part 1 - recap

I am back and I am alive! Life has been good this morning catching up on email and resting with the kitties. Phoebe is even feeling the need to give me a bath in between biting my sweatshirt. They instantly go between napping and playing . . . boy did we miss them!

The race went so good! The weather was a huge concern. Friday night they were saying 100% chance of rain in the morning. We even woke up to thunder and lightning and heavy rain. As we drove the 75 minutes to Nashville the rain got lighter and we began to see brightness in the sky. Sure enough it was dry by the time we reached the city and it stayed that way through the whole race (the 1/2 marathon anyway). We got there just in time because they started things off early. Walking up we heard Dan Evans from The Biggest Loser sing the national anthem. We even spotted an old CU friend Doug Gray (we caught up with him later that evening). I started with Elissa while Dez took off. It was such a great atmosphere. I was feeling great and really tried to speed up on the downhills. There were a lot because there were a lot of uphills too! Probably the toughest race I've done, but I seriously felt great through the whole thing. We got to run all down Music Row where all the production studios are. The bands throughout the race were okay, but I best enjoyed the church choir just past mile 10, which gave me a great boost. I teared up a little seeing all the supporters and knowing that so many people were running for very meaningful reasons. I tried to keep those who desire to run, but can't physically in my mind. I was timing myself and knew I was doing well time wise. With all the hills I was afraid I wouldn't have enough to push through the last mile, though. Luckily Laura was there right before the finish and gave me a little boost to push hard to the finish line. I crossed at 2:07.26 and felt so great about that. I find Dez right away and found out she sprained her ankle at mile 6, but still finished under 2 hours . . . what a trooper. Elissa and Karen came next. We got our food and had a reunion under Vince Young's big poster at LP Field. We got to cheer the marathon runners as we walked to our hotel. I'm so glad we did the race . . . I really enjoyed it. I am still sore today, but amd determined to stay positive for part 2 in a couple weeks. Indy . . . here I come!