Nashville, Tennessee United States Elite Racing

Total Time = 5h 43m 23s Overall Rank = / Age Group = Age Group Rank = 0/

Country Music Marathon 2007 Report

While my feet are still throbbing and my legs are still aching I figure I’ll put pen to page - as it were – and capture the experience of the Country Music Marathon.

I took off early from work Friday and drove to Nashville. I went downtown to the Convention Center and learned that Nashville is a much bigger city than I had thought it was. I got my race packet and wondered around the expo. Vendors’ wares were flying off the shelves/tables/racks as runners bought every sort of running gear imaginable. I restrained myself and only bought 3 pair of wicking socks – for $5 each. At this time I was expecting rain based on the latest report I had read. Turns out it didn’t rain on race day but I really like the socks.

I had a room booked at the Hampton Inn about 12 miles south of the city center. Everything closer in was booked. I woke up about 0345 hrs and had breakfast of a banana, Cliff Bar, Marathon Bar and bottle of Gatorade. I left the hotel about 0515 and headed into the city. Traffic on the interstate came to a crawl as 30,000 runners tired to make their way in. We were instructed to park at LP Field (where the Titans play) which is actually the finish area. We then boarded shuttle busses that took us to the starting area.

About a mile out I knew it was gonna be a long day! My calves were really tight and starting to burn. I think I may have over done the carb-loading and tanking up on sodium. The first thing I noticed was the course was very hilly! Unlike my four Disney marathons which were pancake-flat, there were some pretty big hills on the course; nothing very steep but lots of long, slow rises. Evidently my legs are not in hill-running shape and I was really struggling. The ½ marathon runners and the marathon runners ran together and at the 11 mile point the courses separated. It was all I could do to force myself to stay on the full marathon course and not take the ½ marathon exit. But I figured I had signed up for the full marathon and anything less would be a DNF.

I maintained my pace until about 12 miles but then my pace started to drop off as my legs were getting tired. At about 14 miles there were some nuns out cheering the runners on. The sisters were high-fiving the runners and encouraging them. As I passed I asked them to pray for me and they said they would.

There were bands all along the course and most were actually pretty good I thought. It sure broke up the monotony of running. I enjoyed most of the songs they played but I thought one band’s song selection was not very good as when I passed they were singing “You’re no good, you’re no good, you’re no good, you’re no good, baby you’re no good.”

After the 13 mile point I realized my goal of 4:30 was not gonna happen today so I resolved to just finish the course and not worry about my time. I would run as long as I could and then walk. My calves were cramping up now and I’d stop to try to stretch and that would help for a little while and then they’d cramp again. By mile 20 I was pretty much spent and resolved to just walk the remainder of the course. I did not want to risk injury and jeopardize my ironman training. I ended up running a little more when the spirit moved but that was not often. Finally mile 25 came around and I somehow managed to run much of the last 1.2 miles.

I don’t think this was my worst marathon time but it certainly was the most difficult and painful. Perhaps I should have been more specific with the nuns. Maybe they prayed “Lord, keep him humble”. It was interesting being at the back of the pack; much more inspirational than the middle of the pack where I usually run. There were runners out there that I had no idea how they kept going. Looking at my 265 lbs/ 6’3” they probably were thinking the same thing about me.

I don’t know what my official time is but I recorded 5:43:23 on my watch. This is almost an hour slower than my PR. I learned a few things today.
1. I only need to carb-load for a few days and not use the week before the race to eat like a pig.
2. I need to ease off on the sodium and avoid the Chinese buffet/MSG before a race.
3. Hills take a lot out of you.
And the biggest revelation I had today is this: I will never be able to do the ironman in August unless I drop some serious weight. It doesn’t matter how much I train, I’m too heavy to bike the rolling hills of Louisville.

~Mike