Well I can now say I have another full Nashville Country Music Marathon under my belt. I say every year I do the full, that it is going to be my last. Yet that never seems to hold true. I enjoy doing the marathon here because the sights are familiar. I often see spectators out that I haven’t seen in a while, old friends that just happen to be out there cheering someone else on. I enjoy seeing the local companies that volunteer at the water stops and the local high school cheerleaders out cheering us on. The bottom line is that we really do live in a very cool city.
The week before the race I was out of town for a meeting. I wasn’t so thrilled about the timing because I was out of my routine all week. I am a fairly schedule oriented, routine person. I know I didn’t drink nearly enough water all week and I missed sleeping in my own bed. However, I made it back at midnight on Thursday, and headed down to the Music City Center to pick up my packet. EVERY weather channel was predicting a minimum of rain for the race, if not some spotty storms. So I rounded up my hat, a trash bag to wear at the start, my dry fit tank and shorts, and a ziplock bag for my phone. However it ended up not even raining a drop. (Shocking I know, that the weather people were actually wrong! ) It was slightly humid and warm at the start, but I know it could have been worse. I overheard some people from Kansas City next to me at the 
start talking about the humidity. Geez I thought, try coming back here in July! I know however, that there have been times the weather reached the 80’s during the Nashville Marathon. I shouldn’t complain. I just still much preferred the weather at the Memphis marathon, which was windy, chilly, and completely cloudy.
I went with my new Brooks Glycerins for the race. They are always a great shoe for me. I also went with my Nike Tempos (again) and a Nike dry fit tank. However I do have to say, I used some body glide that was apparently old and dried out. I can say for certain I had the worst chaffing I have ever had. The shower hurt so bad that it made me nauseated. I still have spots that aren’t healed. It was not a good situation.
I would have liked to have run my best time, but the truth is I didn’t expect it. My training runs this time were rushed and I was a little off schedule. So I set out to just do my best. About half way through I realized it probably wasn’t going to be a PR day for me, and truthfully I lost steam. The 3:31 I ran in December is what I will use to register for Boston when it opens in September. Two years ago at this race I ran a 3:29, my best race ever. This year I ran a 3:38, my 4th best.
If you have read any of my blogs, you know how I feel about the power of spectators. This year my kids had several games so my husband was there with them. While it was the best thing for them, I hated not having them all there. I got to see two of my friends once along the way, and then the two most amazing spectators found me at least 4 times! Stephanie and Katie Feyes made me the most amazing signs, and their energy when I saw them was priceless. They helped me so much. I do miss having people I know at the finish line, but it still doesn’t take away from that overcoming sense of accomplishment you get when you take that last step though the end of the race.
Next year, I think I will be doing the half here. This is a fun and challenging race, hilly indeed. But when
I got to the split at mile 11, I was kind of jealous that those people only had two miles left! There was actually only 2629 people that ran the full and about 20000 that ran the half. (That should tell you something.) So if you see me next spring, remind me what I said about NOT doing the full again!
I placed 6th in my age group out of 162 women, and was the 34th woman out of all 1214 women that finished the full. Not bad for a 37 year old mom! I am going to spend some time this summer running, working on my speed, and weight and cross training to hopefully set myself up for some good half marathon times this fall.