one down, one to go…

Remember when I declared 2004 the year of the half marathon? Well, this past weekend was the first one: the Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville, TN. You probably haven’t heard me speaking of training very much. That’s because I haven’t trained much at all! I was pretty much looking forward to merely finishing within the four-hour time limit so I could take home my medal. The farthest I had gone before Saturday was nine miles, and I had only done that once, so I planned to walk most of it and just try not to hurt myself.

Friday, I worked from home in the morning so Guy, Lydia and I could leave from my place around 1 p.m. We had a nice drive to Nashville except for a spooky train track bridge over the highway that really freaked me out! It’s hard to explain, but when Jason and I went to Nashville to pick up Kona from her breeder, there was this awful monstrous rusty old bridge over the highway that really really freaked me out. Jason was driving so I just clenched my fists and closed my eyes as we went under it. On the way back, I made sure Jason was driving during that part of the trip and I closed my eyes again, while teeny puppy Kona slept in my lap.

Well, this time, I couldn’t remember if Kona had come from Nashville or Knoxville, and just as I was telling Guy and Lydia about that horrible bridge and my freaky reaction to it, I rounded a corner and there it was! I immediately burst into tears and wanted to pull over, but I was so freaked I didn’t know what to do. I drove under it and finally calmed down enough to pull over and let Guy take the wheel. I have no idea why that thing bothers me so much…it gives me a really bad, bad feeling. I don’t know if I had a bad experience with a similar bridge in my childhood or if I’m picking up psychic bad feelings or what, but it’s weird.

After that, the rest of the trip was fine. We got into town, checked into the Doubletree, and headed to the convention center to pick up our race packets. The line was massive! It took us forever just to get into the expo room, but picking up our packets went pretty smoothly. Guy had to stand in another line because they didn’t have his address right, which explains why he never received his confirmation card. That night, we planned to meet Jennifer, who had driven into town from Chicago, for dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Once the three of us arrived and found that the wait was nearly three hours (!), we decided to look for something else. When Jennifer arrived downtown, we had her come pick us up as there were no options without a 1.5 to two-hour wait! We had her drive us all back to our hotel, where we had the pasta buffet they had set up in their dining area. It wasn’t that bad.

Saturday morning was pure hell. We got up, got dressed and geared up, and headed out. As we walked to the coliseum, where we could catch the free shuttle to the start, it was drizzlng. As we neared the coliseum we could see the buses lined up. Then, we saw the line of people. It was huge! We walked to the end of the line and I felt like we walked forever! As we waited in this massive line that snaked its way in front of the coliseum, it started to pour! Mind you, it’s six a.m., dark, and raining. We were sooooo cold and miserable. We ended up waiting outside in that line for well over an hour, and to top it off, the wind picked up. I honestly had the thought “How will I explain it to everyone if I don’t do the race?” I was thinking about turning around and heading back to the hotel. What made me maddest of all, though, was the fact that I had two nice big umbrellas back at the hotel!

As we got on the bus, a volunteer told us that they had delayed the start of the race. Thank goodness, considering we would barely make it to the start in time! Once we finally got on the bus, it was nice to sit down and get warm. But then, of course, we had to get off the bus once we arrived at Centennial Park for the start. We dropped off our stuff at the gear check area and headed to the porta potties before lining up at the start. Then, as if on cue, the rain stopped!

The race itself was fine…the weather was cool and breezy for most of it. I ran more than I expected but started feeling my muscles cursing me after about mile 8 or 9. I ended up finishing in 2 hours, 52 minutes, or about a 13:10 minutes/mile pace. Not bad considering I didn’t really train. Now I’m motivated to actually train for the next one in September. I hope to drop my time by 20 to 30 minutes. Most of my delay in this race was stopping to stretch, and stopping for walk breaks, especially toward the end. Lydia, Guy and Jennifer all did really well! Guy’s pace was less than 8-minute miles the whole way. Lydia surprised herself and did way better than she expected, so she’s going to sign up for the September race too. And Jennifer pretty much hit her goal. All in all, it was a good race for everyone.

After we all cooled off and watched Jennifer’s husband Spencer approach the marathon finish line, Guy, Lydia and I headed back to the hotel to clean up. We sought out a Fuddruckers for lunch and then hit a mall to mooch a massage from those high-tech chairs in Brookstone. I also snagged a $98 skirt for $12.97 at Banana Republic. Not too shabby.

Once we returned to the hotel, we only had a little while before the post-race concert was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. We had free entry with our race numbers. We all relaxed on the beds for a few minutes, and we ended up falling asleep. When we woke up, it was 11! Oh well, we needed the rest. We all groggily chatted for about an hour before going back to bed. We got up this morning and packed up, headed out, and had breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Mmmmm…that place is divine. I made sure to nap and miss the evil bridge on the way back. It’s good to be home, but my body is mad at me. It hurts to walk! I’ll probably be sore for a few days, I’m sure.

The next race scheduled is actually the Peachtree Road Race, which I believe is the world’s largest 10k. About 55,000 people run it every year. I’ve done it two or three times before, so I’m looking forward to it. It will keep me running until race day on July 4, and then I can switch gears and start training for the September half marathon.

I’ve decided to stick with 10ks and half marathons. I’m glad I did the Bermuda Marathon because it was a wonderful challenge that I’m really proud of, but I don’t think I really need to do another one. Who needs to do more than one marathon??

Anyway, I’m going to get some stuff taken care of and head to Guy’s place. I think we’re going out for sushi tonight, and then it’s back to work tomorrow. Ugh! I have to remember to stretch tonight so I don’t get funny looks for walking like a duck tomorrow!