Nashville Country Music Marathon
Nashville, TN
April 24, 2010
3:41:10
8:26 Pace
This race was somewhat of a redemption for me. After busting over four hours in Little Rock 7 weeks ago, I needed to get my head together and run a decent race. Naturally, there were plenty of distractions:
Tornado and storm warnings in the area, rain starting at my mile 24.
35,000 runners - most of them running the half marathon
Constant rolling hills throughout the course
Shortage of facilities at the start
Surprise, starting 15 minutes early
Missing my corral and starting a few thousand people behind my pace
Meeting up with half-marathon runners at my mile 19, while they were on their mile 13. At this point, I was running up a hill, banging into people that were either walking or running a significantly slower pace than I was.
Race directors pulling runners off the course at mile 13 and 20 if they weren't going to finish in less than 4 hours.
But the good news was, I wasn't distracted from my pace. After a slow first mile, I settled into 8 minute pace and held it for 20 miles. The last six miles or so, I lost some time, but kept my pace as fast as I could hold without feeling like my legs were breaking down or cramping. The distance did start to wear at me, but I never walked, and my water breaks were as short as possible. Thanks out to the local Harriers chapter for the beer at mile 23.
I'm happy with this effort, because I feel like I'm mentally back into running this distance, and I know with a bit of training, I can improve my time. I felt as good as could be expected at the finish - no cramps, knee or hammy pain.
Post race, we visited the local Honky Tonks, ate BBQ, had a few beer and enjoyed the live music everywhere. Nashville can be a fun place to visit when you're trying to make up some calories.
I'm not sure where the next race will take me. I'm planning to get some good training work in this summer and race a fall marathon, maybe add in one or two more just for training and fun.
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