It's been over a month now, so I decided to finally post my third marathon experience here on my lovely blog. I wrote this shortly after the marathon, and I had intended to add to it; however, I will just go with my original thoughts.On April 25, 2009, I finished my third marathon, and it was an experience quite different than the other two I had completed a little over two years ago. The Country Music Marathon in Nashville, TN is a mega-marathon. By "mega" I mean there are 25,000+ 1/2 marathoners and about 4,000 marathoners.
For Kansas City and St. Louis, I had taken a disposable camera and took photos along the route. I had planned to do the same for this marathon; however, the course was either really crowded, not very scenic, or I was just too hot and tired to care about taking pictures. Here's my mile by mile synopsis.
Galen and I left the Holiday Inn Express around 5:45 a.m. on Saturday to begin our 1.5 mile trek to the starting line in Centennial Park. Upon getting to the starting line, we participated in the ritualistic prerace Port-a-Pottie line. It took us about 25 minutes to make it through the line. The next trek (for me) was to make it from the starting line to Corral 17. I felt like a fish swimming upstream as I meandered through the crowd to get to my corral.
Galen and I left the Holiday Inn Express around 5:45 a.m. on Saturday to begin our 1.5 mile trek to the starting line in Centennial Park. Upon getting to the starting line, we participated in the ritualistic prerace Port-a-Pottie line. It took us about 25 minutes to make it through the line. The next trek (for me) was to make it from the starting line to Corral 17. I felt like a fish swimming upstream as I meandered through the crowd to get to my corral.
The marathon and 1/2 marathon started together at 7:00 a.m. Every 2 or 3 minutes, race officials released a corral. Since I was in Corral 17 this means I didn't start the race until 7:32 a.m. In total, I was on my feet for 1.75 hours before the race even started. This would start to haunt my feet on the second half of the race.
Overall, I finished my slowest time of the three marathons I have completed. The weather conditions and Nashville hills were not conducive to a personal record; however, I was delighted that I finished the race without any dehydration issues and just a little sunburn.
Mileage Highlights:
Mile 1: High energy. It was about 67 degrees.
Mile 4: I couldn't believe it...I actually saw Galen on the out and back right at the course split.
Mile 5 through 7: The course was hot and crowded. Locals were handing out oranges to participants. Running over orange peels for thousands of runners reminded me of that sticky movie theater floor feeling.
Mile 8: I saw Belmont - still had banners from Presidential Debates...
Mile 9: Belmont Church. High energy worship music. Galen called me to tell me he had finished the 1/2 marathon.
Mile 9: Belmont Church. High energy worship music. Galen called me to tell me he had finished the 1/2 marathon.
Mile 10: I started to feel like I was overheating. The pace band on my right arm just felt hot. I took it off, and I decided to treat the rest of the run like a training run and walk for a minute every mile. It was about 78 degrees.
Mile 11: I look ahead and see a relatively large hill in full sun. I decide to walk the hill and jog at the peak. I was toasty.
Mile 12: I kept thinking surely there has to be shade somewhere...
Mile 13: Still looking for shade...
Mile 14: Walking and irritated. No shade.
Mile 15: On the trail along the Cumberland River. There are no aid stations until after Mile 17. I found out there was also no shade. Most of the marathoners around me have started walking. I called Galen to tell him that I had a bad feeling I was going to be walking a lot of the rest of the course.
Mile 16: Walked this mile until I came across a strategically placed snake (which was getting some wonderful sun on the extremely bright and sunny trail). Started running in case the snake decided to give chase.
Mile 17 to 18: I walked. The course was back on Rosa Parks, hilly, unshaded, breezy.
Mile 19: Heading back into downtown Nashville. Nice downhill into Bicentennial Mall. I had plenty of energy and enjoyed the scenery so I jogged most of this mile. The course joined back up with the 1/2 marathon course toward the end of this mile. It gave me an extra boost of energy when I saw that people were still finishing the 1/2 marathon.
Mile 20: Galen found me. I walked with a gal for a while. She asked me how I felt. I told her I felt like I was hiking through the desert. It was 87 degrees. Galen told me that there would be shade when I got to Shelby Park. (Do you see a common theme here? Hot! Hot! Hot!
Mile 23: The aid station had ice. Ice is nice.
Mile 24: I started to feel very light headed and officially decided to save my energy for the last 0.2 miles. Mile 24 was in Shelby Park and actually had shade.
Mile 25: Walking on a skillet again...
Mile 26: With 0.2 miles to go, I started running for the finish. There's absolutely nothing like the last 0.2 miles of a marathon. The crowd support is absolutely amazing. I forgot about the heat and reveled in the satisfaction of running for the finish line and getting my race bling.
Finish time: 5:49
