Erica - The Running Woman

All smiles...before the race

Myself & Erica at 5:15 A.M. -- a truly unholy hour

I chose to make my triumphant return to blogging by bragging on my wonderful wife. On Friday, April 24, we drove to Nashville so that Erica could run the Country Music ½ Marathon. Several months ago, Erica announced to me that she was going to “start running” and that she was setting a goal to run this marathon. If there is one thing you should know about Erica, it is when she sets her mind to doing something—nothing will stop her (not even her inflamed knee which she can hardly walk on now).

We drove up on Friday and attended the Expo, where the race participants register get their numbers and walk through various vendors’ tents, etc. There were over 30,000 people registered for the race, so needless to say, this event resembled a cattle-call.

We then went to Ted’s Montana Grill for dinner, where Erica had her first Bison Burger (and really liked it) and I had a Bison steak. Then we set out for our “hotel.” If you know us (and if you are reading this, I am assuming you do--or are VERY bored), then you know that we tend to be a little frugal. Because all of the downtown hotels jack up their rates for this weekend, Erica booked us at a Comfort Inn about 3 miles from the Titans Stadium (which is where the race concluded). The last thing I felt at this establishment was comfort. The picture below of the “pool” that I took as we were checking out this afternoon is just one example of the quality of this fine establishment. Needless to say, the only negative for Erica in this whole trip is that she has now lost all future “Booking of Hotel” privileges for the rest of our marriage.

The Comfort Inn --How Comfortable do you feel about this?

Because of traffic issues the morning of the race, I decided that I would drive Erica to the stadium at 5:00 this morning and just stay there until she was finished. (She finished at 10:00—that is A LOT of time to kill without a TV or someone to talk to, in case you are wondering. Although, if you didn't know, you can rent movies on Itunes and download them to your laptop and watch without an internet signal).

Erica’s group started the half marathon (13.1 miles) over by Vanderbilt University. Because the race has grown to a record amount of entries, they had to change the route of the course this year. What Erica did not know going in is that this meant climbing hill after hill after hill after hill…you get my point. Plus, it was about 85-90 degrees and HOT all day long. In the days leading up to the race, I was concerned about her knee as she had actually admitted that she was in pain. Because she never admits when she is in pain, I knew that it was truly bothering her. However, she was not going to miss the race for anything…and I knew that. So, with a bum knee, a sore throat and a goal, my wife fought through and finished her first half-marathon in (officially) 2 hours, 25 minutes and 3 seconds. I am so proud of Erica for her dedication and determination to accomplish this goal that she set for herself – this is one of her personality traits that I love most about her. I am so thankful that my children will get to grow up seeing an example in their mother of a woman who sets goals and then follows through to the end to accomplish those goals that she set. I am so proud of you Erica and I love you!

13.1 miles later--for her, not me.