Nashville Women's Half Marathon

Yesterday was the inaugural Nashville Women’s Half Marathon. In my previous post, I talked about what made yesterday such a difficult day. However, I don’t want to forget what a great race it was! Prior to the race Mark and I had both volunteered for the race expo which was a lot of fun. It was great to see so many women excited about running. Women from 43 states registered for the Nashville Women’s Half Marathon. Amazing!

I will admit I had looked up the race course elevation map, which was probably not the best idea. As you can see it looks a little scary. Little did I know the actual course would be even harder than I thought! It was a really tough course and everyone should feel very accomplished just for finishing!

After the girls I run with and I had looked at the elevation map, we decided our goal was to finish together and smiling. We also decided we would have fun with it and enjoy ourselves. Mark and Erin were our personal paparazzi. We stopped to have our picture taken at some of Nashville’s recognizable places: the Hustler Hollywood store, Musica and Deja Vu.

Chrystyna, Gail, Nicole and I all finished within a couple minutes of each other. Victoria, Jeanie and Kelly all ran with us at various points. You all made running the race so much fun! I’m so proud of Kelly for finishing her first half and Chrystyna, Victoria and Nicole who all set personal records. My time was faster than my last half though not quite a PR, but I was so happy to help my friends get their PRs. I didn’t fall, which was an improvement from the last race.

One of my favorite things about the race was the personalized bibs. It was cool to have people yell out your name. It also helped when I recognized someone but wasn’t sure about their name. And it was a great way to motivate people who looked like they needed some extra encouragement. I also love the charm inside the medal; I’m wearing mine on a necklace right now.

Being a first year event, I was curious to see how the course support and cheerleading was going to be. It was fabulous! The Zumba team was my favorite. I’m sure they worked just as hard as the runners.

Congratulations to Women’s Running Magazine and to all the women who finished the race! It was a great event!

Lynn Manzelmann

I’ve heard of runners collapsing on the course or near the finish line. I know it happens, thankfully rarely. Without looking it up, it seems like overheating or exhaustion would be the leading causes. It seems reasonable to jump to the conclusion that maybe the person wasn’t adequately trained. But as I learned, that wasn’t the case at all.


Yesterday after the Women's Half Marathon, while still in the post race party area, I heard a runner had collapsed near the finish line. It’s a sad thing to hear. You don’t expect it to be someone you know. Or someone you’ve talked to the last few weeks about training. Or someone who helped start and lead a training group.

Lynn Manzelmann is the runner who went down just before the finish line. I’d talked to her before the race. Along with other members of Nashville Cable, a women’s networking group, we’d gotten together before the race and had a picture made. Before the picture, she was telling me about the intervals they were going to do. She was so excited and so vibrant! I saw her running with some other fabulous ladies from CABLE at the half way point; she looked fantastic.


Lynn was well trained. She’d been training as long or longer than many other people running in the race. She had a heart attack. It was a 90% blockage. The last update I got last night from one of her good friends at the hospital was that her organs were shutting down, but she was hanging on. She needs a miracle to make it.


She’s strong. She’s a fighter. And she has a huge host of friends and fellow runners praying for her. Please continue to pray for her.

As a side note, the race was fabulous. I'll have another post this afternoon about the race.

Race Day Confession

Today, I ran the Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon. It was my 3rd half marathon. The course was beautiful! It was a great way to see the city. My training had a little bit of a set back about 6 weeks ago when I tripped on a hickory nut and fell during a training run. I sprained my left ankle and scraped up my right knee pretty bad, and worse, had to take a couple weeks off from running.

The race started off great. I was running just over a 12 minute pace at the 3 mile mark. I was feeling really good about my run so far. Usually, the first 3 miles are my least favorite, but I felt awesome and was making great time. And I must have not been paying much attention, because the next thing I know I was literally being picked up off the ground by a really nice man behind me.


My fall was caused by a place in the road that was broken up and my over confidence and lack of attention to the road in front of me. I reinjured my ankle and scraped up my knee again. UGH! I spent about 10 minutes sitting on the sidewalk in tears hoping I could at least finish the race, but it seemed unlikely since I still had 10 miles to go.


After feeling sorry for myself for a while, I got up and hobbled a few minutes. I decided to test my ankle and see if I could run. I was able to run - most likely because I had my brace on my ankle which minimized the swelling. I was able to finish the race…just a little bit slower than I’d hoped.


Mark always does a great job finding a tall place to stand and cheer for me. I was afraid he would see my knee, which had been bleeding, at mile 6, but he couldn’t see it. It was definitely a tough mental race after I fell. But I’m really glad I could/did keep going!


The highlights of the race - besides the incredible views - were misting stations, ice cold sponges at mile 10, an icy cold towel and popsicles at the end of the run. I had been expecting it to be a little cooler, and actually the first half of the race felt great and then all of sudden the temperature skyrocketed!


The very best part of the race was after I had finished. As I was walking to meet Mark at the family reunion area, a girl came up to me and told me I did a great job. She said she’d been running with me for the last several miles, and I helped her finish. Awwwwwww! This made the whole race so much better for me!

Top 4 Signs You've Trained with Fleet Feet Nashville

I've trained with Fleet Feet (FF) since I started running last summer.  Even now that the official training has ended, I'm still running with friends who've trained with me in FF groups.  What I'm just now realizing is there are certain things you take for granted after training with FF.


Last Saturday and this Saturday our group is meeting at River Park off of Concord Road.  We were discussing it on Facebook, and we invited someone who asked "Where is River Park?"  An audible gasp escaped my mouth when I read his comment.  How do you not know River Park???  Then I realized maybe he just hasn't yet been bitten by the FF bug.


It made me think about what other ways I could identify FF runners.  Here's my unofficial Top 4 Signs You've trained with Fleet Feet:

4.  Chocolate milk is not just a recovery recommendation - it's the ONLY recovery drink.

3.  You consider a run at River Park "home field advantage."

2.  When you see a police officer during a run, you immediately look around to make sure everyone is obeying traffic laws to keep Tammy out of trouble. 

1.  You feel naked during your run if at least one item you're wearing doesn't have a FF logo on it.

Housekeeping notes - sorry to pick on you Joey if you read this.  And I will post a CMM blog - soon.

Wanted: A Good Run

So it's been awhile since my last post.  Why?  Well, lots of reasons.  Two weeks ago our run was cancelled.  Last week was my worst run EVER!  I was in tears at one point (ok for those of you keeping it up it might have been two points).  Thanks to Nicole and Gail for sticking with me even during the tears.  I didn't even want to think about that run...much less write a blog about it. 

My last blog was all about my best run ever and how great it was.  Since then I've been plagued with bad run after bad run.  And really, who wants to hear me whine and complain?  At several points in the last couple weeks, I've even thought running wasn't for me.  Needless to say, after 2 weeks of progressively worsening runs and only being a week away from the Country Music Half, I really needed this week's group run to be awesome - or at the very least good. 

Yesterday's group run was exactly what I needed!  I felt great.  Last week, I had a lot of pain in the arch of my right foot.  I rested all week.  I probably should have gone to the doctor, but hoped I could get away with just resting.  I had a little bit of pain, but was able to push through and it went away.  I felt really rested and the run was easy - well as easy as a run ever is. 

6 days until the Country Music Half.  I'm so excited!  Even though this will be my second half, it is my first big one and the one I've been training for since January.  I'm trying to ignore all the talk of the hills and what a tough course it is.  Instead, I'm reminding myself that I am a runner.  I will have fun.  I will be positive and smile.  I will finish the race.   

Best Run Ever!

Saturday's long run was 12 miles starting at Grassland Park.  The roads are a bit uneven and there are hills, but it's all worth it because it's a beautiful run!  We previously did 7 miles there, but the further we went the prettier it was. Yesterday's run was my best run ever.

I usually struggle to find a rhythm the first couple miles, but the first 6 miles were smooth and easy, yes I did just say easy!  Even after turning around at mile 6, it didn't get harder for me until about mile 10.  I think I have a mental block at 10.  I will work more on overcoming that next week when we do 10 - 12 miles on the race course.

So what was different about yesterday's run?  I actually changed a few things.  First, I started taking a sports multivitamin this week.  I'm sure that helped some, but more importantly I changed what I did during the run.  I've been just drinking at the waterstops, but this week I filled my new waterbottle with Gatorade and drank during the run; it was nearly empty at the halfway point, where I refilled it and continued to drink.  I also started eating sports beans after about 40 minutes and continued eating them or Luna Moon chews until nearly the end of the run.

Mentally, I didn't look at the mileage on my watch and I tried not to think about how many miles we had run or how much we had to go.  I focused on enjoying and embracing the run.  I think it made a big difference in my attitude.  I've always struggled with tight calf muscles. Chyrstyna let me borrow her foam roller and calf stretcher...I could tell a huge difference in my calf muscles.  Both items are now on my list of items I need from Fleet Feet.  

My goal is to continue with this magic formula of my best run and repeat it frequently!  I know all runs aren't easy and great.  But I hope the changes I'm making help me become a better runner.     

My First Half Marathon!

Last Saturday, I ran my first half marathon!  I will try not to bore you with too many details.  Since it was my first half all the details seem important to me.  My official time was 2:44:22, for those of you who are none runners...yes the seconds matter, at least they do to serious runners and if they make or break a new PR (personal record). 

The race was the Tom King Half Marathon.  It starts at LP Field and ends inside the stadium on the 50 yard line - which was awesome!  The course was very flat - ideal for my first or any half really.

I ran with Joe & Gail.  We started at the very back.  And for most of the first 2 miles we had a police and ambulance escort right behind us!  For clarification, it probably would have been with us longer, but around mile 2 we entered onto the greenway trail.  Our first 6 miles were probably way too fast, but as you can imagine, it's hard to slow down when you are being tailed by an ambulance. 

Joe & Gail are exactly the kind of people you want running with you!  They are motivating and supportive.  They told me stories and helped keep my mind off of all the ugly things my legs were trying to tell my brain.  We ran 3/1 intervals for the first 10 miles.  After much begging on my part we ran the last 3 miles doing 2/1 intervals.

Mark, Jesse & Matthew came out to cheer for me.  They were the best cheerleaders I could ask for.  I saw them at the very beginning of the race and when I came onto the field at end.  When I saw them at the end, I immediately teared up.  They still had their signs they'd made, but had added air horns and the champagne bottle confetti poppers to their celebratory arsenal!  Seeing them made the end of the race even sweeter!



Gail set a new PR and so did Joe's wife Karen (who is way faster than we are).  I'm convinced Joe also could have set a PR, but he stayed with us and never even mentioned it.  Carol met us at mile 11 or so and finished the race with us, which added some motivation. The Fleet Feet waterstop at mile 12 was awesome!  Drew is full of energy and some of it must have rubbed off, because I had an extra spark after the stop.  A friend of mine from high school, Daniel, was also at that waterstop.  I was so excited to see him, I must have looked like I was going to attack him as I ran to hug him. 

Here we all are at the end of the race!

Finishing the race, felt so good.  It's amazing what you can train your body to do.  Now that all the soreness is gone and the desperate moments in the race have mostly faded, I'm so glad I did it!  Bring on the Country Music Half!