Janell Runs a Half Marathon, Part 2

For the second weekend in a row, I ran a half marathon.
And it was awesome.

I was super excited to be heading back to the homeland - Tennessee.
There's just something about Tennessee, y'all...

Anyway, we headed out early Saturday morning and arrived quicker than I had expected. We popped out of the car to the smell of sour mash and the brisk 40s. Ahhhh, Tennessee.

Early morning start...
We were there to conquer Lynchburg, TN - home of the Jack Daniels Distillery - and to run the Oak Barrel Half Marathon.



Packet pickup.
Port-a-potties.
Preparing our minds.
Photoshoots.
Pre-run stretching.

Shirt & race bib


Pre-race photo session!



Then it was racetime.
I headed out pretty fast - trying my best to warm up!
By mile 2, I was feeling great, keeping a good pace, and was enjoying the scenery.

As we breezed by some fields, I noticed that lots of people were coughing and complaining about the smell. What? Cow manure bother you? City mice. Sigh.

At mile 4, I met the fabled Whiskey Hill - a 278 ft climb (I think!). It seemed like it took an eternity to climb, but after 11 minutes, I was at the top. And as they told me, it was all downhill from there.

I got tired.
My hair fell out of the braid.
My nose was sunburning.
I was hot.
But I was running downhill!

Before I knew it, I was crossing the finishline with another Personal Record (PR).
Last week, I pulled a 02:07:08 finish.

My Team


This week - even with the monster hill - I managed a 02:04:12 and I couldn't be happier. :)

After the race, we spent some time shopping around the Lynchburg square, and we at the Iron Kettle.

My new ride...


Tough opponent.



Oak Barrel was a great race and another great weekend with my running buddies. We have big plans for the rest of 2013.1, but more on that later. Now, I'll leave you with two photos of yours truly. The first, a finish line pic from last week. The later, the best picture ever taken of me.



Oh gosh. This is so embarrassing. I mean, that hair. That face.
I don't even look like a runner! This has to be the best Ugly Runner picture ever.





Comments

  1. Some things I love about this here blog entry:
    1. There is a typo. Yes, I said it, a typo.
    2. My reflection in your checkers picture.
    3. That you posted the "worst picture ever" that is still better than most of my extra awesome pictures.
    4. That you just keep getting better and I'm not jealous! : )

    Love ya!

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1. Ooooh Dana.
    2. Haha, it sure is!
    3. Whatever. ;P
    4. !!! Gotta get a sub 2 soon!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, congrats on the second new PR in a week! I set a new PR at Oak Barrel last year and fell in love with that course. I always enjoy laughing at the "city mice" that whine about the cow poop. I'd rather smell that than car fumes in the city races anytime. We ran this race too and plan to run it every year. It's my favorite!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love your "ugly" race pic! You deserve to show it off after that 2:04 PR. You'll be breaking 2 hours in no time, and I'm going to have to catch up with you! ;-)

    ReplyDelete

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