Tom King Race Report-David made me do it

I got up at 5:45 this morning and was on the road to Nashville at a few minutes after 6. The drive up was uneventful and I made it to LP Field at a few minutes after 7. I got my bib, chip and got in line for my T-shirt. David called to see where I was. We had just missed each other. I got my T-shirt and headed back out to the parking lot. I found David and we chatted. Then my phone rang again. It was Laurie. She told me she had on a sparkly hat. David and I headed back in to find bathrooms and in the process found Laurie and Jessika. We took some pictures (they are on Laurie’s blog) and then got in the LONG bathroom line. Then I saw Mike, Holly, Heather and Pam. And I was worried about going up alone. We met up with Laurie and Jessika and waited on the start gun. Finally the gun fired and we were off. We almost missed Rae cheering.
My goal today was a negative split. I thought I would run the first half at a 9:30 pace then the second half at a 9:15. But David had other plans and I have no self control. Splits look like this:
8:56, 8:48,8:43, 8:45, 8:50, 8:42, 8:37, 8:38, 8:35, 8:37, 8:55, 8:37, 8:34
I had a little kick at the end but David had more and finished just ahead of me. it was great running with him today, we talked the whole way and he is really a great guy. It sure make 13.1 miles more fun to have a friend to run with. Thanks David!!!!
At the finish we got a really cool medal, it was a shamrock. Then we got water, a banana, and a bagel. I went to the car and got my camera and David called his wife and found out she was there. We walked back toward the stadium and found his wife. I snapped a picture of them
and then she took a picture of me and David.
I went up to the stadium club in search of cookies. I didn’t find any but I did find Laurie and Jessika. We talked for a long time and it felt like I have know Laurie forever. We seem to have a lot in common, other then the fact that I am a lot older!!! I hope that we can get some training rides/runs in together soon. And I will definitely meet up with her at the next race we both do.

My official time was 1:55:06, 8:48 pace. It wasn’t a negative split and it wasn’t a PR but I had a great time today and that is what it is all about.