I should be feverishly catching up on all the work I missed from being out for 2 days, but I can't focus on any of that today so I'm writing my race report from Nashville instead!
Rock and Roll Nashville is my fourth 1/2 marathon - my hardest but most fun race. I've been training with a group that has a super fun personality but honestly this has been the worst training cycle. I haven't been consistent with my pace on any of the weekday runs. And on a lot of the long runs I've had serious GI issues. I'm talking cutting-out-at-mile-7-of-a 14-mile-run. That bad. Because much of the weekday workouts have been focused on speed, I haven't had the energy to visit the gym for weights. You read that right. I haven't been to the gym in 2 months and haven't lifted one. single. weight. I know I know, weights would have likely helped my speed than more running, but I didn't want to get so sore on a Tuesday that it messed up my Wednesday speed night.
I've also been a head case this cycle. The whole point of this group is to increase your speed - we're a small group of 12 and I'm finishing 10th or 11th in the short runs and almost always dead last in the long runs. That is doing a super job for my confidence and spirits. I do best when I'm in front and there's people behind me. I just don't do well coming from behind. This is exactly what blew me up in Tobacco Trail - I mentally gave up. I got too far behind and realized I was going to miss my goal and just stopped trying. This was the biggest thing I wanted to change in Nashville.
So we finally show up in Nashville and I'm feeling great. I've got my head in a much better place than Tobacco Trail, my legs are feeling strong, my head is screwed on right, I am really believing in myself. I got a great night sleep the night before which I am so happy about. We get to the race and I can't believe how many people there are. This was the first Rock and Roll series we've done and there are 25,000 there. Do you know what 25,000 people smashed together looks like?! I do now and I can only tell you that it is incredibly unbelievable.
I listened to some music the whole time before the race to block out everything and everyone. I wanted to just zone out and be in the moment. Kerry gave me a huge hug before the race and said, "Stay Positive." He knew that was going to be my biggest problem.
 |
| Before the race! |
I did great starting out - there were big, big hills through mile 5 that I had planned on. I chanted to myself, "Stay positive, big things!" over and over again in my head. The day started heating up - it was about 8:40 by now and almost 80. They had great bands all along the race route and it was fun when they drowned out my music. I kept pushing and got some water at mile 6. I prepped myself that the hills would level off at mile 5, but they never did. I also planned for the race to thin out but it never did. I kept running and chanting. Running and chanting. I get to mile 7 and am still feeling great. We are running through a nice neighborhood in the shade, people are tailgating on the sides with mimosas - it is just a fun time.
Mile 7 cruised us out of a neighborhood and into the bright sun. It was starting to get HOT. I was sweating so hard I couldn't even wipe my face with my shirt anymore. I kept drinking water like a fool. All the time, still chanting my little mantra. I pushed through mile 8 in the sun and then noticed some people started having sprinklers set up to cool off the runners. I veered to the side and tried to dip through one. I got pushed aside by everyone else with my thinking the first time I tried. I was successful on the next one I found! BUT! the water shorted out my iPod - which also tracks my instant pace and distance. And I was really relying on that because there were so many people on the course I couldn't see the mile markers. I was so bummed to lose my music, my playlist was killer for this race!
I kept pushing through to somewhere around mile 10 and got a huge cramp in my side. It hurt to run and hurt to walk. Everything I did sent bullets through my ribcage. That's where I started to run/walk. I gripped my side to run and hunched over to walk. I finally got it through my head that people hurt all the time in these and you just have to push through. I had to fix the problem. I worked on walking differently, got some gatorade, nothing was helping. I finally had the thought to work on my breathing. I had no idea that for the past mile I'd been panic breathing. I started taking deep breaths and the pain instantly went away, yay!!
Still chanting, "Stay Positive, Big Things!" - now out loud at mile 11 I ran into Andrea and Sheryl - that was so nice to see them. I ran with them a little bit and then they went on. I ran/walked mile 10 and 11 not because of my legs but because I couldn't focus, telling myself that I'd get to mile 12 and run the rest of the way. Well. That didn't happen. I got to mile 12 and BOOM! there's a huge hill all the way to 12.8 or something. Yeah that was great. So I ran/walked that too. I finally got a break and ran to the finish from there.
 |
| My training group at the finish |
I didn't set a time goal because of Tobacco Trail. My goal was to run the whole thing. Nashville hills and the weather had other plans.
And that's OK. I truly stayed positive throughout the entire race. I didn't feel sorry for myself for missing my goal and having a not-so-great race day. I really stayed positive and enjoyed myself and my time on the course. Sure I cried on Sunday night when it hit me that I didn't hit my goal. But there will be other races and other chances for me to beat my awesome OBX race.
Right now I need to take some time and run by myself. I have a 10-mile run planned for this Saturday. I've invited my friends to join me, but I'm secretly hoping they can't come. I have spent the past 3 months comparing myself and judging my ability against people who breeze through at 7:30/8:00 pace. That is great for them and I hope one day that's me. But right now I'll only be running at the front with them if I'm setting the pace. I'm a strong runner, it's just time that I start actually believing that. My end time was 2:36:20. Dismal really, but I'm learning from this experience and moving on. Hopefully next time I write a race report it's with much happier results!
Stay positive and you will accomplish big things. Thanks for listening.
xoxo
