The Nashville Joggler

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

I’d better write up my race report before the half marathon on Saturday!

This is a race report for the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run on April 11, 2010.

I grew up in the DC area, but didn’t start running and joggling until 8 years after moving to Nashville. My friend Stephanie told me she was entering the lottery to run the Cherry Blossom Run, and I realized that the 10-miler would fit in perfectly with my half-marathon training schedule. It would also give me a chance to see my family and an opportunity to run my first race outside of the Nashville area.

Since I started joggling, a couple friends from back home have told me about a joggler they often see at DC area races. I found out his name is Barry Goldmeier, and he runs the Cherry Blossom Run almost every year. I got in touch with him and planned to find him at the race.

I drove all day on Friday, two days before the race, to get to DC.  The weather was perfect for driving and thankfully, the nice weather stuck around through the weekend.  It was an early start on Sunday morning, since I needed to take the Metro to the starting line. The Metro opened two hours early that morning to accommodate the runners, so pretty much everyone on the Metro was a runner.

Runners on the Metro

Arriving at the race village, I found Barry juggling his trademark 5 red balls at the back of the starting lineup. We chatted briefly, but I had to go line up as the race was starting.

Starting Lineup

With a goal time of 1:45, I was starting in the second to last wave. I tried to be patient and not spend too much energy weaving through the crowded start, but eventually found myself jumping back and forth between the road and sidewalk to find some space to joggle. As I was only a half mile from the starting line, the elite runners were making their way through mile 5 coming the opposite direction on Independence Avenue. It was exciting to see these world-class runners in person.

After the first mile, as the course headed over the Memorial Bridge, it finally thinned out slightly and I could run comfortably at my pace. It was still pretty crowded for the rest of the race (there were over 15,000 runners), but manageable. As the miles went on, I started to notice how flat the course was. It was a welcomed change from the rolling hills of Tennessee. Also, running in a new location was exciting, and despite the fact that the cherry blossoms had peaked the previous week, the course was beautiful.

The last mile

Having waited almost two weeks to write up this report, the miles are all blurring together in my memory. At two of the water stops, I stopped to walk briefly. But other than that, I was able to keep a pretty steady pace through the entire race, which I was very happy about. It wasn’t until the tenth and final mile that my legs started to feel that familiar dead feeling I’ve been experiencing during my long training runs. Luckily, the last mile was lined with a lot of spectators (including my mom!). One of the great benefits of joggling is that random strangers will cheer for you. Not wanting to let them down, I picked up the pace (very slightly) and finished strong. My official time was 1:38:04.

After the race, I ran into Barry again. We were heading in the same direction, so we were able to chat about the finer points of joggling as we took the Metro home.

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

This is a race report for Ellie’s Run for Africa on June 13, 2009.

When my friend Janna told me about this race, I knew it was going to be a great one.  A race started five years ago by a 10-year old girl with a dream, taking place in Percy Warner Park, and raising money for African Leadership!  Count me in.

At first, I thought the course would be on one of the trails, so I was preparing myself for my first non-joggling race.  But then, I realized it would be on the cross-country course, so I was back in joggling mode.  This was my first race since the half-marathon, so I was pretty excited about doing a 5k.  About half a year ago, this would have been a big deal, but I was now able to go into the race relaxed and ready to have fun.

Although it wasn’t a trail course, the hilly, rocky cross-country course took a little while to get used to while juggling.  I quickly realized that I needed to look down through my juggling pattern instead of straight ahead so that I could navigate the terrain.  After the initial crowd of runners thinned out a bit, I found my rhythm and was really enjoying the run.

Part of the course doubled over itself near the finish line, so I passed a large crowd of spectators about half way through.  As I ran past them cheering, I tried to maintain eye contact with the crowd for a bit too long and dropped a ball.  That ended up being my only drop the entire race.  Hopefully I’ll be able to complete a drop-less 5k soon!

Towards the end of the third mile, there was a hole in the ground that I didn’t see until it was almost too late.  Luckily, I was able to adjust my landing just enough so that I didn’t twist my ankle, even though I ended up landing my foot in it and nearly lost control of one of the balls.  After that, I picked up my speed to the finish line, trying to come in under 30 minutes.  I thought I did, but I guess I did not see the placement of the finish line sensor correctly and slowed up to early.  That will teach me to run through the finish line!  I ended up with a time of 30:19, which I’m pretty happy with, but would definitely like to improve upon.

And congratulations to Janna, who finished 8th in her age group!