Country Music 1/2 round 3.

Race: Country Music 1/2 

Lifetime half: #48

TN Half: # 7

13 in 2013 progress- #6

Official time: 1:47:20

Overall place: 1357 / 17892

13.1 things about this race... 

1. This is my 3rd time running CMM. 2010 it served as my first have ever, (horrible experience)  I skipped 2011, and last year B and L used this to cross TN off their states so I decided to join last minute. This is the first time doing this race solo, not worrying about rushing around doing a photo meetup at Parthenon or trying to find people in the sea of THOUSANDS of runners.

2. For some reason I thought the race started at 7:30. I roll out of bed at 5am, check facebook, and see a few friends already updated their status that they just got to LP field. I thought to myself that was ridiculously early, but got ready in a hurry and was out the door by 5:20. Traffic on the highway was a breeze and I thought MAYBE just maybe i'd get to LP field with no difficulty. To put it lightly- I waited in line for 30 min about 200 feet from turning into LP field- ridiculous. On the shuttle I sat next to some guy and he was joking about how it seemed no one was in a 'rush' to get to the start- it was 6:45.... thats when he dropped the bomb on me that the race started at 7 (and I'm in corral 2 so I NEED to get there)

3. Immediately when the shuttle drops us off (at 6:50) I haul ass (in the pouring rain) across a muddy field to get to gear check (dry clothes and umbrella for after race). As I get there they inform me they are shutting down and I'm the last person they are taking items from (wow what about all the thousands of runners still waiting for shuttles or haven't made their way up to the trucks yet?)

4. I run to the start with 5 min to spare, do a quick hip stretches, then stand in corral waiting for start.

 Turns out there was a car on the course so we were delayed by 10 min- in that 10 min it went from mildly sprinkling, to all out downpour. This also translated into literally 30 sec before the race start my watch went into navigation mode and all that would display on my screen was a compass. Luckily I didn't care how I did in this race since I really didn't want to run it and I'm not a fan of the course.

5. First mile is downhill so I reminded myself to take it easy as there are uphills the rest of the course. I have NO IDEA my pace, but I assume it was faster than I intended considering I caught up to my friend Michael who was in Corral 1 and averaging 8 min/ miles. We chatted for a bit and then I went on since his stride is super short and it always throws me off when we run together.

6. I took it easy on one of the worst and by far the longest hills- Demonbreun (this is where Country Music Hall of Fame and Bridgestone arena are). I was amazed at how I was getting passed left and right and kept reminding myself I just didn't care- 2 mini goals this race: Just come in under 1:50,  and don't walk. I'll admit, I think having a goal to not walk is a terrible goal because who the heck cares if you walk? (i'm not referring to water breaks)- if you body needs rest, it needs rest--- for me its more a mental battle though and I need to work on becoming mentally tough.

7. Somewhere in the 4th mile this guy got creepily close to me, like within 1 foot, then I feel his eyes on me. I finally turn and its P- he also started in corral 1 and I already feel like I'm running in slow motion, so how the heck did I catch up to him? He's still injured and let me know he was taking walk breaks and keeping it around 8 min pace. We ran together for a bit but I let him know I was looking for my friend Mike's house to grab a beer so I would be detouring off.

8. Mike's house came and went so I started to speed up- low and behold he gave me horrible directions on where his house was, so when I passed it he screamed my name and I turned around and stopped by. He had a bottle of Heineken waiting for me--- under normal circumstances this would have been awesome, however drinking beer while its POURING rain out and you look and feel like a drowned rat isn't as enjoyable as it sounds. We chatted for a bit and then I went on my merry way.

9. Not sure if it was the beer, stopping for almost 2 minutes, or just bored / no motivation, but shortly after I was just "done" with the race.  Somewhere between miles 6-8 I got passed by not one, but two different 1:45 pace groups. The roommate was a pacer for that group, however there must have been 3 separate 1:45s because I did not see her. The race itself is CROWDED, however since I started in Corral 2 it was manageable--- both times when the pace groups were passing it was like a giant stampede coming through.. so annoying.

10. Honestly there was nothing else eventful in this race- I played leap frog with guy in orange (he beat me), tried my best to avoid puddles, and just sang in my head the songs that came on. I tried to shorten my stride on the hills so I could go up them faster, but I decided I just didn't care. I had no concept of time so I just told myself it was an easy long run. 

Shot of shortened stride- PLUS it looks like I have cleavage in this photo... such a rarity I had to share

11. Toward the end my legs were just on robot pace (whatever pace that was)- I didn't go fast, I didn't go slow, I just went. For those that don't know... CMM is a HARD course.... its not that there is anything too challenging, its just that its all hills. Nashville hills aren't the real steep kind that you get a nice downhill after, they are the L-O-N-G and S-L-O-W GRADUAL uphills that just take forever and you wish would end, then when it does, you do it all over again and again and again. By the end your legs are just dead. The good news is, that this is MY town, I know how to run these hills so I'm used to them. Does it make it easy, NO, but it doesn't really eat away at me like it does for others- almost all my practice runs have these hills in them, so I'm used to running on dead legs. 

12. The last mile seemed to be the longest. I knew we'd have a few uphills, then the last .3 or so would be nice downhill (where were those the rest of the course) I'm not sure how, but I managed to catch a lot of people on the downhill and have a semi-kick to the finish- clocked in at 1:47:20

13. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty shocked at my time. Even though I didn't know how far I was behind the official clock, I knew I broke 1:50, but I had no idea I was in the 1:47s. Considering I stopped for 2 whole minutes, I didn't put forth any effort in this race, and I couldn't care less how I did, I'm INCREDIBLY happy with my time. I guess this shows that I AM getting stronger and slowly but surely my paces are getting faster. As an added bonus, Top female finisher for my company, and came in 4th overall. 

13.1 Immediately after race I grabbed a few snacks, headed to gear check, then attempted to change out of wet clothes when I ran into Michael doing the same thing

I love this photo because it goes to show how wet it was. He ran a PR that race, as well as a few others (apparently rain makes your run fast?) We both immediately headed to our cars and said "screw it" to cheering for others. 

This is the first race in a long time where I just show up, run, and leave. I really just don't like the course, the medals, or the size, but I'll admit it is fun coming to work after the weekend and everyone comparing how they did and sharing stories. 

Next year, I fully plan on not being in town for this race and running in Eugene so I can experience some of that magic!