Half Marathon Recap

Last Saturday was the annual Tom King Classic here in Nashvegas.  I did not run last year (my fat/lazy period), but I have heard harrowing stories of the cold/rain/lightning from those that did.  Two weekends ago, the Nashville Striders had their first 21 mile training run, and plenty of those that ran were a little cautious to talk about the weather for this year's King Classic.  

Well, I'm here to tell you that it rained.  I wasn't a hard rain, but rain nonetheless.  I woke up about 3 hours before the race to the sound of water draining down the side of my building, a good indication of what was about to happen.  I rose from my slumber and headed to the kitchen looking for some good pre-half food, and being the bachelor that I am, didn't have much to choose from.  I decided to eat a whole grapefruit topped with some sugar.  (Sidenote:  I just purchased fruit from whole foods last week.  They have a GREAT Chilean fruit selection right now.  The oranges, plums, and grapefruits were awesome).  I finished all of my pre-race activities while waiting for Amy to pick me up, and I was torn in what to wear.  The weather said rain with temps in the low 40's, perfect running weather if it wasn't for the rain.  I was going to wear simple shorts and short sleeve shirt, but at the last second I decided to bring my longsleeve running shirt as well.  I pinned my number to my shorts, put on my San Francisco Giants batting helmet (works GREAT in the rain, doesn't get my head wet) and away we went.  We got to the race about 30 minutes early, so we sat in the warm for a bit.  I goo'ed up, we went inside LP field (where the Tennessee Titans play) and waited a bit more under the concrete overhang.  We finally were able to talk to Stangluvr for a few minutes before heading to the start line.  Now here we are, huddled amidst about 1000 people waiting, and I did not hear them play the national anthem, give announcements, or anything.  Just BOOM from the horn/gun or whatever started the race.  I was a bit back in the pack, which made the first mile or so a little crazy with all the dodging and passing people.  I didn't really know what I wanted to do as far as a time goal was concerned.  I had run a half a month ago in 1:40:40 on a hilly course, so I figured 1:38 wasn't out of the question.  This sets up for a 7:28 pace.  I ran the first mile at 7:40, which was according to plan.  I wanted to start out easy and ramp it up as the race went on.  I paid special attention to making sure my feet were dry when I started the race, but about a mile in...SPLASH...puddle city.  I cursed out loud (sorry) went ahead with a wet right foot looking for another puddle to get ol' lefty wet too.  He didn't want to miss the party either, right?  Next mile:  7:16.  Little fast for my liking.  Now, I didn't wear my new Garmin (oh, btw, I bought a Garmin 305.  I bought it during my little blogging hiatus) so I didn't really know what my pace was until the end of the current mile, but I ran into a fellow Nashville Strider who I had met on the forum.  He was running at 7:30 pace which he carefully kept with since he WAS wearing his Garmin.  I latched on to him for a couple of miles to even out my pace.

The race course is interesting.  It's VERY flat, which is nice, but miles 3-10 are run on a greenway along the Cumberland River.  This greenway has an asphalt trail that is about 8 feet wide.  That's it...oh, and it's an out and back, so you have to pass people coming the other way.  Very hard to pass people and you want to wring people's necks who are running 2 abreast.  UG!  The cool thing was I got to see everyone who was running the race, from the elites to Amy, who attempted a high five with me as we passed each other.  She's blaming me for high five 'failure'.  Sorry, no refunds on high fives.  

So the race was going well, I was banking 7:20-7:25 splits.  I felt good, and was even chatting it up with a few fellow runners, which is ALWAYS a good sign.  I latched onto another runner at about mile 9.  He was doing 7:20 splits, so I just kept on his six.  

The cool thing about this race is that you finish on the field at LP field, ON THE JUMBOTRON.  It sucks that I can't pose for the camera and look at the screen at the same time, but I thought I gave a good pose.   Also, the Titans cheerleaders are there to put the finisher's medal around your neck.  I wanted to ask if she could keep me warm, but I kept my juvenile comments to myself, begrudgingly.  Oh, and I finished in 1:36:06, almost two full minutes ahead of my goal!  

Once Amy finished we headed back to the warm car, where I swapped my wet shirt for a dry one.  There is where I first realized a mistake I had made:  I had bloody nipples.  I had run in this shirt many times w/o getting chaffed, but the combination of rain and running did them in.  It'll be awhile before they get to 100%.

Oh, I then drank lots of Guinness, the world's largest black and tan, and about 6 Irish Car Bombs.  

It was a great post-race celebration...oh, and a good St. Patrick's Day party hosted by Amy, I suppose...