Rock n Roll Half Marathon
Made my way back to Nashville, TN for the 2019 Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in April. This race has become a favorite of mine because it allows me to run Nashville neighborhoods and catch amazing musicians at multiple music venues.
My training approach for this half marathon and all others moving forward has improved tremendously. The Walk into the Future approach has allowed me to increase my training efforts and logging ‘true’ long runs. Long runs for me now routinely cover 10 miles or longer. The longest training run I put in for this race was 15 miles—didn’t run this distance for speed but used it to build mental and physical toughness. Turns out I needed all the mental and physical toughness I could display because somewhere in my love for Nashville I forgot about the HILLS there! 😊
The first 6 miles seemed to go uphill with multiple degrees of incline. My training runs incorporated hills, so I was better prepared than I initially thought. Decided to just put trust in my training and have fun as I made my way up each incline. Slowly found myself enjoying each step with a smile on my face—guess I finally got that runner’s high people always talk about.
Fast forward a bit and I was able to finish in 2:08:21 (two hours, eight minutes and 21 seconds) which is my personal best. Improved on my time from the 2019 New Orleans Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon. I’m still a bit off from my goal of running under 2 hours but I’m making incremental progress towards the goal. I will continue to take small bites from the elephant. Next scheduled half marathon will be in Philly in September.
Wildhorse Saloon
The Wildhorse Saloon is a place I visit every time I’m in Nashville. It’s a great place to hear live music, dance and get some of the best food in Nashville. Made two visits to the Wild Horse on this trip and heard some great new musicians.
Line dancing lessons take place when the musicians take a break and the dance floor was crowded with folks having a great time learning the steps. The line dance instructor breaks each dance down with step counts and practice for the dancers before turning them loose. It’s great watching people learn the dance and then actually perform what they learned—yes, I include myself since I first tried line dancing at the Wildhorse. Believe this place is a must visit if you decide to head to Nashville.
NFL Draft
The 2019 NFL Draft was also in Nashville for race weekend. This was an extra event to experience while in town. There were over 600,000 NFL fans in attendance for the 3-day draft event. Made my way down to draft central two days to soak in the excitement of the draft and enjoy the crowds. Didn’t realize how many professional football fans were this invested in their team’s draft process. The passion, excitement and team pride displayed was impressive and Nashville put on an excellent show for everyone in attendance.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were the most represented team at the draft. Their fans travel all over the country to show their support.
My current Walk into the Future seems to keep bringing me back to Nashville and I love that fact!
I plan to return to Nashville next April to enjoy the race weekend and live music again—great place to visit if you’ve never been!
What’s your favorite place to visit? How often do you get a chance to visit? Thanks!
Walk Into the Future 
Great story, it has me excited and wanting to make my way down to Nashville 😎
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Always a great place to visit. They have something there for everyone–Opry Mills is a huge shopping mall with outlets right across from the Grand Ole Opry.
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