Race Report: Tom King Classic Half Marathon

I know, I know, I didn't tell you I had a half marathon race this weekend.

Well its because I wasn't entirely sure I did. So now you know, and here's the report.

I finished work on Thursday exhausted. I really didn't sleep at all Wednesday night. There was so much on my mind with book writing deadlines, student assessments, Reese's 4 miler race, and that little event I have one week tomorrow. Yikes!

So as soon as I was finished work I went to the chiropractor for an adjustment, my back has been sore lately, so I've really cut back my mileage. I came home and slept until 7pm. Hubs and I frantically packed and headed out the door at 9 pm for our 15 hour -2 day commute to Nashville. Arrived on my sister's doorstep at 10:30 Nashville time last night. Exhausted.

So anyway, when the alarm went off this morning, and it was pouring rain, and I hadn't yet signed up for the race, my immediate thoughts were. I can skip this. Its my secret race. No one knows I was thinking of running it, so who cares. Good, roll over back to sleep.

Twenty minutes later I begrudgingly got up. My sister was running this race (and Hubs), and since it was an out and back loop, I knew I could see her on the course. It would be our first race that we both ran in at the same time. And my sister is slowly making her way back to racing, so I didn't want to miss that.

I dressed in a skirt and long sleeve. I have run outside in shorts since Philly in Nov, but it was still cold since it was raining, so I stayed inside until the race began.

The course was fairly flat, and scenic. It ran along a bike path along the Cumberland (sp?) river in Downtown Nashville. It finishes inside the big stadium that is home of the Tennessee Titans, and you get to see yourself on the Jumbo tron screen.

I wasn't sure what to do for the race, I decided to play it by ear. I started off a little fast, and after some self scolding, I decided to settle in at a 5:20 min/km/8:58 mil/min pace, and basically felt comfortable. I was able to keep the pace the whole way and ran a personal best of 1:53:15 :).

The good news gets better. Hubs shaved 6 minutes off his PR and ran a 1:44:47. He ran it as usual, without a watch. I don't know how he does this. I'm pretty sure I looked at my watch a number greater than Avogadro's number during the race.

Better still. My sister won the race. Well she was the first female. Her "getting back into it time" was 1:21:4x!!! It was awesome to see her out there, and even more awesome to watch her collect her prize money. Way to go Sissa!!! You inspire me!

The weather for the race was perfect, cool, maybe a little too rainy, but I think it kept you cool, and it was overcast. I really liked the route, and after a tough Canadian winter, I relished the cherry blossom trees and the green grass after seeing nothing but white and brown for months, its a real treat.

I will catch on your blogs soon. In the meantime, if you haven't registered for Reese Run, click here to register, I will be announcing some early bird prizes soon! Thanks for reading!