Country Music Half Marathon- Rock and Roll Nashville

 This weekend Jay and I flew to Nashville for our first race in 2013 and first as husband and wife.  

We chose to do this race when Rock and Roll race series offered a discount on National Running Day last year. We picked this one because we thought it would be a fun city to explore and the timing seemed right to motivate us in the early months of 2013.  When we registered neither of us realized it was "The Country Music Marathon/Half-Marathon" but retrospectively it makes sense.  Since registering, both of us have been hooked by the TV series "Nashville" and I couldn't wait to explore the city on foot.  And to be honest, by the end of the weekend I actually kind of dig country music.  (GASP)

The race had several tributes to the people affected by the tragedy at the Boston Marathon.  Runners were given Boston-Run-Now bracelets and a moment of silence before the race where all 25,000 runners held their bracelets in the air.  The police support was notable, especially at the start when runners tossed the trash bags they had been wearing to the side making large piles of trash for the officers to carefully inspect.  Despite the cold weather and heavy rainfall, the spectator crowd was still huge.

 

 (Half Marathon course in Purple)

I hadn't thought much about what this race would entail.  It came to my surprise when in the corral before the race people were talking about how this was "not a PR course" and "super hilly."  Not a hill lover, I made a mental note that I would do my best to run up each and every hill, something new for me because I usually walk the big ones.  And there were plenty.  To be honest, the entire race felt like it was either uphill or downhill.  No flat stretches to be found.  The course rounded by Vanderbilt, down Broadway past the honky tonks, past Belmont University, through the trendy neighborhoods The Gulch and 12 South and ending at LP stadium where the Titans play.  The down-pour didn't keep the numerous bands from lining the streets playing country favorites and college kids blasting pop music from their porches.  I was so very proud that I just kept running, despite what felt like 100 pound soaking wet yoga pants and running shoes.  I had a big fat smile the entire race, something probably only someone else crazy enough to run 13 miles in the freezing rain would understand.  The race was so well supported with tons of aid stations and a great finish line spread!

 (The best fake smiles we could find looking for a taxi)

The 'after the race' part was not so fun.  Sweaty, freezing and in a thunderstorm trying to find Jay among 25,000 runners and their families.  We had been smart enough to pick a meeting place before the race, Jay waited over an hour for me.  Then we spent another 30-45 minutes walking in the freezing cold trying to find a taxi to our hotel.  No fun at all.  But after a very long hot shower and some coffee, we were cheerful again and ready to talk about how awesome each of our race experience was.

I didn't wear a watch, so I didn't really know my actual race time until Sunday morning.  Since I didn't have a goal in mind and because I've grown a custom to listening to how my body feels while running rather than looking at my pace, it didn't bother me.  But I did pay attention to the clocks at the mile markers.  I knew I was holding somewhere between a 10 minute and 11 minute mile and I was so happy with that.  It's been a long time since I've run an entire half marathon.  And a that pace, with those hills, I exceeded what I thought I was capable of.

Jay kicked some butt too!  Top 10% of all racers. 

We're both excited too see how we do at our next race:

Summerfest Half marathon here in Milwaukee.