The weekend for the Country Music 1/2 Marathon finally arrived. I didn't really do a great job training, but did a weekend long run with Mandy & Michelle leading up to the race. We made it up to 10 miles. I felt pretty good during the 10 mile run, but the 9 mile run was a different story so I was still fairly nervous going into the race weekend.
We met up on Friday to head to Nashville for the race. We didn't intend to match, but all showed up in jeans and white shirts - GO TEAM! We made it to Nashville and picked up our Race Day packets from the convention center. After a yummy dinner at Maggianos, we headed out to the McSwains where we were staying for the night.
Our 4:15am wake up call came TOO early on Saturday morning, but there was no backing out then! We got ready and headed out to LP Field to park. The last shuttle was supposed to leave at 6am so we thought we would get there in plenty of time but traffic was at a complete standstill about 2 miles from the stadium. We didn't make it there until around 6:30-6:45am. It was pretty stressful for a while as we weren't sure if we were going to have a way to get to the starting point, but we were comforted by seeing all of the cars of runners around us - so knew we weren't alone.
We made it to the starting line and before we knew it we were off. I felt a little bloated that morning (thanks to getting my cycle again for the first time in 23 months the next day) and my legs felt really heavy the first mile so I thought to myself - this is bad news. Fortunately, I got into a rythm after about the first mile and they felt a little better. We somehow missed the first mile marker and I started to get really depressed thinking oh no, if we haven't even run 1 mile yet, I'm really in trouble. We turned a corner and there was the 2 mile marker! I thought "Praise the Lord!!" Miles 2 - 6 went pretty well. Every time we saw a photographer, we would do a different funny pose - this was my favorite of the bunch:
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Around mile 6 or 7, Michelle wanted to walk for a bit. We stopped to walk and I felt my lower back cramping up, just like it had during our 9 mile run while training. I didn't feel it cramping when I was running, so between mile 7 and 8, I would jog on ahead and then turn around and jog back to Mandy & Michelle. Somewhere between mile 8 and 9, we all started running together again and then around mile 9, Mandy & Michelle started walking again. I jogged on ahead and then decided I would walk so they could catch up. I stopped to walk and didn't make it more than about 9 steps before my left knee totally revolted on me! I quickly started jogging again and for about 20 steps had the worst limp ever as I couldn't hardly put any weight on my left knee. I had a moment where I thought - "oh crap, they are going to have to come get me on a golf cart because I can't walk and I can't jog!". Luckily, I got into a rythm after about 20 steps and at that point decided that I wasn't going to be able to stop again, or I knew I wouldn't finish.
I ran miles 10 - 13 by myself and when I got to the 13 mile marker, the finish line was right around the corner but I didn't want to finish by myself because that would be no fun. So instead, I stood at that mile marker and jogged in place for about 10 minutes or so until I saw Mandy & Michelle and then we ran through and finished together! It was such a great feeling of accomplishment and I was really proud of myself for running those last 3 miles by myself - because those are the most difficult when you are feeling tired and just want to be done. It took us 3 hours and 30 minutes to finish - and Ryan said he is going to get me a sticker that says 15.1 because of all of the extra running I did going back and forth and jogging in place. I don't think it added 2 miles, but it was definitely more than 13.1 :).
Once we finished - I went downhill fast. My knees locked up and I couldn't even really walk. I got some ice for both of them and waddled to the parking lot to get to the car. I was NOT happy and just wanted to lay down! We made it back to the McSwains, showered, got some Jersey Mikes for lunch, and then headed back to Memphis.
I was feeling a little better by the time I made it home and my legs seemed to recover over the next 2 days. I even went for a run at the gym on Tuesday. Considering the last time I ran the 1/2 Marathon in 2006, I didn't run for over a year, the fact that I was running 3 days later was quite the victory!!!
It was great to spend the time with Mandy & Michelle - training and during the race! I'd love to do it again sometime :).
