TENNESSEE!!! I THINK NASHVILLE IS MY NEW FAVORITE CITY! NUMBER 9!

This was my very first trip to Tennessee, I believe, it was certainly my first time in Nashville. We took Friday off and decided to leave early in the morning so we could pick up my race packet on the north side of the city Friday instead of on race day, it can get kind of crazy and stressful! We left at 6:30am and it was just my crew of one, Brian and me. Jenn decided that she wasn't ready for a 1/2 marathon yet and this one was a little pricey, so she took a pass on it. We ate at Brian's favorite place on the way down, WAFFLE HOUSE, and didn't really stop for lunch, picked up the race packet at 3:45pm and headed into Nashville and walked around looking for cowboy boots for Brian. We didn't really find anything, but he is a size 15-16...so that's how that goes. We dined at an upscale restaurant called The City House and it was excellent. After dinner we went back to downtown and walked around some more and then headed to the hotel to rest and relax. I actually slept pretty well until about 4:15 and was up, so I just got up, got ready and we drove into the city and Brian scored a great parking spot a block away from the start. I used the potty and lined up; had my Larabar 30 minutes before and took off. There were about 2000 racers in total, 1300 for the 1/2 and the rest were doing a full. I had a cold last week and I coughed and cleared my throat through the thing, but it didn't seem to hurt me. I noticed the 1 mile marker, 4 and 5, had a gel, saw 8, had some gummies and saw 10 and didn't see another until 12, crap I usually like to turn on the afterburners at 11, missed it. There was a nice downhill right after that 12 mile marker so I tried to make up some speed and then made the last turn on Broadway for the last 1/4 mile downhill to the finish line. Brian got it on the GoPro and it looked like I was moving pretty well, he said he thought it was 01:51 something, I doubt that because I coughed the whole way. I grabbed a bagel and banana and we walked around a little bit until I started to g

et chilled and we went back to the truck and I changed into a dry shirt, put on my Under Armor sweats and we proceeded to the Hard Rock Café (event sponsor) and had a WONDERFUL breakfast, and a celebratory beer!!! Later that evening after a shower and some window shopping, a good meal of BBQ, a beer and a shot of Jack Daniels, I checked my time and it was my fastest at 01:51:45, 3rd in my AG, 271 of 1300 runners, 96th of the all women for a pace of 8:32. I still don't believe it because I was sick, but I must have been running to get it over with or something!!! Personal Record (PR), Number 9 - DONE!