Scott and I really try to not pay for parking when possible and really don't mind walking to get where we need to go. So even though there was a heavy drizzle when we arrived downtown for the expo, we parked across the river and walked a little less than a mile to the Musicians Hall of Fame for packet pickup. The process was pretty much the same as it had been for the Hot Chocolate 15k in St Louis. We showed our proof of registration email and a sticker was printed to put on our bib. The sticker had our name and corral assignment. When the volunteer handed over our bibs I was completely shocked to see we had been assigned to corral A!! Never ever would I have thought that would happen in a race of this size. My guess is that probably not as many people submitted proof of time. Or rather, based on the pacers I saw in that corral (10min/mile on up), maybe the number of people submitting for those ranges was small enough compared to the others. Whatever the case, I was ecstatic!
After we got our bibs we went over to the goodie bag area and got our hoodies. Since I had signed up for the female cut hoodie in St Louis I chose the the other one this time. These hoodies are super soft and comfortable. I love that we get them with registration!
Scott and I didn't stay long at the expo. Our goal was to get checked into our hotel and chill for the rest of the day. Our morning began at 4:00am so we were tired and on top of that Scott was recovering from the flu. Yeah, let's talk about the stress that caused.
I know we aren't the only people in the history of racing to deal with sickness leading up to a race. :) I do think this is the first time for us though. That it's been this bad anyway. I always get the sniffles or a phantom sickness when I'm tapering, but nothing that has prevented me, Scott in this case, from finishing up training.
I've actually been dual training. I have a 10k/half marathon challenge two weeks after this 15k. The distance worked perfectly to throw this race in as a bonus "let's get a medal for training" type of race. I'm running the half marathon with a friend and I'm doing the 10k with Scott. Which means it will be a faster pace. I have kept speed work in my training so I'd be prepared to stay with Scott. Our training had us on track to run a pretty fast (for me) 15k. About three weeks out Scott got a cold. He decided to not run for a few days so he would recover faster, and he bounced back quickly. But then the Sunday before the race he got hit out of nowhere with an even worse cold. That's what I was telling myself he was dealing with, because I could not accept that he had the flu when we had special plans. Not only did we have the race on Saturday, but we had planned to make a weekend getaway out of this trip to celebrate Valentine's Day and Scott's birthday. All week long I stressed about whether or not we would be able to even go to Nashville. Scott didn't leave the house, and hardly left the couch, all week. After the worst of his sickness passed Scott said he would be doing the race, but would have to decide on the goal later. I knew I wanted to run this one with Scott no matter what so I told him it didn't matter what we ended up doing, even if we walked the whole time. I was just glad he was feeling well enough to consider doing the race.
Our hotel was one mile from race central at Bicentennial Park. Again, because we didn't want to pay for parking, or really worry about looking for a spot on race morning, adding to any start line anxiety I would inevitably have, we walked from the hotel to the park. We could feel the wetness in the air from all the rain and it was cold. It definitely was not as cold as the St Louis race though. Our walk was faster than I expected and when we finished going through gear check we still had nearly 30 minutes until the race started. Since we had taken off a layer to leave in our bag, the cold was obviously more noticeable. We decided to keep walking around until the corrals started filling up.
It felt weird walking through the opening into corral A. I was definitely having feelings of inadequacy. I was also worried about Scott. He'd kept pretty quiet and I was wondering if he should even be outside. I asked him if he was at all excited and he said yes. That helped for some reason. I felt like I could be excited and happy to be there. I did not have any pre race jitters, although I did have some wariness about the hills I knew we would be running. I did a long run in the outskirts of Nashville back in September and I was shocked at how hilly it was.
As usual the wheelchair start happened first. In addition to those in wheelchairs, there was another group of participants with disabilities. Not all were visible to just anyone, but each of them had a guide. I absolutely love seeing how nothing stops these amazing people. Just a minute or two later it was our turn. It happened so fast. I'm used to waiting at least a few minutes before it's my turn to cross the start line. That was good though. Those last few minutes are when I tend to do the most over thinking.
I think I underestimated how Scott would do at the race. I should have known better. My fast is his comfortable. And he can be a little stubborn. :) Barely half a mile in and I was falling behind Scott. I went back and forth on what layers to wear before we left the hotel. There were so many things to consider. Finally after struggling up a couple hills I knew I needed to shed a layer if I was going to run well. It was a good decision, at least for the moment. I felt free, and it showed in my splits. Mile 3 was my fastest of the whole race and I was able to catch up with Scott.
Around 3 1/2 miles Scott stepped aside to get some water and that's when he told me that he didn't think he would be able to continue running the way we had been. I reminded him that our goal was to finish the race and that was all.
Miles 2 1/2 to almost 4 1/2 or so are part of a long section of out and back. Near mile 4 the course enters Centennial Park. Through the trees we could see runners heading back to the out and back long stretch. I was unfamiliar with the course and the number of out and back sections really surprised me. In the moment it wasn't surprise though, it was frustration. It was mentally draining. More than that, the turn around points were sneaky. Now, I realize that is not on purpose. I just don't have another way to describe them. The hardest were between miles 5 and 6. As we were heading up another hill we could see that the course made a T. At the top (or so we thought) of the hill we were on, we would turn left but we could also see that there were runners crossing our street and continuing to the right. And then runners were coming from the right back to the road we were on.
We turned left and our hill continued. I made an assumption that the turn around was at the top, but it turns out, once at the top we go right back down a hill, and the turn around was at the bottom. It was a very tight turn around leading right back into the up hill. That was painful. The road leveled out briefly at the T, but then we went up another hill. This one curved so we didn't see the turn around to go back until the top of the hill. I was honestly a bit devastated to see the turn around was at the bottom of the hill. Again we had a tight turn leading right back into an uphill.
This was obviously a very hard race. The course with its hills and out and back sections and the weather being wet and cold made it pretty difficult to enjoy. And that's just how *I* felt. With Scott recovering from being sick I knew it was so much worse for him. We walked a lot in the last 2/3 of the race. I welcomed those walks, but it's unusual for Scott to walk so I knew he needed them. Through all this, I really wanted to be for Scott whatever he needed me to be. I probably over compensated to the point of annoyingly overbearing.
Just past mile 7 we turned back onto the long road. I began counting down the distance. Through the last couple (still hilly) miles, our walks grew closer together, but we were moving and however it happened, it got us closer to the finish line. We had a nice downhill as we finished the ninth mile, but we must have taken it a bit fast because then we did one last walk. The encouragement from other runners is one of my favorite parts of any race. I try to make a point to be encouraging, but I know I could do better. With 1/3 mile left we had a good handful of people, runners that passed us and runners that had already finished, tell us how close we were and other happy thoughts. I got focused on looking for the finish line. From the last turn it was maybe not quite 1/4 mile. It seemed to take forever. And then I heard our names and it was like something clicked. This is why I race.
Even when conditions are far from optimal. Even when my husband has been sick but still wants to go. Even when I decided mid race that I probably wouldn't do this one again because it is THAT hard. The pride and accomplishment I feel when crossing the finish line is worth all the hardest courses in bad weather. And for the record, I WOULD do this race again.
Scott and I crossed the line together and I believe our finish line pictures tell our recap fairly well.
The goal when we finished was to first, find a photographer because I wanted at least one picture of us together and smiling. The pictures are free so why not?? Our next goal was back to gear check. If I learned nothing from the St Louis race, it's that I should not stay in my sweaty wet clothes if I plan to be outside much past the finish line. Did I take care of myself? Of course not. I put my coat on and we tip toed across a muddy field toward the tent where hot chocolate waited. The closer we got to the finisher mug tent, the worse the mud got. There was no tip toeing around. Trudging was more like it. There was not a sign of grass. It was kind of fun, but I was truly worried about slipping and hurting myself.
I was not miserable like I was in St Louis, but by no means comfortable. It was still barely 30 degrees and we had our mile walk back to the hotel. While we didn't stop for many pictures, there were still a couple I felt were necessary. :) Maybe next time I will actually follow through and change my clothes. ;)
While Scott and I were resting before checking out of the hotel we were talking about the race. I truly couldn't get past how hard this one was. I did say a couple different times that I would not do it again. I think though, I would. I won't forget the difficulty, but I think I could train to embrace it. Even though I welcomed the walks Scott and I did, I think I could have pushed myself to run at least 75% more of those walks than I did. Even with our walks though, I still PR'd by almost 3 minutes.
Yep, I can train to embrace it.
