All of a sudden, it’s September and I am signed up for a race every single weekend.
I started training for the Ocean City Half Marathon the second week of August, with a goal of breaking 90 minutes. (Current PR from Rehoboth last year is 1:33.) One thing about me is that doing speedwork – which is absolutely necessary for me if I want to run a sub-90 half – is not my favorite. So, I signed up for a bunch of races because I’d so much rather run fast in a race than on my own around my neighborhood or the track!
Here’s what I have been up to, and what is coming up next!
Dreaded Druid Hills 10K: 46:32
Remember when I said in a recent post that the Firecracker 10K was my slowest in a few years? Ha, well, this race now holds that distinction. It definitely lives up to its name! I had run it before, in 2019, and to be honest never really planned to run it again. But then my friend Kree asked me to run it with her and I said OK. Four years ago, I ran the race in 50:06, and this year I was significantly faster – yet it was somehow so much harder than I remembered! Maybe I was pushing harder. The hills in Druid Hill Park in Baltimore are STEEP and there are also a lot of switchbacks. It is easily the hardest 10K I have ever run. I even stopped to walk a few times – no shame. Somehow I managed to win my age group and come in 5th female. I won a $10 gift card to Falls Road Running, and the swag for the race was on point – I got a pint glass and a really nice Nike tank top. So I suppose it was worth the suffering. Kree and I joked afterwards that maybe this is an “every four years” race.
When I saw the running clothing company Tracksmith was putting on a 5K track race, called the Twilight 5000, in Washington, D.C. on my 43rd birthday, I knew I had to sign up.
Never mind that I always say I hate 5Ks. Never mind that I’d never raced on a track before. Never mind that my birthday is on July 28 and that it would inevitably be extremely hot in D.C.
I still couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate my birthday!
While I had lofty aspirations of running my second sub-20 5K, it was not to be – I finished in an official time of 20:36. But I still feel like I gave it my everything, especially because I could barely speak coherently for a good two minutes after I crossed the finish line. Ha!
Here’s my recap of the Twilight 5000 in Washington, D.C.!
She was lightning, before the thunder
Obviously, I knew it was going to be hot and humid – but as luck would have it, the race took place on the hottest day of the summer. Temperatures during the day were close to 100 degrees, with a real feel temperature of about 108 degrees. The race was scheduled to begin at 6:30 pm, but we were divided into 9 heats based on our estimated finish times. Heat 1 was the slowest and Heat 9 was the fastest. I registered with a goal time of 20:00 and was placed in Heat 4, which was supposed to go off at 7:58 pm. I crossed my fingers that the weather would cool off at least a little bit by the time I was going to run.
Micah and I got to the track at Cardoza High School early, right around the time the first wave was going off, so we got to cheer on the earlier runners. I met an Instagram friend, Meghan, in person for the first time, and that was fun! The wind was starting to pick up and the heat didn’t seem *too* oppressive, so I was hopeful it would stay that way. About a half hour before the start of my race, I went down to the field and warmed up until the organizers called us to line up.
For the previous hour, we could hear thunder and see lightning in the distance, but it seemed to be far enough away that no one was panicking. But then! About five minutes before we were supposed to run, there was a loud crack of thunder and race officials suddenly halted the race, ordering us to take shelter under the bleachers. (Which yeah, were made of metal, but we huddled under a concrete overhang. I suppose that was safer!)
We stayed there for about 45 minutes while it poured and I was starting to wonder if the race would be canceled all together. But then they announced that they were starting up again and were combining heats, since the event was supposed to be over by 10 pm. Heats 4 and 5 would run together, then Heats 6 and 7, then Heats 8 and 9.
They gave those of us in 4 and 5 12 minutes to warm up again, and we finally lined up just before 9 pm.
Did the storm cool things off, you ask?
No. No, it did not.
A 5K on a track is 12.5 laps around, which others had warned me is mentally tough. But I don’t think that’s what was hardest for me. If there is one thing I excel at, it’s doing the same thing over and over again (I eat, like, the same five foods every week.) The weather was what really killed me. It felt like running through soup and like heat was just emanating from the track. After the first mile, i.e. the first four laps, I knew sub-20 was out the window, but that if I just stuck with the pack of runners who were going about my pace, I could be around 20:30.
So I basically just locked in with them and stayed focused. I actually really liked running with a pack. The race officials and volunteers kept calling out “work together, work together! You’ve got this!” and I do think the teamwork helped!
Micah was hanging out near the finish trying to take pictures of me and so I got to see him again and again, which was a nice boost. There were also volunteers handing out cold cups of water and so I started grabbing one at every lap and just dumping it on my head. At lap 7, I just started counting down the laps and before I knew it, I had one left. I did my best to give it one last kick and crossed the finish line in 20:36, 6:38 average pace. No, it wasn’t sub-20, but it was what I had to give and I was happy with that.
I sat down for a few minutes, collected myself and then walked to the top of the bleachers where Micah was standing – yes, he made me walk up all these steps after a tough 5K, LOL! We went to the race after party at nearby Franklin Hall, but I wasn’t that hungry (normal for me when I push hard in the heat) and was mostly interested in drinking a summer shandy slushy.
Would I do it again?
Yeah! It was fun – a painful kind of fun, but fun nonetheless! I loved the atmosphere. Tracksmith did a great job with the soundtrack – loved the music that played all night long – and the volunteers were so fun and energetic. I’d love to do this again when it’s about 45 degrees outside. As far as my original sub-20 goal, I probably haven’t been running enough this summer to accomplish that. My highest weekly mileage since Boston was 40 miles during the first week of July. Most weeks were in the 33-37 mile range. When I ran my only other sub-20, that was coming off of Chicago Marathon training when I was running 60-70 miles per week. High mileage isn’t everything, but it can help.
There is actually a second Twilight 5000 in D.C. on Aug. 25, and I thought for a hot second about running that. But it’s two days before my favorite race, the Annapolis Ten Mile Run, and given how dead my legs felt when I went out to run an easy 10 miles two days after this race – I decided that wasn’t smart!
There weren’t any awards given out, but per the results I actually placed first in my age group. There are Twilight 5000 races that have already happened in cities all over North America and London, and so far I am 19th among women ages 40-44. That is pretty cool! It’ll likely change as more Twilight 5000 events happen, but I’m proud of that.
When I signed up for the Tracksmith 5000 in DC, scheduled for the evening of my birthday on July 28, I had lofty goals of going sub-20, something I’ve only been able to accomplish once before. The race will be held on a track, and we’ll be lead by pacers and seeded by goal time. Under perfect conditions, I could even be looking at a PR!
Except it’s July 28 in DC, when the weather is normally gross and swampy. And this year, July 28 is expected to be the hottest day of the year, with the highs reaching into the upper 90s and a real feel of 108 degrees or something ridiculous.
My heat (literally!) doesn’t go off until 7:58 pm, but it’ll still feel like running in hell. I think I’ll be lucky to break 21 minutes and my main goal is not to die!
But it’ll be a fun adventure to cap off the last few months of lower mileage as I head into half marathon training this fall. Here’s what I have been up to this summer!
Arbutus Firecracker 10K, Arbutus, MD, 45:25
I’d been hearing about this annual July 4 race in Arbutus, Maryland for years, but had never run it before. I knew it would be hot and humid (duh, July 4 in Maryland) and hilly. So I didn’t have any real expectations of my finish time, but I was a little disappointed when I crossed the finish line (feeling practically dead, I might add!) and saw 45:xx on the clock. That was my slowest 10K in about two years. But as I said, the weather was not ideal and the course was challenging! There was a particularly cruel hill around mile 5.5, though there was a downhill finish. Ha. That said, I had fun. I saw a lot of friends there and the people of Arbutus really came out for this race. So many people had sprinkler systems set up for the runners. One resident even had an inflatable shaped like a rainbow and clouds that had water coming out of it for us to run through!
My time was also good enough for first in my age group and I won $50 cash – can’t be sad about that!
Beebe Health Heroes 5K, Lewes, DE, 20:35
Four days after the Firecracker 10K, I ran this flat and fast 5K in Lewes, Delaware. We were staying in nearby Rehoboth Beach for the week and I saw this was happening so I signed both myself and my husband up. (He hadn’t run since Thanksgiving at the Turkey Trot and was just happy to finish!) It was also very hot and humid, but there is not a hill to be seen in Lewes. I was really happy with how this race went, especially as someone who tends to fly and die in 5Ks. I finished in 20:35 and felt strong – splits were 6:40, 6:30, 6:35. I finished top Master female and third overall female, behind two teenage girls, so I was happy about that! Micah finished in around a half hour, which is great considering he never runs anymore! We also enjoyed all the drinks and food provided by the restaurant Irish Eyes at the after party. The Seashore Striders organized this race, which benefited Beebe Health’s foundation. I’ve done a bunch of their races at the beach before and they are always a good time!
Looking ahead to fall!
I’ve been running 30-40 miles per week since early June, with speedwork once or twice a week to get ready for these shorter races. I start training for my fall half marathons on Aug. 6 and am following a plan that will peak at 63 miles per week. That’s more or less in line with my peak mileage from marathon training over the last year; the real difference is I’ll be doing more half marathon pace specific work and my longest long runs will be 16 miles. I’m excited to take on a new challenge and work to break 90 minutes this fall, hopefully at the Ocean City Half on Oct. 28!
What races are you looking forward to this fall? Any big goals?
Marathon runners will especially get it. 5Ks are brutal. If you run them to the best of your ability, you’re in for 3.1 miles of chest thumping, heart pumping pain. Every time I run one, I am like, “the hell with this, this hurts so bad, let’s stick with longer races from here on out, please.”
And yet, I keep signing up for them– mostly because friends want to run them and want me to do them, too, or because I’m traveling somewhere and I want to do a new race and a 5K is all I can find. This is especially true in the summer.
Case in point: Next month, I am running two 5Ks, one in Lewes, Delaware on July 9 when I’m on vacation and one on my 43rd birthday on July 28. The birthday 5K is on a track, my first time ever racing on a track. It’s called the Twilight 5000 and it takes place in D.C. and is sponsored by the running apparel company Tracksmith. Even though I love to hate 5Ks, I couldn’t resist the idea of taking on a new challenge on my birthday!
And I decided to actually do some targeted training for it. I’ve written before about how I really only follow plans for marathon training and just kind of wing it for the other distances. However, I ran a 5K on Memorial Day weekend in my hometown in Pennsylvania and was severely humbled. I was actually supposed to run a half marathon instead that weekend, the Old Turnpike Half on an abandoned portion of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. But then I started reading race recaps that talked about how rough the surface of the road was and I thought the risk of me tripping and falling and injuring myself was way too great.
I saw there was a 5K happening back home in honor of the longtime former track and field coach at my high school. I didn’t run in high school, but remembered Coach Snider well and figured I’d sign up. The race finished on the high school football field, and I thought it would be so fun to be on the field for the first time since I’d twirled a flag at football halftime shows 25 years ago!
Objectively, I did well. My time of 21:19 was far from my best, but I was 6th female and 2nd in my age group. However, I hadn’t done any speedwork since before Boston and I really felt it. I went out way too fast with some speedy cross country stars who were half my age and wanted to quit after the first mile.
It was a total crash and burn. So I decided to pull out a 5K plan from Pfitzinger’s Faster Road Racing, which has plans for distances from the 5K to the half marathon. I generally don’t do targeted speedwork unless it’s part of a training plan, mostly because even after all my years of running, I really don’t know WTF I am doing with speedwork. I need a coach or a plan to guide me.
The plan is surprisingly challenging. I say surprisingly because the mileage is low– I peak at 40 miles per week. Over the last few years, I’ve really increased my mileage during marathon training and even hit 70 miles per week during Chicago training. So 40 seems like NBD, and most of the weeks are in the 33-37 mile range. The long runs range from 8 to 10 miles, though I am running quite a few weekday runs that are in the 7-8 mile range.
But the speed sessions are tough. For example, this week my speed day was 9 miles with 3 x 1,000 meter repeats, followed by 3 x 800 meter repeats, at 3K to 5K pace. Woof. Last week it was 8 miles with 7 x 600 meter repeats, followed by a 400 meter repeat, at 3K to 5K pace. Gag. I also have days where I am doing a few rounds of 150 meter sprints as part of a 7 or 8 miler. Those are actually kind of fun. But the track workouts are legit kicking my ass and I’m just glad we’ve been having our coolest June in many years. Most mornings it’s been in the 60s and it’s such a welcome change from the typical Chesapeake Bay summer heat and humidity!
I am excited to see where the plan takes me. I have my first race since Memorial Day coming up on the Fourth of July, the Arbutus Firecracker 10K. I’ve heard it’s a hot and hilly beast and I don’t really know what to expect, time-wise. Then the 5K in Lewes 5 days later, then the Twilight 5000 at the end of July. In an ideal world, I’d love to break 20 minutes at the Twilight 5000. I’ve only done that once before and it was coming off my training for Chicago, when I was in the absolute best shape of my life.
The one thing going for me is that the Twilight 5000 apparently has pacers, so I’ll be less likely to fly and die if I can stick with a 20 minute pacer and then pull ahead during the last lap. All I can do is try!
Back in February, I signed up for the 2023 Richmond Marathon this coming November. I put down my expected finish time as 3:15, but I was really hoping to break 3:15 and run closer to 3:10 for a sizable PR.
But as I trained for Boston 2023, logging the miles and pushing hard in my workouts, I started to feel the slightest hint of marathon training burnout.
And that scared me a little bit.
Though I’d been a reliable gym rat and treadmill runner for years, I started getting more into running in 2013 to cope with job-related burnout. I was about a decade into my career in local journalism and the work felt more tedious and thankless with every passing year. At that time, I was covering county politics, a beat I’d never aspired to, and fielding emails and texts and calls from editors and sources at what felt like all hours of the day and night. It probably would have been stressful for someone who was a political junkie, so imagine what it was like for someone who didn’t loooove politics. Oh, and I made less than $35,000 per year. I could barely scrape up the registration fee for the 2013 Annapolis 10 Mile Run, but I did (let’s be real, I probably put it on my credit card). And this gave me something to focus on, and a goal to chase, outside of work.
The 2013 A10
I eventually left that job for another journalism job, which came with its own set of challenges, though I was happy to no longer be covering politics. In 2017, I finally made a much-needed career change, but my new gig wasn’t all roses and sunshine, either. It was OK for a few years, but 2020 almost broke me. Seriously, I don’t know what I would have done had I not had running to distract me that year!
In early 2021, I landed my current job and it has been such a blessing. I like the work, I’m paid fairly, I work normal hours – no expectation that I be available all the time – and my leaders like and respect me. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that my running really took off over the last 2 years, either. (While I have used running to cope with work stress, said stress can still have a negative impact on running.)
The last thing I want to happen is to start to feel burned out on an activity that’s been a true source of joy and sanity over the last 10 years. I truly love marathons and plan to run many more, but I’ve been going hard over the last 8 months or so. I trained my butt off for Chicago last October, then I ran Philly in November, then I ran Algonquin 50K in February, then Boston in April. That’s a lot of marathon and ultramarathon training! When I started to think about training for a sub-3:15 marathon in Richmond, I wasn’t feeling excited. But the idea of focusing on the half marathon distance and really crushing it – THAT lights me up.
So I officially dropped down to the Richmond Half Marathon and I put my expected finish time down as 1:29:30. But I’ll be happy with a 1:29:59. My big hairy audacious goal is to break 90 minutes in the half marathon!
I set my PR last December in Rehoboth, running a 1:33:19, meaning I have less than 4 minutes to take off. But when you are in your 40s and have been running as long as I have, that’s actually harder than it sounds. Still, hard is not impossible. I already found a training plan from who else, Pfitzinger, and I plan to start following that in August. I’m also signed up for the Rehoboth Half in December again, so if I miss my goal in Richmond, I’ll have another shot a few weeks later.
Last week, I ran my 3rd Boston Marathon on a rainy, chilly Patriots Day. It ended up being my 2nd fastest marathon ever, and I broke 3:20 for the 2nd time. I couldn’t be happier, and am already looking forward to next year.
Here is my recap of one of the most magical days of the year!
I had probably the best night of sleep I’ve ever had before a marathon. My alarm woke me up at 5 (well, alarms — I’m paranoid and I set an alarm on my phone, made my husband set an alarm, and I got a wake up call from the hotel.) I felt so rested and made my coffee and had a Cliff bar, then packed up my bagel with peanut butter to eat on the bus. Left the hotel at 6 with another runner, Diane, whom I had met the night before, and we hopped on the T. I was at Boston Common an hour before I was supposed to board the bus at 7:30, and killed time in the same McDonald’s I’ve hung out at in previous years.
I made the mistake of looking at my Whoop and it told me my recovery was in the red and that I should consider taking a rest day 😬 That worried me a bit, but I tried not to get too in my head about it. I didn’t feel tired or sluggish!
The bus ride to Hopkinton seemed to fly by and I chatted with another runner who was doing her first Boston. She qualified in Pittsburgh during her first marathon ever — amazing!! That was my first marathon too and it’s a tough course.
It was chilly and misty in Athlete’s Village, but the rain mostly held off until it was time for wave 2 to walk to the start corrals. Then it started to come down — not an all out downpour, but I was definitely getting wet. I kept my throwaway jacket on as long as I could. I got to see one of my Instagram friends, Katy, while waiting in line for the porta potties right before the start, and then I walked over to my corral and finally ditched the jacket. The rain was coming down and I was shivering in my singlet and shorts, but I knew it was going to be in the 50s and I’d be fine once I started running.
I was nervous, but excited and ready to run.
Miles 1-13
Before I knew it, we were off and I quickly started to warm up! I had forgotten how crowded the first few miles are. The spectators were already out in full force despite the less-than-ideal weather! The first few miles felt easy enough— splits were 7:52, 7:49, 7:39, 7:35, which seemed fast but sustainable.
Once I hit mile 4, though, I reached into my flip belt to pull out my first Maurten gel. And!! All my gels were GONE! Somehow they’d fallen out and I have no idea where or how. My phone was in there, but no gels. I used the belt to hold my phone and gels in Philly with zero problem, and I have used the belt plenty of times since then as well. WTF!!
I panicked at the thought of running a marathon without gels, then remembered volunteers would be handing out Maurten gels on the course. I just couldn’t remember when. I tried to stay calm even though my fueling plan had just gone to hell.
I ran mile 5 in 7:42, then started to speed up, running 7:26 for the next 2 miles. That did seem a little *too* fast early in the race, so I tried to dial it back and ran mile 8 in 7:34, mile 9 in 7:33 and mile 10 in 7:31. I was feeling strong, even though by that point in the race, I should have already had 2 gels in me.
I zipped through mile 11 in 7:25, then saw a sign that Maurten gels were at the next aid station. I asked for 3 gels, explaining I’d lost all mine, and they gave them to me. Thank you volunteers!! You are the best!
Miles 12 and 13 were speedy — 7:21 and 7:15. This is when the race goes through the Wellesley Scream Tunnel and the energy is like none other. You can hear the screams a mile away. I high-fived so many Wellesley women and saw some men kiss a few of them, too.
Giving out high fives in Wellseley!
Miles 14-25
I took my first gel at mile 13 (should have been my third gel!) and was still feeling good. There was a mild headwind, but certainly nothing like the Philly Marathon or anything I faced in training, for that matter. My next few miles were spicy. I ran 14 and 15 in 7:13 and 7:18 and then mile 16 in 7 flat. Whoa. But that did give me a nice cushion leading into the toughest part of the race, the Newton Hills. Which seemed much bigger than I remembered 😅 I hung on pretty well, though, running 7:24 for mile 17, 7:29 for mile 18, 7:25 for mile 19, and 7:36 for mile 20. I took my second gel at mile 18.
As I approached Heartbreak Hill (around mile 20.5), the rain started to come down. I knew another IG friend, Jude, was going to be on my left side cheering on the runners, and I was excited to see her! Mile 21 was my slowest so far at 7:56, but the B.A.A. tracker clocked me at over 8 minutes for that split, so I obviously did a crap job of running the tangents.
After summiting Heartbreak, it was onward to Brookline and Boston. My quads were starting to yell at me at this point and I knew I was coming up on the point in the race where I fell last year. The road was slippery and uneven and I was determined not to bite it AGAIN. I took my third and final gel at mile 22, which I ran in 7:22. I knew then I only had 30ish minutes left to go and reminded myself to soak it all in.
I got through mile 23 in 7:33 and then I could feel myself hitting a wall. It’s actually been a while since that happened to me in a marathon. Was I too aggressive with my pacing? Feeling the effects of not having enough gels? Maybe both?
My husband was right there before the mile 24 mark, and I ran over to the side and kissed him. My watch clocked me at 8:03 for mile 24. I was hurting, but I knew I was almost there!
I knew a photographer would be at mile 25 waiting to snap runners’ photos with the iconic Citgo sign in the background. Even though I was feeling like hot garbage, I hammed it up for the camera! I still don’t see any pictures with the sign, though! Mile 25: 8:09
The finish
At this point in the race, the crowds were absolutely deafening. I was both so ready for the race to be over and not wanting it to end! Usually making the right on Hereford and left on Boylston makes me tear up, but I was too zapped at this point to cry. You can see the finish line when you turn onto Boylston and as I was running toward it all I could think was, “Jesus, it is so much further away than I remember!” 😂
Mile 26: 8:25 (B.A.A. app has me slower because tangents).
Finally I crossed the finish and stopped my watch. I didn’t have it set to elapsed time and figured I’d be around 3:2x when all was said and done (forget trying to do math in a marathon.) When I saw 3:19, I was shocked. Two years ago, I was struggling to break 3:30. Now I’d run my 2nd fastest marathon time ever in Boston, on a tough AF course.
A bunch of people asked me ahead of time what my goal was and I kept saying around 3:25ish. I promise I wasn’t sandbagging. I truly didn’t see myself going under 3:20 and being that close to my PR from Chicago 2022.
One of the wonderful volunteers put a medal around my neck, another wrapped me in a heat blanket, and I hobbled toward the warming buses to wait for my husband to meet me at the family meeting area. The T was an absolute shit show, but that’s another story.
I was so cold and tired and happy. I can’t wait for 2024.
I’m less than a week out from running my 3rd Boston Marathon!
How am I feeling? Excited. Like I’m surprised how excited I am. It’s my third time, after all. I figured the novelty would have worn off by now – but it hasn’t. I just feel so lucky that I get to do this!
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, but I had a busy March in terms of racing. Here’s a brief recap of what I’ve been up to!
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup “4 Miler”
3rd overall female, 24:20/6:40 pace
Why the quotes? Because a bunch of us at the front of the pack missed a turnoff after the wind blew over a directional sign and accidentally cut the course.
This race in PA was more than 2 hours from my house, but it sounded fun – grilled cheese and tomato soup after, hello! – and the race director Pat is great. He’s the one who organized the Chasing the Unicorn marathon in 2020 and did everything in his power to make that a safe and fun event at the height of the pandemic. So I signed up, hoping to be able to run 4 miles in 26 minutes or so to test my speed.
The race was held in a municipal park and it was windy AF, a common theme of pretty much all of my runs this training cycle. In fact, it was windy enough that one of the directional signs after the mile 3 mark blew over, and so a bunch of us missed a turn and accidentally ran 3.65 miles! Pat didn’t DQ us, I guess because so many people effed it up, and I was awarded the 3rd overall female prize – a nice blanket! I had fun and pushed hard.
Annapolis Running Festival 10K
3rd overall female, 42:44/6:53 pace
I said to friends a few times I wasn’t planning on the Annapolis Running Festival – I’ve done so many races on that course over the last decade that I just wasn’t excited about it. But then I saw I had 10Kish worth of speedwork on my plan the week of the race and I’d rather do that in a race than on my own! Plus, my friend Shannon was running it, too.
The weather pretty much sucked – it was once again super windy and I tried my best to draft off other, taller runners! My shoelace also came untied right before mile 3, costing me precious time. I didn’t really have a time goal, but I thought 41-42 miles was doable. I also had no expectations of placing and it was really hard to gauge where I was in the race since there was also a 5K and a half marathon and we were all mixed together at various parts of the race. So I was pleasantly surprised when I crossed the finish line and the volunteer handed me a card that said I was 3rd female.
I’m glad I ended up doing it – just wish we’d had better weather! The after party was a lot of fun, and the band playing was awesome, but it was just so cold and windy. That’s March in Maryland for you – you could get 20 degrees or 80 degrees.
Barlowe Bolt 5K
1st overall female, 21:28/6:42 pace
Well, this one was a cluster.
A little background about me and the Bolt – I am not new to this race. In fact, this was the fifth time I’d run it – I ran in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022. I even won it in 2020 and 2022 and was hoping to win it again this year. (It’s a pretty small race.)
But!! Even though I had run it multiple times in the past, I couldn’t remember the course, so I made a wrong turn about three-tenths of a mile into the race. I was running up at the front with two teenage boys, so I led them astray – sorry! When I realized my mistake after we literally ran into a dead end, I was so annoyed with myself.
We turned around and I hauled ass to get back in first place, which I paid for dearly with a huge positive split in the end. I did manage to still win and in the end I added about a tenth of a mile onto my race, so it could have been worse. I mean, I ….could have cut the course again.
My mileage hasn’t been as high as it was last fall when training for Chicago, but I’ve averaged between 55-60 miles per week, peaking at 62 miles. Basically, I took Pfitzinger’s 12/55 plan from Advanced Marathoning and modified it to add a few more miles each week. Thinking about doing 12/70 this fall again for Richmond, but that is a heavy training load and I don’t think I can mentally (or physically) handle it every marathon training cycle.
The plan included two 20-milers, the second of which I ran during the B&A Marathon last month. I didn’t register for the race, but the trail was open to the public and I knew so many people running either the half or the full that I thought it would be fun to run alongside them. I ended up running mostly with a fast friend of mine and averaged 7:29 pace for 20 miles. That is obviously WAY faster than I would normally ever do a 20 miler, but I also ran the Charm City Run 20 Miler three weeks before Chicago last fall at a 7:25 pace and it didn’t hurt me in the marathon.
When your training run coincides with a race, you show up in the pictures!
Goals/plans for Boston
I don’t know! LOL. Enjoy myself and get another BQ.
My Garmin thinks I’m running a 3:03, but it’s clearly full of crap. That would be a 15-minute PR and I do not think I am in PR shape – that 3:18 I ran last fall is really solid, plus I ran it on a flat course in damn near perfect weather. The Boston Marathon is a tough course and the weather is looking warm and wet. Not the worst, but not the best either. I do think a 3:2x is doable and I should be able to BQ (3:40:00 or faster) unless things really go to hell.
Other than that, no major goals. Sometimes it’s more fun that way anyway!
Earlier this month, I ran my first ultramarathon, the Algonquin 50K on Maryland’s Eastern Shore! It was a hell of an experience and I accomplished my two main goals of having fun and finishing in one piece. As someone who swore FOR YEARS that I would never go beyond 26.2, I still can’t believe I did it!
I signed up for it basically on a whim last summer, and was promptly put on a waitlist – the race sells out very quickly every year. Then, last fall, I commented on Vanessa with She Runs By The Seashore’s post on Instagram about the race and mentioned that I was on the waitlist. The race director (dictator? At least that’s what his emails said, haha!) saw it and found a spot for me. I accepted it, knowing that it was 2.5 months before Boston and deciding to just go for it anyway.
I am happy I did!
Trail running vs. road running
While I am an experienced road runner, trail running is relatively new to me. I’ve run Rip It’s Little Patuxent River Run, both the 10K and the half, for many years and that takes place on a trail. And then I’ve run the Bigfoot Endurance trail run, both the 10 miler and the 5 miler. But that’s it. I love the idea of running through the woods, but I am clumsy and the potential for injuries always scares me. So I knew I needed to invest in some trail shoes, start practicing on trails more, and just commit to the idea that I was going to be a lot slower on trails than on the road. I joined my friend Danny, who is a very experienced ultramarathoner, on some practice runs several times throughout January and that got my confidence up. Training for ALQ overlapped a bit with the beginning of my Boston Marathon training plan, but that worked out fine. I actually ran a 20 miler (on a paved trail) the weekend before my Boston training officially started, and I joked this was the first time I would begin marathon training with a 20 miler under my belt.
I’d heard trail running is a completely different vibe from road running – that ultras are less intense, it’s not really about your time, and that ultra runners have a “we’re all in this together” mentality, rather than a competitive attitude. Oh, and that the aid stations are decked out with all kinds of delicious food. All of that sounded great. Especially the food part!
Still, I was nervous. The last thing I wanted was to get injured before Boston. I also had no idea how I’d feel running for 31+ miles (my Garmin logged 32 miles at the end of the race!)
The race!
Micah and I headed out to the Eastern Shore Friday afternoon before the race so I could pick up my race bib and swag. The bib pickup was held at a place called Hopper’s Tavern, so we got some food and beers there – I got my old standby, a veggie burger and fries! – and then headed to our AirBnB in Snow Hill. The AirBnB was about 5 miles from the start line, so I figured that would be nice and convenient.
When I woke up on race morning, it was 15 degrees, but thankfully, the nasty wind from the day before had died down. I got dressed in running tights, a long-sleeved shirt, a jacket, neck gaiter, gloves with Hot Hands, and a hat. It ended up being fine and I was never too cold or too hot. Micah drove me to the start and we really cut it close– because we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, my Google Maps wasn’t working great and it took us to a location that was about a mile from the actual start. Luckily, we found some volunteers with the race and they pointed us in the right direction. I made it there with about 4 minutes to spare, which did not help my anxiety one bit. I hate being late!
The first few miles were on a narrow part of the trail, so for the most part we were all running single file. I didn’t even make it two miles before I bit it on a tree root, even though I was trying to run cautiously! I wasn’t hurt – just a skinned knee – and got back up with no problem. Another friend of mine who has run a bunch of ultras, including 100 milers, told me ALQ wasn’t that technical. I beg to differ, but again, I’m a newbie. The whole trail was very flat, which made it great for beginners!
Photo by Craig Young
I’ve been told, and have seen plenty of pictures that prove it, that ALQ is usually a muddy ass mess, with standing water in some parts of the course. But because it was so cold, everything was frozen and dry. Some other runners joked that I wasn’t getting the full ALQ experience, but since this was my first ultra…. I was OK with that!
The first 5 or so miles passed quickly. I chatted with other runners, one of whom was running her 5th ALQ! She said she had never done a road marathon before and was planning to run one so we talked about that. I kept the pace very easy (I think probably in the 11s) and just tried to focus on not falling and enjoying the scenery. There was an aid station at mile 4, which ended up being the only one I didn’t stop at, just because I didn’t feel like I needed to. I had Maurten gels with me (6 total) and ended up taking all by one of them throughout the race, plus snacking on Smith Island Cake — Maryland’s official state dessert! — at the aid stations.
I ran with my friend Gretchen for a while and she had a nasty fall at the 15K mark, right around the part of the race that’s usually a giant mud pit. She finished the race, but found out later she fractured her wrist! I am truly so happy to have made it through injury free, as I am klutzy (hello, I literally fell in the Boston Marathon last year.)
The first aid station I stopped at was mile 10. I was pretty excited to grab a piece of red velvet Smith Island Cake. In marathons, I always grab a water or Gatorade from the stations and keep on truckin’, but I had been told that it’s typical in ultras to stop for a few minutes at the aid stations and eat. So, that’s what I did! I was so fixated on the cake that I didn’t even notice Micah was standing there. I had told him before the race there probably wouldn’t be any place to spectate, but somehow he found his way to the mile 10 point. I was so happy to see him!
After enjoying my cake, I went off on my way again. Everything was feeling good!
At around mile 12, I fell again, but luckily this fall was even more benign than the last. I guess I fell into a soft surface! I think the next aid station I stopped at was around mile 15 or 16 – I stopped to pee and get more Smith Island Cake. The volunteers at all of the aid stations were SO amazing! At every one, they were like, “What do you need? What can we get you?” Truly the best and kindest volunteers I’ve ever encountered at a race!
At this point of the race, the course veered off to the right and into the woods for maybe another 3 miles until we hit the turnaround. It felt great to hit that point of the race and know that I was past the halfway point! The mile 16 aid station also served as the aid station somewhere around mile 20, as well, so you know I stopped and grabbed, you guessed it, more Smith Island Cake. As far as my gels went, I did what I do in marathons and took them at miles 4, 8, 13, 18, and 21. I was going to take another one at mile 26, but by that point I’d had even more cake and felt like I was all sugared out. LOL.
Once I hit mile 20, I knew I had about 12 miles left. Technically, 50K is 31 miles, but I was told the distance wasn’t exact and I was likely to run about 32 miles when all was said and done. I was getting tired, but told myself I run 12 miles all the time. During peak marathon training, that’s, like, a typical Wednesday. No big deal, right?
Around mile 23, I started running with another runner, Jen, who was running her third ALQ. We ended up keeping each other company through most of the rest of the race. She told me that the course was the dryest she’d ever seen it and said when she ran in 2021, when the weather was horrible, she could barely see where she was on the trail. I guess I really lucked out!
There was a sign at the mile 26.2(ish) mark that said “you just finished a marathon!”, which made me smile. I think that was the part of the race that was on a long, mostly smooth stretch of trail. I had pulled a little bit ahead of Jen and there were only like two other runners in sight. I had told Micah I would call him when I was around mile 28 or 29, so once I got to the final aid station, I saw there was a sign that said 5K to go. But I knew that was probably more like 4 miles. I called him and told him where I was and he said, “OK, I’m near the finish line! I’ll see you in a few minutes!” I laughed and said it was going to be taking me longer than a few minutes! I think my miles at that point were in the 11-13 minute range.
Photo by Michaela Young
And yeah, those last few miles were a slog. Jen caught back up to me and had a bad fall shortly after that last aid station, but got back up again quickly. She said she had fallen 5 times throughout the race. I was lucky to only fall twice. This part of the trail was super rooty and rocky and I was very much watching my footing. I had wanted to take a shot of Fireball at one of the last aid stations, because of course I did, but decided to do the responsible thing because I knew I was getting tired and fatigue + a buzz + rough terrain didn’t sound like it was going to set me up for success in those final miles. Look at me making good decisions!
When my watch beeped at 30 miles, I knew the finish line was near. I was more than ready to be done by then, but kept patiently trucking along. Really, those final two miles were kind of a blur. At one point, we crossed a road and then headed toward the field where the start/finish was. Jen told me to look for the flags lining the finishers chute and head toward them, so that’s what I did. After 6 hours and 15 minutes of running, I crossed the finish line and was awarded my prized finishers mug. Micah was waiting for me at the end and he directed me toward the nice food spread in the pavilion, where there was also a roaring fire going. I wasn’t super hungry, but I enjoyed some hot Maryland crab soup, a beer, and yes, more cake.
We hung out for a while and chatted with other runners before heading back to the other side of the Bay Bridge.
Even though I said I didn’t care about my time, and I really didn’t, of course I was curious to see how I ranked among the other runners. It turned out I finished 18th female out of (I think) around 100, and that surprised me. I did much better than I thought I would.
My mom asked me if I would do another ultra, and I think I would! I still am gun shy about falling and injuring myself, but I did have fun, even when it got hard. The trail running community is so supportive and cool. And if I haven’t mentioned it enough in this blog – CAKE.
If you’re looking to try out the ultra distance for the first time, I highly recommend the Algonquin 50K. Not only is it a flat course, it’s extremely well-organized and the swag is fantastic. Truly a great trail ultra!
I’ll be the first to tell you I like running in the cold. Give me 25 degrees over 85 degrees any day of the week. At least for running. I always say there is drinking margs outside weather and running weather, and those two types of weather are not the same.
However. Running in single digits, with a wind chill in the negative teens, is just a little too cold even for me.
The beyond frigid temps didn’t stop me on Christmas Eve, though, when I ran the coldest race of my life in Pittsburgh (Allison Park, to be specific. It’s like it was meant to be!)
It was one of my slowest 5Ks in quite a while, but the entire course was covered in snow and the temperature was 3 degrees when I finished. So I was more than fine with that. My time of 23:51 got me 2nd place female and I won a sweet campfire mug!
And I drank out of it all day at my grandma’s Christmas Eve party!
Why a Christmas Eve race?
With Christmas Eve falling on a Saturday this year, it dawned on me that just maybe there would be a local race happening. We were planning to travel to Pittsburgh for the holiday, so I started looking around to see what was going on. And sure enough, the week before Christmas, I found a 5K scheduled to take place in North Park in the suburb of Allison Park, about 15 minutes from my sister’s house.
The weather didn’t look great. Meteorologists were calling for much of the country to be in a deep freeze, and at the time, the predicted race day temperature was 10 or 11 degrees. Brrr. I decided to sign up anyway.
As Christmas weekend drew closer, the forecast got more and more brutal. The predicted high dropped to 6 degrees. Then 5 degrees. The wind chill looked like it was going to be positively cruel. My mom said the race would probably get canceled, and I thought it might as well. On Dec. 21, the race directors sent out an email saying they would still hold a live race, but also offered participants the option to run the race virtually any time the week after Christmas, once the weather warmed up. But I was committed to running the live race if it was going to happen. First, I’d already paid for a live race. Second, I ran enough virtual races during 2020. I’m over them! I kept checking social media and my email, expecting the race to get canceled anyway, but as of Dec. 23, it was still on.
On Christmas Eve morning, I woke up and it was 0 degrees. I think the wind chill was around -15 (it got all the way down to -35 the night before!) I put on two pairs of running tights, two pairs of socks with toe warmers, two shirts, my Boston 2019 jacket, a running vest, two pairs of gloves with Hot Hands hand warmers, a hat, and a ski mask. I wasn’t going to wear sunglasses, but Micah was concerned about my eye protection and convinced me to wear his. He and my brother-in-law Justin drove me to North Park, where they waited in the warm car while I did my thing. Packet pickup was inside the North Park Boat House, and there was some drama going on with a fire alarm going off in the men’s bathroom and frozen water all over the steps – a few people slid and fell. But I was happy to have an actual bathroom to use before the race, rather than a port-a-potty!
After getting my bib and race shirt, I did a quick warmup (LOL, “warmup”) outside. I realized quickly that the sunglasses were going to fog up, and that the Alpha Flys were a poor choice. There were several inches of snow on the ground and I stupidly assumed – you know what they say about assuming – that the roads would be clear. Oh well.
More than 800 people had signed up for the race, and only a little over a hundred showed up for it in person. We were the crazy ones! The race kicked off right at 10 am when the temperature had risen to a balmy 2 degrees. Honestly, though, I never felt cold and the race was in an area that was wooded enough that the trees were blocking most of the wind. But two things made this race really difficult almost immediately. 1. The damn ski mask. I’ve run in it before on cold days, though it’s been a while and I’ve never worn it during a race when I’m trying to run at race pace. It was hard to breathe in this thing. And then there was the issue of the sunglasses fogging up! 2. The snow-covered roads. It was really hard to get a momentum going and again, the Alpha Flys were just not it. I knew within the first mile it was going to be a struggle and my whole goal was just to finish in one piece.
The course wasn’t very hilly, especially considering we were in western PA, but we did go up and down one long stretch of road in the second mile, with a turnaround right at the 1.5 mile mark. That’s when I slipped and fell on the snow. At least the snow made the surface feel a little softer, and I wasn’t hurt at all. I got back up and kept going.
At around mile 2.5, I stopped to walk for a few seconds. Yes, in a 5K. It happens! A man who was running near me asked if I was OK and I assured him I was fine, just having a hard time breathing in the mask. I actually ended up finishing before him!
When I stopped my watch after crossing the finish line, I saw I had just barely cleared 24 minutes. More than 3 minutes slower than my last 5K, the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, and more than 4 minutes off my PR, just set last October. But as I said, I was on the struggle bus immediately and just wanted to finish.
I had read online that there was going to be an awards ceremony for overall winners and age group winners at 11 am, but when I went inside the volunteers told me they weren’t having it due to the weather and people wanting to get to their Christmas celebrations. One of them told me he was pretty sure I had at least won an age group award and to feel free to take a mug – so I did. I was happy to see later that I had placed second!
My dad wasn’t happy at all that I did the race and told me later he was very concerned about my skin being exposed. But I felt that I dressed appropriately and was safe. Do I want to run in these conditions again? Not particularly. And I probably won’t. This sure made for a good story, though!
On December 3, I ran my third Rehoboth Seashore Half Marathon and 30th half marathon. I was determined to beat my then-PR of 1:37:58, which I felt was pretty soft given my recent 3:18 marathon finish in Chicago.
And I did, running a 1:33:19, finishing 12th overall female and second in my age group! As always, this race was a complete blast and the after party was lit, and I cannot wait to sign up for the 2023 race.
It ended up working out great, because our good friend Shannon was in nearby Bethany Beach celebrating her 50th birthday and invited Micah and me to stay at the Airbnb she rented for a long weekend. The race is always on a Saturday, so Micah and I went down after work Friday night, picked up my race packet, and had dinner at the Cultured Pearl sushi restaurant, one of my favorite restaurants in Rehoboth and also the location of the inside portion of the race after party. I had two eel rolls and two sakes, which I suspect turned out to be a poor choice. More on that in a little bit.
The forecast was looking to be less than ideal, with rain the whole time and heavy winds (haha, like I didn’t experience enough wind in Philly??!) But it was also supposed to be warm, around 56-58 degrees. I dressed in shorts, a singlet, arm warmers because of the wind and rain, and a hat, but I could have easily ditched the arm warmers and I almost did during the race!
Micah dropped me off at the race start around 6:40 and went to get brunch at Egg, and the race started right at 7. We had a gorgeous sunrise that I wish I could have taken a photo of, but before I could, we were off and running. And for now, it was still dry, but warm for December. I lined up between the 1:30 and 1:40 pacers. I thought 1:30 would be a little too fast for me, but I expected to be way ahead of 1:40.
The course had changed since I’d last run in 2019. We left the bandstand and went down Rehoboth Avenue, then turned left and ran through the neighborhoods along Silver Lake, then down the boardwalk before running into north Rehoboth and, for the half marathoners, turning around at Cape Henlopen State Park. I really liked running down the boardwalk, and lots of people were out spectating!
I ran my first 3 miles in 7:10, 6:59, and 6:55. I knew it was risky to be ripping off those sub-7s so early, but I just went with it.
Tummy troubles
It was at about mile 4, after the turnaround at the park, that my stomach started to bubble a little. If you read my recap of the Chicago Marathon, you’ll recall that I had stomach issues and felt like barfing during the last 8 miles. I blamed the rich Italian dinner from the night before, but for lunch the day before, I had also had sushi and sake, just like I had at the Cultured Pearl. Sooo……
It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me!
The night before Philly, I had my tried-and-true veggie burger and fries, and felt great during the whole marathon. Food for thought. Literally.
Also around this point, I was seeing a lot of other runners who were a mile or so behind me on the other side of the road. One woman called out to me “You have a fighting chance at top 10!” so I knew there weren’t many women ahead of me. I did start to notice it was getting windy and there were a few times when I ducked behind taller men in front of me to draft off of them. However, the wind was still nothing like what it was in Philly, and again, it was about 30 degrees warmer.
These miles were pretty fast, too:
Mile 4: 6:50
Mile 5: 6:48
Mile 6: 7:05
We headed out of the town of Rehoboth and toward the Junction and Breakwater Trail at mile 7, and then entered the trail right before mile 8. The trail is a mix of crushed stone and gravel, but it’s pretty easy to run on, in my opinion. I ran mile 7 in 7:10 and mile 8 in 7:04.
At mile 9 of the half marathon and mile 23 of the marathon, runners run beneath what’s called Flag Alley, which is where flags from all over the world are hanging up above the trail. There are also volunteers playing music, and you run over a timing mat. When I ran past, I smiled and waved my arms and one of the volunteers said “Here’s Allison from Edgewater, bringing the energy today!”
Which was a nice pick me up, because I was really starting to feel like crap. I was burping and tasting that morning’s coffee and I really thought it was going to come back up right there on the trail. I also started to slow down a bit, running mile 9 in 7:15 and mile 10 in 7:19.
But I knew I was going to smash a 1:37 half and told myself to keep pushing – I could puke at the finish line.
The rain also started coming down pretty steadily when I reached mile 10, and continued through the last few miles. I felt bad for the marathoners, most of whom had several hours to go!
I noticed another course change around mile 11.5 from what I had previously remembered. Instead of turning left and heading back toward the finish on the road, we went straight on the trail until it intersected with Rehoboth Avenue. This portion was my only complaint about the new course– there were so many fallen leaves on the ground and given that it was now pretty wet out, I was a little afraid of slipping and falling. But I didn’t, and soon enough we were off the trail and back on the road to the finish. Mile 11 was 7:11 and mile 12 was my slowest mile of the race at 7:34.
Around mile 12.5, I saw 2:45 half marathon pacer Vanessa (here’s her recap of the race!) and I yelled out that I was getting a PR. I knew I was under 1:35, and definitely well under 1:37, but I didn’t have my Garmin on elapsed time so I didn’t know how far under. I just knew the 1:30 group was a few minutes ahead. To be honest, I kind of like being able to race by feel instead of staring at the damn watch the whole time.
I ran mile 13 in 7:04.
When I made the final right turn to the finish line, I saw 1:33 on the clock and threw up my hands in excitement. I also expected to, well, throw up in general. But a volunteer handed me water with my medal and heat blanket and I sat down for a minute and then felt better. I still blame the sushi and sake combined with hard running – as much as I love my sushi and sake, perhaps it is best to avoid it the day before a race!
This was my first time getting an age group award at this race!
Party time!
This race has become known for its insanely fun and wild after party. There’s a huge food buffet, plus all runners get three Dogfish Head beer tickets (and, uh, it’s never a problem to get more. My PR from a previous year was seven tickets, and Micah had to physically remove me from the party.) And, of course, Team Fireball. In pre-COVID times, the members of Team Fireball – they have personalized hats and all – passed around a bottle for people to chug from, but this year, we were a little more public health friendly and took shots out of plastic shot glasses.
I started boozing pretty much as soon as I walked into the party tent shortly after 8:30 and continued through the early afternoon. Even though the food is always great, I didn’t really feel like eating and made the stupid decision to have a liquid brunch/lunch. At one point, I tripped while reaching for a shot of Fireball and skinned my knee (and here I was afraid to trip on those leaves on the trail!) Micah came and picked me up around 2 in the afternoon and took me back to the Airbnb.
In other years, I’ve been able to rally and hit the Purple Parrot for karaoke in the evening, but this year my hangover hit me like a ton of bricks around 7 pm and I just sat on the couch for the rest of the night and went to bed early. I blame not eating at the party. Rookie mistake! I guess this just goes to show that I may still be able to run relatively fast, but I am nonetheless 42 years old.
I have this thing where I get older, but just never wiser.
Running for Unicorns 