So on Saturday I had this wonderful idea of running the Brentwood Greenway. I have been running the trails behind the YMCA on Concord road all last week and loved it. So I thought well lets try the Greenway. From where the path splits off of to the end of the Greenway is only 5.35 miles. So if I did the whole thing out and back would be around 12.7 miles. I have not run this far since Tom King and was curious if I still could run close to race pace for this distance. On the Nashville Striders website there was a post about this route. It said there was a massive hill on Raintree Parkway. So as I ran out there I thought if I feel good I may go all the way down to the end, but if I don’t then I will just turn around and shorten my run. The weather was cloudy and cool, great running weather! I felt good and really wanted to see this hill for myself. Once arriving to said hill, the wise descision would have been to turn around and run back to the park. No, I have to see if I can conquer said hill. As my oxygen deprived brain and legs finally reach the half way point. This litte Asian man runs past me like I am standing still. He is all smiles and loving life. Meanwhile I am wishing death would take me. I reach the top of the hill, glad that my hamstrings can get some rest. The downhill then caused my quads to scream for mercy. As I run down the hill it dawns on me that I will have to run up this hill on the way back. What a MORON! I really did not intead to make this long run such a challenge. If I did I would not have run the 9 miles on Tuesday at faster then race pace. Now on the way back to the big hill it starts to rain. Ahh Tom King all over again. This time I am not prepared for it and get soaked from miles 6 through miles 11, but I don’t care I just want my hamstrings to stop screaming at me. I get back to the Crockett Park area and the thought of running 13 or more miles faded fast. I managed to cap this run off at 12 miles. I have never been so glad to see my car in my life.
When I look back at the run it was a great day. I kept a respectable pace of 9:30 (for me that is) over a very hill route. I got my mileage in for the month and even with 4 days off hit 100 miles for March. I just was not expecting the hill to be a 200 ft incline. I will be ready next time. Which will be a long time from now. My legs are still a mess from this run. Now on to a 5 mile race on Saturday. I pray there are no hills!!
The hopes that the weather man was going to be wrong about the rain today soon faded with the sound of rain hitting the roof. I woke up at 5 to feed the dogs and get myself some breakfast and drink some water. I turned on the weather channel and sure enough rain and thunderstorms were on the menu for today. The only thing that gave me hope was that the winds were not going to be bad until after 11 am. So I got showered and dressed. I was feeling strong and determined not to let the rain interfere with my race. I drove over to my friend Crystal and Brian’s house to ride with them to the race. We were getting there early so we could see our friend John race in the 5k. We got there right as the gun went off for his race. We got to see him take off and he was soaked. Our time was to come. We waited for him inside the Titans Stadium so we could stay nice and dry. I was getting cold from just wearing shorts and my tech shirts. I had a rain coat on and debated running the race with it on. I am glad I opted for the .99 poncho from Target.(Best money I spent all week). I waited as long as I could so see him finish, but well nature called. The line for the 3 stalls was very long as nature called for a lot of runners. John finished and met back up with us in the stadium. They called out 5 min to go for the 1/2. I debated for a mere moment just going home. The thought of running 2 hours in the cold rain or going home to a nice hot cup of coffee was almost too much. Crystal and I stepped out in the rain and at that point my attitude changed. I mean I was now soaked so might as well play it out. The gun sounded and we darted across the starting line to the sounds of Bag Pipes. Its one of the best parts of this race.
I wanted to start out slow and get my pace going. I felt strong and soon realized I could do this. Mile 1 came in around 9:10. I then realized that my garmin was slightly off from the mile markers. At this point I did not worry to much about it as it did not seem that far off. Miles 2 and 3 I settled in to where I wanted around a 9:20 pace. During this point we crossed into the green way and the scenery became nil. I decided to pick up my pace earlier then I planned. I was feeling good and figured I could keep my pace. I hit miles 4-10 at about my goal pace of 9:05. I was feeling strong, although my legs were getting a bit sore at mile 10. I looked at my hr and it was right where I wanted it. 3 more miles to go. One interesting note at about mile 10. It seems that as runners, some do not care where or when a pit stop is needed. On one side of the trail was a port a potty on the other side a man standing right off the trail peeing. I mean I understand when you got to go, you got to go. But really can you not run back to the porta potty.
Mile 11 proved to be a bit of a challenge and hit over 9:15, this may have proven my down fall. At this point I looked at my garmin and realized that I was way above pace. Enough of above pace that I thought I would make up any difference that the course and the garmin were off by. Mile 12 came in at around 9:10. One more to go. I came over the last hill and the wind really picked up. Luckily it was to my back and gave me a push to the finish. At one point I hit close to 8 min a mile. We ran around the stadium and down the ramp that the players use. I could see the grass of the field and I knew I was almost done. Mile 13, in the stadium and I could see the finish and others on the jumbo-tron screen. I sprinted as fast as I could to the finish. Crossed with a gun time of 2:01:38 sec. I thought to myself I did it. I did it. The garmin said 1:59:16. When I was walking up the ramp I noticed my watch was still running. I though thats odd I know I hit the stop button. Later at breakfast when my blood ran back to my brain and the french toast and greasy bacon provided much needed refuling, It dawned on me that the Garmin stopped when it reached 13.1 miles. Um Houston we may have a problem!
Well the times came in and indeed I missed my goal by 8 FREAKING SECONDS!!!!. UGHHHH I hate that my brain did not work well enough to realize that my splits were that far off. I thought it was only like .5 to .1 off, but I guess it was more than that. I know I should probably not be as disappointed as I am, but I am more mad at myself for being stupid then anything else. I learned a lot from this race and I will not make this mistake again. I am learning that with running there are many ways your race can take a twist. The weather, pre- race fuel, fuel while you race and then there is you the runner. I miss judged this one and I know I left a sub 2 hour out on the puddled roads.
In the end, 12 weeks of training made me more confident in my running. I have gained strength, endurance, and speed. I felt great the whole race and I knew I trained the best I could and it showed. My previous best at this distance, not a race but just trying to run that far was 2:04:00 plus. So in the area of just improving I did. One goal for the year, finish a 1/2 is now complete. Now on to my next goal. Chicago in October.
