Race Recap: Music City Triathlon 2015

At the end of July, I competed in my 11th triathlon, the Music City Tri hosted by Team Magic. This is my second year doing this race. You can read last year's recap here. This year was extra fun because in addition to racing, I was also managing their social media.

The swim portion of this recap is loooong. If you know what happened, or if you've already heard me tell it, then feel free to skip ahead to the bike portion.

Photo courtesy of Team Magic

*400 m swim:  22:31 (5:38 per 100/m pace)

This year I opted for the sprint distance, which should have meant a shorter swim. Should have... At this point, every triathlete in the area knows that this swim went terribly wrong, and that only 25 sprint-distance triathletes completed it. Guess who is one of those 25? Yep. I was of the last racers they let in the water. You line up and start in numerical order. I was #221. I had two friends in the 230's and they didn't have to swim. At some point right after me, they cancelled the swim and quit letting people in the water.

Oy vey. What happened? Well, I still don't know. I heard the Army Corps of Engineers didn't shut down the dam soon enough, which meant we were swimming in a 1.5 mph current. What does that mean? I don't know, but it felt like (and looked like) swimming in an infinity pool. Everyone that got pulled into the current, quit moving and swam in place until they were rescued. How did I swim through it? I have no idea. Here is what I remember.

The Olympic distance racers swam first, so we were able to watch them while we waited in line. It was obvious that something was wrong. A friend of mine came out of the water, saw me and said, "don't get in there." Well, shit. Right before I jumped in, one of my swim coaches, Ashley Whitney, walked by and I asked her what to do. She said to stay out of the middle of the river; to swim the Olympic course. The Olympic course was a big square. My course was a triangle and was primarily in the middle of the river. She told me that when I hit the current to kick like crazy and pull left, using the Pedestrian Bridge to sight off. That was it. It was time to jump in.

I swam to my first point and then, instead of crossing the middle diagonally to get to the second point, I swam straight across to the other shore. I was in race mode and not paying attention to how I felt or who was around me. When I got to the other shore, all these Olympic-distance swimmers were standing up. It was shallow and they were exhausted, they were standing up to rest. I kept swimming, using the bridge to sight off, and swam to the third point. This is where it got real. The current was so strong, I couldn't swim around the buoy to make my last turn. Also, I had been swimming alone up until this point, but now I was in the thick of it. A mass of swimmers were hanging on to the buoy and swimmers were being rescued all around me. I switched to breast-stroke to get my bearings. I could see the dock, which was the swim exit, I just had to swim to it - across the 1.5 mph current.

I was swimming as hard as I can swim and I was going nowhere. In fact, every time I looked up, I was getting pulled off-course back to the middle of the river. I wasn't scared, I was tired. I remembered that Ashley said to pull left and kick, so that's what I did. I got back on course and could see the dock and swim exit again. I was about halfway to the dock when I heard a female voice above me telling me that I looked good and to keep kicking. That was weird. You typically don't get talked to in the middle of an open water swim. I heard her again, so I flipped over and she asked me if I was okay and if I could finish. I said I could and she said I was doing good, that I was almost done, to keep kicking. She was on a paddle board and stayed beside me. Then all of a sudden, a man was in the water and told me I could stop, that the swim was over and he was going to swim me to the finish. He asked if I could swim a little longer and I said I could (I was pretty off-course and back in the middle again). He told me to stay on his feet and he was going to swim me in. I was okay once I got out of the current, so he let me swim to the dock on my own and he went back out to get more swimmers.

When I got to the dock, everyone from Team Magic and NAC recognized me and yelled my name, not out of excitement, out of relief, which scared me. Remember, I didn't know anything was wrong at this point. I just knew I had been swimming way longer than I should have been. I had to hang onto the dock for a long time as they pulled us out one by one. While I was hanging there, a female swimmer not too far away was bobbing up and down off-course and every time she came up for water, she yelled, "Help! I'm drowning!" The OEM boat was going towards her, but she was in trouble. She was going under for longer and longer. People were swimming towards her trying to help her, but you couldn't get anywhere. The people on the dock were crying, it was terrible. The boat got to her and pulled her out and she was fine, but apparently that was what the entire swim had looked like.

I got pulled out of the water and Chris McPherson, my swim coach, grabbed me and hugged me. They told us the swim and T1 were cancelled, to take our time, rest, calm down and our time would start again on the bike. I talked to people for a few minutes trying to figure out what happened and then I made my way to transition and got ready for the rest of the race.



*There's no way to know how far I swam. Based on time and exertion, I'm guessing I swam the Olympic distance, which is 1500m. Had I only swam the 400m, it would have taken me 8 minutes.

Photo courtesy of Team Magic

T1:  n/a

Again, they cancelled our swim and T1 times, so no time for this first transition from swim to bike. But hey, here's what my transition area looked like!

13.67 mile bike ride:  52:14 (15.7mph pace)

In hindsight, it's impressive that I did anything after that swim. I have so much adrenaline during races, that I don't feel or think until afterwards. Plus, 13 miles is a short ride for me, and I knew the course. I don't remember having a strategy. I think I decided to ride hard and if I had to walk during the run, so be it. All I remember is that I rode HARD.

Mile 1:  14.8 mph
        2:  15.8 mph
        3:  18.0 mph
        4:  13.5 mph
        5:  14.1 mph
        6:  15.9 mph
        7:  20.7 mph
        8:  13.1 mph
        9:  13.1 mph
      10:  22.0 mph
      11:  21.7 mph
      12:  20.6 mph
      13:  16.5 mph

T2:  2:23

This should have been a faster transition. I try to keep T2 to 1 minute. I will say, my transition area was on the opposite end of bike in, so I had to walk my bike a lot further than I do in smaller races. Also, see: swim.

Photo courtesy of Team Magic

3.1 mile run:  35:06 (11:39/mile pace)

I actually felt great starting the run course. I ran past Daniel Hudgins and jumped up and gave him a high-five. The first mile of this run is uphill, which sucks, but what are you going to do? I ran pretty easy the whole time. I was running a consistent 11:30/pace, which felt good. I caught my friend Rebecca Appleton coming back across the bridge and we walked for a minute. Then Jim Schwan, her boyfriend, passed us and yelled at us to run, so we ran the rest of the way to the finish.

Mile 1:  11:35
        2:  12:10
        3:  11:28

Total time:  1:29:44

I love this race. Having done the longer, Olympic distance last year and the shorter, sprint distance this year, I think I prefer the sprint. This race is held on the last weekend of July and it's usually around 100 degrees, give or take with the heat index. That's too hot for me for a long distance race, but it's fine for a sprint. And it's fun to race in the middle of downtown Nashville. There are a ton of spectators and you feel like a badass.

Lessons Learned:

What happened with the swim course is not Team Magic's fault. I've known Faye and Therese a long time; Faye taught me how to do my first triathlon, and they care tremendously about the safety of their racers. They would not intentionally put anyone in danger. The second the swim course became unsafe, they stopped it. And they publicly apologized, which I respect. I almost exclusively compete in Team Magic races and will continue to do so. They're outstanding women and they put on good races. Shit happens.

Looking Ahead:

I had planned on doing another triathlon this summer, but the one I was going to do got cancelled and there aren't any more local races this year. It looks like I'm done for the season, which I'm a little sad about, but it's okay. I don't have any races, running or otherwise on my calendar right now. I should probably do something about that. To be continued!

Music City Triathlon
Swim:  22:31
T1:  n/a
Bike:  52:14
T2:  2:23
Run:  35:06
Total time:  1:29:44
15th Age Group (35-39)

Baby's First Swim Meet!

About a year and a half ago, I joined NAC Masters. I had been not-drowning my whole life, but I had IM 70.3 Augusta coming up and my triathlon coach encouraged me to join a masters swim group to work on technique. My first masters swim was February 28, 2014. I remember not being able to do any of the drills, not understanding whatever those hieroglyphics on the big white board meant, and realizing how lucky I was to have never drown on account of I clearly had no idea how to swim.

That very first day, we did pull drills. Pull drills are when you swim with paddles on your hands and a pull buoy between your legs. I had never done this before. I placed the buoy between my legs, put the paddles on and started swimming. I immediately flipped over onto my back. Okay, that's probably normal, I thought. Let's try again. Nope, I still flipped over onto my back. I couldn't do it. I was like a turtle stuck upside down in its shell. I was mortified.

My swim coach that first day was Chris McPherson, and she is still my swim coach today. Literally, I just got home from her Monday morning swim practice. Coach Chris is a pro. She taught me how to swim. And for the record, I swam the 1.2 miles in IM 70.3 Augusta in 31 minutes.

So when, about a month ago, Coach Chris came to me and asked me to join the NAC Masters Spring Chicken Classic, I laughed in her pretty face and told her no. Swim meets are for swimmers. I'm just a triathlete who prefers not to drown during her races. But then everyone else signed up and Chris started teaching them how to dive off the starting blocks. I am nothing if not a joiner, so I signed up. But I only signed up for the 50m free because I can't flip-turn.

I had so much fun at this swim meet! My event was right in the middle, so I had plenty of time before and after to eat swim snacks and talk to my swim friends. Which, let's talk about that. I was never on a swim team, so standing around talking to people in your bathing suit is WEIRD. Here's me in every conversation that day, "I'm sorry, what were you saying? I zoned out when I re-remembered we're both standing here in our bathing suits."

I swam my event as fast I have ever swam in my life, and I still came in second to last place, ha ha. Hilariously, the only other swimmer in my age group was Ashley Whitney, who you may know from THE OLYMPICS. Ashley is a coach at NAC, so she just swam for fun, which meant I won by default because she wasn't a registered swimmer at the meet. You better believe I'm telling everyone I beat an Olympian in my first swim meet!

I swim with NAC twice a week, and I love it. I'm not only friends with Chris, my coach, but I've gotten to know so many of the people I swim with. I really look forward to my practices. If you've ever thought about joining a masters group, which I know some of you have, I can't recommend NAC enough. Come swim with me!

Race Recap: Mach Tenn Triathlon 2015

Continuing down the path of short, fun races, I competed in my 10th triathlon, the Mach Tenn Triathlon in Tullahoma. This was my second time doing this race. You can read last year's race recap here.

I like this race because they cap it at a couple hundred people, I always see a ton of friends there, it's well supported, and the course is short, but not too short, and challenging, but not too challenging.

Photo credit:  Mach Tenn Triathlon

0.6 mile swim:  23:00 (2:23 per 100/m pace)

This was my first open water swim since Ironman 70.3 Augusta. The water temp was cold enough to make it wetsuit legal, and I brought my wetsuit, but ultimately didn't swim in it because I didn't trust my ability to get out of it.

So... I chest-punched a guy during the swim. He had it coming. He spent the first 11 minutes swimming into me and just generally getting in my way, but at the turn around, he apparently decided it was time for me to die. He started swimming on top of me and trying to pull me out of his way. He was right beside me, so I pushed him. Then he pulled me under and tried to swim on top of me, so I punched him in the chest and swam away. That stupid guy cost me a lot of time, but I still beat last year's time by 49 seconds.

Photo credit:  Mach Tenn Triathlon

T1:  2:42

Hey, look at that! I'm getting faster in transition! I did a different thing with my bike shoes this time. They have three strips of velcro that I typically undo and then redo once they're on my feet. This time I only undid the bottom strap. Boom!

15 mile bike ride:  55:07 (16.6 mph pace)

I wasn't sure I was trained for this bike ride, so the week leading up to the race, I did a couple hilly, 15-20 mile rides. This bike course is challenging, but my memory of it was definitely worse than the course. I did fine! I beat last year's time by a whopping 11 seconds, ha!

Oh, a funny thing did happen. Right before bike dismount, you come down a hill and turn a corner. When I shifted, I dropped my chain. I had approximately one second to dismount and my chain was laying on my foot. In that split-second, I back-pedaled, got my chain back on, unclipped and jumped off of my bike. The race volunteers laughed and yelled, "Good save!" Bless.

Mile 1:  15.5 mph
         2:  18.2
         3:  15.1
         4:  16.7
         5:  16.1
         6:  18.2
         7:  19.6
         8:  16.9
         9:  17.8
       10:  18.7
       11:  18.9
       12:  15.7
       13:  13.0
       14:  15.7
       15:  15.1

T2:  1:38

Getting faster! I usually place my Garmin on my bike handlebars and then in T2 have to unstrap it and move it to my wrist. Dumb, right? This time, I just kept it on my wrist the whole time.

4 mile run:  43:49 (11:18/mile pace)

Oy vey, this run. My knees had been hurting the weeks leading up to the race, so I bought new shoes to see if that would help. The shoes arrived the day before the race. I had to decide between racing in my old shoes and my knee hurting, or racing in brand new shoes, which is typically a big no-no. I raced in the new shoes. And my knees were totally fine!

This run is HARD. It's uphill, it's hot as blazes and there's no shade, except the shade I was throwing at this hell-course. I was struggling. To save myself, I switched to a 9:1 interval -- run 9 minutes, walk 1 minute. I really wanted to beat last year's time, so when I got to the last mile, I did some quick math and realized I could beat my time if I sped up. I beat my time by just shy of 3 minutes. Sunburned HAM.

Mile 1:  11:15/mile
        2:  11:25
        3:  12:02
        4:  10:23

Total time:  2:06:12

Whoo-hoo! I beat last year's time by 2:39! I really wanted to beat my time, but I didn't think I would since I was in such good shape last year. I forgot that I raced as an Athena last year, weighing in at 173 lbs. This year I raced somewhere around 161-163 lbs. No more Athena, but I did place 12th in my Age Group (35-39).

Lessons Learned:

The only "lesson" I learned is to practice open water swimming before racing an open water swim. I got motion sickness during the swim, which I was luckily able to Jedi mind trick myself out of, but I really should have practiced.

Looking Ahead:

I'm currently not registered for anymore races. But I don't think I'm done for the summer. I like doing these shorter races that I don't necessarily have to "train" for. I may do the Music City Triathlon again, but sprint distance this year, not Olympic. Hell to the no to that hallucinatory mess again.

Mach Tenn Triathlon:
Swim:  23:00
T1:  2:42
Bike:  55:07
T2:  1:38
Run:  43:49
Total time:  2:06:12
12th Age Group (35-39)

Race Recap: Cedars Of Lebanon Triathlon 2015

A few Saturdays ago, I competed in my 9th triathlon, my 1st since Ironman 70.3 Augusta. I did the Cedars Of Lebanon Triathlon, hosted by Team Magic. This was my 2nd ever triathlon back in 2013, which you can read about here. This race is always a sprint distance, but this year it was especially short, which I liked.

Photo credit:  Team Magic

200 yard swim:  4:31 (2:28 per 100/m pace)

Man, I really hate a pool swim. You can't get around people, you can't push off the wall, you have to swim under the ropes. Bleh. But I did okay. I definitely did better than what is now known as The Great Dog Paddle Of 2013.

T1:  4:14

This is the time it took me to get out of the pool, run to transition, put on my bike shoes, helmet, gloves, Garmin, sunglasses, etc. and run my bike out of transition and onto the bike course. My brain forgets that these transitions are part of the race, so I tend to loiter. I could be faster.

Photo credit:  Team Magic

9.6 mile bike ride:  35:08 (16.4 mph pace)

This is the fastest I've ridden in a race, just barely beating my time from Mach Tenn last summer. And it felt fast. Nine miles seemed so short that I decided to just blow it out and if I died, I died. Unfortunately, it was pouring, so I slowed down on the turns to avoid crashing and scraping my face skin off. Also? So many people were riding in violation of USAT rules!!! I'd come flying around a corner and there would be people riding 2-3 abreast and I'd have to yell and slow down to get around them. This happened like 3 or 4 times. I was kind of losing my mind. And my voice.

Mile 1:  15.8 mph
Mile 2:  18.7 mph
Mile 3:  16.2 mph
Mile 4:  15.6 mph
Mile 5:  16.2 mph
Mile 6:  18.3 mph
Mile 7:  18.2 mph
Mile 8:  15.7 mph
Mile 9:  17.1 mph
Mile 9.6:  13.5 mph

T2:  1:47

In this transition, you walk your bike back to the rack, hang it, switch shoes, reset your Garmin and run out of transition onto the run course. At my peak, I do this in one minute. Meh.

2 mile run:  20:20 (10:10/mile pace)

I didn't exactly train for this race. I think I did one brick? Turns out, didn't matter! Thanks, muscle memory. I ran this stupid race faster than I run on my best day. Who knows?! Thanks, body!

Total Time:  1:06:01

Lessons Learned:

Lessons learned? I'll tell you what I learned. I, like Maverick, feel the need, the need for speed! That last part was said by Goose. In my head. But seriously, screw long distance. I'm on the sprint bus now and I'm going to ride it to the end of the line!

The women in my age group who beat me, finished at 52:00-55:00, which I'm not too far behind. I could have easily shaved 7 minutes off my time to come in at under an hour. Looks like someone needs to practice her transitions...

Looking Ahead:

I'm doing the Mach Tenn Triathlon on June 6. It's also a sprint distance race, but it's longer than Cedars. It's a 0.6 mile swim, 15 mile bike and 4 mile run. Last year, it took me about 2 hours. Last year it was hot as blazes and I almost heart-attacked out during the run. Hopefully that won't happen again. I also lost my front tooth in a sandwich last year, so I really hope that doesn't happen.

Cedars Of Lebanon Triathlon:
Swim:  4:31
T1:  4:14
Bike:  35:08
T2:  1:47
Run:  20:20
Total:  1:06:01
14th Age Group (35-39)

As always, thanks to Team Magic for putting on a great race! And thanks to John, Susi and Janet for standing in a monsoon for an hour to cheer me on!

Race Recap: Oak Barrel Half Marathon 2015

Last Saturday, I ran the Oak Barrel Half Marathon for the third year in a row. I didn't exactly train for this race, at least not in terms of how I usually train. I missed weeks of runs due to weather, so I just did what I could and hoped for the best.

Some quick stats. I PR-ed at my last half marathon, the Mt. Juliet Holiday Half in December, with a finish time of 2:22. I knew I wouldn't beat that time, but I was pretty sure I would beat my previous two Oak Barrel times of 2:34 and 2:50.

There were a bunch of us at this race, including Melanie, who I ran the Mt. Juliet Half with. Right before we started, Melanie said she was going to take it easy and run an 11:30 pace. I said that sounded good and that I'd run with her. And then we were off!

Mile 1 - 10:48
Mile 2 - 10:49
Mile 3 - 11:02

When we hit Mile 1, I told Melanie we were a little fast, but the pace felt comfortable, so we kept it up. Somewhere around Mile 3, we started going uphill and Melanie dropped me. At this point, I came up with a race plan. I decided to walk the big hills, run the first half of the race conservatively, and run the last half fast.

Mile 4 - 11:05
Mile 5 - 13:38
Mile 6 - 11:20

Oh, Whiskey Hill, you son of a bitch. The reason this race is so hard is because of the 1-mile hill that goes up to the top of a ridge line. The elevation is 1,127 feet. That's a big hill, guys. Every year, there is debate about running vs. walking. The argument for walking is A) it is unrunable, unless you're a mountain goat, and B) you can walk it as fast as you'll run it, so save your energy. The argument for running is - you don't walk during races.

I walked it.

Mile 7 - 12:04
Mile 8 - 11:29
Mile 9 - 11:01

The mean thing about Whiskey Hill is as soon as you get to the top, you have to run up another hill. It's rude. I walked that hill, too. Eff it. Also, not for nothing, but when I fell last year, I fell in-between miles 7 and 8, and I swear it's because I ran all those hills and blew my knees out. Not this year! You're welcome, knees.

Mile 10 - 10:43
Mile 11 - 10:16
Mile 12 - 11:38

Yay, downhill! I started picking up my pace somewhere between miles 8 and 9 and continued getting faster as the course flattened out and eventually became a downhill sprint. I love the end of this race. I also got chased by the Wicked Witch of the West at the last water stop, which cracked me up and gave me the final push I needed to finish strong. Thanks, Witch!

Mile 13 - 10:54
Finish time - 2:28:23

I cannot believe I finished in under 2:30. I easily walked 10 minutes of this race. If I had known, or cared, I probably could have beaten my PR of 2:22. WHATEVER. In 2013, I ran this race at 192 lbs and finished at 2:50. Last year, I ran at 175 lbs and finished at 2:34. This year, I ran at 161 lbs and finished at 2:28. So yeah, I'm okay with this year's time.

L to R: 2013, 2014, 2015

Hold on to your hats, because I'm about to go full-Oprah.

So here are things that happened to me for the first time during this race: I had fun, I had zero knee pain, my knees didn't give out, my shoulder-neck-collarbone zone didn't hurt, and I made a couple of new friends along the course, namely a heavily tattooed man I called 'Stripes'. This was my seventh half marathon and it's the first one I've enjoyed, and by that I mean, I didn't spend any part of the race in excruciating pain and/or telling myself I'm not doing anymore of these races.

At the Music City Tri last summer, I put a lot on pressure on myself about my finish time, because it was going to play a big role in estimating my 70.3 finish time for Augusta. I was so worked up, I was almost sick, and right before the swim start, my friend Sarah Shearer basically told me to chill the eff out and just have fun.

At the time, I had no idea how to do that. I was so scared that if I was having fun, then I wasn't taking it seriously. And if I wasn't taking it seriously, then why in the hell was I doing it? I had some real talk with my therapist and realized that I am never in danger of not taking something seriously, so I might as well have fun. It took me eight months to get here, but I think I'm finally here. Raise the roof for therapy, y'all!

Full photostream here.

Race Recap: Mt. Juliet Holiday Half Marathon

A few weeks ago, I ran my sixth half marathon, the Team Magic Mt. Juliet Holiday Half. This was the race I signed up for while training for Ironman 70.3 Augusta, to have something to train for after my 70.3. The last half marathon I ran (aside from Augusta) was the Oak Barrel Half last April, and I PR-ed at that race. For you non-runners, a PR means your best time, or "personal record". Here are my half marathon stats:

Tom King, 2012
2:43, 11:41 avg min/mile

NOLA, 2013
2:52, 13:04 avg min/mile

Oak Barrel, 2013
2:50, 12:55 avg min/mile

Oak Barrel, 2014
2:34, 11:46 avg min/mile

IM 70.3 Augusta, 2014
2:53, 13:16 avg min/mile

*Holiday Half, 2014
2:22, 10:46 avg min/mile

I set a new PR at the *Holiday Half with a finish time of 2:22, beating my previous PR by 12 minutes. I was hoping to PR at this race. I've gotten a lot faster, plus I'm 20 lbs lighter. I've run a lot of my long runs at a 9:30 - 10:00 min/mile pace, so I was hoping to run this at 10:00 and finish at 2:12. I missed my goal by 10 minutes, but I'm still proud of my 2:22 finish time, especially since I ran wearing a full-length, fur-trimmed Santa Claus apron, which, P.S. I highly recommend because those apron pockets hold everything!

I ran this race totally wrong. My fastest mile was my first mile, which is the absolute wrong way to run a long distance race. You're supposed to start about 30-60 seconds slower than your race pace, so I should have been running a 10:30 or 11:00. I paid the price when I hit MOUNTAIN JULIET at mile 3.

Mile 1 - 9:17 (DUMB)
Mile 2 - 9:31
Mile 3 - 11:24

This part of the race was actually through the main drag of Mt. Juliet (I think. I don't know Mt. Juliet). Two things: 1) a Hardee's advertising a special bologna and Velveeta breakfast biscuit, which made me dry heave, and 2) a Dairy Queen turned Christmas tree depot with these cute little wooden reindeer, one with polka dots. Because common sense factored into no part of this race (see: mile 1) (see also: my outfit), I spent about 30 seconds debating whether or not I could run with that polka dotted reindeer under my arm. Spoiler alert: I didn't. I don't run with money, plus, John is still mad about that snowman chiminea I brought home.

Mile 4 - 10:49
Mile 5 - 9:48
Mile 6 - 10:06

I started this race running alongside Melanie, but she dropped me early on. I caught up to her around now and we fell back in step with each other. This part of the race curved through a residential neighborhood. It felt very East Nasty. Somewhere in here is where my knee started to give out. Of course. I walked a little bit, but was mostly okay and able to run back out of the neighborhood.

Mile 7 - 10:16
Mile 8 - 10:38
Mile 9 - 10:59

These miles were not fun for me. I was still with Melanie, but we were both having trouble. Me with my knees and Melanie with her IT band. This part of the race, visually, was also super boooooring. I spent a long time in my head asking myself why I continue to do these things. This is not fun. My body is not enjoying this. Swim Bike Mom calls this the Pain Cave. I was definitely in my pain cave.

Mile 10 - 11:35
Mile 11 - 12:07 (pain cave)
Mile 12 - 11:59

I was doing a run/walk interval for these last two-ish miles and it was actually helping. We were also running back through town and people were honking and waving. Nothing pulls you out of the pain cave faster than pride. I was going to run that last mile, in front of all those people. And I did. The last mile was great and I was able to finish strong (ish).

Mile 13 - 11:23
Finish time - 2:22:06 (a PR)

I run with a Garmin, so I knew I didn't make my goal time of 2:12, but I was happy to have stayed under 2:30. All of my pain dissipated as soon as I quit running, so I felt fine and went inside to get drinks and snacks and see my friends.

I liked this race! I didn't hear any serious complaints. A lot of people took issue with the road traffic and having to run in the shoulder on main highways. Hilariously, I didn't even notice this. That's either from being a cyclist or being a triathlete, but I never felt uncomfortable during the race. And then EVERYONE complained about the hills on this course, not because we can't run hills, but because it was billed as "flat and fast". For my fellow East Nasties, I looked at the elevation from The Nasty and this race is hillier.

Team Magic is great and they'll work all of this out. There are always kinks in the first year of a race. I'd run this again - it's cheap, it's close and it was fun to dress up. But next year, I'm carrying cash and buying that reindeer.

Full photostream here.

Weekend Wrap Up: Holiday Half Edition

Re: my last blog post. I hope to one day be the kind of person who's not surprised by the quality of people around her. I didn't know what I needed when I wrote that blog post, but now I know what I have - an enlightened, loving, supportive friend-tribe. Today I have a heart filled with gratitude, not sadness. Thank you.

On Friday, I helped my friend Carolyn set up her booth at Porter Flea. I know nothing about the craft fair world and was astounded at how much work it is to be a vendor at one of these things. It took both of our cars and hours of work to get her set up. But it was a lot of fun. And! She gave me a necklace for my time! I took The Archer, which is her top seller and currently sold out (unless you snagged one this weekend). My second fav is The Mesa, which is still available (but hurry).

So the other thing that happened on Friday is.... MY HUSBAND GOT NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY!!! This is his first Grammy nomination!

Late Saturday morning, I ran my 6th half marathon, the Team Magic Mt. Juliet Holiday Half. As you can see, a lot of my East Nasty friends ran it, too. My goal was to run a 10:00min/mi and finish in 2:13:00, but my knees gave out and I did a walk/run for the last 2-3 miles. I still beat my best time (2:34:00) by 12 minutes with a new PR of 2:22:00! My average pace was 10:46min/mi, #HAM!

It was a late race. I didn't get home until after 3pm, which gave me just enough time to ice my knees, shower and head to Mary Katherine and Marshall's holiday party. I usually dress up for this shindig, but A) none of my dresses fit me anymore, and B) I didn't trust myself in heels 4 hours post-half marathon, so jeans and Converse it was. Oh, and my new Acorn and Archer necklace.

Yesterday was super chill. Either I'm unusually sore from my race, or I've forgotten what it feels like to be sore. Regardless, I could hardly walk yesterday. John took me to brunch at The Stone Fox, which was DELICIOUS, and then we just lounged around the house all day.

Pssst -- I have a big, fun, surprise blog post coming up tomorrow morning, so stay tuned!