We're Going Bowling!

For most Tennessee fans the past week has been unbelievably exciting.  Our Vols are heading back to a bowl game for the first time since the 2010 season.  Bowl trips are something my family did ever since I was a kid.  My first Tennessee game ever was when I was 3 years old in the Peach Bowl, I literally remember nothing from it, but I was there.  Then you fast forward to 4 years of bowl games while in the band at UT.  Just like the Peach Bowl when I was 3, I don't remember much from it but that was for different reasons!

This year as Jenn and I head to Jacksonville it is crazy to think that 10 years ago was our last bowl trip.  A lot of things happened on that bowl trip, many stories that live in legend, but there is one picture that has stuck out for me on that trip.  It was New Year's Eve in Dallas, TX and I weighed in at a robust 425ish pounds.


Check out this picture.  It is glorious.  I am all sweaty, don't fit in my suit.  I honestly have no idea what was going on with that shirt either.  Needless to say, I was in a bad place.  But when I returned home from that trip, for whatever reason I decided to make a change.  By the time I got married 3 years later I had dropped over 125 pounds.

Since then I have several college friends do the same thing.  A number of us run our races together, and several of those folks will be doing the Spartan Weekend with me in March.  Having that group of friends helps make the work easier, but that doesn't mean we all aren't going to eat our weight in seafood in Jacksonville in a few weeks.  Just have to run a little more when we get back!

<--- 2006 OUTBACK BOWL 

2010 MUSIC CITY BOWL --->

TRAINING UPDATE
CURRENT WEIGHT: 315.2 (-3.2 through 2 weeks)

This week was insane with work, but still managed to hit my runs and the circuit workout.  I did miss the 2 strength workouts, but that may have been for the best.  After week 1 my hamstrings had been on fire from the RDL's.  Moving into week 3 I am switching the Monday and Friday workouts to try and help keep my legs fresh.

Everything is working, we are on pace and I have lost weight 2 weeks in a row.  Can't complain.  Now to get through Christmas!

A How To Guide In Convincing Your Friends to Do Obstacle Runs

In 2011 I did my first 5K.  In prepping for the first race a boring ol' 5K to benefit the local moose lodge did nothing for me.  Just running seemed boring, and I can tell you with confidence after a few half marathons that running is in fact very boring.  So when I heard about Warrior Dash that spring I decided that was the route to go.  Obstacles, more challenges, mud, and at the finish line I get beer AND a turkey leg AND a goofy hat?!?!  This was a no brainer.

But for me to make the trip to Charlotte I could not do it alone.  At the time Jenn was not anywhere close to being on board with climbing walls and crawling through mud so I had to look elsewhere.  Luckily after some swift selling I convinced John Monroe to convince his wife to join me for a boys weekend that would start a series of nonsense over the next several years.

HOW TO CONVINCE YOUR FRIENDS TO RUN AN OBSTACLE RACE.

Step 1:  TALK UP THE AWESOME-NESS OF THE RACE.  Luckily this isn't too far of a stretch.  These races are awesome.  It is an excuse to go do manly things for a weekend, you more than earn the beer and terrible food you are bound to eat on a guys weekend, and brings the folks closer together.  Plus you get bragging rights at work for being awesome and enduring a 10,000 volt shock at the finish line of a 10 mile race.

Ignore the bad stuff, don't remind them of the 30 burpee penalties and the week or 2 of bruises/cuts/scratches.  Don't bring up the death waiver you may or may not have to sign or how much it hurts sliding back down a plywood half pipe for the 3rd time in a row.  Remember........beer, turkey leg, goofy hat.  Those things will overcome all concerns.

Step 2: QUESTION THEIR MANHOOD.  Typically you won't get a yes on the first go around unless your friends are crazy.  In this situation simply call them soft.  "Dude, It's ok, we know you're soft but we thought we'd atleast offer since the rest of us are going to head down there for beer, turkey legs, and goofy hats.  While we are proving our manhood that weekend let us know how your spin class is before you head to Bed Bath and Beyond."

........80% of the time, it works every time.

Step 3: RECRUIT MORE PEOPLE.  Once you have 1 teammate on board it is like a snow ball going down hill.  Have your buddy call another buddy, go back to step 1 and repeat the process.  Its just like one of those business models where 1 person tells 2 people, they tell 2 people, etc etc.  Not a pyramid scheme though, not even close.  But the more people on the team climbing walls, being tazed, rolling in mud, swimming through swamps and filth the better the weekend.  But more importantly the more you will enjoy your beer, turkey leg, and goofy hat.

With that said, Spartan Race is coming March 7-8 in Atlanta.  Who's on board?

WORKOUTS THIS WEEK:

TUESDAY WAS RUN DAY!  With this being my ramp up week I only did 30 minutes.  Covered 2.86 miles in 30 minutes pacing ~10:30 minute mile.

Wednesday was a different story.  Focusing on circuit training and for the next 5 weeks will be doing the Spartan Beginner circuit.  On paper it looks like nothing, but I was sweating like a mule on the last circuit.  It will continue to ramp up, but this was a solid starting point.

Fat Guy In Running Shorts

Typically you have heard from Jenn on this blog, but for the next few months we are going to change things up a little bit!  You get to hear from the other half of our racing family, Ben!  2014 was a crazy year on the race front.  We picked up 9 new medals and a few Tough Mudder headbands.  Had some awesome trips with great friends, and have a few more surprises that came from a race on the way as well!

As we lead into 2015, a guys only weekend has been booked in March.  We are still building the team, but training has to get going!  March 7-8 the gentlemen of the Party of the Southland hit the course at Spartan Race.

Normally I wouldn't public post details of my training, but I need some accountability on this one.  I ran my first Tough Mudder 2 years ago, and while I have ran many races since then and had faster times I have still put on almost 30 pounds since that initial race.

So now it is time to get into race shape.  And I am going to post the details on here.  If you want to follow along with me, bring it on.

The schedule is simple.  Total Body lifting schedule on Monday and Friday.  Circuit Strength Training on Wednesday (boot camp style stuff for you house wives and Adam Clark, cross fit for you cool kids with disposable income).  Then Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday are my running days.

The goal by Spartan Race is to get myself down 30 pounds, be ready to conquer the race, and have my damn suits fit better.

DECEMBER 1, 2014

WEIGHT: 318.4

BMI: 38.7

12/1 WORKOUT - TOTAL BODY #1

WARM UP - 10 minutes on elliptical

**do these in groupings of 2 exercise alternating sets.  4 sets x 12 reps each**

LEG PRESS - 360 LBS

INCLINE BENCH - 145 LBS

HAMSTRING CURL - 100 LBS

LAT PULLDOWN - 120 LBS

HAMMER CURL - 25 LBS each hand

LAT RAISE - 10 LBS each hand

HIP ABDUCTION - 185 LBS

ROPE PRESSDOWN - 50 LBS

Knocked this workout today, and actually felt really great to lift.  As we prepared for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon at Disney during most of the fall I had transitioned my non-running days to circuit training instead of lifting.  I was afraid I would lose a lot of my strength, but still felt very strong today.  The 4th set makes the biggest difference.  I had done this in the past as 3 sets, but didn't feel like I had done enough.  Today's was perfect.

This work out is actually part of a program a fantastic trainer here in Nashville made for me in 2007.  Payton Young is one of the best trainers in Middle Tennessee, and is the person who taught me proper technique, proper nutrition, and how to put together a work out program.  The nice thing is whenever I need to get back to basics I can pull up some of those workouts and know I will get a solid work out.

It was a great day 1!  Countdown to Spartan Race Continues.

Wine and Dine Half Marathon Training Begins!

Well we are officially one week into runDisney's Wine and Dine Half Marathon Training!  Only 16 and a half weeks to go!  runDisney provides training guides for runners based on the Jeff Galloway training methods.  You can find them here! They update them every year and you can import them into your calendars for some gentle, or not so gentle reminders.

First Run of the 2014 Wine and Dine Half Marathon Training Guide!

I am notorious for not training.  I mean well, but then I just don't do it.  It seems like every race post starts out with some version of how it's another race that I haven't trained for.

Which there's no reason for that nonsense.  Jeff Galloway has 2 - 30 minute runs a week followed by a long run on Saturdays.  Like I can't find 30 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays to run, and I'm certainly not doing much on Saturdays. (except in the fall....we'll see how this works with football season!)

Running in the 90 degree heat along with at least 60% humidity should have me ready for Florida in November, right?

I'm combining the Couch to 5K intervals with the runDisney guide.  So last week, I did 2 - 30 minute runs, at 1 minute running and 90 seconds brisk walking, and then a 2 mile run on Saturday with the same intervals.  This week it's 2 - 30 minute runs with 90 seconds running and 2 minutes brisk walking with a 3 mile run on Saturday.

I'm hoping a combination of both increasing my intervals and mileage slowly will help me build my endurance, along with letting my knee and ankle heal from...whatever it is that's ailing them.

A very welcome unseasonably cool run!

I'm planning on heading to good old FleetFeet this weekend to get fitted for some new shoes.  My bargain bin Nike Outlet shoes aren't cutting it.  I plan on getting some new SuperFeet insoles as well. I L-O-V-E those.

What helps you to stick to your training for races?

July 4th Music City 10K/5K

How on earth is it already July?!?!  I feel like this year is absolutely flying by!  But here we are again, for the July 4th 10K.  We ran this race last year.  You can read about that here.  It was a soggy mess.  As all of 2013 was.

Not this year!  This year was absolutely beautiful.  We left the house around 6:30 and headed downtown.  It was around 65 degrees outside and no humidity.  Yes, you read that correctly!  July in Nashville and there was no humidity.  To the point I contemplated for a minute running back inside and grabbing a long sleeved shirt to wear.  It was chilly believe it or not!

I've been working with a personal trainer for about a month and have tried to get my running back on pace.  I've probably been pushing a little too hard too soon after the great ankle injury of Warrior Dash - Ohio.  So a combination of running too hard too soon, running too soon with an ankle injury and getting used to actually working my muscles again I've developed some knee pain.  This race is 2 loops.  You stop the first time for the 5K, or repeat it and complete the 10K.  Usually I hate that, but this year it was awesome.  I figured I'd test the old knee/ankle and see how it was going, if it was going well I'd complete the 10K that I signed up for, if not, I'd stop at the 5K.

Before the race - Jason and Ben

Jenn and Betsy

Ben, Hopper, and Jenn

We got downtown and got our packets in record time.  Of course we got there right after 7:00.  Then we found some friends and hung out until it was time to go.

We got in the shoot and stretched a little, the National Anthem was sung, and we're off.  I took roughly 50 steps and realized it'd be the 5K for me.  It was a beautiful morning for a run.  Across the bridge, by the stadium, and back down town and we're done.  Or at least I was, everyone else ran the 10K and had to see everything for a second time.

Ben approaching the finish line

I stood at the finish line and took pictures of everyone as they finished - everyone except Jason who passed me with half a mile left....yes...he finished a 10K before I finished a 5K. Then we rallied up and headed to Puckett's for brunch.

And he's done!

Unfortunately, Puckett's had a 45 minute wait.  Fortunately though, Frothy Monkey is right down the block.  I decided it was WAY passed time for us to try Frothy Monkey.  Some friends of mine from high school own it and I've said we need to try it for forever, but locations in comparison to Murfreesboro are difficult to get to. We have been missing out.  BIG TIME.  We had a couple beers and I had the Royale sandwich, and Ben had an omelet with anything his heart desired.

Happy Independence Day!

What did you do for the 4th?  Did you run in any Independence Day Races?

Tough Mudder Weekend - 2014 - Nashville

I am excited to write this blog since I couldn't find much information on volunteering for Tough Mudder when we were thinking about doing it.  Hopefully this helps some of you out who are looking for this.

Tough Mudder - Probably the Toughest Event on the Planet.  They FINALLY came to Nashville.  So of course we jumped at the chance to run it.  What?  We can volunteer one day and run the next for a discounted race?  Where do we sign up???

That's exactly what we did.  We are Volunteers, right?  These spots "sell" out quickly.  We all signed up via their MVP (Mudder Volunteer Portal) months ago.  They had 12 hour shifts - 7:00am-7:00pm, BUT we receive like a $100 credit towards a future race!  After discussing this with a friend and trying to encourage him to volunteer with us, he pointed out that we were working 12 hours for $100 or $8.30/hour.  But don't think of it like that....I mean we need to pay it forward, right?  How many races have I done, and I've never volunteered for one.

The week leading up to the race we received a couple emails, a waiver and an information packet briefing us on some of the general information we'd need to know along with

The 5 of us bright and early Saturday morning

 Saturday morning we got up at 5:00, got ready and headed out to Spring Hill.  About a 40 minute drive from our house.  We got checked in, they provided a light breakfast but encouraged us to bring snacks.  We packed backpacks with water, snacks, asprin, a change of clothes and flip flops, sunscreen, hat, and sunglasses.  Basically anything we thought we'd need during the day since we didn't know what they would provide us.

2 of us were assigned the "course" and were given a water station to man.  The other 3 were "Mudder Experience".  We took that to mean "whatever's left".  At first I was jealous, I mean, they were going to be working with the runners while, in my mind, I carried ice.  I'm not sure why I thought that's what I'd be doing, but it was.

We met up with Dave, the Tough Mudder Volunteer Coordinator.  Super awesome and nice guy.  Genuinely cared about us having a good time, being safe, and being helpful.  He picked the three of us who weren't assigned to the course and told us to head over to the Mudder Legion tent.  We headed over there, and we were in charge of checking in all the people who have run the race before.  TM has started the Legion this year, if you complete more than one race, you get a different color headband.  1x - orange, 2x - green, 3x - blue, 4-6x - yellow, 7-9x - pink, 10+x black.  Talk about a great marketing scheme.  Who wants an orange one when you could have the BLACK one?!?!?

We worked the Legion tent until 2.  The last wave started at 2 so there were no more people to check in, so they asked us to head over to either the finish line, or rewards to relieve some of those people.  We of course headed to the finish line where we were able to give out the coveted orange headbands.  I could have easily done this all day.  Watching the expression on the Mudders' faces as they crossed that finish line and we put the headbands on them, it was amazing.  And muddy.  VERY muddy.  Ankle deep mud.  So be prepared for that if you decide to Volunteer.  You will be muddy.  They suggested we wear "boots or rain boots if there's a chance of rain".  That sounded terrible in my opinion.  So I opted for my obstacle/mud run  shoes where I didn't mind if they got muddy.

Me and Cara on our lunch break

They eventually started trading people around so everyone could put headbands on people if they wanted to.  I switched back and gave out rubber bracelets to people to trade in for their Finisher's T-shirt, Ben of course headed straight to the beer tent to hand out beer, and Cara I think opened 1,000 bananas.  I didn't know she was doing that.  How many times have you been handed a banana at the end of the race as you are covered in mud and cannot get it open.  I thought that was awesome of her for opening them for the runners. 

A great "official" picture of me handing out the coveted head bands

Meanwhile, Adam and Lizzy who were stationed at the water tent did that and only that.  They handed out water, handed out gummies and granola bars and that was it.  They said while it was fun to watch the runners, it certainly wasn't exciting.

After our shift ended we checked out, got our information on how to register with our discount for Sunday, got our chip for a free beer, and got our information for 20% off merch we headed to the hose pipes to spray off as much mud as we could as quickly as we could since a bad thunderstorm was rolling in.  We grabbed our free beers and headed off back to Murfreesboro.  We grabbed a quick supper and headed home to get ready for the race the next day.

After weeks of trying to decide, even Saturday I couldn't decide if I was going to run.  There were people in really...actually ridiculous shape, then people in way worse shape than me coming across that finish line.  But when it came down to it, I realized between the great ankle injury of Warrior Dash Ohio and my lack of training, I didn't think I'd be able to do the race justice so I decided to sit this one out. 

I bet you can't tell which two of us were at the water station instead of the "Mudder Experience"

We got to bed around 11:00 Saturday night with 8:00 alarms set for the next morning since the first wave that they wanted to run started at 10:00.  Adam came and tapped on our door at about 7:30 to inform us that they had cancelled Tough Mudder for Sunday.  Initially we of course thought it was a joke, but apparently those storms that we ran from after our volunteer shift tore apart the course.  It made the pathways for the medic vehicles impassable, we heard a creek rose so high it flooded parts of the course, and tore apart Mudder Village.  Parking was a nightmare on Saturday due to the several days of rain we had leading up to the weekend, I cannot imagine if they had tried to park cars on Sunday after flooding Saturday night.

All the people who had registered for Sunday can now have their registration moved to any other race.  They didn't offer a refund, but I'm going to bet if you had registered for the race, you'll probably do another one anyway so a refund didn't matter.  Also, another perk for being a Volunteer is a race is never sold out for a Volunteer.  So if you see one you want to do, you can sign up no matter if it says it's sold out.  Of course we were disappointed, but that just means we'll have to put together a road trip!  Looks like we'll be heading up to Pittsburgh this August!  68 days!  I'm going to kick my ass for the next 68 days and get ready so I can run with everyone.  #toughmuddertraining

In the end, I'd volunteer again in a heartbeat.  I'd just choose one of the half day shifts instead of the full day.  12 hours is just too long.  They provided us with a light breakfast and a really late (in my world at least, it was around 2:00) lunch.  You don't get as much of a discount if you do a half day, but I'd rather pay more than work for 12 hours.  That just makes for a long day.

Have you volunteered for a race?  What was your experience like?

Warrior Dash II - Ohio

Apparently we couldn't get enough of Warrior Dash with only one race this year so we decided on two.  We ran Warrior Dash in Georgia back in April - you can read about that race here - and decided to run it again in Ohio with Ben's sister and brother in law, and a couple friends.  Well unfortunately work schedules didn't work out for a few of the people, so Ben, me, and some friends from Virginia headed over to Columbus for the race.

We met at our hotel, the downtown Hyatt Regency, and headed out to get "an amazing burger better that Litton's" at a place called The Thurman Cafe.  While the burgers were delicious and GIANT, they were no Litton's.

From there we headed back to the hotel, we had some race prep to attend to.  So I busted out my sewing machine. Bet you didn't see that coming, I mean who pack a sewing machine to take to an obstacle run?  I get to work on the ridiculous costume we are wearing the next day.  Doug who came in town to run with us is a band director and had some old uniforms laying around.  After pulling some strings he was able to get us some to wear on the race.  Well these fit high schoolers...we are SEVERAL years removed from high school, so some seams had to be let out, some sleeves cut off.  And of course after finishing 1.5 of the jackets my needle broke.  I may have brought a sewing machine, but I sure didn't bring extra needles!  Thankfully the nice people at the Hyatt Regency didn't ask too many questions when we called down to ask for 3 sewing kits.

Doug Ben and Jenn trying on our overlays

Me and Susan began feverishly hand sewing these overlays as we played Cards Against Humanity.  If you haven't played this game you need to, it's hysterical!  Now don't play this with grandma at Christmas...one of you will be very embarrassed.  For the 4 of us in that hotel room, it was absolutely hilarious.

Ben's Flat Warrior Ready to Go!

We finally finished up for the night and laid out our flat warriors and passed out.  The next morning, we got up early and started making the hour drive to the race site in Millfield, OH.  We parked the car - note it's our brand new (to us) Honda Element - on this giant hill stacked in with all these other cars.

Susan all set up to watch our bags while we run!

This is where Warrior Dash dropped the ball...MAJORLY!  We got in line to get our bibs/hats/shirt, it took almost 45 minutes, we couldn't believe it.  Usually there's NO ONE there that early, then we finally made it to the front of the line and were told all 3 of us were on the "master list" and we had to check with information.  We walked over to the information tent, where we found a line 2 times as long, and only 2 people working it.  After waiting there for another 45 minutes we finally had our gear to go run.  We got all suited up and headed off.

Conquering the Mud Mounds!

Conquering the Mud Mounds

The first basically mile had 1 Warrior Dash obstacle, and the rest was God's obstacle.  I'm not kidding when I say it was hilly.  They have it listed as "slightly hilly", I don't ever want to know what anything about slightly is.  There were parts where no one would have blamed you for getting on all fours it was that steep.

The Great Warrior Roast!

We had Stormin Normandy, the only obstacle where Ben uses his knee pads.  I didn't wear any, and now have cut up knees. The Mud Mounds, which absolutely destroyed me.  After running/walking those hills at the beginning I was already getting exhausted.  We had the trenches, which I've never done before, so that was awesome.  Apparently I was the only one to crawl through them, Ben and Doug just walked then ducked under the slats. Dead Man's Drop, where I was able to complete it this time (with a little help from Ben).  It wasn't slanted back like it was in Georgia so it was much more manageable.  Then we had the Warrior Wall, which I chickened out on, we were so muddy from the trenches and mounds that I didn't think I was strong enough to hold me on the slick ropes.  I did however conquer the Warrior Peak (A-frame) and I didn't use the wussy 2x4s they had nailed into one side!  We had the shock top obstacle, the barn, , and those horrible cargo tubes to climb through.  Those, as Ben said, are deceivingly difficult!  Goliath - which didn't have the GIGANTIC line like in Georgia so I completed it all, the Warrior Roast, and the Muddy Mayhem.

Goliath!

 I'm not sure exactly what happened at the end, Ben started playing and rolling all over me, I couldn't get my balance, somehow I twisted the holy crap out of my ankle.  Again!  I did the same thing in 2012.  So I limped probably the last .01 miles to the finish line.

At the Finish Line!

Warriors!

It was a great race course, if they could figure out the new system for registration it would have been perfect!

One thing I'm not sure if I mentioned in the other Warrior Dash post from Georgia in April, Warrior Dash has decided to offer FREE, yes FREE professional pictures of the race!  So far, we've had tremendous pictures, of course I keep an eye out for the photogs so I ham it up for them.  But this is another reason to run this race, most races set you up with marathonfoto.com which is NOT cheap!

We headed back to the hotel, cleaned up, and headed out to Schmitz for some German food with Ben's parents, sister and brother and law, and Doug and Susan.  After that, we were wiped out.  We've gotten to be so boring in our old age.........

Schmidt's!

Ben's Parents!

The whole crew for the sausage fest!

We headed back to Tennessee on Sunday morning, but not without stopping to fill up the car with various beers that aren't sold in Tennessee due to the ridiculous tax laws.  Hello Fat Head Bumbleberry!

The next day I begin the great task of cleaning out the warrior clothes.  Everyone has their own technique.  I prefer to let them stay in a garbage bag until I get home.  Keeping them wet if possible.  Some people prefer to dry them out then shake out the extra mud.  I bring all that sweet sweet mud home and lay everything out on the lawn chairs and spray it with the hose pipe.  Once I get as much as I can out, I wash it in the washing machine twice then dry it and usually that gets everything out. Most of the time the mud comes out of everything except whites.

It don't matter if you're black or white

Country Music Half Marathon!

For some reason I'm competitive with Ben. Entirely too competitive.  Regardless of what we're playing he gets called a cheater, whether he's cheating or not. (let's be honest thought, he had to cheat if he was beating me. right?)  I've broken Xbox controllers, thrown golf clubs, and signed up for races that I am no where near ready for.

Ben wanted to run the Country Music Half Marathon.  He asked if I wanted to.  The answer was a big fat no.  But then I realized that he'd have yet another medal than I would.  So, being the medal whore that I am, I said yes.

He registered us for it maybe 2 months ago, not enough time for me to complete the usual ~12-15 week training schedule of most half marathon training guides but enough time for me to be in decent shape...

It was official, I was running the Country Music Half Marathon with no training

Then March happened, where we had something going on every single weekend in March, then April...where we had a race every single weekend in April. And in the 2 months leading up to the Country Music Half Marathon I had run a grand total of 11 miles.  That's right...11.

Flat Runner is Ready!

So we get all our items ready for the race and set alarms at 4:00am to head downtown to get parked then to the starting line.  Race started at 7:00.  We were in corral 24 so we got to the starting line around 7:40ish where I proceeded to have a complete breakdown.  I'm talking tears and everything.  I was so nervous about this race as soon as we hit that starting line that I thought I was going to have to wait for the next corral.

Waiting for what seemed like forever for them to call on corral 24

They counted down and we started running, immediately I felt better, I guess that anxiety of it all just caught up to me. From then on I ran/walked for the next 13.1 miles.  Met some people along the way, talked to several people with runDisney shirts on about races.  Heard that our upcoming Wine and Dine Half Marathon is the best one at Disney.

I hope this is us in 40 years

I've lived in Nashville for 22 of my 31 years on this Earth...how is it possible that I still don't know where I am in the city?  We ran around the naked statues, Demonbreun, 12 South, Belmont area and I was lost the whole time.  I do know at some point people were giving out free tequila shots.  I definitely took part in their generosity.

Ben's goal was to finish this is 2:30, my goal was to finish this.......that same day.  Around the 2:30 mark I sent Ben a text saying that I thought he'd be finishing soon, but if he hadn't he's still awesome in my book.  He said he had bonked around the 10 mile mark.  It started off cool, in the low 40s, but it heated up quickly. Everyone back with me were starting to feel the effects of the hot air.

Photo: Jamie Richardson Hurt

I got back to Grumpy's and had one final bridge to traverse and I'd be finished.  I called Ben to let him know I had less than a mile left so he could take pictures of me and meet up at the finish line.  As soon as I crossed the finish line I got a text from him: "Sitting in a chair next to gate 5 at the finish line med tent. I'm fine but trying not to vom banana and Gatorade."

I grabbed all the post race stuff they handed me - Gatorades, water, cold towels, bananas, cookies and most importantly chocolate milk, my favorite post run drink - and headed to find Ben.

Ben had committed the great mistake that Tim committed after the Disneyland Half Marathon including the blue banana vomit story.  Ben was one minute under pace when he got to the 10 mile mark, then bonked. The last 3.1 miles of his half took him 48 minutes and crossing the finish line he chugged anything they handed him.  Which included a 24 oz bottle of Gatorade, 2 bottles of water, and a banana.  Way too much right after running for 2 hours and 45ish minutes.

I found him and we headed to the car where he asked if I'd drive.  That's my key as to when he's not feeling good.  I never drive.  Ever.  So when he asks me to I know he's either really tired or really sick.

I got in and headed back to Murfreesboro.  I told him if he needed me to stop to let me know.  He did, as we barely got out of town.  Under the overpass of Harding, Ben unleashed hell, or at least 24 ounces of Gatorade, 2 bottles of water and a banana.  And felt like a new man.

Voiding

Somebody cue up: "Don't you forget about me"

We got home, took ice baths, ate something and rested for a little while and headed to Franklin for the Main Street Festival where we logged anther 4 miles looking at the booths.  We went to get supper where I almost fell asleep at the booth and I was in bed and passed out by 7:30.

ahhhhh!

It was a great race, live bands and entertainment throughout the race.  Friendly volunteers and great people to run with.  Highly recommend this race, if you are looking for a nice, hilly, potentially hot half marathon this is a great option.

Tap N' Run - Nashville

On the home stretch of our four races in four weeks for April!  We ran the Tap N' Run last Saturday.  It was nice to not be going out of town for the weekend!  We were able to hang around the house, work on projects and then head up to Nashville to run that afternoon.

 Obviously this race is in the afternoon.  Who wants to wake up to run and drink beer in the morning (other than my younger more "youthful exuberant" self as the academic probation adviser once called me in college).  The race was at 5:00, so we headed downtown around 3:00 to go to packet pickup at BB Kings.  We of course took the Jeep as it was a BEAUTIFUL day, but that also meant we forgot Ben's parking pass for his lot downtown.
No problem, I have this all figured out.  He can drop me off at BB Kings, I'll get the packets and he can go to the parking lot by Hooters and we'll meet there.  He drops me off, I go in get the packets, and head back out and realize due to the traffic he's not even a block from where he dropped me off.

I sprint...full speed to catch him before he turned on 3rd where I knew there wouldn't be any cars.  I was probably 5 feet from him, reaching for the door knob, out of breath so I couldn't holler, and he makes the turn and leaves me in the dust.....of course he got a huge kick of of this as I walked slowly to the car so we could grab lunch at SATCO. (yum!)

After we scarfed some tacos and cheese dip we headed back downtown to run.  The costumes.  Oh man everyone was in costume.  I wore a tie-dye shirt and a beer mug hat leftover from St. Patrick's day and I was under-dressed.  There was a man dressed as a baby, ninja turtles, Mario Kart, a couple of guys barefooted since they were hanging out in a bar downtown, heard about the race, signed up and ran it barefooted.

the starting corral

They were having issues with the sound, when I say issues, I mean ear-piercing feedback.  You'd think in Music City someone would be able to work a PA.

Starting Line Beer!

We got in the starting corral and were handed a beer - not a full beer, I think it's around 5 ounces.  They count us down and we chug and run, we ran down 2nd, up Broadway, turned on 3rd then headed towards the dreaded Pedestrian Bridge.  The degree of the arch of this bridge is insane, ESPECIALLY if you're trying to run it.  This is by no means a fast race, almost everyone jogs or walks it, roughly 99% of the people walk the bridge.  We got to the top of it, a Saturday evening in April means one thing to all high schoolers, Prom.  There was a group of people who obviously didn't check to see what was going on downtown as they headed to the bridge to take prom pictures.  A group of maybe 16 kids on one side of the bridge and their parents on the other side...and hundreds of runners between.  They tried to take advantage of a break in the runners for the obligatory "jumping picture" but they didn't account for Ben's ridiculous speed, as he ran, and jumped at the exact moment they did.  I'd love to see a copy of that picture.

Just a couple of Hulks

This Hulk knew the JT dance that was playing over the speaker so obviously she had to complete it.

Then at the bottom, another chug station.  We go around the stadium, back across the other bridge to Printer's Alley to another chug station, then back around to 2nd and are done.  It's only a 4K so it's certainly not that difficult.

Printer's Alley

This is the 2nd time we ran this.  We also did it in 2012.  Would we do it again?  Probably not.  Would we recommend it to people? Absolutely.

It's a great race, pretty well organized.  I wish they had more entertainment throughout the course, even if it's just speakers blasting music.  It was completely dead on the other side of the river so anything would have been nice.

We scooped up our awesome medals and headed to Bro's for ENTIRELY too much crawfish with the family.

Finish Line Medals and Beers!