Race Report: Team Nashville 10 Miler

The KoB: I wonder how many alpacas would fit in that field?

Me: Is this fucking race over yet?

The Team Nashville 10 Miler is one of my favorite races. The race course is on country roads that wind around houses that I visited as a kid for sleepovers and birthday parties. It's nostalgic and it's beautiful. It's also pretty tough.

Hello hills.

Last year I ran the race and my goal was to run a sub 1:25. And I did that. Barely. 1:24:37.

This year my goal was to run it sub 1:20. Should I be able to run a sub 1:20 10 mile race a month out from my marathon? Um. YES. I definitely should be able to. But, as you can see... the course is a bit of a grind, so I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to do it. Plus, training through, blah blah blah. 

I did have a secret weapon as you see above. The KoB offered to pace me for the race. 

The first few miles felt TOUGH. I wasn't comfortable and I kept kinda thinking about the big hill in the middle and the hill right before the finish. I hadn't really noticed that the first 5 miles are a gradual uphill until around mile 4 and The KoB mentioned it.

Miles 1-4: 8:14, 7:52, 8:03, 8:02, 8:04

Last year I ran the hill at mile 5 in 9:16. 9:16!!!!!! How ridiculous is that??? This year I ran it in 8:09!

The miles after that hill, I felt really good. I started clicking along and the downhills boosted my confidence.

Miles 7-9: 7:38, 7:41, 7:45

 I always look like death in these photos.

Meanwhile other bitches just seconds behind me 

look like they should be in an Adidas ad or something.

Look at that focus and those legs! Ugh. Cute bitch.

It was around mile 8-10 that The KoB and I were kind of neck-and-neck with a couple of other girls. He kept urging me to pass them. I kept trying. But, I wasn't hiding a pack of jet fuel in my back pocket. I was operating at full capacity and as much as I REALLY wanted to pass those bitches, I just couldn't. (My desire to pass one of them was really ignited when she told me that I was doing well as she zoomed past me BARELY BREATHING HARD. Ugh).

Hills, dying, etc.

I felt like I was running that last hill at 13 minute pace. It was terrible. But as soon as we crested the hill and I knew I had less than a mile to go, I tried to pick it up. My legs were burning, but I ran that last mile with the hill in 7:56.

I crossed the finish line in 1:19:27! I met my goal and PRed by 5 minutes!

It was a good day. I felt really good for the last half of the race and I was thrilled with my time. Just the confidence booster I need going into these last few weeks of marathon training!