Some races you go into feeling completely prepared, totally capable of taking on the miles even if the time and exhilaration of the race add some nerves to it… this was not that kind of race. If you’ve been following along with The Bee’s adventures, you’ll know that I had been injured for weeks with some ankle inflammation, so my mileage was cut short and I was spending lots of time with an ice pack. However, I was excited and intent on crushing the sub-2 hour half marathon goal!
Before I delve into the play by play of the race, I want to explain why this race was so important to me. You see, it was 5 years ago that I ran this race as my FIRST RACE EVER! I had started running about 6 months before with the intention of simply giving me some peace of mind. Running was only meant to calm me as I faced leaving Florida and all my friends behind and moving to a brand new city far from everyone I knew. Once I arrived in Nashville, running gave me something to do since I had no friends to spend time with. I’m slow to connect with people since my social anxiety impacts a lot of my initial ability to interact and let’s be honest, it is more difficult to make friends as an adult. Also, I had no intention of racing when I began running but as I started tacking on more miles, I realized, I could run a half marathon! So, I signed up and tried to prepare myself for what lay ahead.
I ran that race in 2:14:58. Pretty amazing since I fully anticipated over 2:30. I ran it in old shoes with cotton clothes on. For runners reading this, you know how bad that can be but completing that race set a fire in me that has yet to dwindle. It ignited my competitive side and it pushed me to get over my anxiety and to approach the East Nasty group months later. Yes, it took me many months to get the courage to do so but meeting the East Nasties changed my life in Nashville. For years, East Nasty was my every day- from running twice a week with them, to all the friends I met, and all the social functions that went with it. East Nasty brought K and me together one night at 3 Crow Bar, the weekly hangout for East Nasties. It’s been almost 3 years since that fateful meeting and I’m so grateful for it and all it has brought to my life. So, choosing to run the Music City Half 5 years after I first ran it felt like the best return to racing for me, a good starting point following 2 horrible years. That is the “why” and the soul behind this race for me and that brings us to the race itself this year.
The morning started off well and I ran into my buddy, Bill, at the Start line. We chatted for a 
few minutes about feeling unprepared but the start gun went off and we began to run. Bill took off and I set into a comfortable pace. Sadly, my Garmin hadn’t yet caught the satellite and so I couldn’t start it yet. I spent the first 30 seconds or so waiting for the watch to be set to start. Once it did, it actually provided some mental stimulation throughout the race.
Here’s the thing: long races can be mentally taxing and even a bit boring. You’re excited and you end up sore but you’re working towards a goal and that often involves a bit of math as you go along. “How fast does this mile have to be?”, is a common thought and as each mile goes on, you must recalculate if you aren’t within a particularly comfortable margin. My Garmin being off by a few seconds or so added to the math I needed to accomplish and this provided my brain something to do as I was going rather than focusing on what was hurting, particularly near the end of the race.
With the Garmin issue out of the way, I focused on breathing and slowing down 
since I realized I was going a bit faster than I had planned straight out of the gate.The first 3 miles were easy and worked as an excellent warm-up. Before entering the greenway, I saw K for a little emotional pick-me-up.
Paces: Mile 1: 8:42; Mile 2: 9:06; Mile 3: 9:22
Miles 4 through 6 remained fairly pain-free and easy. It still felt really early in the race but it was a bit humid so I was focusing on when to drink water versus Gatorade and when to eat Gu. I’ve been training with Gu for years but there are some serious gastrointestinal issues that come with eating it. I’m on the search for a new training gel. I’m likely switching to what K uses: EFS Liquid Shot, but you race with what you trained with… so, Gu it was. I only ended up taking 2 through the race: at 4.5 and somewhere around 10. It was during these early miles that we racers encountered some issues. Though the race was clearly marked at many of the greenway entrances, along with police blocking the path, some bikers decided it would be a nice day to ride along the Cumberland River. Well, here’s my take on this: the greenway was for racers that day. So, the requisite, “On your left!”, from bikers for us to get out of their way DID NOT COUNT. In fact, I and several other racers were rather irritated that they even attempted it. On any other day, this is polite athlete speak for, “I’m coming by and you need to watch yourself and/or get out of the way.” Not on race day. If you are a biker or a runner not in the race and you are on a race course, it is your job to get out of the way of the racers and be unobtrusive. We only encountered 3 or so such rude bikers though. What was nice is that it was around this time that I started seeing friends along the route. I saw Bill and some girls I knew coming back around the loop and then I saw some friends simply sharing the greenway with the race for their personal training runs. In fact, around mile 8 I was able to run with my friend, Laura, for a little while. That was really nice.
Paces: Mile 4: 9:16; Mile 5: 9:16; Mile 6: 8:54
During miles 7 through 11 I started to feel some of the strain of pushing past my maximum mileage thus far. My longest training run was 8 miles with K two weeks before. Thankfully, I saw K around mile 7 and that cheered me up as I started the trek back to the Finish line. I still felt strong but the day was warming up, though it remained cloudy. Also around this time, Under Pressure came on my playlist randomly. That also put some pep in my step! It is an absolute favorite of mine. How can you beat David Bowie with Queen? Answer: YOU CAN’T!
Paces: Mile 7: 8:56; Mile 8: 9:04; Mile 9: 9:42; Mile 10: 9:32; Mile 11: 9:50
From mile 11 on I began to fall apart. My feet were quite sore and I was simply fatigued. I kept holding back from any real speed to keep some gas in the tank. I knew negative splits were beyond my reach for this race but I did want to finish strong. I never stopped running but I certainly started to slow down. At the mile 12 marker, indicating I only had 1.1 mile to go, I laid on some speed and as I was running I kept repeating, “I can’t feel my feet, I can’t feel my feet.” They were so sore then that they were almost numb, though it is hard to imagine them numb when they hurt so much! I slowed back down, especially as I realized there was no chance then of coming in under 2 hours. I kept churning my legs under me, pushing on, albeit slowly, to the finish. I rounded Davidson St towards LP Field and as I came around the corner of the parking lot where the finish was set up, another great song came on my playlist to push me to my finish: Kermit Ruffin’s It’s Later than You Think. This song also played me into the finish of my marathon in New Orleans 3 years before. This song makes for a perfect finish. I was at full speed, basically sprinting, despite how my feet felt and I came through the finish as the race clock hit 2:04.
Paces: Mile 11: 9:50; Mile 12: 10:21; Mile 13: 10:18
How do I feel about this race? Actually, even though I blew through my goal, I am happy with this race. Other than my fastest 5K, this is my best race to date. K was also at that race but that was a full 8 months before he made his move on me. We ran together that night with our dear friend, Jim, but we barely spoke to each other. The last 3 years are replete with little incidences like this but that’s just part of our story. We’d been revolving around each other for so long and we finally met exactly where we needed to be. Thankfully so!
After the race, I could barely walk for several days. Between my calves, feet, and ankle, it was pretty funny. I did have the energy to hobble out for some Sunday Funday that night of the race, following lots of pizza, a hot bath, and a lengthy nap. It was great to be surrounded by my friends and my Love. Even better: the next day was a holiday so I didn’t have to work. Yay!
Official Time: 2:03:58