Nashville's Country Music Half-Marathon!!

So the big event came and it was definitely a fabulous weekend. I wish I could put up all of our pictures, it's so hard to choose. So here is how the events unfolded: Me, Jaime, and Jen headed out of town after lunch on Friday and got into Nashville in time to get to the expo and get our race bibs/chips/t-shirts/free stuff. Here's a pic at the expo:


There were TONS of people there so lots of hustle and bustle all around. I had only done 5Ks and 10Ks, so I was super impressed by the people picking up numbers for the marathon. Or maybe I was just in "please-intimidate-me" mode. But we were all pretty darn excited. So then we were staying with a couple that were Jen's friends from high school/college, who turned out to be really amazing hosts. They had done the race a few times themselves so they knew all the efficient secrets to making it a good day. They just got married last month so didn't have time to train for this year. We got to their house around dinner time and then headed out and had some dinner, then came back for a good night's sleep! Thank goodness I was able to sleep, I still can't sleep on Christmas Eve or before anything that involves anticipation. We got up super early and Matt (the husband half of the hosts) was already up with coffee made in to-go cups for us and ready to take us to where we needed to be. It was great. Here's Matt and Jen happy to be awake!


His office was super-conveniently only a block or two from the starting line so we were able to go there to park, drink some water, use the bathroom, etc. It's funny how the more I run, the more bathroom issues become a common topic of discussion with no shame, it just is what it is, you gotta make sure you're free and clear before you set out, and even then you're still not guaranteed a potty-free race (foreshadowing my fate). We just met this guy and he was making our pit-stop plans. And we were grateful.

Then a bit of stretching...


And here we are heading off to find our "corral". There were 30,000 people registered so they had to start the race in waves of about 1,000 each. We were in wave 9 so that wasn't too bad. Jen (the seasoned marathon runner) was in 6, but she hung back with us so we could start together.


So a little side note... at the moment I'm totally optimistic about my next race. I can't wait. But I think it might be a similar phenomenon to post-childbirth, when women just went through this horrid process of pain and endurance, but after they have the finished product they are totally willing to do it again. Maybe not a perfect metaphor, but maybe similar? So while I'm totally optimistic now, I have to admit there were moments in the race when I was thinking "WHAT did I get myself into?!". But I did it. I finished. And want to do it again. To summarize my first half-marathon experience I would say it was challenging. I'm so glad I did it, but I was NOT prepared for the hills or the heat. It just happened to be around 80 degrees in Nashville that morning and very sunny... and Nashville is really hilly! My goal was to average under 10 min miles, but I ended up finishing in 2:23, which is just under 11 min miles. But considering the conditions and the fact that I really pushed myself (AND I had to stop TWICE in the port-a-potties!! there's a few minutes right there, right??), I was pretty satisfied with my performance. And I have a medal to show for it :) The picture I started this post with is after the finish with our medals.

The race itself and the crowd and the energy was all super fun, I really liked Nashville. The day certainly didn't stop there, but I need to do non-blogging things for the rest of the day. I will have "the rest of Nashville" up tomorrow I hope!!

Tonight we're going to see Yacht Rock Revue at Andrews Upstairs with a lot of friends. We're gonna do some type of patio/outdoor eating before, and I won't lie, I'm pretty pumped about it! I'll close with a picture of Lee from the last time he went to see this band. People dress up. Have an awesome Friday!!!