The Big Day - 1/2 Marathoners....

Walkthrough:

So, the alarm went off at 4:00 AM and believe it or not, I was ready to get out of bed. I threw my clothes on, and went downstairs to start some coffee. Karen bettered me by not only getting up before me, but was already in the shower. I did not feel the need to impress anyone, so I skipped the shower. After some stretching, I sipped on my coffee for a bit and then we were off to go pick up Jennifer and then head to Mom's so that we can all carpool downtown.

We hit no traffic on the way in. Gordon dropped of us right on the outside of the road block and we walked down West end looking for our corral assignments. Corral assignments were based on your finish times. In our case, they were estimated...Mom and I's 3:30:00 put us in corral 30, while Karen's 3:00:00 put her in 26...now since our training we came up with new estimated times, we were able to move our corrals up...Me to 26, Karen to 23...I ended up staying in 30 because that is where my crew was running from.

The corral start worked out pretty good. Even though we ended up starting about an hour after the elite runners started, the start was pretty smooth. Starting around 7:00, they released each corral to start...2 minutes later, they released the next, 2 minutes later another...until we were all out on the course. The weather was pretty mild at the beginning, but that would not last...

The first mile was easy...slightly uphill, but fast...the we dipped down towards 2nd ave passed the honky tonks, the GEC, and all of the touristy parts I normally do not care to see...Right about at Mile 2, we saw a familiar sight...Tammy from Fleet Feet standing on the corner with her bullhorn yelling encouragement just like she did before our morning runs...I ran towards her showing her my Fleet Feet shirt I was wearing, she smiled and then asked me "Where is your Momma?"...I pointed behind me to tell her that she was on her way...

The next bit is where it got a little rough...after turning onto 4th, we made another quick turn onto Demonbreun...once we made the turn, we got to see our first major hill of the day. It was a bitch too...Mile 3 happened about half way up the hill....even after making it to the top, we were still doing OK. Lou, Delaina, Tim and myself were all still together...Byron pulled a bit ahead and Mom and Victoria (they were walking most of it) were a bit behind...

Mile 4 took us through Music Row and into the Belmont area...some more rolling hills and then the sun started beating down on us...the run support was plentiful in this area. Lots of folks sitting out on their front stoop...some of them had their sprinklers going so we could run through them. Some were handing out fruit...some were just hanging out drinking beers, wine, and whatever else they could put their hands on...Miles 5 and 6 took us through this area...and that is where things started to bunch up...a lot of people started to walk, back in the neighborhoods the streets were not as wide, so it made it really difficult to get around people during my running intervals...at about Mile 6.5, I started making deals with myself that I would keep with my intervals through mile 8 (at least) then from there, I would give myself an interval or 2 break. The heat was getting to me. I let Lou and Delaina get ahead of me...Tim fell back...none of us were really were prepared for the heat.

A little after mile 7, I saw 2 familar faces...Kevin from work and his wife Kamini were walking down the street...I veered to the right to say hi, they took a picture and I was back on my way. About a 1/2 mile down the road from meeting Kevin, I had to take a break...I walked for a bit, ran the downhills and just did my best to hold it together. Even with hitting all the water stops and eating when I could...it was pretty tough. Miles 8 - 10 were a blur...I saw some kids with some cool Disney related signs...they were holding signs stating that we did not have 'Minnie' miles left...they had mouse ears on, etc...cute...right after mile 10 Tim caught up...that was the best thing that could have happened. We commiserated about the heat, what was hurting...it really made the time pass...I watched my estimated time of 2:55 come and go...

We made it to mile 12 and started the last stretch to the bridge over the Cumberland...we ran down the back side of the bridge when we both decided we were cashed...we walked to mile 13, turned the corner and saw the finish line. We started running...we finished strong...the announcer said that he saw two guys from Fleet Feet about to finish (us)...that was awesome. We crossed the finish line...I grabbed 2 waters (warm)...got my medal...then met Lou and Byron and waited for Mom for a bit. After a few minutes, I was starving and had to eat. I ran off to grab some fruit and whatever else I could find...after grabbing some food I ran over to Family reunion 'D' where we planned on meeting. Mom called and accidentally went the wrong way, so once we directed her over to us, we were all together for the first time since about 6:45 that morning.

Water/Food:

About every 1.5 miles they had water/cytomax stops...I tried my best to drink a cup of C'max and a few cups of water...at mile 3, 6, and 9, I ate a Strawberrry Banana Gu...At the couple of places where folks were handing out fruit...I ate a few pieces of apple.

After the race we were a little upset (mom was very upset) over the lack of water...once you left the initial area...there was no bottled water to be found. Just cytomax...as of that point I was done with cytomax...

Recovery:

After a quick meal at Raffertys on the way home...we hit the hot tub and because Mom was adamant about it, I ice bathed my feet afterwards...that was the greatest idea...aside from the normal soreness I had no real pain on Sunday...I am ready to run now...but will wait until Thursday to start back up...

Summary:

We are officially 1/2 marathoners. I could not be more proud of all of us. All in all, aside from the water situation, they put on a good race. After a few days to think about it, I am definitely doing it again next year.

Pictures:

Yep...on the flickr page...have at it...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31053139@N06/sets/72157617359051101/

What's next:

Peachtree Road Race...July 4th...already have the hotel booked, ready to do some heat training for this 10k...

Chicago Rock and Roll Half Marathon...August 2nd...should be booking some airfare this weekend...taking advantage of some more cheap rates and maybe some delta skymiles...I think this time, I may bring the digital recorder to record my thoughts as we run...I know Gordon does this and the Trilogy dudes recorded themselves during the Georgia Marathon last month...we may do some tests during the summer. Also hear that it is the Downey family reunion that weekend in Chicago...may need to drop in on that crap because it is bound to be a party...

Once again..thanks to everyone who supported us, we appreciate you...

J

Like last time, I am tired...not going to proofread...I trust this is right...

Starting from the Beginning

I took Friday off so that Mom, Karen, and I could visit the Health Expo downtown. This is where we would pick up our race bibs and all of the free goodies that go along with it. We also would be taking the girls to finish their last mile downtown and both errands would be cutting it close even if I went into work for a few hours. About 9:30 Karen and I headed over to Mom's to pick her up to go downtown. We arrived at the expo just about as they opened...Getting our race bibs and Tech Tee's was a breeze...we spent some time looking over the 'Official" race gear in the CMM shop...Mom bought us some pins, and Karen a visor. After we checked out, we drifted into the expo itself...it was full of booths of the companies that sponsored the events, everything from shoes, nutrition, signups for other marathons, Miller Genuine Draft Beer, and even Buffalo Wild Wings were in attendance and thankfully, everyone had free stuff to give away...Along with the free stuff, a lot of folks had set up shop. Some of our friends from Fleet Feet were helping out the Garmin people and also the Brooks Shoes Folks...we took a moment to talk with Christi Beth who was my pace leader the first timeI ran with FF. It was nice to catch up with her. After that we checked out the booth the One More Mile folks had set up. They had a bunch of awesome running shirts...This one was purchased for Mom (for Mother's Day, I know it is early, but it was a great find) and for Karen (mainly because she had to train hung over a few times because of them)...

http://www.onemoremilerunning.com/short-sleeve/will-run-for-margaritas-short-sleeve/prod_535.html

I also took the opportunity to purchase 5 bumper stickers...I got (3) 13.1 stickers, one for each of our cars (of course I told them they could use them if they wanted, or just throw them on the wall somewhere)...I also purchased a "In my dreams, I am a Kenyan"...which I thought was brilliant and something I needed and also in honor of one of my personal heroes John Bingham, a "Waddle-On" sticker...Are they all going to go on my car...probably not, I have to save room for my 26.2 I am getting next year...I only spent $56 which was not bad...a mere fraction of what I will most likely spend at Disney next year. Anyhow...the expo was fun, we finished up and went home. We checked some email and before long, it was time to go get the girls. I pre-made them a pasta meal for their pre-race "carb load"...



After dinner, the girls were ready to rock...here they are with their Longview Running T-shirts and race bibs...



After struggling through some pretty vicious rush hour traffic, we finally made it to LP Field, home to our beloved Tennessee Titans. Here is a picture of the ladies walking towards the stadium...



There was a ton of folks out there with their kids from schools all across Nashville. The Longview Running coaches did a great job keeping the kids occupied while they were waiting for their grades to run. In order to keep things safe, they broke the kids up into grades and gender starting with the 6th grade boys and working their way back to the Kindergarten Boys and Girls...Here is Claire at the Starting line....



After Claire started, I rushed towards the finish line...it took me about 7 or 8 minutes to find a place about 20 yards from the finish line. About 2 minutes after I got settled, I see these three come trucking around the corner...



Claire is on the far left, you can see how fast they were moving...they finished got their medals, and did not even notice that it was Coach Jeff Fisher (of the Titans) that was giving them high fives as they crossed the finish line. One of her friends Mom told them to go get him to sign their shirts...he was kind enough to do so. They were all so excited.

Stalker pic of Coach Fisher...



Now that Claire was done and got her medal...



...all we had to do is wait for Bella to finish. Mom and Karen were at the starting line wait for Bella to start while Claire and I hung out and kept our spot at the finish line. After Bella started, Karen came over to watch her finish...here is one of the pics we got of her running past us...



Kind of a crazy picture, but like Claire, she went buzzing by us and did not notice us...once she finished and go her medal and jacked this picture of her getting her picture taken in front of the 'official' sign...



AND FINALLY, here is a picture of both girls with their medals...



We are really proud of them. They both stayed on task to complete their 25 miles before Friday night, you can see in their faces how happy they were to be done.

We eventually got home around 8:30...Karen and I put out our gear...attached our bibs to our race tees...I was wearing my Fleet Feet Training Shirt and Karen would be wearing her race Tee that she got from the expo...it matched her new visor. After we felt we were ready enough to roll out of bed the next morning put our gear on and leave...we went to bed...at around 10:00 PM. The alarm was to go off on marathon day at 4:00 AM.

to be continued

--I am doctoring some pics of Bella at the starting line and also the pics from the Expo...I hopefully will have them posted to my flickr account at some point soon...

I also did not proof read this at all...there are most likely some grammar and spelling errors...sorry...

j

WE DID IT!

Story and pictures to follow...

Last Workout...

So, I did my last 3 miler during lunch today and I am still feeling pretty strong. 3 days of icing, stretching, and relaxing are ahead of me...and you know what, I am cool with that.

So, whats next? Tomorrow during lunch, I am heading over to Fleet Feet to get some more GU for the race and to just have some around the house. Thursday will be nothing race related, but I am going to be going to take a water sample from the pool over to Atlantic Pools and Spa...we are pretty close to having it swim-ready. Friday, I am out of the office to go down to the Health and Fitness Expo to pick up our race bibs, etc...then of course, the big race for the kids is Friday night. Claire starts her final mile at 6:20, while Bella starts hers at 7:05. We are going to get there early so that we can figure out how everything works and enjoy watching the girls getting their medals. We are certainly proud of them. Running 25 miles over the past 4 weeks has not been easy on them, but they really pulled it out.

After Saturday, I am going to take the first part of next week off, then start back up Thursday...we have about 2 months before we have the Peachtree (which is a 10k, we can do that standing on our head)...then the LONG wait until Disney...we need to find something to fill in that empty time. Possibly this? There is no 2009 date yet, but it is a decent time...about 2 months before Disney, a flat and fast course...we will see.

What haven't we done today...

We started Saturday early, about 5:30 am to prepare for our final run with the Fleet Feet crew. Mom and Gordon made it over around 6:00 am and we were off to Brentwood. After a slight snafu with respect to location of the run, we made it to the Otter Creek Church and all of us found our pace groups. Lou was out of town this week, so her husband Byron led us. He was a great pace leader...kept us at where we needed to be pace-wise. It was a very strong run. We finished our 5.8 miles in just over an hour, staying close behind the 4:1 group the whole time. After the run, we grabbed our goody bags, ate some breakfast, and went to Mom's to jump in the hot tub for a bit. While we did that, we called Gordon and asked him to take the girls for their mile long walk...they have just a few more miles to go before their big finish Friday night at the Country Music Kids Marathon and we had to be finish 3-4 this weekend so that the kids did not have to go crazy during the week...

Post Hot Tub, we got home briefly, then went over to the rec center to finish 1.5 miles with the kids, then a quick dip into the pool before we go home. Everything went well at the rec, after we got home the kids played for a bit outside and I mowed the grass. After that we went out to view the Hannah Montana movie with the girls. Claire was wanting to see it and since it opened the weekend before her birthday, we figured it would be fun. We survived...

To finish out the day, Mom, Gordon, Margie, and Denny came over for Claire's birthday cake, and now we are just hanging out until bedtime...

To finish out, here is an interesting piece of information pulled from the garmin.

Today's Workout

It shows the map that the garmin gps pulled down as well as the elevation changes...ridiculous!!



All in all, a great day...

Last 3 days...

Had a couple of great recovery/tapering runs this week, I have shifted to running my short runs during lunch time, I can just about fit it 3ish miles while not taking too long out of the office. Finishing and getting back to work really makes me feel energized and ready to attack the rest of the day.

So, in the past, I have complained about my pacing issues when I am running by myself. When we have run with the fleet feet crew, our pace leader, Lou, keeps us where we need to be, especially on the long runs so that we do not run out of gas too early. In order to help manage this, I bought myself an early birthday gift (yes, I know, my birthday is in June)...

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=142&pID=349

And no, I did not pay MSRP, Best Buy had them on sale last week (60% off)...they ran out, but I was able to get a raincheck. Let me tell you, this thing is amazing. I wore it for the first time during my 5k during lunch yesterday. I was able to stay within my zone, watch my pace...make sure my mileage was correct and because I was able to watch my pace, I was able to shave another minute off my 5k time by making sure I was not running too fast out the gate. I think long term, this will be the best investment I make for the next years worth of running. Even after I hooked up the watch to the PC, it broke down each of my intervals and entered them into my runningahead summary...as anybody who knows me knows, I love me some stats and thems are some stats...

We received our corral numbers the other day. We registered so early and honestly we had no idea after 4 months of training how we would do, so of course, I was conservative. Long story short, Mom and I are in corral 30 due to I put our projected finish times as 3:30:00...now, we know now that Mom can walk faster than that. My new projected time should be around 2:50:00, Mom around 3:10:00...Karen was initially projected around 3:00:00, we are thinking she should be done around 2:25:00. Initially I was bummed about our placing, but as one of my bosses said, this gives me a lot of people to pass and thus making me feel like I am one of the Kenyans...at least while I pass the walkers.

Tomorrow is our last Fleet Feet run, it will be a short 6 miles, it sort of sucks because our pace leader Lou will be out, but her husband Byron will be leading us which is great too. We will get our goody bags (from Fleet Feet) and ask any last minute questions before race day.

Next will be an easy week...3 on Tuesday and Thursday, and I am going to take Friday off to go to the Health Expo with Mom and Karen so that we can get our race numbers and probably spend some money on silverneers...To say that I am excited about next week is an understatement, it is probably going to be tough keeping my mind off the race, but I will do my best...

busy busy busy

It's been a few weeks since I posted, but it has been a very productive few weeks:

1. 2 Saturdays ago, we survived the massive hills of Percy Warner...6 miles worth...I am particular proud of this run because we ran the last mile straight, no intervals...

2. Tackled both of my big week runs (5-6 a piece)...no issues here.

3. Finished our last long training run (12 miles)...now, this was not easy...but it was not as difficult as I thought it would be. We finished around 2:40...which is great. If I can recreate that I will totally smash the '3rd' goal of breaking 3:00.

So, where does that leave us?

Per the counter to the right of this post, we have about 10 days left until the first big race. Am I nervous? Yes. Why, I have no idea. I ran 12 miles 3 days ago, what is another mile. Am I excited, hell yes...I am ready to get the expo and get my gear and look around...

Until then, we are tapering...3-4 easy miles during the week. I did my 5k this afternoon during lunch while listening to Gordon's latest podcast. He had some great thoughts about the new D23 program this week among other things...seriously awesome podcast. I used to listen to it at my desk at work and it made me want to get out and run. I realized today that it would be twice as awesome if I listened to it while I ran...so I did.

Outside of running, it has been a pretty busy couple of weeks, Claire was in Florida with her Nana and Poppa all last week over Spring Break while Bella, Karen, and myself held down the fort. Unfortunately the weather has really not been cooperating with my pool plans, the hot and cold temps turned my pool green again. Oh well. I will wait a few more days and then get it going again.

Bella spent last weekend with her Dad, that left Karen and I with an empty house. We lucked out and one of our friends had 2 extra tickets to the Flight of the Conchords at the Ryman. Great, great show...lots of fun, especially hanging out with Allison and Matt who we have not seen in a long time. Saturday, after the 12 miler, we wanted to go see Observe and Report...after another great pancake breakfast, we were able to catch the matinee. It really was a great dark comedy, not for everyone, but we loved it. The last act is worth the price of admission in my book.

All for now!