Food Truck Festival

Nashville Food Trucks are quite the popular thing around our city. I'd read about them several times without ever actually seeing any in person.  When M and I read about a food truck "festival" on a Saturday, we knew we wanted to check it out.

The Grilled Cheeserie was one I'd heard about many times and knew I wanted to try.  We quickly agreed on an option to share and loved every gooey bite. 

Next up was the Latin Wagon where we ordered a barbeque pork taco and some grilled jalepenos (I didn't share those!).  The pork was delicious and had me wishing I had ordered my own taco.

At this point we were nearly frozen so we decided hot soup was the perfect option.  Blackbird Heritage is a truck specializing in "farm to table."  All meat is "humanely raised on their own farm" and certified organic.  All dairy, cheese, and vegetables come from other local farms.

At this point, the lines were long so we opted to enjoy our soup in the car and head home.  We didn't sample as many trucks as we intended but our few selections were excellent and I hope to try more soon.

Chimney Tops Hike

A few weeks back, Mike and I headed east to the Smoky Mountains to take advantage of the cabin and meet up with A and T.  The weekend was a perfect getaway.  We spent our time exploring Gatlinburg, playing laser tag and mini-golf, spinning out in driving go-carts, playing pool and hold'em, eating yummy food, running on my favorite wooded trail, and, of course, hiking.

Our hike brought us to a trail M and I had done on a previous trip: Chimney Tops.  The hike is only about 4.5 miles round trip but climbs 1400 feet and is rated strenuous.  It definitely gets your heart pumping!

After you finally make it up the challenging trail, you come to a giant rock formation.  Walking ceases to be an option and your hands become completely necessary to help you climb up the rocks.  It's actually pretty terrifying.

Somehow my memories of my fear from our first climb were forgotten and I again found myself halfway up and super scared.  Unfortunately, crawling back down is more intimidating that continuing to the top so I was committed.  Mike hopped around with no fear and took pictures :)

so steep!

We snapped a few quick pictures at the top (yay tripod and self timer) and made our way back down.

I absolutely love hiking in the Smokies.  There are a million trails with awesome views and I can't wait to get back and try some new ones.

Six.

I'll always remember when Ryan and Milissa first called me to tell me I'd be an aunt.  I was so excited for a baby in the family but I didn't know just how hard I'd fall for that little girl.  It's hard to believe that same little girl that first made me an aunt is turning six years old today.  I've loved watching her grow up (even if I wish she'd slow it down a bit).  Happy Birthday to my most favorite little girl in the world, Lauren Elisabeth!

St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon Recap

This past weekend, three of my bests and I rendezvoused in Memphis to complete the St. Jude Half Marathon.  The twins, Julianne and Alyssa, flew into Nashville Friday where we grabbed some quick lunch and made the drive west.  We arrived and quickly headed to check out the expo.  Luckily our local friend, Erin had braved the crowds and picked up our bibs and shirts earlier in the day.  The expo was less than exciting so we left in favor of a very delicious dinner of homemade pizza and pasta.  {my favorite part of half marathons is a tie between tapering and carb loading}  The girls got to work creating our race shirts while the boys sneakily made some race-support posters.  It was a fun night and we tucked ourselves into bed early in preparation for Saturday. 

ready.to.go.

how cute are we?

Saturday morning, we woke up early, prepped ourselves with much needed breakfast and caffeine and excitedly saw the temperature was much higher than we initially expected (upper 40s, lower 50s).  We got dressed in our new shirts and took a few pre-race pictures before the boys dropped us off near the start line. 

signs of support

Luckily, I rescued some old shirts from Mike's Goodwill pile to keep us warm until the start!

stylin but warm

The time passed quickly as we waited.  A little girl from St. Jude sang the national anthem and left everyone in tears.  Suddenly, my knee pain that had kept me away from running for the last 2 weeks seemed like a minor battle.  I realized this race was for something more important than a personal accomplishment- we were here to run for a reason much bigger than ourselves.  From that point on, I was determined to keep that fact in mind and get past whatever pain I might experience. 

The four of us lined up together and cheered as we crossed the start line as a group.  We stuck together for the first mile before E and I wished J&A luck and sent them on their speedy way.  The first few miles were exciting as we ran along the Mississippi River, by the pyramid, and up the infamous Beale street. 

twin sighting!

At mile 5 we ran through the St. Jude campus.  The crowds along this stretch were beyond amazing.  Hundreds of patients, families, and others were lining the roads with cowbells, yells, and signs that said thank you. There were so many pictures of tiny patients held by families thanking us for helping to save their lives.  The cheers were almost deafening and my tears were unavoidable.  As we ran past the last of this crowd, I told Erin that that was easily the best mile I've ever run. 

K&E!

The course calmed down a bit after that as we ran along tree-lined streets with adorable old southern houses.  It was around mile 6 my knee pain reared its ugly head.  I slowed briefly to rub some numbing creme and crossed my fingers.  Before I knew it we saw the boys for the first time and got to see their sign creations.  I was super impressed by their awesomeness!  So fun!  I stole a bag of delicious orange slices (best race food ever) and some water and took off again. {Many thanks to M&P for their support... nothing like seeing a friendly face for support when you're exhausted}

I saw a sign that said "Keep running, blisters never need chemo" and the message stuck with me for the next 6-7 miles.  My knee pain was off and on for the rest of the race and Erin joined the knee problem club somewhere along the way.  Miles 8-10 were through Overton Park- a landmark I know as the place my running partner was engaged!  The roads were definitely not my favorite as they had little fan support and were pretty uneven.  These miles are usually the toughest for me mentally as I have lost my initial enthusiasm and am still too far from the end to get excited about it. 

there was a HUGE team for a little boy named Jake... we saw tons of shirts and signs.  funny coincidence!

As soon as we exited the park, we found the boys for a second time.  We didn't slow too much this time (at this point stopping makes it way too hard to get going again!) but gave them a thumbs up and kept on going.  E hit her "wall" around this time (I think the comments were along the lines of "I'm going to die" on repeat).  I've been there many, many times and it helped me to ignore my own feelings of I'm going to die self doubt as I focused on promising her it would get better (total lies... hope she forgives me!).

only a 5k to go

The last two miles went quickly and before I knew it I was crossing onto the track made of... GRAVEL.  Really?  Who thinks it's a good idea to put slippery rocks for the last 0.1 of the 13.1?  Terrible idea.  I struggled to stay upright for the last little bit and lost Erin (by 8 seconds!) crossing the finish at 2:03.  I was SO happy to give Erin a giant hug and get our medals together.  The twins (with an awesome finish time of 1:46) quickly found us and we had our mini YAY moments before Alyssa (yay for her first half too!) smartly whisked us off to the medic booth for some much needed ice.  We met up with the boys for some congratulatory hugs and pictures and headed home for warmth, snacks, and showers.  The rest of our weekend in Memphis was very fun and full of trying to replenish the calories we burned (plus a few more) but I'll have to steal pics from someone else to share.
 

finishers!

Running St. Jude was so much fun.  I cannot recommend this race enough to any runners out there.  I am absolutely looking forward to Dec 1 2012.  The course is a good one- scenic with enough rolling hills to be a little challenging.  The race support is amazing.  And the cause is one of the greatest reasons you could possibly find to run for (even if I am a little biased by my love for St. Jude). 

love you girls!

I've now run two halves with my husband, one by myself, and one with my best friends.  I went into that morning wondering if my knee would hold up for a whole mile and ended up running a strong race and finishing with a time I'm proud of.  Plus, I got to accompany a great friend on her first half and celebrate with two more.  Sappy, huh? I guess this race got to my emotions a little...  I'm now listening to my legs and taking a mini break from running and racing (though my sanity may hate me for it) but as every race does, this one pulled me back in to racing and left me with a desire for another 13.1...

showing off our support signs

Our Little Thanksgiving

Due to my work schedule, Hubs and I ended up tied to Nashville for the Thanksgiving holiday.  While we were obviously sad to miss out on the time with our families, we were excited to cook our first Thanksgiving meal.  I collected a bunch of recipes for the classics (mostly from Pioneer Woman) and bought an absurd number of groceries for two.  We had so much fun making all of the food together and enjoyed every bite.

I wanted to share a few pictures of the "fall" decorations I made for our house.

fall mantle

felt flowers on the wreath

give thanks banner

yarn wrapped H

front door wreath

The decorations were a bit of work but kept me busy while M was out of town for his job training.  I love the way they all turned out!

Two more random pics... 

our thanksgiving spread- yum!

tired from their turkey scraps ;)

Murfreesboro Middle Half Marathon Recap

As you might recall from my recap of the Country Music Marathon, I signed up to run my third half marathon on October 15th.  After the last race kicked my butt, I was looking for a little redemption.

The date of the race promised beautiful weather, but training in the summer was less than ideal and resulted in a very abbreviated training plan of about 8 weeks.  I ran only 2-3 days a week and completed just two 9-mile runs in the weeks leading up to the race.  I was nervous about my lack of preparation but encouraged by the forecast and the promise of a flat course.

Race morning arrived without my normal pre-race/pre-long run jitters.  We made it to Murfreesboro without too much trouble (after ditching the traffic line to the parking lot and walking the rest of the way).  Mike took a pre-race picture right as the sun rose and wished me good luck and I headed to the start line.  There were no wave starts or corrals so I found the 2 hour pace sign and smooshed myself into the crowd. 

The singing of the national anthem brought tears to my eyes as usual.  Nerves kicked in at the realization that I was on my own for this 13.1-  No husband to lean on if I got to the "omg please someone shoot me" stage.

The start horn came pretty quickly and I was off to weave through all the crazy people who lined up with the 9 min/mile pace but were actually running a 15 minute pace (why does this always happen?).  Eventually, I got in a groove at a comfortable pace and was happy to see my Garmin reading around 8:45.

One setback occurred in the first 2 miles of the race.  We were running down a neighborhood road when a whole bunch of runners came at us from a side street and informed everyone we'd gone the wrong way.  Police had accidentally blocked the correct path and sent us all down a few more streets.  This explained why I didn't see Mike cheering at the spot we'd planned.  It was pretty disheartening for me as I had a goal of breaking 2 hours and the half mile detour would be enough to put this out of reach.  I quickly made up my mind to just take my Garmin time for 13.1 and kept on running.

The first half of the course was really neat consisting of lots of neighborhood roads, out and backs along college campuses and by town landmarks, and a loop through their historic downtown complete with an amazing pumpkin display.  I saw Mike around miles 3 and 6 and was always happy to report to him that my pace was on track to break 2:00 and that I was still feeling great!

little kid high-fives are my favorite

The last 6 or so miles were less than exciting (though still perfectly flat) as we followed a pretty major highway for forever.  It was long and straight and had a lot less spectators than earlier portions.  Luckily, I was still feeling great and focused on seeing Mike at mile 10 and then on making it to the finish line. 

I had a mini celebration dance (in my mind, don't worry) when my watch signaled 13.1 at 1:58.  I would have happily stopped there but I could see the turn coming up for the finish and just kept running. 

Finishing on the track

I was beyond thrilled just to have completed the race on my own and never to have hit the "wall" I've encountered in the past.  It was even more exciting when the official (adjusted) chip time was posted at 1:58:48, right at a 9 minute mile. 

fruit tastes so good after a long run

Can't believe one month from today I'll be back at it... this time with three of my best friends!!  yay!