Lilli's First CMM

Today is pretty much the only day Nashville celebrates running in any form or fashion - it's Country Music Marathon day! (Or really I should call it Country Music Half Day since very few people actually run the marathon yet all the half-ers tell people "I did the marathon" when in fact they only ran 13.1 miles and a marathon is 26.2 but I'm off on a running tangent on my Runners High Horse so whatever......) I think it's great that at least one day a year the news is focused on doing something healthy, but really there are races and half-s here all the time and it would be nice if there was some support for those, too! I've done this race 3 times and Brent's done it once, it's actually my current half PR of 1:50:12, so it does hold some significance to us and we like to go out and support the runners. Since the true marathon winds around our house our street is closed from 6 am to 2 pm, so it's a little hard for us to get out during this time. Last year we rode our bikes to support several friends we had running the half and the whole, this year we don't have a good bike trailer yet so it was off on running stroller we went. Also, most of my running pals have moved away from this race as it's become a crowded disaster and the price tag is ridiculous - pretty much all my running fees for 4 or 5 good races the rest of the year add up to less than the $100 insane price tag of this one!

We got there around 8 while the race had started at 7. We visited miles 3, 10 and the finish before heading back around 10:45. Lilli did great and had a lot of fun with us running and watching all the sights. It's SO hot out today we were careful to keep her in the shade of her stroller canopy and both yesterday and today I've put a little baby sunscreen on her. I know we're not supposed to do that for 1 more month, but the risk to me yesterday and today on our all day outdoor outings was greater for a sunburn than for her to have an allergic reaction to the lotion. I loooooove my running stroller. It runs like a dream! It's very sturdy and so easy to maneuver around. Brent and I ended up getting in a 5 mile run with Lilli while spectating and cheering.

Here are some pics from today's fun outing:

Running up the Shelby Ped Bridge (chugga chugga outta breath.....)
Lilli & the runners around Mile 10:


My little cheerleader with me at Mile 10 in the Gulch:
With my clapper noisemaker from the Flying Pig Marathon we ran back in 06:
She's really into holding her "toys" now and really checking them out:On the marathon course around mile 19/20 there was a monkey organ guy so we had Lilli's picture taken with him since she's our little Monkey.You can't really tell from the pics but she's in one of her little cowgirl onesies - it has cowboy hats, etc on it - along with some jean shorts. It was about the most appropriate thing I could think of to dress her up in for the Country Music Marathon since she doesn't have any running gear yet!

She did great with running in the stroller so I think we'll probably start running with her more at the Greenways, etc. It's only a half mile run to Shelby park and from there we have miles of greenways for us to explore this summer! I plan to run at least one race with her this year in her stroller, probably Oktoberfest, so I can show her the pics of me running it "with" her 7 months pregnant last year, and then 9 or so months old this year! It felt so wonderful to be back out running around downtown today, it's always been mine and Brent's favorite way to get around. It's wonderful knowing all you need is a good pair of sneaks (and now a running stroller!) and there's nowhere you can't go!