Annapolis Running Festival

Running late: My recap of the 10K at the 2024 Annapolis Running Festival

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The night before I ran the 10K at the Annapolis Running Festival, I dreamt that my friend Shannon, who was also running the race and was planning to drive us there, came to my house to pick me up 10 minutes after the race started. 

I guess it was something of a premonition, as we sat in traffic for nearly an hour trying to get into the parking lot of the Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, pulling in about 5 minutes before the start of the race. And we both had to use the bathroom. And there was a line for the porta-a-potties. 

I was completely ready to write off the race, even saying to her “I’m just going to take this as a fun run. I don’t want to race it.” Last year, I had come in 3rd female in the 10K and hoped to place again, but I knew overall awards are typically given out by gun/clock start time, not bib chip time. So part of me was like, screw it. Might as well just run my party pace! 

But – I couldn’t do it. The second I crossed the start line, probably 8 minutes after the race officially started, my race brain took over and I started pushing hard. I did intend to run the race as my speed workout of the week, after all. 

I don’t have much to say about the race itself. After I crossed the start, everything was pretty much a blur. We ran around the stadium (mile 1), down Rowe Boulevard (mile 2) into downtown, down Main Street, and past the Naval Academy (mile 3), over Weems Creek (mile 4), right on 450, halfway up the Naval Academy Bridge and back down again (mile 5), and then back to the stadium (the end). The miles clicked by quickly, but then I was running a fast-for-me pace. The race is somewhat hilly and my fastest mile was a 6:28 and slowest was 7:02. The weather wasn’t great – cold and drizzly – but I’ll take it over the cold wind we had last year. 

In the end, I ran exactly the time I wanted to, finishing in 42:02, 6:46 average pace. I actually am listed as the 3rd overall female finisher in the race results, but didn’t get an award at the awards ceremony since again they were likely given out by gun time. Age group awards are usually given out by chip time, so I think I will be getting a prize in the mail for winning my age group. 

Initially, I was really bummed about that. But really – what does it matter? I said before the race that my goal was 41-42 minutes, and I accomplished that. I ran a strong 10K five weeks out from Boston. The pace was definitely not easy, but I felt relatively good running it. 

And I had fun! That’s the whole point, right? I got to see and chat with lots of running friends from my local She Runs This Town chapter, which had a tent right there at the start/finish! I enjoyed two canned margaritas that I got as part of my race entry – nothing like getting a buzz on at 9 in the morning. And I got to meet a blog reader, Danielle, and her husband Don! We met while trying to get warm by the fire pit set up for sock burning (it’s a Maryland thing.) She said she’d been reading my blog for a while and I was so excited and flattered to hear that! 

So overall, I’d say the day was a success, despite the fact that it started out as a total disaster. It’s kind of hard to believe this was my first race since Christmas! I’ve been training hard for Boston 2024 and piling on the miles and workouts, but hadn’t done an actual race yet this year. This was definitely a good rust buster.

Next up – the Rock ‘N Roll D.C. Half Marathon this Saturday. Will this be my day to break 90? I’m sure going to try!

Shippin’ up to Boston for the 3rd time: Getting ready for the 2023 Boston Marathon

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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!