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Comments: The waves started nice, about every minute. The sun was jusssssst stating to peak out through the clouds, but it was pretty humid. when it was our turn to go, i had a bit of a time navigating through the crowd (its rough starting with 32,000 other runners, but it was a hell of a scene!). The first two miles i wanted to find a good rhythm, get my legs and lungs ready for the day, and enjoy the downhill start. After that, i settled in to my long run pace. Miles 3-6 felt pretty good, i had water at mile 3, had to stop and pee at mile 4 or so, and 5 and 6 were on my "home course" area where i run quite a bit near my house. As i passed the 10k mark, i was right on my pace, and feeling pretty good. The crowds were great along Belmont Ave, with some of the local shop owners and residents handing out fruit and some were even offering beer. I passed on both, but the beer sounded really good. We reached the turn off Bellmont, with the short loop on a side road and back to Bellmont the other direction. The crowd got kind of thick here where the road narrowed down, but not too bad. I walked a water station and had some cytomax and dumped water on my head to cool off. my heart rate was starting to spike a bit, so i walked about 2/10 of a mile to get it back. That seemed to help, and off i went again. I saw a guy running in a full suit at about mile 7, and his jacket was drenched in sweat. Come to the end of Bellmont and back down music row, which had a nice long gradual downhill which was a nice relief. walked another water station and had a drink. At the end of music row, a bit of an uphill towards the big statue in the roundabout. That seemed to take a toll on my calves which started to feel a bit cramped. got to mile 10 feeling ok, but knew the last 3 would be long miles weaving through downtown and across the cumberland river back to the stadium. As we crossed the overpass, i could hear the finish line crowd and started feeling good again. I wanted to beat 2:15, and knew i was well on my way! came down the hill and back the other direction next to the stadium. The final turn leaves you with about 100 yards to the finish line. I took BT advice and had fun for my finish line pic. I turned my visor sideways on my head and threw up my arms and a big smile as i crossed the finish line (as to not have a "stopping the watch" moment. Finished in 2:12:48, a HUGE PR for me, even though it was much much much more hilly of a course than Omaha! So all in all, it was a fun, happy, race day for me. What would you do differently?: run faster  Post race
Warm down: walked down the finish chute, grabbed some water, a cytomax, my medal and tried to exit the family members and other runners without falling over from having to stop every 2 seconds. They need to organize the exit from the runner's only area so you can get out! That, and the locked porta potties were the only complaints i had. Got to an open area, stretched, and got my gear check bag and headed home before the storms hit! What limited your ability to perform faster: a bit more hill work. I'm still new to the Nashville area, and coming from Omaha, there are alot more hills to run here. But i'm getting it. Event comments: 32,000 people! AWESOME, but I might over-estimate my finish time next year so i start more towards the front to have less navigation to do. Profile Album Last updated: 2010-02-28 12:00 AM
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United States
Elite Racing
63F / 17C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 7503/24636
Age Group = M 30-34
Age Group Rank = 762/1538
got up at 3:45. Took a shower and the dog for a walk. Ate a Cliff bar, banana, some Kiefer, and a bit of juice. I had laid everything out the Friday night, so it was easy to get my race gear on and get out the door. They had been calling for horrible weather all week, but luckily it wasn't as bad as they said...slight winds, no real rain.
This was a point to point race, so i got in the car and drove to the finish line at LP field (Titan's stadium) and parked. The shuttle bus to the start line was EXTREMELY efficient and well organized. I only had to wait about 3 minutes and was off to the starting point. I kept checking my bag to make sure i had everything. Ipod, sunglasses, hat, etc...i probably did that 3 to 4 times on the bus ride that lasted about 10 minutes. Everyone was super hyper and chatty on the bus, the atmosphere was great.
We got to centennial park and the buses dropped us off several hundred yards from where the race starts. There were several areas of porta johns along the way. I stopped at the first set of about 25, only to find out that about 3 of them were unlocked...the others still had padlocks on them! That was a bad deal. I waited in line about 5 minutes, but knew i wouldn't make it that long, so hiked down to the next set where in only had to wait about 2 min. the crowd started thickening at that point, so i went to the gear check and dropped off my bag, and got back in line for the porta johns, as it was about 20 min till the start of the first wave, and the line was about 10 min deep. Had the last bit of fluid excretion and went to my wave.
while in the corral, i ate a Gu (vanilla bean, yum!) and drank a few more sips of water. Stretched the calves on the gates and warmed up the upper body.