(<--- Im the one in the red hat)Hello all! I haven't taken a minute to write in a long time but here we go again! I wanted to share my experience in the last half marathon I ran. It was a local one, The Country Music Marathon an Half Marathon. It is the second half marathon for me this year, I did the Tom King Half Marathon back in March. I was very pleased with my performance finishing with a personal record of 2 hours and 2 minutes. The CMM is a wonderful course. I thought showcased the best parts of Nashville. Starting at Centennial Park it takes you down Broadway, then back up Demonbruen through the Belmont area then back down Music Row and even wraping around Bicentennial Mall ending at the Titans Collisium, the marathon splits off around 11 miles and goes through metro center and down to Shelby Bottoms park ending up in the same location as the half. 32,000 runners this year topped every other year. This is the first race that I ran with this many people involved and boy, was it a scene! Here is my experience.
At the starting line, 30 some odd corrals contained thousands of runners based on what time they purposed to finish. Fastest in first corrals and slower runners and walkers last corrals. I was assigned to corral 4. After a long morning of preparation, meeting up with friends, car-pooling, shuttling over to the park we were set to go all before the wee hour of 6am. Port a pottie lines were outrageous , thousands of port a potties lined up filling the park with blue and white stalls and in front of them thousands of anxious runners waiting in line for that last chance to empty there blatters or what not! Me? I got lucky, on the shuttle, we snuck into the bathroom and held on to the rails for dear life while emptying our blatters as the driver seemed to take those turns at the most extreme measures! We get off the buss at exactly 605am and are amazed at all the people! WOW~ people running around warming up, waiting in line for the porta pottie, the speaker announces "race numbers such and such - such and such should have already dropped there bag at the UPS trucks and be on there way to their corral! Shoot! Thats me! I strip off my shirt (I didn't mention that we had record breaking highs today), down to my sports bra and throw it in my bag. Hugged all my friends and wish them good luck and off I went, to the baggage drop off...scarfing down half a cliff bar on while frantically sorting out what I need and don't need, and I realized, "damn, I have to pee again"! I spot a bathroom that the line dosent look too intimidating so i get in it, 25 minutes later I emerge from the bathroom at 6:56,4 minutes till corral 1 is starting! I book over to my corral and its closed, no biggie, just got in the 5the corral instead. This is when I realized that this may be a lonely race despite the thousands of people running along side of me, and the thousands of spectators cheering us on. I didn't count on
that happening! As we inch up elbow to elbow, I cannot see a thing in front of me besides other people's back. "On your mark, get set POW!" We are off! The sound of watches starting , shoes pounding on the assphalt, and heavy, anxious breathing was a sure sign we were on our way! A flair of excitement traveled up from my stomach to my chest, I took in a deep breath and sighed, this is what I love about racing..
The road sloped down hill and I could see all the way down Broadway, the whole road full of runners, I glanced behind me and saw much of the same, runners, gliding down the hill, I smiled as I started my ipod up to hear the sound of Cold play drifting into my ear, "Life
In Technicolor", life is good right now.
We make a right turn on forth, everyone is having fun around me, spectators are hooting and hollering for us, families are out to support there loved ones, children, friends, spouses. Life starts to feel a little less enjoyable as we begin climbing the hills that lead us to Belmont. The sun barreling down upon us and people's shirts are beginning to show perspiration in unique patterns. I push past a few groups of people and am happy about all of those 5am morning hill runs Sarah, Emily and I suffered through in our training runs. I am clicking along at an 8-9 minute pace, hitting my 5k mark on schedule, 27 minutes.
As we head down past Belmont college, I notice a nagging pain in my outer left knee that has given me slight problems in the past. I know I can deal with that pain though so I don't let it get me down. The partiers are out in full force with beer and lots of cheer, even at 730 in the morning, I'm thinking these folks haven't made it to bed yet and this is a continuation of last nights frat party! 5 miles down, almost half way and the leg pain is worse, all of the sudden BAMMM, a girl in front of me decides to stop. As I cut around her my knee felt like it went in 2 different directions. Pain soared up from my leg to my gut as I hopped off of the course to assess the situation. The pain was now pulsating and making me nauseous, sweat dripping in my eyes. I am fighting back the tears and panic, stretching my IT band vigorously trying to work it out , I get back on course limping and in denial. I hit the 10k mark under the desired time frame and am feeling defeated. "I can do this for another hour! I know I can hold it together" I am thinking. I stop at a water stop and stretch and drink. Getting my rythem back is something I never gained. I kept thinking " if i could just make it to 10 miles, I know i can make the last 3 on hope and adrenaline alone!" #8 mile sign up hill up hill and more up hill. It is getting hot and I have reverted to counting my steps to try and keep my mind off of my pain. I look over and an older gentle men cut off the course and grab a police officer's arm as he passed out cold onto the ground beside him. The first of many pass outs and injuries due to the heat I witnessed. I see the medics rushing on there bikes to whisk away the man who desperately needed help. #10 is approaching and I am seriously thinking of abandoning..the only thing that kept me in the race was the fact that my parents were both at the finish line waiting to see me cross it! No way was I letting them down. It just goes to show that no matter how old you are you still need your parents! And it really does make a difference to be there for someone even in such as small way as this is. I unzip my pocket in my shorts where I stored my "GU" packet, there must be a water stop soon....the heat is getting to me now, my leg is hurting and I began to cry, tears streaming down my cheek felt good, cooling my face off, i pulled it together. WATER at mile #11!!Sucked down my gu and stretched, drank a water and poured one down my back..AHHH! Heaven!
11.3 miles is the split of the marathoners and the half marathoners. I am so thankful that I am on the half marathon path, even though you would be amazed at how may marathoners decided to stick to the half and did not make that turn!
As I am heading through to the last mile I find that this is indeed the LONGEST mile of my life! My leg now feels as though there is a knife stuck into the outside of my knee twisting and turning with every step, as I slowly plod through I am noticing a young girl passed out on the sidelines and the medics are trying to determine if they should start chest compressions. I am feeling a heavy feeling in my chest that I have never felt. I am now afraid I am going to have a heart attack! Taking deep breaths I keep telling myself that it is just the heat and pain making me panic, that's all, just keep breathing! 2 more young guys passed out on the side, another girl, getting oxygen, the medics were busy! Here is the turn, tears well up in my eyes again as i and see the # 13 sign and people are yelling and cheering and OH GOD FINALLY! THE FINISH LINE!
My leg went completely numb as the adrenaline took over my body and then I looked over to see my mom and dad, I blew them a kiss and was so relieved it was over! I have never in my life been so glad to be finished with a race!!! As I crossed the finish line all the madness came to a screeching halt as we waited to get our medals. Behind me, a man finishing collapsed, I took a deep breath and thought, to hell with my time and PR's! I finished damn it! I limped to the medic tent where they so graciously wrapped my knee in ice. Later, that evening, i found out that the man I saw collapse behind me at finish line was more than likely the man,26 years old, who died at that moment of a heart complication.
In reflection of this race I have learned much! 1: no more long runs the weekend before a long race, 2:what doesn't kill you really does make you stronger! 3: When running a large race such as this, it is important to keep people you know around you, it is amazing how alone you can feel in a sea of people, 4: don't ever underestimate the power of your presence to others. Just knowing that my parents and husband would be there watching me cross the finish line helped me see this effort through. Also, all of the people cheering us on made a huge difference in so many runners, including myself!
Thanks for reading. More to come. I am going to try a triathlon this summer and another half marathon. Who knows...maybe, just maybe, one day, Ill do a full...Never say never, if you would have asked me 5 years ago if I would ever run a half marathon, I would have HELL NO! LOL! ~K
