Nashville Marathon

Mission accomplished!  This weekend I ran my half marathon in Nashville, Tennessee.  Roshel, Sarah and I drove to Denver on Wednesday night and stayed there before flying out Thursday afternoon.  Luckily we had a direct flight.  Most of the time I spent doing the head-bob nap thing, and kept waking up with my head nearly resting on the shoulder of the big guy next to me.  Roshel made better use of the trip than I did.  By chance she happened to sit next to the guy who owned the hotel we were staying at.  She is definitely an asset on a trip because by the time we got to our hotel, the owner had lowered our rates $50 per night.  My sister, Katie and my sister-in-law, Eryka, came in on a later flight from Kansas City. 

On Friday, we got up and drove to meet up with some good friends for breakfast at Marcy Jo's in Pottsville, Ten.  As always, the food was A-MAZING!  Along with our individual personal orders we got two cinnamon rolls for everyone to share, but they were so huge that even after we all took a couple of bites, we only finished off one of them.  Eating a whole one myself would have been painful bliss!

Afterward we came back into Nashville and went to the expo for the marathon.  There was quite a bit to look at and my favorite part involved walking around and trying all the different samples of protein bars and drinks. :)  I also got a shirt that read "One More Mile" on the front, and on the back it said "Dear God, please let there be someone behind me to read this."  It cracks me up every time I think about it. 

Later that night we drove to Franklin, Ten. to eat at Puckett's.  It's this neat little restaurant/grocery store, and they had a songwriter's show.  We sat right in front and watched Trent Willmon, Jared Crump and Jeremy --, well I can't remember his last name now, but they all were great!  I'm already a huge Trent Willmon fan, but I'd never heard Jared before.  He has this amazing blues-y, country mix that I could listen to forever.  I was going to get a CD, but he doesn't have one made yet. 

Saturday was race day!  We had to get up pretty early so we could be at our corral for the race by 6 a.m.  I was afraid I would have some big ol' butterflies in my stomach, but I ended up just being more excited than anything.  My one concern was that I'd be all hopped-up on adrenaline and do a bad job pacing myself.  We got into a corral with a pacer (they actually have people that run a specific pace in the race, holding a sign so that way others can judge their pace).  So I was able to use him as a guide on how I was running.  Before running I'd heard several people say that the hills on this course were pretty tough.  In my mind I was picturing huge, mountainous hills that I would have to make it over, so when I actually ran it, it didn't seem bad at all.  This is one instance where it paid off to have pessimistic thoughts and expect the worst!  The race was really fun.  Throughout the entire thing, there were people cheering you on and bands playing along the way.  The first couple of miles were downhill and in front of me I could see a sea of people, all running for the same finish line I was.  It was pretty sweet to be a part of something like that.  My running buddy,Sarah, and I ran together for the first four miles or so, then we got separated at a water station and I didn't see her again until the end.  In conversations prior to the race, Sarah told me that if some people had to go to the bathroom while running, they would just pee themselves so they wouldn't mess up their time.  I don't know if that's dedication or craziness, but I'm pretty sure I would at least want to find a tree or something to squat behind. 
 Anyway, on about mile 11 or 12, I came up behind a girl and I thought to myself, 'Dang, how is that girl sweating so much!'  It seemed to be just pouring out of her.  Then I realized - it wasn't sweat.  Apparently she just couldn't hold it any longer.  I got to give her props; I don't know that I could mentally tell myself that it is ok to pee down my leg.  Guess she has better mental control than I do.  Luckily I was able to use the port-a-potty beforehand, so I was good to go.
I was so glad my sister and in-laws were able to come.  It was great to have them at the finish line, yelling my name.

I crossed the finish line after 1 hr. 45 min. and 27 seconds.  If I figured right, that put my pace at 8.05 minutes/mile.  Sarah came in a couple of minutes behind me.  I definitely didn't set any records, but I was pleased with my time, and it felt great to cross that finish line!

Sidenote:  I ran in a Joey+Rory shirt (they're a country duet couple).  On the front it has their song title "Cheater, Cheater" and on the back it says "No Ho's Allowed."  I'm good friends with their daughter Heidi, and I jokingly asked her if she thought it would be ok to wear a shirt in a race that said "Cheater" on it.  She told me "Yeah, you'll be in Nashville, not Kansas!"  I asked her if this meant Nashville people would know what it meant or that they were ok with cheating?  She said "both." :)

My shower after the race was about the most amazing thing ever!  I was so wet and salty with sweat that you would have thought I'd spent the morning in the ocean.  Later I treated myself to some ice cream - homemade butter pecan in a waffle cone.  I'd go run another half marathon just to have another one.  That night we ate with some friends again and went down to Broadway to experience the Nashville night life. 

We flew home the next morning, but this time I did not sleep.  There was a neat couple I got to talk to on the way home, plus a passenger had something wrong with them on the flight.  I'm not sure what happened to him, but they had to ask if there were any doctors on the plane and the passenger ended up spending the entire flight laying down in the aisle.  I think he was ok, or at least they decided it wasn't serious enough to have to make an emergency landing, but there were paramedics waiting for us at the terminal.

All in all, it was a great trip.  I guess all that is left now is to figure out where I want to run next.  People are right, it is kind of addictive!

Western Kansas Fact #2: Don't be surprised if your driving skills seem to diminish out here.  You can see so far that sometimes it is hard to judge distance if you're not used to it.  I frequently step on the brake WAY too soon and end up having to push on the gas just to make it to the corner.  Either that or I overcompensate and wait too long to push on the brake and end up making the turn like I'm trying to qualify for a NASCAR race.

Favorite scripture for this week:
"Let us run. . ., looking unto Jesus." Hebrews 12:1-2  I like this one because I used it on race day, but I also like it because of the quote made by Corrie ten Boom in the lesson:  'If you look at the world, you'll be distressed.  If you look within, you'll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you'll be at rest.'  It's such a great reminder that with the right focus we can find perfection and peace.

I know that was a long blog, so I hope you all don't get bored reading it.  Congrats if you made it all the way through to this point!
Have a great week!
Lyndee