Twentysomething

My birthday was yesterday and it was pretty perfect.

I started the day with a McDonald's Diet Coke. $1.09 well spent. McDonald's has the best Diet Coke.

Lunch was spent with a few of my co-workers at the Pancake Pantry where I ordered my favorite, raspberry delight pancakes.

The day flew by and before I knew it, it was time to go run with East Nasty.

My friend Lanie picked me up (so I didn't have to drive!).

The run was the shortest route we run which was perfect timing. I only needed to run 3 miles.

After the run, I headed to 3 Crow Bar with friends for a few pre-dinner beers where we laughed and talked about Chicago Marathon stuff.

For dinner, we went to the new 5 Points Pizza. I loved it. My only complaint was that it is not the best for groups. Granted we were a huge group that would be hard to accommodate at most restaurants, but I would say no more than 8 in a group tops. So we were split between 4 tables.

My marathon training buddy Bernadette. PBR Tallboys go great with pizza.



What do 3 people in training for a marathon and 1 person training for a 50K (that's not a typo) trail run order? Garlic knots, 2 large pizzas and 2 slices. (Garlic knots and 2 slices not shown)



After pizza it was back to 3 Crow to meet up with a few other friends where even more laughs were had.

Birthday lemon drops.


A birthday bushwacker or 2...


I don't even know. But I love the purple on both my shirts.



The 4 Musketeers


Here's to a great year!

Race Recap: Nashville Women's Half Marathon 9.24.11

Since signing up this half marathon I have been thinking of it as a supported training run and not an actual race. So I didn't have any pre-race jitters when I went to pick up my packet or Friday night. It was kind of a nice feeling. I met a few friends for happy hour Friday after work and didn't drink at all. By the time I left I realized I still needed to get dinner. My options were either take out or a quick trip to the grocery store. I went with the grocery store and opted for a frozen BBQ chicken pizza. I came home heated it up and proceeded to eat the whole thing. And since I still wasn't satisfied I topped it off with a pint of Greater's Chocolate Chocolate Chip. You know, a nice healthy pre-race meal. Riiiiiiiight.

I ended staying up later than I would have liked and wasn't in bed until after 11.  5 AM came pretty early and I was out the door pretty quickly to pick up my friend Christy who I have been training with for Chicago. She originally wasn't going to run this race, but she found a discounted bib and she was in! We met up with more friends downtown and before we knew it, the race was about to start. The weather was pretty close to perfect. It was chilly, but not too chilly.

Christy and I decided we were going to use this race to help us prepare for Chicago. We both got new running belts at the expo and we wanted to test them out. Also, during our long runs we usually stop a few times depending on the length of the run and I don't plan on doing this in Chicago, well at least not to the degree that we do on the long training runs. Christy and I have a very similar pace so we decided to attempt to start our slow and get  faster. For the most part it worked, we will probably need to start slower in Chicago though.

The course was hilly. But there were a fair amount of spectators out there so despite the hills it was nice to see people out, including a bunch of friends.

On Belmont Blvd, which is uphill both ways, or at least it feels like that, my friends Chelsea and her fiance Isaac were cheering and taking pictures. (photo by Chelsea)

So excited to see Chelsea and Isaac!


The course wasn't my favorite but the weather was great! Christy even PR'd and I am so proud of her!

A few of my East Nasties after the race



My official finishing time



My splits



My Garmin, as well as lots of other people's, measured the course longer than 13.1. I understand that courses are measured from the shortest possible route on the course, but I didn't do a whole lot of weaving, so .15 longer seems a bit off to me. Overall it was still a great race and I love my new Lululemon East Nasty shirt.