Country Music Marathon

This past weekend I measured myself, and I achieved my goal. What turned out to be an incredibly perfect day was preceded by days of
uncertainty -- forecast for bad weather, difficulty in finding a hotel room, improper training, and really not sure who else would finally go. All turned out great, Julie finished at 1:38 at a fantastic sub 7'30" mile pace; Mindy finished strong in her very first race at 2:19, and I was able to qualify for Boston at 3:22 in this, my first, marathon.

Traveling separate routes, I met up with Julie and Mindy in the gridlocked streets of downtown Nashville early Friday evening. Talking with some of the locals, I was informed that this was traffic even they had never seen. As it turned out, the Country Music Marathon had grown from ~8000 runners in 2006, to over 32,000. In addition, all those people had to get downtown to pick up their race packets! However, once inside the convention center, everything was very well organized, as was the whole race.

I did managed to find a hotel/crack house, 15 minutes south of Nashville, so after creeping our way back out of downtown, we headed for dinner and sleep. An older hotel with the back side facing the highway made a perfect location for early evening drug deals, shady characters hanging out in stairwells and 1:30 A.M. drag racing on the service road. None of the three of us slept well.
With a forecast for rain on Saturday, we arose at 4:00 A.M. to be greeted by cool, overcast skies, the girls waiting for the other to back out. But by 5:30 we had easily parked the cars, shuttled to Centennial Park and waited in line for the Port-a-Potties. After visiting well stocked tents of bananas, coffee, and bagels, we sat in the lawn and were blessed with a short sprinkling of rain. The skies would soon clear, and we would have sunshine the rest of the day. We met up with Joy Gray, also from the Corinth running group, and made our way to the corrals.

Registering over 4 months ago, and not realizing my ability, I had estimated my finish time at 4:30 which put me back in corral 14. However, now with a realistic goal to qualify for Boston with a 3:30, I knew I needed to move up. So joining Julie in corral 4, we readied to begin the race. In all, it was a beautiful course with 3 out and back loops. This made it fun to watch the oncoming runners as they passed in never-ending waves. The characters were great: a bride, queens, superman, clowns, ballerinas, and of course the professionals at the head of the pack. The aid stations were plentiful and well supported by the greatest volunteers. Having been in this circle of activities less than a year, I was amazed I ran into so many people I knew. Yes even Crazy Ashley!

The first half was so much fun, but at the 11-mile mark, the 7000 full marathon runners parted ways from the 1/2 marathoners and the course grew emptier and hillier. The party was over, and it was time to focus on running. I set my pace and tried to find a fellow runner. I passed the 1/2 marathon mark at 1:40, just about the same time Julie finished her half. It was a great run for her, and she was happy to be done. I still had a 1/2 to go, and so I volleyed a few text messages to keep me busy. By mile 16, a few aches started to set in, but I saw Howard, GNAC, which greatly encouraged my efforts. By mile 20 the legs were unbelievably sore, and the day was now hot, so I focused on nutrition and that it was just a 6-mile run to the end. My times began to drop from 7'40"s to 7'50" miles. It then became a mental run. The cheerleaders were great; the water splashed in my face brought the life back, but the pains would not release me. I held the 7'50" pace to the end, oblivious to the cheering groups along the finish line. I had done it 3hr 22 min+. And at the end was my group of friends ready to congratulate each other.

A special thanks to those who help coach me, train me, and believed in me... "he's 46 and has just learned he can run".