FAMILY that marathons together, finishes together – AND we’re crazy fit too! Add that to your 2019 resolutions 😊
7am marathon start, two blocks from my Airbnb sleeps. Sis & husband showed half-past 6, winter-layered & ready to run. Sis: full ‘Fatima’ gear (headwrap, blanket, scarf – only the eyes showing). BIG day! Stephen’s first Half, 13 miles of Nashville asphalt awaits. Welcome to the madness we call MARATHON ❤️
Woke today feeling GREAT, everything clicking. Sunshine & 29 degrees. Running with Sis headphone-free. We’re blood. Head crazies totally acceptable. Unleash the Kraken! Crazy breeds crazy. Half/FULL combined Start. Sported a sexy $4 jacket purchased from neighborhood consignment. Meant as an early run throwaway, wore PROUD all 26. Tennessee is cold folks – at least in November. LOL>
No gun, no speeches – bunched together, we moved as the mass moved. Timing mat Start 2 minutes ahead; Stephen dropped us 10 minutes later. We’d catch him at mile 8, then see him again mile-half from the Finish (as Sis & I looped marker 14/2nd lap). Tough watching 70% of the field end early. What town doesn’t have 26 miles of city street & trail? ARGH. Rant complete. Y’all know [I’m] notta fan of 13 mile repeats.
Galloway Run-Walk-Run. Sis lives & breathes by it. I’m still a naysayer walking mile One. HOWEVER with a chronic/consistent mile 20 fade, completely OPEN mind today. Sis runs, I run. Sis walks, I walk. No need to overthink things, she’s already done that. We share DNA – crazy breeds crazy.
Stopped/selfied at Nashville’s NFL stadium, home of the Titans (marker 4). We’d tap this oval EIGHT times, two 360-degree loops. What was I doing taking pictures? Eight ticks ’round leaves a mental imprint. HA!
Industrial Park smells next 2 miles (glue I think), looped back 2 miles – and repeat. UP over the bridge, high FIVES to Stephen & Paul – then, introduced Sis to one of the ripest Porta-Potty experiences EVER. Ick.
(AWESOME mile 16 SURPRISE) 3-mile stretch of marathon-only GREENWAY. Trees on the left, trees on the right. 3 miles out, 3 miles back. Late Fall colour, very nice. Well done race folks. FAVE part of day’s run. 17, 18, 19. Kept ticking ‘em off. Stopped, popped meds. 20, 21, 22. Still smiling, still chatting it up. Who AM I today? Marathon solution DISCOVERED: Sis in a suitcase.
Once more round the Stadium (’cause 7 times just ain’t enough) then bridg’d UP to 25. First twinge of pain for Sis. Ran all day with a muscle TEAR. No griping, no excuses – crazy STRONG. I could definitely take a note.
Downhill stretch, convoluted network of lefts/rights, an abandoned street – then, FINISH SUCCESS. SIX marathon shares with Sis. Hawaii & Dublin, most exotic thus far. So stay tuned. There’s a yodel & an Alp coming Fall 2019. Feelin’ a new European PR!
Nashville Marathon
November 10, 2018
Name Halfway Time City/State Bib#
K R Haga 2:07:23 4:36:42 Louisville CO 281
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- winter-layered & ready
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- Titans Stadium
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- Shelby Bottoms Greenway
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- FAVE part of day’s run
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- all SMILES finish
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- FAMILY that marathons together, FINISHES TOGETHER
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- FAMILY bling 🥇
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- Sis’ wicked FUN Recap
Nashville Marathon
Been a week of fixes, week of discovery & only FOUR work days – this weekend, Nashville.
Saturday marathon, Friday flight to Tennessee – travelling: me & my parasite, tagalong coming no extra charge. EUS at Good Samaritan (endoscopic ultrasound) diagnosed the cause of my pancreatitis. Appears I brought back more than a marathon medal from Brazil last April. PEPE. That’s what Sis nicknamed me ‘alien baby’. Hot humid São Paulo. Bottled water everywhere I go, ‘cept when marathoning. Straight from the petri dish, drank cup after cup of parasitic agua. Aid Station water. ICK! Easy enough to cure, 60 days of pills. Will be Tuesday before my pharmacy can fill the script. Notta lotta folks needing Brazilian bug killer in Louisville Colorado. LOL>
Afternoon touchdown in Music City. Sis & husband in from St. Louis, Stephen flew from Boston – we’re ALL running tomorrow. Missed the family Hermitage tour (I was the only late arrival), still PLENTY of time for Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame.
Willie, Waylon & Reba. Elvis, Dolly, Minnie, Emmylou. One name recognition, ALL hillbilly icons. Distinct vocals, soul-touching songwriters. LOVE LOVED. Well done Nashville 👏
Early nite. Bridge-walked over Nashville’s Cumberland River, BBQ-dined on wild honky-tonking Broadway. City more reminiscent of New Orleans than Sunday morning chapel. LIVE music every diner door – a wave of vibration, sea of SOUND. This is Music City!
AirBnB downtown digs, GREAT location. Retreated early, marathon morn comes fast. EXCITED – got Sis to keep me company tomorrow. 26 miles of chit-chat ready; God help her. How-dee! 🙂
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- bluegrass & Andrew Jackson
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- Country Music Hall of Fame
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- Emmylou, Maybelle & Minnie
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- ELVIS
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- Outlaw Country
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- Dolly, Tammy & Loretta
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- Country Sunshine 🌞
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- one & only REBA
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- Fame’s Atrium Anthem: Will the Circle be Unbroken?
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- Nashville bridge-walk
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- Honky Tonkin’
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- PEPE the Parasite
A week from marathoning does the body good.
Saturday morning flight, Southwest direct Denver to Raleigh. Landed 2 hours before final bib pick-up. No car rental this trip, chose the event’s host hotel: Embassy Suites. Came with free airport shuttle – & ya’ll know, FREE is for me 🙂
Evening-in plans: NY style pizza & scripture study. Body, mind AND spirit – elevating all 3 for Bighorn in June.
Early start Sunday morning (for no apparent reason) – 5:15 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex for a 7am marathon Start. Only negative feedback you’re gonna hear. LOVED today’s run. Nothing super scenic but digged the design. Two separate out-n-backs on an old tobacco road. Design allowed [the] opportunity to see runners multiple times on course, never felt like you were out there alone.
Well stocked aid stations – 2 in particular, a Mimosa station (didn’t partake but folks were upbeat/good spirited/having fun) and a backwoods ‘Possom Station loaded with trail race type goodies.
The Allscripts Tobacco Road Marathon features over 20 miles of the American Tobacco Trail (ATT). The rest of the course is flat and fast with a downhill finish. Up to 10 percent of our runners qualify for the legendary Boston Marathon! Less experienced runners benefit too as the fast, flat, energy-absorbing course and ideal temperatures (averaging in the 40’s and 50’s Fahrenheit) make it a great setting for your personal record. We even have a bell for you to ring and celebrate at the end. Both races start and finish at the USA Baseball/Thomas Brooks Park. The overall event weekend is organized by an all-volunteer staff and 100 percent of proceeds go to charity. Cumulative charitable contributions will exceed one half million dollars – $500,000+ in 2015.
Combined FULL & Half Start – HUGE number of participants, 10,000+ (this year’s Half sold out). National Anthem (LOVE). GREAT weather too! Rained the night before, nothing in today’s forecast. Cool & overcast. Expected to stay dry all day.
Ran two miles of asphalt before spilling onto Tobacco Road. Marathoners veered right, Halfers left – but BOTH runners would enjoy a quiet tree-lined path. Crushed granite surface, 20+ miles. Felt GREAT under foot.
Mostly downhill past mile 8 to the day’s first turnaround. Bit of a slog the next 6. Low-grade incline/long grinder to mile marker 14. Felt GREAT on the legs – reminded myself: I run 10-12 miles daily…yeah, DAILY. I’ve got this. Training starting to click. Stayed engaged, pushed the entire time. 7th marathon of 2018, on-track to meet or beat every stat of 2015.
Personal win today? Would run 20 miles without tunes. Stayed mentally checked-in for 3+ hours.
Parade of Halfers on the left returning home, just past 14. Kept my mind engaged. Pushed thru the turnaround at mile 19 (Halfer out-n-back course). FAVE aid station. Pickle juice & crazy backwoods signs. Lotta Appalachia ‘Deliverance’ references. LOL>
Gave away miles 21 & 22. Struggled with my iPhone searching for the perfect playlist, only to put the whole thing away a mile later. 13-minute pace, seriously? Banged thru mile 23 (my personal WALL), didn’t slog ‘til 25. STRONG sprint finish.
Received my medal, then puked. HA! – I call that progress. [Generally I empty anywhere from mile 19 to 23.]
Lyft ride back to the hotel, shower & another shuttle. AIRPORT CAPTIVE for 6 hours. Not much of a reader – 2 movies & whole lotta NCAA Basketball (March Madness). Check, done. Welcomed HOME to SNOW. HOME, sweet Colorado HOME ❤
2018 Allscripts Tobacco Road Marathon
18 March 2018
Keenan Haga
Net Time: 04:37:04.350
Race No: 481
Status: Finished
City: Louisville
State: Colorado
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- North Carolina’s first-in-flight Wright Brothers
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- second 26.2 in Carolina
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- year’s fastest finish
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- HOME, sweet Colorado HOME ❄️
