they sent us around the block and up and even longer hill.  I swore when I saw the part before the around the block I would run from there, which I did, after I went around the block.

And with that almost half mile of walking, even though it was uphill,  I was rested and ready to see my baby.  I ran the rest of the way.  At the bottom of the hill I turned the corner and finished the race, Tech Support there waving signs for me.  Got in line behind marathon finishers and didn’t even mind that I knew they had run exactly twice what I did, twice as fast as I did.

Whatever, we ended up with the same medal.

I have no other races on my calendar until the Harbor Half here in October.  Which, probably won’t last….

Since I know I can complete a half marathon, very slowly, I’m going to work on getting faster and running farther.  Tuesday I am starting a Fitness class on my run keeper that will allegedly train me to run a half in under 2 hours 30 minutes.  When I complete that Fitness class, I will begin the sub 2 hour class.  Hoping to finish the Harbor Half somewhere in the 2:15 area which would knock more than half an hour off of my 2010 time.  Ultimate goal of the year is to do Vegas Rock n Roll in December in under 2 hours.  Oh. Em. Gee.

This whole running thing is fairly new to me.  I’m sure there are runners reading this right now cringing at my method.  Cringing at my flimsy little shoes.  I don’t really care.  I am having fun.  I am loving running.  I want to get better and I put all I have to put out there.  I’m getting better.  I can keep a steady pace even though my first races were faster than my latter ones, I’m steady.

I’m going to keep on running.  I have met the most amazing people, had the most fun, and have gotten myself into some pretty decent shape.  Who cares if 19,000 people beat me?  I am doing something that most people never do, and I’m loving it.

I have finished three half marathons.

Booyah!!

About

Annie is all things awesome. Singer of songs, thinker of thoughts, runner of miles. When she isn't getting paid to kick ass as a personal trainer and health coach, she's looking for her keys.