Wow. It’s been nearly four weeks since I ran the Country Music Marathon in Nashville. Better late than never?

We fell in love with Nashville a year and a half ago when I ran the Women’s Half Marathon. I’ve had my eye on the Country Music Marathon for years, and finally the date worked with my schedule this year.

I wasn’t planning on this being a fast marathon, but rather a training run for the North Face 50K (which is on ONE WEEK!). When I registered, I put 5 hours as my goal time, figuring I might even do a Galloway run/walk for this race.

But come race weekend, I decided I didn’t want to run this race in five hours. My training had been going really well. I still wanted to take it easy and planned on walking through the water stops. I didn’t want to go as fast as March’s Shamrock Marathon (4:10), so when I went to switch corrals at the expo I decided 4:20 would be a good goal.

For days prior to the race, the forecast looked bad. Rain and chance of thunderstorms. I didn’t worry about it. It would get better, right?

Unfortunately, as race day got closer, the chance of rain kept increasing. But I was prepared. I packed for rain with a vest, hat and a trash bag which I planned to ditch once I got warmed up and/or annoyed with it. (That never happened).

It ended up being a bit cooler than I expected, probably around 55F. The rain started falling when I was lined up in the corral. I tied my trash bag in a knot around my waist so it wouldn’t swish too much. It was actually not uncomfortable, and I think it really helped keep me warm despite the rain and cool weather.

It’s too bad the weather was so bad. What I was looking forward to the most was all the country bands along the course. A lot of the stages shut down, though — with DJs instead of live music at many of the stations. It was nice that some musicians still braved the storm, though!

We ran along with the half marathoners for the first 11 miles or so. I generally don’t like that — you get to see them veer off, almost finished, when you’ve still got a long way to go. We also passed the finish line around mile 17, also not my favorite thing to do 🙂

But even with the rain and course setup, I really enjoyed the race. Running in the rain is usually pretty fun. Preferably not for 4+ hours, but I tried to make the best of it. My plan of walking through every water stop worked well.  I think I held off “the wall” longer than I usually do during races. Downside –  I had to make a rest stop! I found a vacant porta-potty around mile 22 so I didn’t lose too much time, though my pace did slow down from that point on. There’s probably a good chance that would have happened regardless.

I crossed the finish line just barely within my 4:20 guesstimate — pretty happy with that! And then it promptly stopped raining. D’oh!

I didn’t even bother to get my free beer. I forgot to take a post-race self portrait. I just wanted to get my checked gear (A dry jacket! And gloves!) and get back to the hotel.

Official Time: 4:20:54
Overall: 1187 out of 2706
Division: 58 out of 187
Gender:  412 out of 1227

When I wasn’t racing, we enjoyed hanging around in Nashville — bar-hopping/listening to good music, touring the Country Music Hall of Fame museum, and buying boots!

We had a great time in this awesome city. Can’t wait to go back!

I’m a regular participant in #runchat Twitter chats (if you’re a runner and you’re not chatting, go check them out!). They launched their first-ever photo scavenger hunt a couple weeks ago, which sounded like a lot of fun.

Of course I procrastinated until the last minute, but did manage to find most of the items on the list this weekend.

A running sticker (13.1, 26.2, etc.)

Bridge (bonus for covered)

A giant hill you’re going to run

Christmas decorations still up

Letters from signs to create #runchat

Water (lake/river/pond)

Trail marker or mile marker

Well, there were trail signs in my bridge and hill photos, but one more for good measure:

A scene from your favorite place to run

I’m counting the wooden bridge/water spot for one of my favorites, since it’s right around the corner from my house. I love living so close to water, even if it’s just a creek. My true favorite running spot in town is right on the Chesapeake Bay, but I didn’t run that route during the timespan of this scavenger hunt.

I did not find:

Historical marker/sign

Which is just laziness on my part for not having my phone with me all the time. I run downtown often.  I live in a historic city!

“Welcome to” state/city/county sign

I’m actually not sure where the ‘welcome to’ signs are in town. I have some from a favorite vacation spot, but that would be cheating!

Well, that was fun. I hope there are more of these and/or other fun challenges in the future!

I ran my 8th marathon on Sunday. It was not a PR. It was not entirely pleasant. It was cold and windy. But I had a great time!

We headed down to Virginia Beach on Friday afternoon. I needed to hit packet pickup for my bibs — I was not only running the marathon on Sunday, but the 8K on Saturday as well. If they offer a challenge, I will do it! (It’s the Whale Challenge if you do the 8K and full marathon, the Dolphin Challenge if you do the 8K and half.) After the Goofy Challenge, I figured that’d be easy, right?

Well, it was OK.

I focused on keeping the pace slow since I really didn’t want to be racing the day before a marathon. It was easy enough to stay slow, but I got kind of bored. Once I was getting towards the end, I couldn’t keep it slow anymore. I just let go for the last mile!

OK, so it was kind of fun at the end. Post race I didn’t stick around for the beer tent — no drinking the day before a marathon! I grabbed my medal (!) and some snacks, and headed back to the hotel.

I took it easy the rest of the day. I even napped for a couple hours. I was a little concerned about a sore shin, likely from running on the concrete boardwalk. I wore compression sleeves for the rest of the day, and fortunately felt better on race day.

The Marathon

Race day was quite leisurely for a marathon. The full marathon had an 8:30 a.m. start, so I could sleep a little later. Still, I was up by 6:30 getting ready, eating a peanut butter sandwich, and deciding if I wanted to make any last-minute wardrobe changes.

According to my weather app, it was supposed to be in the mid-40s at race time. I decided to brave it and wear compression socks with a running skirt even though I usually wear pants or capris unless it’s over 50*. I settled on a short-sleeve shirt with arm warmers. That would have worked for mid-40s …

But then it was closer to 40*, and there was a wind chill. Brrr… when it came time to bag-check, I couldn’t part with my jacket. I didn’t want to race with it, but it really wasn’t that bad. I got a tiny bit warm for only a short time when I debated shoving down my arm warmers … but then the wind picked up again and I was happy I kept my layers.

Oh, but I guess I should get to the race itself, huh?

I decided I would line up with a pace group. This race offered 4:00 and 4:15 goal times. While I thought 4:00 was a bit too ambitious — I’ve only run two halfs under two hours — my personal best marathon is a 4:09. On a net-downhill course, but still … I had to line up with the faster group. I know myself, and I knew I wouldn’t pick up the pace enough if I started that much slower.

The first 11 miles or so went well. I had no problem with the pace, and the miles were ticking by. And then we hit the boardwalk. The wind was insane! There were sea gulls everywhere that seemed to be swarming us — it looked line one was trying to steal somebody’s hat. OK that’s unrelated to the race itself, but it was just weird and stands out in my mind. Anyway, it was a struggle, but I stuck with my pacer.

I was so happy to leave that windtunnel! We got back to the main road … and I felt like I was fading — I spent too much energy fighting the wind. I was losing the will to stick with the pacer.

And then she put in headphones, which turned me off. I know some people can’t run without their music, but aren’t pacers supposed to engage their runners and *not* tune out? Then the next mile split hit at 8:58 — faster than goal pace.  My chip splits have the 13.1 at 2:00:23, so she was doing well. But I couldn’t handle speeding up, so I decided to drop back. I managed one more mile by myself at 9:07, but then I really did slow it down.

It was really strange how the crowd thinned immediately once I dropped back. I guess a lot of people were running a 4-hour pace? It was nice to have space and to just be able to run, no more zig-zagging around people.

I sort of hung in there … but there’s a long, gradual incline that actually starts around the halfway point and lasts all the way until mile 19.  The road from miles 16-19 was slanted, too, which started to bother my knee (which was not a problem at all throughout training). I started walking through the water stops.

That’s actually not as bad as I expected. I did feel pretty down for a few miles there, but mentally once we hit mile 20, things started looking brighter. It surely helps that we got off that slanted road and stopped going uphill!

I also really enjoyed the jelly beans they were handing out around mile 22.

I started chatting with runners. There was a guy from Canada running his 7th marathon. Another man who also kept on his gear he intended to bag-check. And the woman who said to me, as we were leaving Fort Story, “We’re doing awesome.”

Yes. We were.

It was around mile 23 that I caught up with my pacer. She was walking, with who I’m assuming was the 3:50 pacer! She had a quad cramp, he had a side stitch. They started running again and it felt faster than I had been going, so I thought maybe they’d help me bring it in … until I passed them.  But knowing I was so close was enough to move my legs a tiny bit faster.

I knew a PR was unlikely … and while I tried to pick it up, it wasn’t enough.

Still, I’m happy.

My 4:10:12 was not too far from my 4:09:07. And now it’s feeling less like a fluke that I had one fast(ish) marathon! (Next best: 4:22:22.)

Post race, it was  SOOOOO cold! It made this year’s finisher’s gift — a fleece blanket — so appropriate. Did they know how cold it was going to be? I gladly bundled up, as did just about every other runner!

My husband joined me in the beer tent where it was a little bit warmer, and we shared my free Yuengling. Four free beers? That’s the most generous post-race party I’ve ever been to! 🙂

Overall, this is a great, well-organized event. I didn’t really love the full marathon course — I think I’d actually prefer some rolling hills! But perhaps I’ll come back and do the half.  It was a fun weekend.

Nine years ago this month, some of my co-workers were talking about putting together a team for a corporate 8K. They all ran recreationally, while I had been a couch potato up until that point. Could I start running and join them?

Well, clearly, I could.

I bought a $300 treadmil from Sears, found a “learn to run” plan online (Couch to 5K didn’t exist yet, as far as I know), and started running.

Nine years, seven marathons, a 50K, more than 25 half marathons (lost count!) and over a hundred other races later … yeah, running is a part of me.

Since it’s Valentine’s Day … here are a few things I love about running.

In no particular order:

It got me active.
I started with just running. A few years later I added yoga. Then I started doing triathlons, which forced cross-training at least part of the year. I started taking masters swim classes. I did an organized 50-mile bike ride. I take fitness classes. It’s not unusual for me to work out more than once a day. And I love it!

I’m still improving.
Nine years later (and, ahem, nine years older!), I still surprise myself with frequent PRs. In 2012, I set new personal bests for nearly every distance!

Stress Relief
I can be having a really crappy day, and may very well want to bail on my scheduled run. If I just force myself to run I know I’ll feel better!

Me time.
When I run outdoors alone, I don’t usually run with music. I don’t mind getting lost in my thoughts.

Social time.
I prefer running with friends, though. I’ve met so many people through running. If you haven’t joined a local running club, I highly recommend it!

I can do it.
I was never an athlete a a child (Or teen. Or young adult.). I was pretty bad at sports. I even failed to make it on an extra-curricular track team as an 8-year-old. I was too slow! I’m happy I’ve found my place in distance running!

I’m actually pretty good at it.
I’m still no superstar, but I’m usually at least in the middle of the pack if not a bit better. If a race is small enough, I can even place in my age group 🙂

Running gear is fun.
I’ve always loved buying (fashion) shoes. But I seem to have re-focused. (And then there’s my running skirt and running dress collection … oh yeah, and my Garmin obsession …)