Month: May 2021

I fell in a half marathon, and kept on going

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Sometimes you accidentally PR a half marathon. 

And sometimes you trip and fall and skin your knees and hands at mile 11.5 of a half marathon, and run one of your slowest times in years. 

Guess which one was the Georgetown Half Marathon? 

Yeah, that was fun. 

I did manage to come in third place, though! 

Last weekend, I ran Bishop Events’ Georgetown Half Marathon. It was a week after I ran a 1:37:58 at the Halfity Half Marathon in Harrisburg, and I wasn’t planning on beating that time, i.e., running another PR. Which was fine — all races can’t be PRs. And then I saw the forecast — humid, with a high of 91 degrees. On May 23! Yuck! When summer comes to the DMV, it comes in with a vengeance. The older I get, the less I like to run in the heat, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from coming out and giving my all at the race. It’s been so long since we’ve had a plethora of live races to choose from, and now that they are coming back, it’s taking serious restraint for me not to sign up for alllllll of them. 

The race was on the C&O Towpath in D.C., where I have run many times before, including other races with Bishop Events. It benefited Operation Turbo, a local nonprofit that sends care packages to troops overseas. As far as half marathons go, the course is about as simple as you can get — 6.55 miles out, 6.55 miles back! Easy peasy. And it’s flat as a pancake, too. The surface is a little rocky and uneven, though. More on that later. 

Things kicked off right at 8 am sharp, which was nice because I live about 45 minutes away so I didn’t have to get up THAT early….. But bad because it was already pretty hot and sticky by then. At least the course is mostly shaded, I told myself. Except that wasn’t entirely true. The first four miles were pretty shady, and then the trail opened up and the sun was beating down on me in full force. So, I guess the middle part of the race was in the blazing sun. Lovely! The race organizers did set up water stops every three miles, which was great. I drank a cup of water at each one (mind you, when I ran the Halfity Half the weekend before, with temperatures in the 50s, I didn’t take a sip of water — didn’t feel like I needed it) and also dumped a cup of water over my head. 

My mile splits were in the low- to mid-7s until about mile 9. And then it all went to hell. (Felt like it, too.) I was overheating so badly — luckily, I had opted to run in a sports bra rather than a tank or T-shirt — and I was just over it. I started to take walk breaks — no shame. Another woman on the course, whom I’m pretty sure finished in second place, saw me struggling and tried to encourage me. “Come on girl! You look so strong! You have more than enough in you to finish the race!” she told me. “It’s just so hot,” I whined. “I ran a 1:37 last weekend!” (Because that was vital info to share? Like I needed to prove that I was fast or whatever? LOL.) 

Then I ran with two men for a while, and they helped me keep a somewhat steady pace. I’m glad they were there, because they helped pick me up when I took a tumble late! 

Like I said earlier, the trail is a bit uneven — nothing terrible, and if I hadn’t been so hot and gassed at that point, I probably would have been paying more attention and may not have tripped over some rocks in the middle of the path. But I was, and I did. Man, that hurt. I reflexively braced myself with my hands, so my palms got all torn up, and then my knees and my right thigh got all scraped up. My shorts were filthy, and blood was running down my left leg. I looked like I was in a tough mudder, not a half marathon. But even though it hurt, I didn’t do any major damage. No fractured knee or anything like that. So, with the help of my running buddies, I picked myself back up and trudged to the finish line. Running hurt, but honestly no more than it did before I fell! (I’ve been running this past week, and even though my left knee feels tender to the touch, it’s not causing me any pain when I run. Yay!) 

By the time I got to the end of the race, I wasn’t even looking at my watch anymore. But when I crossed the finish line, I yelled out “thank God!” and stopped my watch and saw I finished in 1:44:36. My official time was actually 1:44:29, so I guess I stopped my watch a few seconds too late. Definitely one of my slowest times in quite a while, but still pretty solid considering the conditions and my fall. After I finished, Travis, owner of Bishop Events, handed me a plaque and congratulated me for coming in third female. The first place female finished in the high 1:20s, and the second place female, whom I think was the lady that encouraged me on the course, ran a 1:39 and change. 

All in all, I am really proud of that race. Maybe as proud as I was of my PR the weekend before. It’s one thing to run an incredible race when all the conditions are perfect — flat course, cool weather, you feel good, etc. That was the case in the Halfity Half Marathon. But it takes a lot more grit to gut it out when the weather sucks and especially after a hard fall. I’m not going to lie — I felt like a total badass crossing the finish line all bloody. 

A closer look at the bruise on my left leg.

Have you ever fallen in a race? If so, were you able to finish?

I ran an accidental half marathon PR

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If you’ve been running for many years, as I have, you know that PRs get harder and harder to set. I’m also turning 41 in a few months, and while I don’t plan to stop running hard any time soon, I also know that I will likely be slowing down over the next decade. 

But not quite yet. I ran an unexpected half marathon PR last weekend –1:37:58 at the Halfity-Half Marathon in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania! That’s a 45-second PR, and it got me 1st place in the female Masters division. 

How did that happen? I really have no idea. Honestly, I wish I could share a training regimen or some insights or something of substance, but I really can’t. I had three Reese’s martinis the night before the race — maybe that’s the secret. 

I wasn’t even planning to run this half marathon. Micah and I went to Hershey to celebrate our 5-year anniversary last weekend, and a few days before, I decided to look to see if there were any races happening in the area. Lo and behold, there was a half marathon happening on May 16 in nearby Harrisburg. (A half-half marathon, 6.55 miles, was held the day before.) I eagerly signed up. I saw that the half started and ended at City Island, and the course went along the Susquehanna River, just like the Lucky Charm 5K I did back in March with Staci. I really liked the area and was looking forward to running a longer distance there. 

Since we were celebrating our anniversary, we packed a lot into the day before the race — Chocolate World, a trolley tour, a chocolate-infused pedicure for me, shopping, a delicious dinner at the Hershey Lodge. It was there that I had the three martinis, which included peanut butter whiskey (I don’t even like whiskey), Godiva chocolate liqueur, and other liquors that didn’t even taste like liquor. When I ordered my third, Micah side-eyed me, saying, “Aren’t you running a race in the morning?” I didn’t feel particularly buzzed, so I waved off his concerns. And obviously, it didn’t affect my performance (unless it was for the better!)

I woke up early Sunday to a beautiful day– mid-50s with no wind and some cloud cover. Just about perfect for running! City Island was only about a 15-minute drive from our hotel, and I enjoyed driving down Route 22 into downtown Harrisburg and seeing the state Capitol building come into view. It really is a pretty city — one I’ve barely spent any time in, despite having grown up in southwestern PA. Packet pickup was at one end of the parking lot in City Island, and that was a simple and easy process. Gotta love the logistics of small races! 

When I registered, I chose the elite corral — LOL. To be placed in the elite corral, as a female runner, I had to run a 1:50 or faster half, and I figured I would probably be in the low 1:40s. Pretty surprised that qualified me for the elite corral, but hey, I’ll take it! My wave went off promptly at 7 am and runners were lined up six feet apart and went off every 10 seconds to allow for social distancing purposes. Although the CDC has recently loosened mask guidelines (and to that I say hallelujah!), every place and organization is still kind of doing its own thing in regards to COVID mitigation. I think it’ll be that way for a while. 

Most of the race course was along the Susquehanna. After we left City Island, we ran over an open grate bridge that I had run over in the Lucky Charm 5K, then onto a path by the river, then back and forth over another bridge. I ran my first mile in 7:43, then got faster from there. As I mentioned earlier, the weather was absolutely perfect and that always makes a world of difference. After we got off the second bridge, we spent miles three through 10 back on the path by the river. It was flat and beautiful, and I clicked off a string of 7:18 miles — probably the most consistent pacing I’d ever done. My only gripe, which was definitely not the fault of the race, was that there were geese everywhere. I mean, duh. We were running by a river! But I was nearly attacked by a mama goose who thought I was getting too close to her goslings when I was a kid, so they always make me nervous. There was also goose poop everywhere, which was gross, and I was wearing a new pair of Hoka Carbon X shoes. Luckily, the bottoms didn’t look too soiled afterwards. 

Around mile 10, the path took us away from the river and through a wooded area, then back over another bridge to City Island. I really felt so strong the whole way through and didn’t have that feeling of wanting to be done until maybe there was a mile left of the race. When I crossed the finish line, I hit the button on my watch and it said I ran the race in 1:38:00 — PR! Yay! But then when I checked my official time, I found out I actually ran a 1:37:58 — even better! I shrieked with delight. It took me 20 half marathons to get under 1:40, so to run a 1:37 is really exciting. It also means that I’m within a minute of qualifying for the New York City Marathon. You can qualify with a half marathon time, and a woman my age needs to run a 1:37:00 half to qualify. I’m not really an NYC person and have never been dying to run that marathon, but I know a lot of people love it …. So maybe if I qualify, I will run it. 

Once again, I do wish I could explain why I had such a great race. I haven’t done a lick of speedwork since March. Since the marathon on March 27, I’ve done just two double digit runs — one 10-miler and one 12-miler. My weekday runs are usually between three and five miles. I often worry that I am taking these easy runs too fast– I typically run between an 8:10 and an 8:25 pace, depending on how I feel — but maybe not if I can bust out a half at a 7:28 average pace.    

In any event, I am ecstatic with how the race went and am looking forward to more half marathons this year — including one tomorrow on the C&O Towpath in D.C.! It’s supposed to be going up to a high of 90 degrees (ugh– when summer comes to the DMV, it comes in with a vengeance) so I am not expecting another PR. That’s also a flat course, and it starts early and there’s a lot of shade, so maybe it won’t be too bad. 

I love marathons, but I think I love half marathons more. I get to tap into my strengths as an endurance athlete, but they don’t leave me totally wrecked at the end. And the training isn’t all-consuming, either. What is your favorite distance?

Squeaked out: I missed the cutoff for the 2021 Boston Marathon

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On Tuesday, I found out I was one of more than 9,000 qualified runners to be rejected from the 2021 Boston Marathon.

It wasn’t a surprise, with the longer-than-usual qualifying period and the smaller-than-usual field. But it still sucks. 

For those of you who are not in tune with all things Boston, the Boston Marathon is usually held every April. But we are still in a pandemic. So last year’s race was turned into a virtual marathon, and this year’s race was postponed until Oct 11, 2021. For October’s race, the Boston Athletic Association accepted entries from qualified runners who ran BQs from September 2018 through the start of registration on April 20. And they only accepted 14,000 entries. So, in order to actually gain a spot in the marathon, you had to beat your qualifying time by seven minutes and 47 seconds. 

I was three minutes and 26 seconds under my BQ time at the Chasing the Unicorn Marathon last Halloween. So, I guess it’s better to be a few minutes off than a few seconds off?

On a positive note, the B.A.A. announced that for the 2022 Boston Marathon — planned for the usual third Monday in April next year — the qualifying window began on Sept. 1, 2019, and will end sometime later this year (I am guessing after Boston 2021 happens.) In other words, I’ll be able to reapply with my Chasing the Unicorn time from October 2020, which would have been in the usual 2022 qualifying window anyway. I guess my Tidewater Striders BQ will be a “throwaway” BQ, since it’s in the same window and was only two minutes and 38 seconds under my standard. Of course, you can only register with one race result! 

And it could be worse. I feel terrible for everyone who was registered for Boston 2020, which ultimately went virtual, then registered for 2021 and didn’t make the cutoff. Especially those who were first time Boston Marathoners. At least I’ve run the race already. 

So, what’s next? 

After I finished Tidewater Striders in March, I swore I wasn’t running a marathon this fall unless it was Boston. The end of that race was SO painful. And I’ve essentially been training for a BQ marathon since December 2019. First for Coastal Delaware 2020, which got canceled, then Chasing the Unicorn, which was canceled and rescheduled, then the Reston Marathon. When Reston got canceled, I registered for Tidewater Striders. It’s been a lot. But I’m not going to lie, when I found out I got rejected, I definitely thought about finding another marathon early this fall to make sure I have enough of a cushion to get into the 2022 race.

There is also a part of me that is intrigued by the ultramarathon world, too. The iconic JFK 50 Miler happens every November in western Maryland. I thought, that would give me a new challenge! An extremely terrifying challenge, but it’s good to do stuff that scares you, right? 

But honestly — I think I may just focus on crushing a half marathon this fall and hope my Chasing the Unicorn time is good enough for 2022. I’ll be honest — I didn’t have a lot of fun marathon training last summer. Training through a hot and humid Maryland summer sucks! I would pick winter training over summer training any day of the week. And when I was training last summer, work was bananas stressful and I wasn’t even sure I’d actually get to run a marathon in the end anyway. And I almost didn’t! This summer is thankfully going to look different, but I still think I need a break. I want marathon training to continue to be something I WANT to do, not something I feel like I HAVE to do. 

In any event, I am optimistic that I have enough of a cushion for Boston 2022. Yes, the qualifying window is still two years long (in normal times, the window is a year long.) But think of all the marathons that were canceled starting in March 2020. Sure, small marathons began to resume in fall 2020, but I think there have been very few marathons that have had more than a few hundred finishers. So, way fewer opportunities to qualify and way fewer qualified runners. I do think a lot of runners will re-qualify at this fall’s Boston. But I’d also venture to say that plenty of them won’t want to turn around and run another Boston six months later. Boston is expensive!  

Did you get squeaked out of this fall’s Boston Marathon? Are you running another marathon this fall to try to improve your time, or just hoping for the best like I am?