Annapolis Striders

Summer 2025 running: A mud run, a mile PR, and more marathon training!

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Does anyone even still read running blogs anymore? I have to wonder, ha! I started this blog in 2017 (which was probably way past peak blogger era anyway) when I was trying to qualify for Boston for the first time. 

Here we are 8 years, 12 BQs, and 5 Boston Marathons later. I’m still blogging, just much less often, though I am very active over on Instagram. 

I figured it was time to give a brief update on what I’ve been up to since I ran Boston in April! 

I Did a Mud Run

To be honest, I’ve never had any interest in doing anything like a Tough Mudder or a Spartan race. The risk of injury always seemed far too great. But when my friend Staci asked me last Christmas if I wanted to run the Mud Girl women’s race in the Poconos at the end of May, I said why not. They let kids as young as 7 participate, and the obstacles didn’t look too scary (plus, you could skip any you weren’t comfortable with.) It’s not a timed event, so it was purely for fun. 

And we did have a lot of fun, despite dealing with some pretty awful weather. Even though it was the last day of May, the weather didn’t get above 50 degrees and there was a steady cold rain for most of the run, which took place at the Pocono Raceway. But honestly, that kind of added to the experience. There were 17 total obstacles where we did things like carry weighted bags through mud, climb up mud piles, and swim through muddy pools of water underneath netting. I don’t love being in cold water at all, so that was a challenge for me, but both Staci and I got through. Total distance was about 5K, but we mostly ran/walked it, so it wasn’t like a 5K race. We both laughed a lot throughout the race and said afterwards that we would do it again!

I PR’d My Mile Time at the John Wall Memorial Mile

I’ve said it before, the mile scares the shit out of me. I am a long distance girlie for life. But the Annapolis Striders host a track mile race every summer, and I have always been intrigued by it. However, I am usually on vacation when it happens. Not this year, though– so I decided to really push myself and sign up, with the goal of finishing in under 6 minutes and hopefully even breaking my previous mile PR of 5:56. 

I trained for the race for about 6 weeks, doing mile-specific workouts on the track once a week. And oh my GOD, they were hard! Think 10 x 400 at goal mile pace with brief recoveries in between. Made me long for marathon training. I also participated in an informal track meet held by the Striders earlier in June, racing in the 800 meter (finishing in 2:49) and the 400 meter (76 seconds). 

The race was held at Severna Park High School and I was way more nervous and scared beforehand than I ever am before a marathon! I had a lot of friends there, some who were running and some who just came to watch, so that helped take the edge off. 

We were segmented into heats, with the last heat for anyone who was going to try to run 6 minutes or faster. I ran in that heat and was honestly just hoping I wasn’t the last one to finish. The whole thing was kind of a blur, as racing the mile is. The first lap felt hard, the second lap felt harder, I felt like I wanted to die during the third lap and then just tried to hang on for dear life for lap 4. When I turned the final corner on lap 4, I saw 5:3x on the clock up ahead and I knew I had sub 6. My official time was 5:51 and I was so happy with that! I was the top female Master and second female overall. Maybe I’m a miler after all! (I still prefer marathons, haha!)

I’m Running a Marathon in September…..

I said after Boston that I was going to take the fall off from marathons and focus once again on running a fast half, like I did in 2023. But what do I do? Sign up for the Jack and Jill Poconos Marathon on September 13. 

Why? A few reasons. One, well…. I like marathons. Two, the race is in Jim Thorpe, one of my favorite small towns in PA, and it’s 15 minutes away from Staci’s house. Three, it’s a downhill marathon, dropping 800 feet from start to finish. I know downhill marathons are controversial, but I’ve always wanted to try one and there are very few on the East Coast. This isn’t even that downhill and still falls within the Boston Athletic Association’s new standards for downhill races. Who knows how much of an advantage I will even have. But I am excited to run it! I am actually working with a coach for the first time ever. I got a very part-time job (like 5 hours a week) at my favorite local running store, and with that comes some cool perks– like half off coaching. So I decided to take advantage. So far it is going great, but this summer humidity is kicking my butt. Is it just me, or is it worse than usual lately? 

I’m shooting for around a 3:25 finish. A year ago, I had my heart set on a 3:15, and maybe I can get there, but– I am getting older and the amount of training I would have to do to beat my 3:18 PR from three years ago is daunting. If I can still keep qualifying for Boston with a comfortable cushion, that may be good enough for me.   

…..And Maybe One in October?

I am signed up for the Atlantic City Half on October 19, and now I am thinking of bumping up to the full marathon there, too! I ran the Chicago and Philly marathons, which are 6 weeks apart, in 2022 and both races went awesome (Chicago holds my PR.) Jack and Jill and AC are 5 weeks apart; maybe I can make magic happen again?  

Regardless of what distance I ultimately choose, BibRave is kindly sponsoring me, so I have a comped entry, plus a discount code to share: 15% off your registration with the code BIBRAVE25! Price goes up the first of August, so don’t hesitate to sign up! https://www.acraceseries.com/

How is your summer running going? Any big races you are training for?

The 2024 Annapolis Ten Mile Run: The one where my time didn’t register

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I ran my 10th Annapolis Ten Mile Run last month. The good news – I ran a 1:11, exactly in line with what I was hoping to run! 

The bad news – there was some timing mat/chip mishap that affected everyone who finished between 1:08 and 1:12, so my time never registered following the race and I missed out on getting an award! 

Sigh. This actually isn’t the first time this has happened to me, but it is always disappointing. 

However, I had a good race nonetheless! If you have followed me for a while, you know I run this race every year and I consider it my favorite. It’s certainly not an easy race. The course is hilly, and the weather is often hot and humid – it always takes place on the last Sunday of August. But it is also a very scenic course, I know tons of people who run it, and the premium is always legit. I always recommend it to other runners! 

This year, the A10 fell at the end of my 2nd week of Ocean City Marathon training, and it also happened to come at a time where we were experiencing cooler than usual weather. Like, my morning runs were in the high 50s some days. In August! In Maryland! This is pretty much unheard of. I think it was in the mid-60s with very low humidity when Shannon and I arrived at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on race morning. Fantastic! 

The race kicks off right at 7, and after a few trips to the porta-potty, I was in the starting corral by 6:50. I saw my friend Trish and a few other runners I know and we chit chatted a bit, then were off! 

Since I’ve now run this race 10 times, and I live locally, I know the course like the back of my hand. The first few miles are fast. You leave the stadium and do a lap around it, then head toward downtown Annapolis and down Main Street (I always have to be careful not to trip and fall on the cobblestones here!) I saw a big crew of She Runs This Town friends at the intersection of Rowe Boulevard and Taylor Avenue, and they cheered for me so loudly, which really pepped me up! 

Then it’s past the Naval Academy, over Weems Creek, and toward the Naval Academy Bridge, which is probably the toughest hill in the race (but it sure is a beautiful view from the top!) I ran these miles with my friend Rich, who teased me that my Alpha Flys were too squeaky. They were being quite noisy! 

I was hanging onto the 1:10 pace group until we crossed the bridge and turned into Pendennis Mount, then they dropped me. I felt good, though, and was maintaining a steady pace in the low 7s and feeling like I could hold it. I crossed the timing mat at mile 5 in 35 minutes and some change.  

The next few miles are always a blur for me, and this year’s race was no exception. It’s more rolling hills through miles 6 and 7, and there’s a turnaround point right before you hit mile 7 so it’s always fun to cheer for friends going the opposite direction. Then you turn out of the neighborhood and run onto Route 450 and head back toward the bridge. Yep, you go over it twice – but by the time you get to the top, you’re in the home stretch! The midshipmen staff the water stop at mile 3.5/mile 9, and they’re always loud and boisterous. They’ll also dump water on you if you ask for it, which I definitely have in hotter years. 

I saw the She Runs This Town cheering squad again about a half mile before the finish, along with my 5 Peaks friends Kelly and Matt (Matt was supposed to run, too, but injured his ankle.) And before I knew it, I was making that final right turn and up the last little hill – yes, there is a small hill right there at the finish! I crossed the line, hit my watch and saw 1:11:17. I was hoping for a time between 1:10 and 1:12, but given that I just started to get back into harder training, I wasn’t sure how feasible that was. My fastest time on this course was a 1:10:40 in 2022, when I was in peak shape training for Chicago. Last year, I ran a 1:11:10. So yeah, I was quite pleased! 

I hung out around the finish line for the next hour or so, waiting for friends to finish. As I said, I know a ton of people who run this race! Eventually, Shannon and I headed over to the after party area, where we could get our breakfast beers and listen to a local band, Rickshaw Lizard, play. I was also eagerly awaiting the awards ceremony. In 2022, I won my age group and last year I was the 2nd Masters female, so I assumed my time would get me something this year! 

So, I imagine my surprise when they started handing out awards and I didn’t hear my name – but I did hear the announcer giving out awards to other women in my age group who ran in the 1:13-1:14 range. Huh? That’s when I learned that everyone who finished in the 68-72 minute window didn’t have their time recorded.  

I, along with a few others, approached the organizers afterwards and they reassured us they knew about the error, that we should email the timing company, and it would be corrected in the coming days. 

Again, I was disappointed, but there wasn’t much I could do about it, and I knew I had run a strong race and that was the important thing. Although I did wish they had held off on doing an awards ceremony once they realized the times were messed up. But I took my beer, sat my butt down on the ground with Shannon, and we soaked up the sun and enjoyed the band. I also met a couple from northern Virginia who had been running the race for years – since 1998! 

My mom was actually a lot angrier about the whole screw up than I was. When I was texting her about the race afterwards, she said it was so unfair and they needed to give me my award. She was just absolutely livid on my behalf. Parents! I half thought she was going to reach out to the timing company herself. 

I did email them, and the results were corrected that week. Although I don’t think my time is entirely accurate. I am listed as having run 1:11:31, and even if I stopped my watch a second or two early, I didn’t stop it more than 10 seconds early. But it looks like I am listed as the second place female in the 40-44 age group. So then I emailed the Annapolis Striders, who put on the A10 every year, and they said they would be in touch about getting me my award. (The prizes are great– beautiful mugs from Annapolis Pottery.) It’s been almost a month now and I haven’t heard anything, so I guess I should reach out again. 

I will look forward to running my 11th A10 next year – even though my mom told me I should never run it ever again. Ha!

A metric half marathon and a metric marathon were part of my busy fall racing season

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I always race a lot in the fall – it’s my favorite time of year to run and to race! – but I think this year takes the cake. I believe I had a race every weekend of September, and most of October, too! 

Since I last posted, I ran two completely new-to-me distances – a metric half marathon and a metric marathon! (Yay for automatic PRs!) Here is how they went. 

Historic Stevensville Metric Half Marathon

I had really been looking forward to this one. In fact, I had wanted to run this race last year, but by the time I learned about it, I was already signed up for another race. I  just thought 13.1K, or 8.15 miles, seemed like a perfect distance, especially since I am training hard for a traditional half marathon. The race was mostly held on the Cross Island Trail on Kent Island, where I had raced the Get Pumped For Pets 10K back in 2019. Super flat and fast.

This race did not go as planned. 

We’ll start with the good part! I came in 2nd female and held on to a 6:53 average pace for 8 miles. 

The bad part was that it was for 8 miles, not 8.15 miles. 

No, the course wasn’t short – it was just horribly marked and a bunch of us up near the front made a wrong turn and accidentally cut the course. (Sound familiar? It’s happened before!) 

When I realized what I did, I was initially pretty pissed, but then just told myself whatever, who cares, just focus on practicing your goal half marathon pace. I crossed the finish line in 55:07 and let the organizers know I had inadvertently cut the course, but they awarded me the 2nd place prize anyway. I guess it’s OK because I wasn’t the only one to make that mistake! 

Overall, though, I enjoyed myself and it was a good test of my fitness. And there was beer at the finish line. Always a win! 

Annapolis Striders Metric Marathon 

This is a race that I have been eyeing for years, but it has never worked with my schedule. The Striders have been running it for years. At 26.2K/16.3 miles, it is the perfect race if you have a 16-mile long run on your schedule – and on Sunday, October 1, I did! It only cost $15 to sign up and the race begins and ends at Southern High School, just 10 minutes away from my house. Can’t beat it! 

I had no idea how I was going to pace a metric marathon, though. I’ve been training to run a sub-90 half, but I knew I wasn’t going to hold that pace for 16+ miles. I wrote on Instagram ahead of the race that I was thinking I’d run 7:30s or so – way faster than my typical long run pace, but way slower than goal half marathon pace. I also knew the course, which followed a loop of country roads in south Anne Arundel County, was fairly hilly!

When I showed up to the race, I realized it was like 70% midshipmen, including lots of members of the Navy Marathon Team. I went out with a group of mids who were running low 7/high 6 minute pace, which seemed awfully fast, but I decided to just roll with it and see how long I could hang on. 

They dropped me around mile 8, but then I caught up with some of them later in the race and even passed a few. The course was challenging, but not horribly so – it reminded me of the A10, just 6 miles longer! When I passed the aid station at mile 12, the volunteers told me I was the first female. I thought I might have a shot at a top spot, but really wasn’t sure where I stood. I was definitely starting to feel spent around mile 12, but told myself to just hang on for four more miles. 

I crossed the finish line in 1:55:14 and a friend, Arnel, who was volunteering told me I won. I was ecstatic! I sat down for a bit, drank some water – it had gotten fairly warm – and then cheered all the other runners as they finished. 

This was a really great race – well-organized and the logistics could not have been easier. There were no frills – I got a medal for winning first, but there were no finisher medals, and no race shirts. It was definitely a race put on by runners, for runners. Sometimes those are the best kind of races! 

Note for if you decide to do this race in the future – it is on an open road, and the roads are windy, so I did feel a little nervous about cars whipping around those corners. Just something to be aware of! 

Aside from those two races, I also ran a 5K in Cape May, New Jersey this month. It went way better than I expected, considering my general disdain for 5Ks. Stay tuned for that recap!

Running lately: 2 10Ks and a 10 mile race

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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.

Continue reading →

Recapping the Bigfoot Endurance 10-Miler + an update on a last-minute marathon

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First of all, I’d like to start out by saying that I love the idea of trail running. I love being out in the woods — hiking in places like Shenandoah National Park is one of my favorite leisure activities. I love the peacefulness and solitude. I love the scenery. And I admire the relaxed vibe of trail runners and the fact that trail runs always seemed to be followed by craft beer. I can totally get on board with that. 

Problem is, I’m just not very good at trail running! Or, I should say I’m just a much more comfortable and confident road runner. 

Last weekend, I ran the inaugural Bigfoot Endurance 10 Mile Trail Run with Rip It Events. Bigfoot Endurance’s races raise money for Parkinson’s disease research, and this was Rip It’s first time partnering with them. The race, which also included a 5-mile option, happened to fall on a weekend where I was supposed to run 20 miles one day, 10 the next. So I decided to sign up for the 10-miler, knowing I’d likely be pretty sore from the 20 miler the previous day. 

I actually wasn’t that sore, but man, that race was HARD. It was hilly, though no worse than the Little Patuxent River Run. However, the terrain was pretty uneven, with roots and rocks all over the place. I estimated that I almost fell about a dozen times. And I was running conservatively and trying to watch where I was going! 

The race took place at Rockburn Branch Park in Elkridge, Maryland, about a half hour or so from where I live in Anne Arundel County. Even though it’s been an extremely mild winter, temperatures were in the mid-20s on race morning– surprisingly, much colder than Little Patuxent was! Runners were lined up by their estimated pace, and I lined up with the 8-minute/mile group. (I ran my last 10-mile race at a 7:27/mile pace, but that was on pancake flat roads in Delaware. I had no idea what to expect at this race.)

Runners doing the 5-miler ran one loop of the course, and 10-mile runners did two loops. I could tell not even a mile into the race that it was going to be a challenge because of the technical terrain (and I do not own trail running shoes, so I was wearing my trusty Brooks Ghosts.) It was a really pretty course, and we even crossed a few streams. The sun was shining, and it was a beautiful, if cold, day. But it was also pretty muddy in some parts, and as I mentioned, there were roots everywhere. By the time I finished my first loop, I was pretty spent and wished I could just be done then. However, I am not a quitter and my marathon training plan did tell me to run 10 miles, so of course I continued. 

I heard later from a fellow Rip It ambassador that one runner had fallen and broken her leg, and I feel like that could have so easily been me! This is no reflection on the race — it was perfectly safe and well-organized — but trail running is just riskier.

At least I knew what to expect with the second loop, but I ended up running it about three minutes slower than my first loop. Maybe the 20-miler the previous day caught up to me, I don’t know. My finish time was 1:28:10, my slowest 10-miler ever by about four minutes, but I didn’t really care too much. I was just glad to have finished uninjured! I came in sixth in my age group and ninth overall female, which I was pleased with. 

Oh, and there was beer afterwards from Hysteria Brewing Co. and a taco truck with vegetarian tacos as an option, so of course I was happy about that! I think if I do this race again, I’ll run the 5-miler. I’m just not coordinated and sure-footed enough for longer trail races. Maybe someday I will be! 

Just thinking of that post-race beer

(As a Rip It Events ambassador, I received a free entry to the Bigfoot Endurance 5 & 10 Miler. Contact me for a 15 percent discount off of any 2020 Rip It race!) 

Signing up for a last-minute marathon

I’m running the B&A Trail Marathon on Sunday, March 15, breaking two big rules I have always followed as a runner. (ETA: This race is on a paved trail, so it’s not really a “trail race” despite the name.)

  1. I don’t run marathons as a way to train for a goal marathon (in this case, the Coastal Delaware Running Festival.)
  2. I don’t run the same marathon twice, unless it’s Boston (I ran B&A two years ago.)

So, why am I doing it? One word: CORONAVIRUS. Unless you are living under a rock, you know about the novel coronavirus/COVID-19, which has spread around the world and has led to cancellations/postponement of events including road races (the Paris Marathon, the Tokyo Marathon, the Rome Marathon…..) I initially wasn’t too worried about Coastal Delaware being canceled; it’s a smallish local race, without a lot of runners traveling from other countries to run it. However, my husband has made me really paranoid and started telling me several weeks ago that I should find a backup marathon in case everything really went to hell and Coastal Delaware was canceled. 

I went back and forth about it and last week, decided to go for it and sign up — and saw on the website that the race was full. Balls. OK, I guess it wasn’t meant to be, I thought. 

But then, two days later, I saw the Annapolis Striders posted on Facebook that there were actually less than 10 spots remaining in the marathon! So with 11 days to go until the race, I registered. 

I figure this could go one of two ways. I know I can run the marathon distance now, but am I ready to run the race I want to run and have been training for? Best case scenario, I have an amazing race, PR the crap out of it and punch my ticket to Boston 2021. Worst case scenario, I have a mediocre-at-best race (as I did in 2018) and then it kind of throws a wrench into my training for Coastal Delaware. (I’m still banking on that race being a go.) It’s a total gamble, and I’m not adequately tapered and I’ve only run one 20-miler (sufficient for a marathon finish, but in my opinion, not sufficient for me to run a marathon PR.) 

But. I am going to go for it. And now I’m pretty excited about it.  So wish me luck!

The 2019 Annapolis Ten Mile Run: What a perfect day

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I had one main goal for this year’s Annapolis Ten Mile Run.

My God, have a better race than last year.

Now, I love the A10. It is my favorite race, and even the bad years are still pretty good. That said, the 2018 A10 was an absolute disaster for me. I started to run out of gas at mile 5, dry heaved at mile 8 and all but crawled across the finish line in 1:23 (a perfectly respectable time, don’t get me wrong, but I’d run a 1:15 the prior year!) I’m still not entirely sure how that race went off the rails so badly, though I suspect it was the ahi tuna burger I’d eaten the night before. Always get the veggie burger before a race! Always!

Anyway, I am happy to report that this year’s A10 went amazing! I ran a 1:17:26 — my fastest 10-miler in two years!! — pulled off a negative split, and felt super strong from start to finish.

So what went RIGHT this year? Honestly …. Aside from the fact that I didn’t eat ahi tuna for dinner the night before, the weather probably had a lot to do with it! After days and days of hot, disgusting, humid Maryland weather, things finally cooled off for the weekend. It was in the 60s when I woke up the day of the race, and I was actually chilly while waiting for it to start. It certainly didn’t feel like August in Maryland, and I was totally fine with that. The cool temps were pretty much all anyone was talking about because you know no one likes to bitch and stress about the weather more than runners! Haha.

Oh, and after packet pickup the day before, Kree and I went downtown to get Painkillers at Pusser’s and later, a margarita at Vida Taco Bar. Maybe that was literally the secret sauce?

My plan was to start with the 1:20 pace group (a flat 8-minute/mile pace) through the halfway point, then pass them by so I could have a sub-1:20 finish. I recognized the main pacer, as he led the 1:20 group last year, and he always runs the Bottle and Cork 10 Miler in Dewey Beach, too. He’s very upbeat and does a great job of running an even, steady pace (the worst is when you have a pacer that goes out too fast — that’s the whole point of running with a pacer, so you don’t blow your race in the first few miles!)

With the exception of last year, since it was such a shit show, I’ve always felt like the A10 just flies by. That was definitely the case this year. From the Navy-Marine Corps stadium to Main Street to the Naval Academy Bridge to Pendennis Mount and back across the bridge and to the stadium, the miles just ticked by. As per my plan, I did stick with the group until we hit mile 5, then sped up. I wasn’t sure how far in front of them I could get, but I was feeling good so I just went with it. When I hit the turnaround between miles 6 and 7, I saw that I was probably around 2-3 minutes ahead, and hoped I could finish in the 1:17-1:18 range.

I felt like I was working hard, but also like I could keep pushing, so I did. I’m really proud of the fact that my last three miles were 7:22, 7:23 and 7:25. (Mile 9 even included the second trip over the Naval Academy Bridge!) The clock read 1:18-something when I crossed the finish line, though I knew my chip time would be faster than that. I was thrilled!

The A10 is highly competitive, so I knew there was no chance of me getting any type of age group award. I think the winners in my AG finished, like, more than 10 minutes ahead of me. I ended up finishing 13th out of 212 women, which oddly enough was about the same as my ranking last year, even though I was six minutes faster this year.

One of my favorite things about this race is the fact that I always have a lot of friends who run it as well. This year was no exception. As always, 5 Peaks Martial Arts Academy was well represented. My friend Cindy ran her first A10 and even though she said it was awful after she finished, she admitted it was also fun and that she’d run it again.

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My other favorite thing about this race is the swag. The premium is usually pretty fantastic. This is what we got this year:

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And we also got medals! This is the first time they’ve ever had finisher’s medals! They’re pretty nice, too.

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Afterwards, Kree wanted to run another six miles because she had an Ironman triathlon coming up in about a month, so she asked me to join her. We grabbed brunch/second breakfast at Grump’s, then headed across the street to Quiet Waters Park. We ran a very easy six miles, and I felt pretty good considering I hadn’t run anything longer than about 10 or 12 miles since Boston. And considering the fact that I drank a mimosa with brunch. (Hydration, am I right?!)

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I’m already looking forward to the 2020 A10, as well as Bottle and Cork in two weeks. That course is much flatter, but it can also be brutally hot, so you never know how it’ll go. My goal would again be to go sub-1:20, and even better, to beat my time from this weekend.

A 10K, a 5K and an update on Boston Marathon training!

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The first time I trained for a full marathon (the 2015 Pittsburgh Marathon), I swore I would never train for a spring marathon again. That winter was awful, with numerous snow storms and ice storms and brutally cold temperatures. My now-husband and I were forced to run three long runs on the treadmill — a 10-miler, a 14-miler and a 16-miler (my God, it was brutal.) Nope, nope, nope, I said to myself. If I ever do a marathon again, it will be a fall marathon. Screw this.

Then I ran the marathon that May and loved it. And the next month, I signed up for the 2016 Rock ‘N Roll D.C. Marathon, held the following March. And now I’m spending my fifth consecutive winter training for a marathon and I truly can’t imagine a winter without having a marathon to look forward to! Honestly, I wouldn’t say I’ve become a fan of winter, but having a goal to train and work toward during the darkest, coldest months of the year helps me get through a time of year that I’d always dreaded. Plus, I warm up a lot when I run (and I maintain that I’d rather train in 25 or 30 degree weather than 80 or 85 degree weather, especially with how humid and gross Maryland summers can be!)

And last weekend, I got a true taste of winter running when I ran in Rip It Events’ 3rd annual Little Patuxent River Run Half Marathon and 10K. This race, held every year on Super Bowl Sunday, takes place on the Patuxent Branch Trail in Howard County. I had run the half marathon the past two years, but opted for the 10K this year. Why? Honestly, I was paranoid about falling and injuring myself with less than three months to go until Boston. I’ve fallen off the treadmill and also while running in downtown Annapolis on the cobblestone streets, so yeah, it’s safe to say that I am not always the most graceful. Wasn’t worth the risk this year. (You can read my recaps of the 2017 and 2018 Little Patuxent halfs here and here!)

That turned out to be the right decision, because this is what the trail looked like at the start of the race:

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Pretty, but slick!

Yikes. Because it was only in the 20s that morning, there was no chance any of that was melting any time soon. My only goal was not to fall and hurt myself — I knew I wouldn’t be setting any PRs (which would have been extremely unlikely at a trail race in the very best of conditions anyway!)

Because I had run this race twice in the past, I was familiar with the trail, and I remembered how beautiful the surrounding woods and river were — especially with the snow. So I tried to enjoy the scenery while also paying close attention to my footing. For the first mile or so, there were a lot of icy patches that we had to dodge around, and because the race is an out-and-back, I knew I’d have to watch out for the ice at mile 5, too!

The course is a challenge even when there isn’t snow and ice on the ground. There are two rather steep climbs, at miles 2.5ish and mile 4, that force even the speediest runners to slow wayyyyy down or even walk. There are some long declines, too, which can be equally scary if you trip over a rock or a root or something. And when packed snow covers the trail and you can’t even see any tripping hazards, well, it’s really tough!

But I never once fell, so mission accomplished! My finish time was 56:32, by far my slowest ever 10K time. Somehow, that was fast enough to get me 3rd in my age group, which surprised me!

LPRR

As a Rip It Events ambassador, I ran this race for free. Opinions are entirely my own! A full list of 2019 Rip It events can be found here. If you’re interested in running any of them, let me know and I’ll share my 15 percent discount code with you! 

Annapolis Striders’ Valentine’s 5K

Wow, that was a cold one. My husband and I ran the Valentine’s 5K at Kinder Farm Park in Millersville yesterday with a bunch of friends, but it was so frigid I couldn’t bear to take my gloves off to take out my phone and get some pictures at the race start/finish. 16 degree windchill, ughhhhh! This is the two of us thawing off in the car afterwards:

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I had hoped for an age group award, and even looked at last year’s winners to see how fast I needed to run to be a contender. It appeared that I needed to run sub-23, which I thought was doable. And I did, finishing in 22:43, but it wasn’t fast enough. There were some SPEEDY runners out there, and I finished 6th in the 30-39 age group. (Although, Tammi, who finished a few seconds ahead of me, pointed out that if there had been a 35-39 age group, she would have finished first and I would have been second. And then her husband said, “Well, if my aunt had nuts she’d be my uncle.” So. Yeah.)

The run was OK. As I’ve said before, 5Ks are my nemesis and I often execute them poorly. This race reminded me of the Turkey Trot 5K that I ran on Thanksgiving Day. You know, that time I ran the first mile in a blazing 6:34 and then blew up during the rest of the race?? That basically happened again, except this time I ran the first mile in 6:46 (such restraint), then the second mile in 7:32 and the third in 7:35. At least those miles were consistent? But just think if I hadn’t busted out a sub-7 mile right out of the gate! Stupid! At least this 5K was faster than the Turkey Trot.

I would like to get better at 5Ks, but it’ll take some specific 5K training (i.e., not running them as part of marathon training.) I think I’m going to run another 5K on March 16, just about a month before Boston, so we’ll see what I can do then and if the speed work I am doing as part of my plan might actually help me run a good 5K.

Boston 2019 training

Nine weeks until Boston 2019! Having BQ’d in December 2017, I’ve been waiting SO long to run this race and I can’t even believe it’s almost here! I’m following Hal Higdon’s Boston Bound 12-week plan, and so far, it’s going well. He has me alternating hill repeats with speed work (Yasso 800s) every week, similar to what I did when I followed his Advanced plan to get my qualifying time. The long runs also alternate by mileage and time. For example, last weekend I had to run an easy 14 miles. This weekend, my long run was an hour and a half, with the first three-quarters run at an easy pace and the last quarter run at marathon pace. I’ve never done a long run by time before now, and I have to say I am liking it a lot. The time passes quickly, and it’s fun to finish a long run strong!

So what marathon pace am I shooting for in Boston? Good question. In a perfect world, I’d BQ again, but with the tighter standards for 2020, I’ll have to run 3:35 or better. And Boston is known to be a tough course, and my last two marathons were 3:53 (Baltimore) and 3:47 (B&A). I think continuing to work on my speed will get me back closer to where I was when I ran Rehoboth and qualified with a 3:35:00, but I’ve got a long way to go. That said, I believe a finishing time somewhere in the 3:40s is feasible.

And if I don’t meet that goal — it’s Boston! It’ll be awesome no matter what.

Have you run Boston? What advice do you have for me?

 

Blown away at The B&A Trail Marathon

/ runningforunicorns / 8 Comments

“Make sure you’re at the finish by 11 a.m.,” I told my husband Micah the night before the B&A Trail Marathon. “In case I beat my Rehoboth time and finish in 3:30 or so.”

“But I should be finished by 11:45 a.m.,” I continued. “No way will I be over 3:45.”

Man, I run one BQ on the most perfect race day ever, and get all cocky.

On Sunday morning, I finished my fifth full marathon, The B&A Trail Marathon in Anne Arundel County, in 3:47:19– 12 minutes, 19 seconds slower than my Rehoboth Marathon time.

Am I bummed? A little. I really thought I would be in the 3:30s and pull out another BQ (not that it would really matter, unless I beat my 3:35 PR). But any marathon finish is a victory, and anyway, remember two years ago when I was soooooo excited to run a 3:48 at the Rock ‘N Roll Marathon in D.C.? I have no reason to complain.

That said, I did not have a great race. It was unseasonably cold — I seriously doubt spring is ever going to get here in the Mid-Atlantic — and windy. I think the wind really hurt me, as I have a history of running below my expectations in windy conditions. But that’s the thing about racing, and marathons in particular — you never know what you are going to get weather-wise, so you have to do the best you can!

Snow in the forecast?

So this winter in the Northeast, including the Mid-Atlantic region, has sucked snowballs. OK, so maybe Maryland hasn’t gotten anywhere near the snow that our neighbors to the north have, but temperatures have been below average for weeks. Then, four days before the race, forecasters were calling for snow over the weekend — during the second week of April. Which is nearly unheard of in this area. So the Annapolis Striders, who are the race organizers, freaked out and sent out a message saying they were monitoring the weather report and there was a chance the race could be canceled. Then I freaked out and started looking for backup marathons this month (the Coastal Delaware Running Festival in Rehoboth in two weeks was going to be my Plan B.) Fortunately, it did not snow — but it was in the 30s the morning of the race. Brrr.

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With fellow Rip It ambassador Dan before the race.  (This was not a Rip It event.) 

This race — which is both a half and a full marathon — begins and ends at Severna Park High School and takes place primarily on the B&A Trail. Luckily the school was left open for runners to stay warm before the race, and, more importantly, use the bathrooms! I loved not having to use a nasty porta potty to do my pre-race business. I would recommend the race based on that alone.

Both races kicked off promptly at 7:30 a.m., and I quickly warmed up during the first mile. But to be honest, I didn’t feel amazing. My calves felt a bit sore, which isn’t usually a problem for me, so I don’t know what that was about. And I was tired — Micah snored the night before and woke me up around 2:30 a.m. and I never really got back to sleep. Nevertheless, I held a pace that hovered in the low- to mid-8s for the first half, and the miles seemed like they were going by really fast. Then it all fell apart.

The dreaded wall

All runners turned around at mile 7 and began running straight into a headwind, which I suspect really wiped me out. I think all  in all, those of us who ran the full marathon ran 12 miles into the wind — from the bottom of the trail in Annapolis all the way up to Glen Burnie.

I started to notice that my pace was slowing into the 8:30-8:40 range around mile 14, and felt discouraged. I know that was probably silly, but I kept comparing my pace to my Rehoboth pace, where I was cruising along in the low 8s/high 7s at that point and feeling like I could keep going forever. At mile 18, I felt the wall coming on. In all of my marathons, I have never hit the wall that early. It’s pretty common to start to feel it around mile 20; I’ve always hit it around mile 22-23, except in Rehoboth when I didn’t really experience that until mile 24.

But I knew I had some cheerleaders waiting for me at the turnaround at mile 19 — Kree and Matt were there and I was really looking forward to seeing them. “Just keep hanging on until then,” I kept telling myself. Kree got video of me running past and I still looked pretty high energy, though I yelled to them, “This wind is killing me!” Matt told me not to worry, that I’d enjoy a nice tailwind on the way back.

Except … I really didn’t! Yeah, I was no longer running into a headwind, but I didn’t really feel the benefits of the wind at my back, either. Sigh.

My pace stayed in the 8s until mile 23, when it dipped into the 9s. I just couldn’t make my legs move any faster than that. I kept looking at my watch and doing “runner math”– “if you run this last 5K in XX minutes, you’ll still be under 3:40!” Except I was all fatigued so my math was probably off, haha.

At mile 25, I started talking to another runner who helped push me to the finish (“as long as you’re not in my age group,” she joked. I wasn’t– she was 10 years older than me — and she did win an age group award!) We chatted about Boston, which she had already run, and I told her I BQ’d several months ago. I also told her I couldn’t wait to be 40 so I get an extra five minutes to qualify, assuming the standards don’t change by then. “Only a runner would say that,” she laughed. So true.

The last 0.2 felt like forever and I just kept looking for Micah and my parents, who were visiting us in our new house for the first time. They were right there at the finish line and as soon as I crossed, I did the post-marathon shuffle over to where they were standing and told them I “got my ass handed to me out there.” They laughed and congratulated me and reminded me they can’t all be PRs.

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Me with Mom and Dad after the race.

Differences in training

When I trained for this marathon, I didn’t do any hill training and was not as diligent about the speed work, but I followed the same long run schedule as when I trained for Rehoboth. Maybe that made much more of a difference than I anticipated. Or maybe it was the wind that hurt me. Or maybe I just had a bad day. Who knows! I’m still glad I ran this race and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a small, low-key marathon. At just under 300 runners for the full, it is definitely the smallest marathon I have ever run.

So what’s next? Kree, Tammi and I are all running the Baltimore Marathon on Oct. 20, so I’ll start training for that sometime in June. I have a few other races planned over the next few months, including the Columbia 10-Miler and the St. Mary’s 10-Miler, both of which are Rip It races. (Let me know if you want a 10 percent off discount!) I am also running the Wayfarer’s half marathon on June 2 in Annapolis. So I’ll take a bit of a break, but will still be running, of course.

What’s your next big race?

B&A Trail Marathon training: It’s taper time!

/ runningforunicorns / 1 Comment

This weekend was my last weekend of heavy duty marathon training for the B&A Trail Marathon. The Hal Higdon Advanced 2 marathon training plan that I am following called for 10 miles on Saturday and 20 miles on Sunday, but I also had plans to travel out of town for my friend Staci’s baby sprinkle and birthday, which happens to fall on St. Patrick’s Day. So I banged out my 20 miles Friday morning before heading out of town, took a rest day Saturday, and then ran my 10 miles when I got home this afternoon. One thing I’ve learned over my years of marathon training is that you have to be flexible. I have no problem flipping my workouts around if that’s what suits my schedule.

So now I am officially in taper mode! The B&A Trail Marathon is on April 8, three weeks from today.

I am excited to see how I do in this marathon. When I decided to sign up for it, I initially told myself that I would take it easy — I already had my BQ from the Rehoboth Marathon, with five minutes to spare. And the Hal Higdon plan I followed to get that time was certainly aggressive. I thought of going back to the plan I’d followed for my previous three marathons, which had me taking two rest days per week and running only one 20 miler, three weeks out from the race.

But at the same time, I really enjoyed pushing myself and seeing what I was capable of. So I decided to follow the same plan again, with some modifications. I followed the exact same long run schedule, which included three 20 milers, beginning seven weeks out from the race. On those weekends where a 20-mile long run was on the schedule, I also had 10 miles to run either the day before or the day after (the plan says to run the 10 miles Saturday and the 20 Sunday, but again, I modify depending on my schedule). I took one rest day, usually Friday, every week.

This time around, I omitted the hill training on the Naval Academy Bridge — the B&A Trail is super flat anyway — and I wasn’t as diligent about my speed work. I only did three rounds of Yasso 800s instead of six rounds, as I did last time. (This training cycle, I ran four 400s, then six 800s, then eight 800s this past week. In my opinion, this workout is the hardest of all. Give me the long run any day!)

I also run four days a week instead of the six days the plan calls for, because I do kickboxing on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I am reluctant to give that up! When I trained for Rehoboth, I sometimes squeezed in a run before kickboxing class — but only sometimes. Would I be faster if I focused exclusively on running? Probably. But I love kickboxing, and I think the cross-training keeps me strong and injury-free. It works for me!

I think I am capable of going sub-3:40 in the B&A Trail Marathon, which would be another BQ. Of course, unless I can beat my 3:35:00 time from Rehoboth, it’s not going to matter. Could it happen? Maybe, but if it doesn’t, I’m not going to beat myself up over it. Hell, if I don’t BQ again, I’m not going to beat myself up over it, because I already have a solid time. (Although the other night, I did have a dream that I ran a 3:43 marathon and was really upset about it! My God, get a grip, woman.)

It will be really interesting to see how backing off the speed training and omitting the hill training affects my race time. If I end up running 3:35ish again, I’ll know that the key to my success is likely running multiple 20-milers. And if I finish in the 3:40-something range, I’ll know that speed work and possibly hill training is what makes me a faster marathoner.

I’m going in with one big advantage — I have run just about all of my long runs on the B&A Trail! I’ve never been so familiar with a marathon course.

Questions for anyone reading this: Do you prefer speed training/sprint workouts or long runs (or do you think both suck, haha!) Do you think they are equally important in marathon training?

The Annapolis Ten Mile Run: My favorite race of the year

/ runningforunicorns / 5 Comments

It’s fitting that I kick off this blog by talking about the Annapolis Ten Mile Run, which I ran for the fifth time on Sunday.

The A10 is the first major race I ever did, and I believe it’s what made me a marathoner.
Back when I signed up for my first A10, on a whim, in 2013, I was a loyal gym-goer and a regular treadmill runner who was a little intimidated by the idea of running in a race with thousands of other runners. What if I totally sucked and embarrassed myself? But I decided to take a leap and run it anyway.

The day before the 2013 A10, I spent the day on my now-husband’s boat, carbo-loading with beer after beer. My sister partied so hard that she ended up in the Chesapeake Bay. Needless to say, when I woke up the next morning, I was in rough shape. But I powered through. I mean, I almost puked around mile 5, but I finished strong and wanted to sign up for the following year’s A10 almost immediately.

Lesson learned: No more than one beer (OK, maybe two!) before a long race! I’ve mostly stuck to that ….

In the years since, I’ve run countless 10-milers, a dozen half-marathons and three marathons. I like to say the 2013 A10 was my gateway drug. It made me fall in love with racing, and it made me proud to be a part of Annapolis’ wonderful running community.

The weather could not have been more perfect for the 2017 A10. And any runner knows what a difference the weather can make! A hot, humid day can really slow you down– and since the A10 is always the last weekend of August, well, there have been some muggy race days. On Sunday morning, the temperature was in the high 60s, the sun was shining and there was no humidity whatsoever (a rarity for a summer day in Maryland.)

The A10 follows the same route every year. Runners start at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and head through historic downtown Annapolis before running over Weems Creek and the Naval Academy Bridge. Then, you run miles 4.5-7.5 through the Pendennis Mount neighborhood before heading back toward the bridge (yes, you run over it twice. And yes, it’s steep and challenging!) Runners finish at the stadium.

The race is hilly, but I think the difficulty is what makes it appealing for a lot of runners. But aside from that, the course is so scenic. Running over the Naval Academy Bridge may kill your quads, but you’re rewarded with the most beautiful view at the top. The crowd support and the volunteers are just awesome, too. One surprise this year– a group of nuns in full habits who were out cheering on the runners around mile 9.5. Maybe they thought the runners needed some extra prayers!

The Annapolis Striders, the local group who organizes the race, also don’t skimp on the swag. Aside from the hoodies runners got as the finisher’s premium, we also got hats and these fantastic commemorative bottle openers:

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I finished the race in 1:15:37, my personal best for the 10-mile distance! I felt like the race went by SO fast, probably because I know the course so well at this point. I truly loved every mile.

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My friend Kree and I. We both PR’d!

I’m actually running another 10-mile race in two weekends — the Bottle and Cork Ten-Miler in Dewey Beach, Del.– so we’ll see how my times compare. That’s a much flatter course, but the weather can be just as hot and sticky.

Thanks to the Annapolis Striders for putting on another quality A10! I’ll see you next year!