Nashville 13.1: hills, sun, boots, and beer...

I ran the Nashville Music City half marathon this past weekend.  Despite some mixed feelings coming in to the race, I had a really great time on a much needed girls' weekend get-a-way.  Nashville is a super fun, complex city and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a weekend vacation.  There are activities for everyone to enjoy even if you don't enjoy country music.  I will definitely be going back. 

The Nashville race, much like the city, was complex to run both emotionally as well as technically.  My original plan (capitalizing on the cardiovascular fitness gained from my MCM training) was to compete in the full marathon in Nashville, but due to some set-backs in my training schedule it was safer for me to scale down and set my sights on the half.  This was a hard thing for me to do.  This race was also the first race in a really long time that I was not running with my brother and/or father.  This was also hard for me to accept.  My mom and sister were great the whole weekend - providing much needed inspiration and race support!  While my dad and brother were present in spirit (and through the miracle of the internet and runner tracking) it was nice to have just the girls around!  I felt like a kid again with a fort and a hand painted sign declaring "No Boys Allowed."

The Nashville Music City Marathon and Half Marathon are part of the Rock'n'Roll Race series (http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/).  These races are notoriously awesome, and Nashville did not disappoint.  The course was challenging as the first 8 miles were "rolling" hillls.  The first half mile was downhill and then flat, then turned sharply uphill and around a curve to complete the first 1.5 mi.  The uphills were sharp and steep, sometimes winding, but you could always count on a downhill component to give you a brief respite.  If it hadn't been for the forced hill training I have done recently (my neighborhood is nothing but hills) I would have been screwed.  The last four miles, despite their relative flatness compared to the rest of the course, proved for me to be the most challenging.  It seemed that by the time I got to the flat part, my legs were so rubbery from the previous 9 miles of abuse, that when I went to kick it into the next gear and enjoy the remainder of the race, that next gear was not to be found!  The heat was also not my friend.  I didn't think about applying sunscreen because the temps appeared to be mild.  I underestimated the strength of the sun.  You may now refer to me as the running lobster.

Despite the $%^% finish, I am still pleased with my time of 2:28.  I hit my goal of breaking 2:30!!!  While I was certainly not setting any course record, I had set a personal goal to break 2:30 and I achieved that goal.  That felt good.