So, after a few months of not being able to train properly, a month of physical therapy, and no hill training whatsoever, I am quite surprised with how well I did.

Friday evening Todd and I headed over to the Expo to fight the crowd and get my bib number, T-Shirt, and swag bag. We were in and out in about 20 minutes (I stopped to pick up some Gu on sale). Afterward we headed to the hotel where I got everything ready for the following morning.

Shirt, Capris, Socks, Shoes, iPod Shuffle, Hat, Garmin, SpiBelt, iPhone, and Gu. I am one high maintenance runner!

I really wanted to bring my camera during the race so I could take pictures and maybe a video or two, but I couldn’t fit it in my SpiBelt along with my iPhone and Gu packs. It was either the camera or phone, and since I wanted to call Todd to find him after the race (and just in case anything went wrong) I went with the phone.

I slept incredibly well that night. Much better than my first half marathon back in May. I think it was because I knew I could do the distance, and I could sleep until 7AM. The Baltimore Half doesn’t start until 9:45AM in several waves based on our predicted finish time. I was a little worried about the weather because it was supposed to be warmer than last year with some rain. I was fine though and happy I wore my hat because it rained a mile here and there. When you run with glasses the hat does a great job with keeping the rain off.

Race Day

I woke up a little after 7AM and put together my breakfast, a bagel with peanut butter and coffee. I also did stretches so my leg wouldn’t bother me and iced it.

I had no idea that our hotel was on the marathon route so it was awesome to look outside and see the elite runners running past the hotel! Not something you see every day. I have no idea how someone can run at that pace for 26.2 miles. I was listening to the news and they said the average athlete can run with an elite for only 6 paces before falling behind!

Around 9AM, Todd and I started walking over to the starting line since it was about a mile away. I decided at the last minute to make a last minute bathroom stop, and in doing so, missed the starting gun. I was in the second wave though, so luckily I got to the crowd right as the wave was starting to move.

It all honestly, I was so focused on finishing and hoping/praying my leg wouldn’t bother me that I was in my own little world during the race and don’t remember much.

I know I paced really well the first few miles and knew that if I continued this pace that I would PR! But, that was before we started up the “Boston Hill.”

You see that steady incline? Yeah, that killed my hope of a PR. But it’s okay because I still finished under my goal.

The crowd support was amazing, much better than Frederick. And there was even a man in a tiger suit dancing on top of his car! One of the best things I saw though was close to the end, probably with a mile or two left, there was a group of girls holding a sign that said “Run like you’re being chased by vampires!”

That was just what I needed, a good laugh.

The last few miles were all flat or downhill, so I was able to pace a lot better. My last few miles were not my strongest because I was exhausted. My stomach felt off the entire race and I could barely get down the energy gels I had. I did drink plenty though and didn’t have to take a pit-stop.

I cheered on other runners who looked as tired I as was and finished strong with a final time of 2:53:14.

Ten minutes slower than my first half marathon. But you know what? I don’t care! I think for me, that’s an incredibly good time considering I’m coming back from an injury and wasn’t able to train much, let alone train on hills!

So all in all, it was a good race. I’ll be finishing up my physical therapy next week and will be in full training for the Disney Half in January!

I’ll leave you with a picture Todd took of four guys who ran the Relay in beer costumes!

Have a good night!