A Weekend in "Music City"

Hello friends!

Well, I'm BACK in Philly after an awesome trip to Nashville, TN, "Music City," for a jam-packed weekend!  The purpose of the trip was three-fold:  to visit with family, to run in the Country Music Marathon/Half Marathon with my two uncles, and to explore Music City! 

The Race!
The race was fabulous and inspirational!  First and foremost, I beat my personal goal of running this, my third half marathon, in under 2 hours!  Also, my Uncle Chris ran in the half with me--it was his first half and he did great!  AND my Uncle Michael ran the full marathon and finished in excellent time, making us all proud!  After finishing the half, it was truly touching watching the full marathon runners finish.  Watching runners of every age, race, physique, and unique stride finish a full marathon, 26.2 miles, in under 3.5 hours only reinforced my belief that you can do whatever you put your mind to.  This applies to music, too!!  All you need is the drive, the passion, and the dedication to meeting your goal, and anything is possible!  Now I am all too tempted to indeed complete a full marathon by the end of 2010...

Uncle C, Me, Uncle Michael Pre-Race

The Music!
While in "Music City," I did of course also get to experience some of the excellent live music that Nashville has to offer.  On Broadway, I had the privilege of enjoying some traditional country, "honky-tonk" style music, which was taking place in every bar along the strip.  One place of particular note, "Robert's Western World" http://robertswesternworld.com/, is a great spot--part boot-shop, part bar--I highly recommend you check out if you're ever in Nashville.  Somewhat off the beatin' path, at The Basement, we got to see some world class musicians (Michael Rhodes, Josh Leo, George Marinelli, Reese Wynans, and Pete Abbott) play together in a group called "The Purifiers."  Some of the most rockin' original tunes I have heard in my lifetime!

A look down Broadway

Robert's

Inside Robert's

The Purifiers playing at The Basement

More pictures from the weekend can be found via my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2183944&id=6103848&l=61a9ac6cf4 or official pictures from the race, as well as a video of me crossing the finish line, can be found here: http://nashville.competitor.com/results/ (my bib # was 8449)

And a big "thanks!"
Huge thanks to my Uncle Chris and Melody for hosting us and for helping to pull such a nice weekend together!  And thanks to all my friends and family who helped support me in my training for the race!  If you get the chance, get to Nashville!

And with that, night y'all!
~Tina