A great, great weekend

Registration Fee for Country Music 1/2 Marathon:

$75

Motivational T-Shirts for Country Music 1/2 Marathon:
$63

Thorlo Socks, New Balance Shoes
for Country Music 1/2 Marathon:
$159

Finishing the Country Music 1/2 Marathon:
Priceless!

Now to come back down to earth. Heh.

Thanks for the many, many comments all week long, especially the "Done!" ones. You have no idea how much you were all on my mind as I raced plodded through the streets of Nashville. I wasn't going to let you down by not finishing, no matter what!

There was one moment around the 12th mile when I felt kind of woozy and lightheaded and even kind of lost my balance for a bit, but I shook it off – as athletes do, heh! – and kept on going. After that point it was all downhill and so close to the finish line I wouldn't have quit unless I were dead.


Some fun stuff
I wore a t-shirt with a West Virginia University logo on the front, and was greeted by spectators all along the course shouting, "Go, West Virginia!" and "Hey, Mountain Mama!" Very motivating. At one point a band was playing "Take Me Home, Country Roads," West Virginia's unofficial anthem made famous by John Denver. Don't I look great as I find my daughter and grandchildren in the crowd? This was taken mere yards from the finish line.

Spectators along the roadsides toasted us with a variety of libations, including tequila, Red Stripe, champagne and coffee. One guy offered cigarettes – no takers on that one.

I was amazed at how many people brought cell phones with them, and checked in along the route. We heard lots of "I just passed the five-mile mark" type conversations along the way.

My son-in-law, Tyler, ran the race with me, finishing seven minutes ahead of me. [There we are, after we crossed the finish line and stopped gasping for breath.] He's much taller, but also much younger, so I pretty much kicked his ass. [I crack myself up!] He wants to wear a shirt next year that says "Hang up and run."

Next year
Next year? Looks like there will be more of these for both of us. We're already talking strategy to improve our times. I had no idea when I registered how to estimate how long it would take. You had to finish in less than four hours, so I put down 3:30, which put me in one of the last corrals, where most of the walkers were. Tyler could have been in an earlier corral but elected to stick with me most of the way. [Thanks again, Ty!] We probably ran an extra mile just navigating around people who were slower than we were.

I'm definitely going to do more weight training. I know I would have felt better at the end, no matter what my speed was, if I'd been stronger. But the training I did was so valuable. I amazed myself, week after week. Having that medal placed around my neck was A Moment, for sure.

I placed 61st out of 403 in my age division. I still can't believe that. When I looked in the paper at the finish times for older divisions, though, the top three women in the 70-74 group finished faster than I did. Heh. Here are my times and splits:

Chip time begins when your shoe, which has a computer chip attached to it, hits the starting line. Clock time is when the first runner hits the starting line. So we basically stood around waiting to start for nearly an hour.

The rest of race day was hard. Aching muscles, extreme fatigue, massive quantities of water. My daughter fixed a fabulous steak dinner Saturday night, which was just what the doctor ordered. I was surprised at how much better I felt Sunday morning. I had an eight-hour drive to get back home, and only took a couple of short stretch-your-muscles breaks along the way. I feel normal – well, actually, better than normal – this morning.

I feel like a runner.