Hadn't been to Nashville before so this was looking to be an interesting and different trip. Also it was Marathon number six this year, the third race (marathons and halves) in as many weeks. Yep, I know....stupid crazy......or maybe just stupid! Regardless I have to hit many of these while I can so I reach my goal of 12-14 this year. My wife hadn't been to Nashville and I hadn't been there in ages. Probably not since my parents took me as a kid. So we were ready for it.
Honestly we needed a bit of a getaway but the travel was getting a bit much too. I didn't think it should cost too much to fly down to Nashville from Virginia Beach/Norfolk area, boy was I wrong. All the flights were seriously way over what I had planned on spending. I was almost ready to go for a drive.....which would be crazy long and would extend our time away from home even longer. My wife and I were sitting at a restaurant and I started getting stressed because I hadn't bought the airline tickets yet nor reserved a hotel and the race was only a few weeks away. I pulled up my PRICELINE App on my phone and all of a sudden I see a flight that was half the cost of all the other previously. I had to have my wife look really closely at the flight schedule so I didn't do something stupid.......remember I goof in New Orleans in January! You can read that post here.
Anyway, enough about travel.....it worked. We got the tickets. We got the hotel. Neither perfect but satisfactory. We had to fly out to Nashville early Friday morning but that would give us time to chill out and see the sights. No drama on the flight.....yeah! Landed without problems and got our rental car. Off to the convention center to pick up our race packets.
The nice thing about doing multiple Rock N Roll Marathons is that the procedures are all about the same. No figuring new stuff out. The bad thing about doing multiple of the same series is that EVERYTHING is the same. We see the same vendors at each expo. Not necessarily a bad thing. Just not new.
After checking into the hotel we were off and running to see downtown......and yes we were wearing our cowboy boots! Come on! We had to! We were starving so we hit a simple place on the strip that was pretty packed for the afternoon but had a band playing. As a matter of fact they had a three story building with open balconies and a different country band on each level. We chose level two.....less crowded and pulled us up a seat to listen and grab a quick bite.
It was a fun place. The comparison to New Orleans and Nashville was very similar. Every bar had a band, one was country the other had rock. One served mostly beers and the other Hurricanes.....can you guess which city was which?
Afterwards we went back to the hotel....which unfortunately was fairly far away from the start line. I didn't make reservations quick enough, but it was a nice place. With a big event in town like the Rock N Roll Marthon Series you'd think the people at the front desk would be aware......they had no clue. I guess management had a big MISS on this one.
Anyway we got ready for the evening which entailed dinner and a show......the Grand Ol Opera! This would be something completely different. We hunted around on the Internet and finally selected a place that was in walking distance of the hotel. Sounded nice, it was close and the weather looked like rain. Actually it looked like crazy downpour kind of storms coming in that evening. The race might be cancelled......I had the thought run through my head.....SHAME on me! However I was a bit tired for another long race.
Dinner was nice at J Alexander's. I was tempted to eat rattlesnake that they had on the menu however I didn't know how that would settle on my stomach before running a marathon. Regardless dinner was nice and then off to the show. Great fun.....my wife didn't realize that the Grand Ol Opera was a radio show....she is so funny! Of course I got lots of compliments on my boots!
Unfortunately I was pretty tired and we didn't stay for the whole show. We left early so I could get some sleep since I needed to get up early the morning. Also a storm was coming, we left just in time to avoid all the rain. Back to the hotel to get all my gear ready for the run. There is something about a routine.
My pre-race photo routine as well. However I enjoy taking these with my wife. Alas I'm running the marathon and she is running the 5K. I'm by myself at the starting line. Again the normal eating my snacks to get ready and waiting forever for the porta potties. Routine you know. It's important. I didn't see anything special other than a LOT of people. My wife however saw two of the actors of one of our favorite shows, NASHVILLE. I know you wouldn't guess we would watch a country music show but it's fun.
Ok, ok here we go. marathon number 6 this year and yes I'm tired. I should have given more time in between but there is wasn't the ability. Race started off like any other. I actually felt pretty good and was keeping a 10 minute per mile pace all the way up to mile 13. Yep half way wall and then I met a great friend. Well she wasn't a friend at the moment but she would be over the next 3 hours and 13 miles. We both were struggling and encouraged each other along the race. Not necessarily a great finish....but a finish......and the best part I made a new friend. Here we are finishing the race together.
The best thing about runners and running is that we all have the same goal and destination.
Enjoy your day my friends.....remember to drink your water on a hot day like today!
Run Eugene Run
ET This I Believe
