2:13:26

That is my official time in the Country Music 1/2 Marathon. My goal was to beat 2:15, so I barely did. I ran the first few miles with my friend Jamie. She took off about mile 5 or so and I didn't see her again til the finish line. This was her first race, and she did GREAT! Way to go Jamie! You can check out all the results at the CMM website. They should have pictures up soon too! Once I get some either from our camera or my mom's, I'll try to post a few.

I knew we would go out fast, but when we got to the first mile marker we looked at our watches and we ran it in 8:42! Way too fast a pace for me. I felt like I kept a good pace most of the way, under my normal 10 minute mile. But about mile 10 I felt myself slowing down. I felt some blisters on the bottom of my feet, and under a few toenails coming on about mile 5, so my feet are fairly sore and tired tonight. But after resting most of the day, I am feeling pretty good now.

I am so grateful for all my family and friends who came out to cheer me on---of course my biggest supporter who brought the boys to see me, my parents, both my brothers (unfortunately Ryon didn't get to run as planned due to a stress fracture, but thanks for coming out anyway!), my sister-in-law, nephew, my great friend Carrie and her brother Will!! WOW! Thanks guys, you made the running all the better. I got a boost every time I heard you yell my name!

If you have never run a race before, I encourage you to run this one. The 1/2 marathon is a great distance--definitely a challenge, but not near as tough as the full 26.2. And Nashville is a great place to run. There were people all along the course encouraging us along, and all the volunteers were extremely nice. So, I have the bug again. I don't know when I'll run another race, but I will. But I'm taking a few days off to let my toenails heal first!