This is a race report for the Country Music Half Marathon on April 24, 2010.
It’s been over four months since the Country Music Half Marathon. I’m almost too embarrassed to post this now, but I wanted to get down all my thoughts on the race before I forget. I wrote most of this post the day of the Nashville flood, and just now got around to finishing it up.
Race Morning
I woke up at 5:30am, ate a bowl of cereal and a banana, showered, and shaved; packed my gear bag with a shirt, socks, and shoes to change into after the race; pinned my race number to my shirt and headed out at 6:00; parked on my friend’s driveway near the starting line at 6:30; walked over to Centennial Park to check in my gear bag and met up with some of the Barefoot team. I didn’t realize this until later, but the race had started 15 minutes early at 6:45. Liz and I entered the starting lineup with corral 24, instead of 21 which we meant to line up with.
Approaching the starting line
Miles 1-6
We crossed the starting line 41 minutes after the starting gun. I felt really good at the beginning, mostly because I was excited at the lack of rain. The sun was even shining through the clouds at the start. I tried my best to remember that I still had 13 miles ahead of me, and not start off too fast. The first few miles of the race head towards downtown on West End/Broadway. Passing the Sommet Center Bridgestone Arena, the first turn of the race took us down 4th Ave and back up Demonbreun to begin the first long uphill stretch. I took a quick stop to grab some Cytomax as we approached the circle and then swung out wide around the circle to pass the people who had started walking. I like taking the outside on curves because the slow turn is easier to juggle through, and also because I get more cheering from the crowds as I pass close by them. I promise, it’s not egotistical. It just helps me keep going.
I continued through Music Row, which is mostly uphill in this direction. I passed by my office and noticed our landlord, who was the first spectator that I recognized. Crossing Wedgewood I again took a wide turn onto Portland as we entered the Belmont section of the course. At this point, the course narrows because it doubles back on itself. It got very crowded very quickly. I lost Liz and wasn’t sure if she was behind or in front of me, and ended up going the rest of the way alone (along with 30,000 other runners). Heading down Belmont near Bongo Java, I saw Chan, the organizer of our Barefoot team and director of Preston Taylor Ministries. The encouragement of a familiar face was wonderful. Not too much further down, I saw my friends Janna and Shannon. At this point, Belmont goes downhill for a pretty long stretch, so I picked up the pace a little and started passing a lot of runners. I stayed on the left for a while, hoping to spot Perry (a joggler from Chicago) on his way back up Belmont, but realized it was a little dangerous not looking in front of me while joggling.
photo by Metromix
Miles 7-13
The course then heads into a neighborhood and loops back on to Belmont. It was at this point last year that I struggled a bit and also had to stop to use the bathroom. This year, I was still feeling good. Before heading back onto Belmont, there was a water stop, so I took my first goo (PowerBar Gel, to be specific), grabbed some water, and started back uphill on Belmont.
I knew Amanda and the ASMT crew would be in their usual spot. Last year, being pretty tired already, I stopped to say hi and catch my breath for a few seconds. But not this year! I moved over to the right, smiled and said hi, and kept on going as I passed more walkers going up the hill.
I still felt pretty good leaving Music Row into the Gulch. However, as I completed mile 10 and approached the half/full split-point, my left quad started to tighten up. I tried to run through it, but it continued to get worse. Reluctantly, I stopped to walk it out a bit. I managed to maintain a decent pace through Bicentennial Mall and the Capitol over the next mile or two, but as the course headed back downtown for the final mile, my legs started to cramp up even more. I adjusted my stride a bit and managed to walk/run/hobble through the final mile and ran through the finish line. My finishing time was 2:18:47.
Drops
I only had two drops during the race. The first drop occurred while heading south on Belmont at a particularly crowded point. A lady running next to me was deeply engaged in conversation with another runner and she accidentally bumped into me. I was unable to recover and dropped a ball. Knowing there was very little room around me, my only option was to kick the ball forward. Luckily, my kick was well aimed, and the ball rolled down the slight hill directly in front of me, and I was able to pick it up without breaking my stride. Phew!
The second drop embarrassingly occurred while I wasn’t even joggling! I stopped to grab some water around mile 11, had all three balls in my left hand, and somehow managed to drop one.
Reflections
Overall, I was pretty happy with the race. I was really glad to have finished just before the storms came through. I felt bad for the full-marathoners who were cut short due to the weather.
Having set the bar so low last year, I was able to come in over half an hour faster than my previous time. I beat my goal of 2:20 by about a minute although my reach goal was secretly 2:10. Having an entire year of running experience since my first half marathon, combined with an earlier start to my training, I definitely felt better prepared this time around. Last year, I was really sore quite a few days after the race and took about 3 weeks off from running. This year, I recovered pretty quickly and was back out and running again just three days later.
At one point, my goal was to run this half marathon well, and then aim for the full marathon in 2011. I’m currently leaning towards another half, first, but we shall see. Up next… the Ragnar Relay!
Videos
stumbled across this video posted by @ryanvaughan
finish line video