State # 13 – Tennessee | Honest Running

I started this journey with a delayed flight. It’s a good thing I’m a runner since I knew I was going to have to haul ass to make my connecting flight to Nashville. So I’m in the Tulsa airport and I’ve got some time before my first plane leaves. I decide I’ll grab a tasty DDP (Diet Dr Pepper) for the flight. I head to the first shop that has it and they are closed (it’s 7:08 pm). No biggie I’ll find another one. Well, alas that’s not going to happen as every single store in the Tulsa airport that sells DDP is closed. Don’t they know that addictions don’t end at 7pm?! I find a lady cleaning behind the counter of one of the food stands that is closed and ask if she will take cash and ring it in later so I can get the drink. Well guess what? She gives it to me for free!! I think she senses my utter desperation and was worried I would get weird without my fix. That’s some good karma I’m going to pass along. This bodes well for this race.

I did make it to Nashville after sprinting for my connecting flight. That’s what we will call my “shake out run”. I got to Nashville around midnight, got to the hotel, and passed out. The “night before the night before” sleep is key.

On Saturday morning I headed to Chattanooga to pick up my race packet and carb load. On the way I learned that Tennessee has runaway truck ramps. I’m still not entirely sure what that is but in my head I imagine large semi trucks racing up the ramp to fly into the air similar to movie scenes from The Fast and the Furious.

After picking up my race packet I got to eat homemade black pepper fettuccine with chicken and it was glorious.

I also learned some new dance moves. The streets of Chattanooga are covered with dance steps, which is kind of neat.

And I saw the birds from Finding Nemo. All I could think when looking at these was “Mine, mine, mine, mine…” ironic since I had a luggage tag with these birds on it that got ripped off on the way to Nashville.

After that I headed back to the hotel to relax and get ready for the next day.

Sunday morning came early and cold. It was in the 30s at start. It’s hard to dress for running in the cold, as I absolutely hate being cold but know that I will warm up quickly. I went with running tights and a tank top. My goal for this race was to beat my previous PR of 4:46 and I was hoping for around 4:30. I started off fast, as I was so cold and wanted to get warmed up. I felt cold for at least the first ten miles. I remember trying to get a pretzel at an aid station and I couldn’t get my fingers to work to grab it. I think the cold really worked in my favor though. I felt good and just kept telling myself to hang on for one more mile. I ended up crossing the finish line in 4:11 and that even includes a bonus lap from a little wrong turn I took.

Even though this was just a week ago it’s already a bit of a blur, at least as far as the details of the race. I do remember thinking about the race T-shirt’s that say “Everything hurts and I’m dying” and so my motto was “Everything hurts but I’m doing it anyways.”

I also remember how I felt the last mile. At that point I knew I had done something special (for me). I had dug deep, worked hard, and it was paying off. Crossing the finish line I was so excited. It’s weird how the pain vanishes and you feel like you’re super human. It makes me want to continue to make ambitious goals and keep striving for improvement. The feeling is simply indescribable. I can’t do it justice with words.

The rest of the trip was a celebration of food, friends, food, family, food and fun.

Snacks I travel with…