Maryland Half Marathon

Half Marathon #3 is now in the books!

Pretty much given up on making normal faces

So first, a bit of background. HM's #1 and 2 were slow. I was injured for both. During the Augusta Half I was dealing with some metatarsal tendonitis. It popped up out of nowhere 2 weeks before the race. In mile 3 of the race it started to seize up so I had to take my pace way down to prevent it from locking up. It kept doing it every few minutes but as long as I went slow I could keep running. Then I did the Wildwood Games half which was a trail run, and at the time my hamstring issues were really bad. Once again running slowly seemed to be maintainable, but anything too fast would have been painful. Both races were done in about 2:45. I knew I was capable of better.

This time - no injuries. Dealing with some knee pain lately but it's nothing I can't run through. It was time to redeem myself and actually try to get a decent time. My goal for today was 2:20 or better. 

Got up early this morning to make it to Fulton, still in HoCo (Howard County) about 15 minutes from my house. The race was in this planned type of community called Maple Lawn. Somehow I didn't have myself together this morning and rolled up to the parking lot at 7:50. Yikes. Porta potties conveniently located near my car so I could hit the bathroom, then ran to the start line. The weather called for 70's and cloudy, didn't say anything about any rain - yet we had some. It was a light rain at the start, and I was starting to wonder if leaving my hat at home was a good idea. But the rain eventually gave way to a light "misting" which was on and off during the race, kind of nice actually. It was a bit humid but every now and then you'd get a cool breeze. Between the mist, humidity, and sweating I was drenched to say the least. So anyway, the gun went off and I was ready to roll. Through the streets and traffic circles of this manicured little community of offices and townhomes, then turned onto a smaller road that took us away from all that. I have mixed feelings about living in this state, and although I do miss Georgia and await returning to *our* house, I do have to give it to Maryland because their countryside is beautiful. Everything is so lush and green. Fields with rolling hills, huge leafy green trees, and colorful flowers and bushes everywhere. Georgia is beautiful too but not quite as "green", must be all the pine trees and clay soil. Most of this race was in rural areas with some really beautiful scenery. Some nice houses out there too.

Ok, so my regret for this race - trying to stuff my phone, car key, and 3 gels into my belt. I guess I hadn't done a test run with quite this many items before. But it wasn't working at all, my poor little belt was flipping and sliding around all over the place. I had to keep fiddling with it and it messed up my music 3 times. Had to keep taking off my belt, turn my music back on, put the gels back in, and put the belt back on - while running. I'm sure this messed up my pace. But the problem was gone by mile 4 when I was back down to 2 gels. I guess 2 is fine but 3 is too damn much, lol.

This race was hilly. I wasn't expecting so many hills. No really steep climbs or anything, but very little of the course was completely flat. We were either uphill or downhill almost the entire time.

Thoughts -
Mile 2-3 - There were a few long hill climbs in here. I actually feel like this is where I was slowest, between all the hills and fiddling with my belt. The humidity was really bad and I could actually see a foggy haze in the distance. I was feeling ok at this point, but it seemed like I was tiring out faster than I should have been.
Mile 4-5 - Took my first gel, a Caramel Macchiato GU. I have preferred Honey Stingers over GU's but holy shit this flavor is so good. Plenty of water stations so far. We ended up near a school and turned a corner, beautiful fields beside us, and wound up on a neighborhood street with more hills.
Mile 6-7 - Feeling really good here. Picked up the pace and dipped down into the 9:00's when I could, there were some flat areas here. The volunteers were super encouraging, one even high fived me. Passed a house where a whole family was out there playing bongos! The spectators were few, but they were throughout the course and had lots of enthusiasm for us.
Mile 8-9 - Took my second gel at mile 8, should have been 7 but wanted to wait for an aid station so I could have water with it. Turned onto another neighborhood street, this one was kind of a long, gradual uphill that seemed to never end. I kept trucking along, was actually passing people at this point. A headache was setting in, but not surprising because I'm very prone to headaches on any run where I really push myself.
Mile 10 - Turned back towards the Maple Lawn area. Still feeling pretty good energy wise, going fast when possible. The headache is annoying but bearable. Took my last gel to stay on top of my blood sugar levels. Passed Grey Camo Shirt Man, who has been hovering in front of me for the entire race. Left him behind in the dust. Turned a corner and saw a sign that said "Mile 2" Ok I know it's from the 5k course but really? Not something you wanna see at mile 10 of a half marathon :)
Mile 11 - Entered the main area of Maple Lawn. Fuck, it's up hill. One long street of townhomes that's all uphill. Chugged along, maintained my speed despite my body screaming at me to slow down. Passed a bunch more people.
Mile 12 - Shit, more hills. Really? By this point I was ready to see the finish line and be done. I knew we had to turn back around in the other direction, kept on waiting to hit the turn around point but the course just kept on taking us in the wrong direction. After what felt like forever, finally turned around and headed back towards the finish line. Up a long hill. Fuuhhhk. But I'm still running strong, I know I don't have much distance left so it's time to burn the rest of the fuel in the tank. Approached the finish line, saw my husband who also gave me a high five.
Mile 13.1 - Done!


Ahh, victory is sweet!

So how did I do?

My time was 2:16. Average pace 10:22 or something. Not bad considering how freaking hilly it was. I beat goal so I'm happy with it! Oh yeah, and of course it's a PR!

Oh, and the shoe choice worked out great. Even saw a couple other women rockin some Kismets out there. All I do now is look at people's shoes.

Found my husband - so happy he came out! Basically I told him to show up at 10 because I figured I would finish somewhere in the 2:10-2:20 mark. Worked out perfect. And there was a pub right next to the finish line so that's where we headed next

Got me a big ass plate of nachos (nachos are one of my favorite things on the planet)
After leaving the race I promptly went to the store to get snacks. I have Lemon Milano cookies!
Already took my post half marathon nap which was amazing. Was gonna see Avengers tonight but it seems my husband got caught up in car/yard work and he's just now cleaning up. Oh well. It has been a glorious yet tiring day, so I guess I'll just relax tonight.