Nashville Half Marathon

It’s a winner.  We three all loved this half marathon. It’s a bit hilly, make no mistake, but we’d run it every year if we lived in Nashville.  I recommend it.

My Race:

Hoping to be able to run the whole way and do 10-minute miles, I started with the 2:15 pace group.  I fell behind up the first hill, a big one, but caught up later on the downhill and even passed them.  That first hill apparently took some wind out of my sails, though, because they caught me again at about mile 6 or 7, and I never reeled them back in.

Nevertheless, I finished in 2:17:55 (2:18:00 by my own watch), fifth of eight in my age group of men 65-98.  The four who finished ahead of me were all younger by several years, so I’m happy with the results.  I can do better, I’m sure, but I hadn't run a half marathon in years, and this was a good benchmark on a hilly course.

Race night dinner.  My Sunshine whipped
this up after running a half marathon!  All
organic, of course.  The yellow veggie is
sweet potato.  Not shown: The ice cream.

Whining: NONE!  Nada.  Not even cramps.  I had energy to almost-sprint the last tenth of a mile, and could have kept right on running.  In fact, I think I might have done a little better if I had known how to pace myself.  It’s good.  After the race I walk/ran back to bring in my girls, and that added at least four more miles.

Next stop Honolulu.  I have run 69 marathons in 49 states, with only Hawaii remaining, and the girls have run 54 marathons or half marathons in 47 states, with Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Virginia remaining.  We'll run Hawaii this year, and their other two states next year.  We're already registered for Virginia in 2013.

The Nashville Half:

• We ran on roads, not trails, and the roads were free of vehicle traffic the whole way.  I love that.  Just us runners.
• We ran downtown, past the Capitol, up and down Music Square, through a lovely park along the Cumberland River, and more.  The course does justice to Nashville.
• Police on almost every corner.  Must have cost a fortune!  But the course was safe.
• You should see the medal - easily worthy of a full marathon.  Take that, Albuquerque (no half-marathon medal at all).
• There were enough water stops, though I got a little thirsty at Mile 12, halfway up the last hills.  An extra one might have been nice there.
• Pizza and beer at the finish!  They did check ID.  I was driving, so I did not partake.
• Instant race results.  I walked up to the results desk, where she looked at my race number and handed me a printed sticker with all my results, including age-group place.  Just like that.  
• The race actively supports Team in Training, a fundraising arm of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and we saw lots of TNT runners.  I always wear my Team Continuum shirt in marathons, but today I wore a TNT shirt in solidarity.  Like the International Myeloma Society, TNT and LLS are raising money to save my life, which I greatly appreciate.

Splits: 40:39 (4 mi), 10:39, 10:51, 10:30, 10:22, 10:43, 10:31, 10:47, 22:01 (2.1 mi), total 2:18:00 (my watch), pace 10:32.