I set my alarm and wake up call for 4 am, knowing I'd have to make to from the Alexis Inn to the Radisson Hotel (1.6 miles away) by 5:30 to catch the shuttle to the start line. I'd intended to walk there, but scrapped that idea when I saw it was raining. I caught a shuttle instead.
The bus had us at the start line by 6 am. I made my way to my starting corral, and took refuge from the rain inside a nearby McDonalds along with 400 other runners. It was probably the largest crowd that particular establishment had ever seen, and probably the biggest non-purchasing crowd in the history of McDonalds.
Fortunately, the rain stopped just as the race started. We inched our way forward, all 30,000 of us. I finally broke the starting line about 7:30, and I was off.
I held myself back to a 12-minute pace for the first mile--at least, I tried to. The problem was, the air in Nashville is so thick it makes 10 minute pace feel like a 12 minute effort. I really had to focus on keeping the first few miles deliberately slow. I was relatively successful in this, and after I hit the 5k split decided it was time to open it up a bit and settled into a comfortable 10:10 pace.
Things went well for the next 13 miles. The quote-unquote "hils" (remember, I'm from Colorado. We eat bunny slopes for breakfast) kept the course interesting, forcing me to adjust my speed to compensate. The course started off running through downtown Nashville before angling south through a very nice residential area. Then it was back north and through downtown again before continuing on to a campus on the Cumberland River. I was doing well and feeling strong, reaching the halfway point at about 2:15:00, right on track for a 4:30 finish.
At about mile 16 the sun came out. Unfortunately, things began to fall apart from there. I'm not sure why, but it started with some intestinal issues that forced me to make an unscheduled stop at a porta potty. After about mile 18 I lost my zone and had some difficulty finding it again, so for the next six miles I struggled and walked. A fair amount.
At mile 23 I stopped at a medical tent and got some salt (for electrolytes) and Tylenol (for pain). With that I was able to resume at a shuffling jog. When the pills finally kicked in with about 2 1/4 miles to go, I was able to slowly pick up the pace. As I pulled out of the area east of Shelby park (an area which was the ghetto-iest portion of the whole course), I could see the lights around LP Field, less than a mile distant. Newly (and thankfully) energized, I managed to push on to a strong finish. My final time: 4:56:13, a new PR!
Click here to see some pictures from the race.
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