Under Armour Baltimore Half-Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Slower than I'd hoped to be, although faster than my long training runs by a little bit. I went out too fast, although it didn't feel too bad, and it seemed like the first three miles went by in a blur; I think I walked once, for about a minute as we climbed a pretty steep hill between 2 and 3. I never did turn around to look behind me, but it was awesome to look up the road on the uphills and downhills and just see scads of runners. My memory may be a little off here, but I think I managed through miles four and five well enough, although I think the first hill was in mile 5, and I started to notice the temperature right around in there. I'd planned to do the 9/1 run/walk ratio as I always do, but after that first walk, I didn't walk again until I got to the first water stop at just past three miles. After that, I walked through all the water stops and whenever the lay of the course was wearing me out.

Somewhere in mile 6 was a major hill running up to some big stone building in a park. I got about halfway up that hill and had to walk for a couple of minutes, then ran the rest of the way. Every walk break after that was two minutes. Had to stop again as we started in around some lake because my left foot was killing me. Made it around the lake OK, but it was uphill leaving that area.

I think somewhere in the 9th mile the course headed into a very cool neighborhood with all the locals out cheering everybody on, offering up snacks, gummy bears, water, even one group of guys offering beer. People were high-fiving us as we went past...awesome experience. There were more hills in there that forced me to slow way down but a nice downhill too right around, I think, mile 10. I remember looking at the Garmin at 10.14 and thinking I was in uncharted territory distance-wise.

I'd wanted to start stepping up my running pace from 10 through to the finish, and I started out OK on this but at some point there was a bridge we had to climb that screwed with my pace and set me back. And it seems like it was mostly uphill to the turn on Eutaw. At one point - it might have actually been the turn to Eutaw, or maybe Howard - right after coming up a hill, I looked around me and couldn't see one person running. Everybody in the vicinity was walking, almost like we were all trying to summon one last surge of energy to take us through the finish.

I had one last bit of walking, for about a minute, right before we hit mile 12. It was all downhill at that point and it went by in a blur, and I stepped my pace up pretty good. I was running under 10/mm when I finished and the last full mile was right around 10/mm. Saw TSW after running under the Hilton and before we entered Camden Yards. She says I looked pretty good. I felt pretty good there, although I think it was all adrenaline by then. I was sure happy to see that finish. Absolutely worn out at the end, and my legs felt more jittery than they ever have after any of my tris (none of which, of course, lasted this long).

Probably start out a little slower and be a bit more diligent in my run/walk plan; I didn't stick to that very well. Hill work would've helped too, but I can't imagine myself doing much of that. Overall, I'm pleased just to have finished it, although I certainly would've liked a better pace.

They herded us into the area where we got our medal and our choice of post-race goodies. I grabbed water and a banana and headed over to the Johnny U statue where TSW and I agreed to meet. Every part of me was hurting. I did a little stretching there to try to keep things loose, but my feet, ankles, quads, hips and butt were all sore. When we were walking back to the hotel I couldn't believe how much I was hurting. I told TSW, given how I felt, that I couldn't figure out how I'd managed to keep going during the run.


Mostly my DNA, I think. I ain't built for this kind of distance so it's always going to be a slog for me. Obviously more run training would make a difference but time constraints will probably keep me limited to three times a week for the foreseeable future. Although I plan to take this entire week off and I can't wait!


Awesome event, very well planned and operated. Great time, good (but hard) course, cops at all the intersections so there were never any traffic or pedestrian issues. Locals along the way cheering us on, regardless of the neighborhood. I would love to do it again.