Life as a House: Country Music Marathon

Been there, done that! Saturday was the Country Music Marathon and I ran the half. If you did not already know this, then you have been living under a rock for the past 3 months. It was a great weekend filled with lots of purple inspiration, positive energy, excessive pasta consumption, tornado warnings, body glide, a lot of running, and a few sore muscles. We arrived Thursday night knowing that thunder storms were expected Saturday morning, but when you see Jim Cantore on TV talking about your location, you know things are serious! There were tornado warnings and threats of ridiculous rain and lightning. Thankfully the weather held out and was beautiful until about 30 minutes after I crossed the finish line, and then the bottom dropped out of the sky. the atmosphere was exciting and heavy on the country music and the port-a-potties. I got off to a great start and saw Jeff, Audrey and Ben at miles 2, 10, and 12. I ran a Ginger-record first 10 miles and then proceeded to hit the wall. I failed to pack an extra "GU" in my fuel belt and ran out of gas, but puttered on through miles 11 and 12 and was able to pick it up a bit for the final stretch. I finished in 2 hours and 34 minutes. Not too shabby. I ran a 2:15 pace for the first 9 miles, which I am pretty happy about, and then obviously I slowed down quite a bit after that. I can't complain though, I had a great time and a great run and was loved, cheered for, and supported throughout the weekend. I was able to eat lunch with Audrey, Ben, and Jeff and hang out with them a bit before they headed back home. I am so grateful that my family was able to share this experience with me! I could go on and on with the details of the weekend, but I won't. Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Looking a little cross-eyed at 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning.