Nashville Trip (the race!)

Be ready for the most epic post ever.

After 12 hours crammed in a car with 5 people, a severe case of allergies, a slight ear infection, and 4 blisters, I completed my first half marathon!

My time wasn't the greatest, but my goal wasn't to get a good time. My goal was to finish the thing, preferably without walking. However, after about 11 monstrous hills miles 5-8, my legs decided to cramp up majorly around mile 9, so either I walked, or I was carried away in the stretcher.

Even though I was a little sad I had to walk for a little bit, I'd still say I ran a good 95%, which I believe was awesome, and I'm proud to say that I've done something that only about 1% of the U.S. population has done. Not only that, but I got to run it in my favorite city, Nashville Tennessee.

We woke up around 4:30am to get ready in our hotel. I put on my tank top, shorts, socks, and shoes. I put my hair in a bun and secured it with 3 ponytails. Then I hairsprayed it. My hair falling out when I run is one of my biggest pet peeves, so I had to make sure it stayed in place. I grabbed a banana and a powerbar, then we took a cab at 5am and left.

We got there and it was dark and freezing, but the feeling was incredible. I couldn't believe I was actually doing this. It was so freezing. I tried to keep a long sleeved shirt on as long as possible. Here we are, waiting for the race to start:

All five of us! The two on the left, Morgan and Isaiah, and the one on the far right, Saybra, ran the full marathon while Mariah and I ran the half.

Mariah and me just as the sun was coming up! But don't let that fool you, it was freezing!

Here we all are at the actual starting line! This was about 5 mins til start time. Surprisingly, I wasn't nervous at all! I was ready to go!

The actual race start was 7AM, but due to the wave start, I didn't start until 7:15. As soon as I took off, I felt wonderful. Mariah and I tried to run together, but due to all the hills and all of the people, we ended up splitting apart.

Miles 1-3 felt wonderful. I had a blast enjoying the sights of Nashville and looking at all of the amazing spectators. Everyone there was so friendly and encouraging.

Mile 4, my feet starting feeling a little weird.

Mile 5 I realized that I might possibly be getting blisters.

Miles 6-8 was nothing but hills. And when I say hills, I mean that these things were ridiculous. Like mile-long hills, without a downhill afterwards. I remember before the one hill that killed me, I read this sign:

Not the one in the front, but the one in the back. It says, "Embrace the Suck! That is this hill"
And boy, was that true! It was the biggest hill I had ever seen. But I ran it. I believe this was the very end of mile 8. After this hill, my legs were shot. They hurt so bad, from both the hills and the blisters, I had to stop.

The bad thing was, I wasn't out of breath at all! GEEZ. So breath-wise, I could have kept running like a champ!

Then miles 9-12 were pure torture, and took forever. I ran as much as I possibly could, only stopping for a few seconds at the water stations at each mile. My legs resented me for it!

Mile 12 was the longest mile of my life, but I won't forget the final stretch. From the point I saw the mile 13 sign, I sprinted as fast as I possibly could to the end. Here I am at the finish line!