Maryland Half Marathon

Today, I made my second attempt at the Maryland Half Marathon.  You may remember, that last year, this was my first half, the hills were brutal, the weather was gross and I only got by because of Katye. I was promised this year when I registered that the course was flat and fast and it would be a good course to run.  Last week, in a run with my cousin's husband B, I learned that this course was not flat.  At all.  It was a hilly e'ffer.

Luckily, the race was all of 5 minutes from A and B's house, so I was able to stay there Saturday night and sleep in until 6:30.  For some reason, I was not able to sleep; it was rather restless and I was up about every hour, but I still felt well rested.  I put myself together, ate a protein bar and B and I headed out.

Cute right?  My nails are even painted bright red--how coordinated of me!

At this point, the sky was gray, the day was kind of dreary and the temperature was nice.  The air was humid and heavy.  ICK.  The nice part about this race is now small it is.  Only 2000 runners, so all the logistics of a bigger race are not really factor.  We parked, walked to the start (I even managed to sneak into an unofficial stink box and avoided the nasty porta pot lines) and were ready to go in no time.  After some lovely chats and pep talks from the race organizer (who I may have called a liar under my breath) and sponsors we were off.

I started up with B, which was my first mistake.  I started way too fast for me. But I pulled back, started with my intervals and felt ok.  And then the hills started.  And kept going.  And my calf (remember how it bugged me really bad on Monday) started acting up.  I kept my intervals, cursing hills and thanking people (because honestly, how cute was I?) and kept going.  I decided at the first medic tent I would see if there was anything I could put on it and keep going.  But you know what, I never saw a medic tent (there were supposed to be 2 on the course).  I was a bit frustrated, but kept going.

And as I kept going, the hills kept going.  And remember how I said it was overcast and dreary?  Yeah, then the sun came out and I had left my sunglasses at home.  The sun was bright (I got sunburned!!) but I just kept going.

Honestly, I wish I had kept track of what was going on when, but I was kind of in my own head, thinking about things, listening to my tunes and focusing on not wanting to die.  To say I was unprepared for this race is an understatement.     Going into it, I didn't have an expectation of of where I wanted to finish, but more that I wanted to finish and have a good time, which I was able to do.

I finally saw the finish line as I rounded a corner and tried to sprint, but couldn't; my legs were spent.  I just kept my eyes ahead (and totally missed A yelling for me) and finish.  I even managed to PR by two minutes, even with as unprepared as I felt going into it.    How cool is that?

So, now I have two nice pieces of hardware.  If only I ran the inaugural year and had the first medal!

Happy running all!!