Nashville Marathon part 3 ( The Start)

I woke up around 3:00am to the sound of thunder and pouring rain, my first thought was good, maybe the front will pass through and be done before we head to LP field. I dozed off for a little bit and then at 3:15 I got my "breakfast call" from Gary. I grabbed my cinnamon bagel and got back in bed, I would eat a little bit of bagel doze a little bit and then eat a little more. I think this was probably a good plan and I will try to do it again in future races.


At 4:15 it was finally time to get up, Kelly had gotten up at 4:00 to shower, I had showered the night before so I could get a few extra minutes of sleep.
Again it all worked out really well with 4 people getting ready for the race, it helped that Gary was just around the corner and the guys could go to his room and change or shower.


We could hear that it was still pouring down rain... bummer :( The rain wasn't really the bummer it was the thunder and lightening that was worrying me!


We met Michele, Brenda and Gary downstairs about 5:15, there were a ton of runners milling about and quite a few of them were wearing trash bags. Brenda had texted me on Thursday to remember to pack a trash bag and I completely forgot... next time!!



Brenda and Michele had run into a local runner Kathrine, she was actually staying in the room right across the hall from them...small world!!


No one wanted to go out into the rain but it was time to head to LP Field and the shuttle busses that would take us to the Start.
We lucked out the rain had slowed down a little and it wasnt' too bad, we also lucked out and did not have to wait in line for a bus very long at all!!!
It was such a relief to be on the bus, until they turned on the aircondtioning!! LOL

Once we made it to the Start area we quickly found port-a-potties and the gear check for Gary. It was still raining and it was funny to see all the people huddled under the eaves of buildings and under awnings, basically any little bit of shelter they could find from the rain.

Michele, Kelly, Arland and I were in Corral 15, Brenda was in 7 and Robert in 9 although he stuck with Brenda and I think they ended up in Corral 6. Gary our fastie was in Corral 3. We all hugged and said our good-byes while we went to our respective Corral's.

It was FREEZING and windy and rainy, pretty miserable overall. Someone had given Kelly a trashbag so she was a little better off then the rest of us. Arland had been considering wearing a shortsleeve tech shirt for the race but I talked him out of it, I knew about mile 6 he would be wishing he had on his Cruiser Singlet. While we were huddled together in the Corral I apoloziged to him for making him change!!! LOL Michele had on her sports bra and skirt so I put my arms around her and Kelly snuggled from the side and Arland snuggled me so we all got a little bit of relief from the cold. During the wait for the start I could feel that I needed to use the restroom again, at the time it was just pee but the lines for the port a potties were huge and it was almost time for the start so I just tuffed it out. I was pretty miserable and didn't get to enjoy the start as much as I did in Chicago.

Finally at 7:30 we were crossing the start line, it felt good to be moving and when we started the announcer said go get warm! LOL

Of course the need to pee sensation just got worse but I was trying to hold off as long as possible, luckily Kelly also had to go so we were on a mission. Kelly saw a fast food restaurant and we cut across the street, it wasn't open but someone said that Jack in the Box was open so we headed over there, luckily we were able to get right in and take care of business.
It was nice to use a real bathroom and be able to wash our hands etc.

After we left I looked down and realized that I hadn't started my Garmin, I remember hitting a button when we went across the start line but I guess it was the wrong one. Michele had .63 on her Garmin so I knew how far off I was but later in the Marathon I couldn't remember and I was always confused about my time.