Baltimore Running Festival - CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Half-Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

First few miles were tough because it was so crowded, I was having trouble running at the pace I wanted to, when I saw 9:35 I knew I needed to step it up quite a bit in order to reach my goal of 1:55. About mile 3 I found the 3:40 marathon pace group so I stayed with them for a while, the pacers were all really cool, that gave me a good energy boost. I felt really comfortable on the climbs and I felt that I could push harder. So I did and I went ahead of them until the downhill started and then I started to get a side cramp. I was surprised I got the cramp, I normally don't get them, and the fact that I got it on the downhill, it was strange. So I tried everything I could think of, gel, water, gatorade, I wasn't sure what my body wanted or what the cramp meant. Luckily it went away by mile 9. The 3:40 pace group passed me (I knew if I came in with them that would put me right around 1:55 since I started 1:45 min after them). I cruzed along trying to catch them for a couple miles and then at mile 11 my legs started to really hurt. By mile 12 I was out of water and gatorade and there weren't any water stations left. I needed to push through it and get to the end. I was looking at my watch and knew that 1:55 would really be tough, especially with my legs starting to feel the way they did. And the 3:40 pace group was nowhere in sight. That last stretch .2 through Camden Yards was the hardest - it was nice to have the crowd there but I had no energy to thank them or respond at all. Just one foot in front of the other, keep going, almost there, that was all I could focus on. And cross the finish line.

I don't think I drank enough, I need to stop at the water stations and get water or gatorade.

I collapsed into a chair and knew I shouldn't get up for a little while, I just was not feeling well. I may have pushed a little too hard. Jeff came and sat down next to me. I drank about half of his 24 ounce bottle of water. And then we sat for a while until I felt better, I had this horrible metallic taste in my mouth and my throat had sharp pains running through it, all I could think is that it might have been from my inhaler. Once I felt better we got up, grabbed a bunch of food, and sat down at ate. Then we cheered on some people who were still finishing and headed out.


My legs, I need to keep lifting weights to get them stronger, keep doing speed work at faster paces, my legs were not used to running at that pace for such a long time. Also, I need to drink more.


Enjoyed the race, lots of music, spectators dressed up in costumes, a couple beer stops, alot of people came out to show their support which made it really fun. And I like the under armour women's tech long sleeve tee, very nice!