I'm back from vacation

siume99 · May 4, 2002

Well marathon number 2 is finished. I took a camera with me this time, so hopefully I'll get them developed and scanned soon. I was running this for fun and to keep me training going through the winter. It worked on both counts. I'm already setting PRs (personal records) in 5K and 4 mile races this year. I finished the Country Music Marathon (Nashville, TN) in 3hours 46min 45seconds. It was a very hilly course. What I find interesting about doing marathons is that at the end, everyone is helping you to do whatever. Open bottles, untie shoes, wrap blankets around you. You even have the excuse to run into people (marathoner's aren't in the mood to change direction while walking )

I saw Lee Roy Parnell and Jo Dee Mesina that night (Saturday). They were awesome.

(Sunday) I went to the Bass Pro Shop in Nashville and headed to Knoxville, TN for the night. I went to Cotton Eye Joe Dance hall while I was there. Awesome.

(Monday) I went down Rt129 to Deals Gap…but along the way I got side tracked. I made my way on Foothills Parkway. Very cool. I met some hikers there and they said I HAD to see Cades Cove in the Smokies. It was just a few more miles out of my way. I spent nearly the whole afternoon there. (I needed more time!) I still wanted to get to Deals Gap so I took a one way path out (Parson Branch Rd) to Highway 129. It is a 7 mile stretch of twisty rocky hilly road that crossed streams about 8 times. It took me nearly an hour to do that stretch. It turns out Parson Branch came out at about the half way mark in it. So I did the slalom course nearly twice. I think I took a few hundred miles off my tires there. I can see why motorcycles love that.

(Tuesday) Davy Crockett's birthplace. (Waste of time.) And I made it to the Cumberland Gap. I bicycled up to the top of Pinnacle Outlook (4miles of road that goes up 1000ft) LOTS of switchbacks. You can see where Confederate and Union soldiers held positions during the Civil War. It was a lot more fun going down the mountain than going up! I went back up that evening since my mobile phone didn't work in the valley.

(Wednesday) The Cumberland Gap Tunnel was neat to drive through too. The Lost Squadron was cool. A P-38 Lightning is almost completely restored to flying condition. It and 5 other P-38s and 2 B-17s ran out of fuel in Greenland in 1942. They excavated it out of 268 feet of snow and ice! I also saw the Lincoln Museum while I was there.

(Thursday) Fort Boonesborough, KY and the Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor in Fort Knox. Just getting into the museum was interesting (it is in the armor training base). They searched under my truck's hood and body. They had me open all of my bags and every door and compartment of my truck. Very thorough. The museum was very interesting too.

Sorry I didn't get to any car/truck things. Unfortunately, I was on a strict time frame when around those areas.

Jpshostr · May 4, 2002

Well it all sounds fun except for that damn 26.2 mile part.

sincityZ71 · May 4, 2002

Sounds like a good time.

siume99 · May 4, 2002

JP you make it sound like a long way! The funny part of it was the first 20 miles of it was pretty easy....its the last 6.2 miles that really works your body and mind. I felt pretty good AFTER running this one. Of course I was exhausted for a couple of hours afterward but following a huge lunch....well your right....I was still tired. My legs were warm to the touch till that evening. Next morning, I was just a tiny bit stiff when I woke up. I think walking a few miles after the marathon helped get alot of the lactic acid out of my legs.

LarryE · May 4, 2002

told ya cades cove was a not miss.

22 years of going there and you always see wildlife.

as for cumberland tunnel last time we came home through there it sucked bad, the mountains are bad on our side.

siume99 · May 4, 2002

told ya cades cove was a not miss.

22 years of going there and you always see wildlife.

as for cumberland tunnel last time we came home through there it sucked bad, the mountains are bad on our side.

Next time I go to Cades Cove, I'm bicycling it. The worst part of it, I had mine with me this time! I just didn't have the time to bike and get to Deals Gap too. I'm going to try and get a friend to use up some vacation and go back there this summer with me.

You are right about the hills of TN, if you want to get someplace in TN....you can't. At least not as easily as IL (nice and flat). Tennessee is so beautiful though. But if your driving, you don't have alot of time to look about and still stay on the road . If you go through the Cumberland Gap again, stop and have a rest (lunch) at Bean Station, TN. Very beautiful lookout point.

All of those down hills required alot of braking. I downshifted into 2nd and sometimes even 1st. Does this heat up the transmission quite a bit? My RPMs never went above 2400. Usually, just 2000.