This is a race report for the Nashville Zoo Run on January 23, 2010.
I am definitely not a morning person, so I was excited about the 3pm start time for the Nashville Zoo Run. Traffic getting in to the zoo was horribly backed up, so Alison and I parked across the street from the zoo to make sure we got in before the start (which they ended up delaying 15 minutes due to the traffic).
For some reason, I was really nervous before the race. It may have been because the temperature was on the low end for shorts and a t-shirt, so I was a little cold. Or maybe because I ate lunch a little too late. But whatever it was, it quickly wore off after the race started. Because the race went through the zoo, the paths were narrower than usual for a race of this size. I seem to always start a little too far back, wanting to avoid getting in the way of the faster runners. I spent a little more energy than I wanted to in the beginning trying to weave through to find some open space.
This was my first time inside the Nashville Zoo, and I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t able to look around very much. At one point, there was a narrow, crowded, and slippery bridge, so I stopped juggling briefly. I looked off to the side and saw a white tiger next to me. Awesome.
The course was a little tricky, as it switched between pavement, cement, gravel, wooden bridges, and even bamboo. There were a couple sharp turns that made for interesting joggling, but I managed to make it through without any drops.
A few minutes after passing the two mile point, I lost track of my pace and had no idea how much farther I had to go. I think I pushed myself a little too much, and had to slow down a little before I could see the finish line. Fortunately, I ended up finishing with a time of 25:52, setting a new PR by 7 seconds.
After the race, there was salad, spaghetti, and beer. Food was pretty bad, but it was free! I think I’ll probably do this race again next year. I still haven’t done a race without juggling, but I might consider it next year so that I can take in more of the zoo.
photo by Morgan Levy