Rock n Roll Nashville Half Marathon Recap

WHAT A WEEK! We started off May by traveling up to Nashville. I had to be there for work and it happened to be the same time as St Jude Rock n Roll Nashville Half and Full Marathon. Nashville's always been a place my husband Gabe and I have wanted to visit so we took this as an opportunity to visit someplace new and cross another Rock n Roll Half Marathon off our list. This marked Half Marathon #17 for me (which is my lucky number and was on my bib).

We flew in early on Friday morning and had a delicious breakfast at Mason's inside of Loews Vanderbilt Hotel. Off to the expo we went. This expo was a little emotional for me and I found myself crying a few times. St Jude is the sponsor of Nashville's Rock n Roll. There were St Jude Heroes everywhere and I kept thinking back to September when we lost my 2 year old cousin Lana to Pediatric Cancer. One day, when I can say the words pediatric cancer out loud without crying, I will run as a St. Jude Hero. It's such an amazing organization and I look forward to the day I can support them. I'm just not ready yet.

My outfit:

Asics Slub Tank (currently on sale $14)
Whiskey Made Me Do It by Distance Designs by PamelaASICS Gel Nimbus 18 ($150)
Skirt Sports Womens Jette Skirt ($39)

We were under a 100% chance of rain at the start with lightning. I'm going to be honest here - a large part of me wouldn't have minded if the race didn't happen. I woke up not feeling it and I never got into the grove. Gabe and I purchased VIP for this race and thank goodness for that as we were able to escape the rain at Honkey Tonk Central. The nice bartender even gave us industrial size/strength trash bags. Rockin it! I met up with Katie there, fellow Rock n Blogger and ASICS ambassador. This blog has brought me wonderful experiences and opportunities but the friendships I've made through the years are priceless.

There's nothing like chilling at a bar, waiting for the rain to stop at 6:45am! The race was delayed and patrons started ordering drinks at 7:00am. I so wanted to switch places with them...you have no idea. When the lightning finally stopped, the race began. We did get a front row photo of the starters, which was super cool.

Katie, Gabe and I were in coral 16 (there were over 40 corals!). She belonged there, we did not. We parted right around mile one and I told Gabe there was a chance I wouldn't finish. Friends, that was after the first spell of hills. I had no idea what we were in store for.

Very funny Rock n Roll....very funny.

This entire race was nothing but hills. Most those hills went up. We live in FL and our version of a hill is a bridge (or an overpass at Disney). Sure, we were expecting a few hills here and there - but nothing like we experienced. If you are ever planning on running this race, be prepared - especially if you are from a flat state.

This was probably the last time I smiled all race unless I saw a photographer. I offered the gentleman $1,000 to switch places with me. His wife offered me a strawberry. I found out later that this couple comes out every year to cheer on the races. One day, when I am no longer trying to run, I will be like them. 

Aside from the hills,we had decent weather after the lightning went away. High humidity but nothing like we deal w/ in FL. Thank goodness for the cloud coverage! 

These nice people were handing out doughnuts. I asked my doughnut obsessed husband if he wanted to go back and get one and he said "no, I don't want to go back up this hill". 

This was not the only Trump running sign we saw this day. 

Aren't these Nashville Barbies the cutest ever!!!!!!!!

Yay, go Meg!

So, about mile 7 or 8 we started walking. Not a run walk ratio. Walking. Both of Gabe's knees were bothering him and it sounded like an IT band(s) issue. I was feeling ok at this point. Arout mile 10, both of my feet went numb. My legs were on fire and it hurt to walk, run or stand still. I didn't know how were were going to make it 3 more miles. Gabe looked at me and said, "my feet are numb" and I had to laugh - we both had feet we couldn't feel. At mile 11 I started getting delirious and after we hit mile 12, I nearly DNF with less than a mile to go. I'm not proud of this.

I wish lady.....honestly this sign made me push through. Every time I wanted to quit, I thought of a nice glass of wine after we finished. I knew from the night before that Mason's Bar had Landmark Overlook Vineyards by the glass and that got me to the finish line. 

I've sadly ran halfs and full's not 100% trained. However, I've always finished with a smile on my face and only once before had I seriously thought about quitting. With that said, I've never experienced anything like Nashville. Lack of training, yes. (expletive) Hills, absolutely. I had just ran a back to back in FL two weeks prior and was ok (slower than normal but not ready to quit). This. Was. BRUTAL.

We finished - Not a proud moment - But finished. My lucky number 17 surely didn't bring me any luck.

On a side note, Nashville was one of the prettiest courses we have ran. If someone were able to take the roads out and flatten it, we would be back year after year. However folks, this is our last Nashville race. I don't even think you could talk me into a 5K in this beautiful city.