Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon Recap

Friday evening I left Nashville for Lexington, KY to meet my mom for a the weekend. Lexington is the almost halfway point between Nashville and Charleston, WV so it is a pretty easy place to meet. And believe it or not, they have better shopping than Charleston, WV. We hung out, laughed a lot and did some shopping. A pretty relaxing way to spend the day before a half marathon.

Run the Bluegrass was my 3rd half and most successful to date. I wrote about my first half where I almost peed my pants near the finish.  I also wrote about my second half where I felt a lot better, but only improved my time by a few seconds, but thankfully I came nowhere near almost peeing my pants!

Run the Bluegrass was an incredibly well organized race. Parking was a breeze the course was well marked. The aid stations were stocked. The weather was also amazing. The only thing I could have done without was the wind.

I did a warm up of not quite a mile. My only goal running this half was to finish in under 2 hours and to apply some of the things I have learned in speed sessions this year. I wanted to start slow and finish fast. This is a pretty new concept to me and it seems much easier said than done. The excitement at the starting line can cause many people, myself included, to start too fast.

The night before the race I met up with a few fellow bloggers/friends Krissie and Nathan, Emily, and new friends Holli, Lisa, and Mary Anne. And my mom came too! I proceeded to eat a pizza that 2 people probably could have shared. My mom later told me she was going to have a piece but by the time she thought about it, it was gone. Whoops! Good laughs were had by all and my nerves were definitely at ease.




I met up with Krissie and Nathan the morning of the race and Krissie made sure to get a pre-race photo. Thanks for sharing the photo!





Before I knew it we were off! I started more towards the front of this race since there was no corral system and about 700 runners.  I tend to discount my abilities and start towards the back and end up weaving and getting frustrated.  Nathan started a little bit behind me and about 3/4 of a mile in, he caught up to me. The first 3 miles in my opinion had the most hills. Nathan and I exchanged a few words and pretty much ran next to each other for about 4 miles.  Around mile 3 we left Ironworks Horse park and turned onto a main road.  The wind on this road sucked and I am pretty sure there were people behind me drafting the wind. I knew there was a water stop at mile 5 and I had a Gu ready around 4.5. At mile 5 I took the GU and felt a lot better. I knew that one of the hardest parts was behind me as the road was a gentle incline into the wind. Coming back it would be downhill and hopefully with the wind.

I was passed by a 9 year old around mile 6.

Miles 6.5-8.5 were kind of boring as we weaved through Fasig-Titpton. Somewhere on Newtown Pike I saw Krissie.

At mile 10 I took a second Gu. Just after mile 10 I saw Emmie, running her race. (Emmie has an incredible story and I am so proud of all of her accomplishments!)

During mile 9 I realized I would probably be finishing closer to 1:50 than 2:00 hours. This definitely pushed me a lot. I finally reached the 12 mile race marker and had a sinking feeling as my watch was at 12.25 miles. My time goals could have been in jeopardy.  However, the markers were off and my watch was pretty correct.  Before I knew it my mom was cheering for me and I was crossing the finish line.

Crossing with a smile!


I am also pretty proud of my splits.

Split	Time
1	0:08:52
2	0:08:47
3	0:08:37
4	0:08:49
5	0:08:55
6	0:08:40
7	0:08:37
8	0:08:35
9	0:08:32
10	0:08:32
11	0:08:17
12	0:08:23
13	0:08:17

And what a neat finishers medal.


This was a fun race and I am already thinking about running it next year!