Country Music Half Marathon

I really should get caught up here.  I know everyone who reads this is just dying to know what's been going on over here, and I just haven't had time/energy/creativity to update, apparently.  And I HAVE been taking pictures for my other blog, just haven't felt like taking the 5 minutes to update.  So, there will be roughly a hundred pictures to upload when I get around to it..

This past weekend, Jesse, Lily and I ventured down to Nashville, TN for the Country Music Half Marathon.  Really, I just wanted to go see our friends who live down there and needed a great excuse to get Jesse out of the house and agree to drive 9 hours one way to visit people.  Thanks for being a good sport, Jesse.  We had a great time visiting everyone we hadn't seen in WAAAAY too long, and have decided we need to see these people more often than once every 3 years.  The evening before the race, 14 (I think) people gathered at TJ and Heather's for a pasta party and pre-race discussions and tactics planning.  

Somehow, the night went too fast, bedtime came too late, and my alarm to get up at 245a came way too early.  Tiff and her SIL (who ran the race last year) got stuck in traffic on the way to the race, and we wanted to make sure we avoided all traffic and would be there in plenty of time to warm up, stretch and get to our corrals before race time.  Needless to say, we made it and I fell asleep sitting up while we tried to conserve body heat before we could justify warming up and standing in the million-people-deep line for the bathrooms.

I am disappointed with my time.  Chip time was 2:45 and some change or something similar to that, but my watch time was closer to 2:30.  I was hoping for 2:15, but as my wise husband says "you can plan and plan and plan, but I have learned that marathons never go according to the plans."  I started in on some pretty great blisters around mile 4, a stomachache started shortly after which left me feeling like I was going to throw up the rest of the run and probably the most severe leg cramping I've ever had.  Sometimes, races just don't go as planned, and I don't think that any additional runs or training could have prepared me for all of that, so I'm not too upset, just a little disappointed.

I'm ridiculous sometimes

Jesse and the rest of the spectator crowd cheered the runners on around mile 2, and unfortunately due to construction, didn't see us again until the home stretch.  But seeing people cheering you on and waving signs sure does brighten you up through the pain.  While I enjoyed seeing everyone, my favorite part was at the end when Lily saw me.  She didn't cry for me like she normally does, just got the biggest smile ever and started waving and flailing around like she does when she's excited.

Anyway, all the miles ran together (no pun intended) and I don't really remember what happened when between miles 6-10.  I had Shot Blox, some Cytomax, lots of water and a salt packet, a banana and an orange slice somewhere in there; saw a lady fall during a water stop (OUCH) and another lady have a seizure (there was a ton of help around her, so I just kept going..); got passed by a dude who was blindfolded (?), pushing a stroller with some sort of video camera mounted to it and a girl juggling the whole race.  It was a great experience, and even though the whole way through I was contemplating why on earth I think that running is fun and something I should keep doing, I'm already planning on my next one (Columbus in October!!!) and the marathon relay Team Pagano is doing (Findlay, October!).

All that fun aside, after the race, all the runners relaxed, stretched, ate, showered and ice bath-ed at Heather's for a few hours.  I got to spend some great time with Heather and Tiff while Lily passed out on Mrs. Hill and Jesse talked about computers with his friends.  They all went to a concert that 

night, and Jesse and I went to spend the night with Jared, Lindsey and Addiston.  

Tiff braving an ice bath

It was a great and very relaxing evening.  Lindsey and I talked babies and how awesome ours are (obviously) and just caught up on life. The boys worked on the Miller's hot tub and grilled us food.  We wrapped up the evening with giving the girls a bath, enjoying a fire and marshmallows and then playing a game before I finally about fell asleep sitting up (again).

 

The drive home was annoying, just because it was so long, but Lily did great and we made it safely.  We're planning on visiting again in the not-so-distant-future :)

adorable girls playing in the bath

ps- you can watch a video of my finish here.  I'm on the left, blue tank top, right after a guy in red jumps up and hits the finish line banner.