half marathon

A fantastic day for the 50th anniversary of the Annapolis Ten Mile Run

/ runningforunicorns / Leave a comment

The Annapolis Ten Mile Run will always hold a special place in my heart. 

I was mainly a treadmill runner and group fitness enthusiast when I signed up for the 2013 race. I didn’t even really consider myself a runner then, though I had run a few 5K road races. I mainly signed up to give myself something to chase outside of work. At the time, I was covering county government for the local newspaper, making less than $35,000 a year to be available at what seemed like all hours of the days, nights and weekends. It was a lot, and I often felt overwhelmed and wondered what the hell I was doing with my life.

That first year, I ran it extremely hungover (because I had spent the day before partying on my now-husband’s boat) in 1:24 and was hooked. Soon I signed up for a half marathon, then another one. Then a marathon. Then I qualified for and ran Boston– 5 times now! I truly believe I have the A10 to thank for that.

I haven’t missed a year of the A10 since I first ran in 2013, except for 2020 and 2021 when the Covid pandemic forced its cancellation. This year, which also marked the 50th anniversary of the race, was my 11th time running it. 

And I ran my second fastest time ever on the course, finishing in 1:10:50, 10 seconds off my course PR from 2022! I won my age group and yes, got my mug this time – as well as the mug I was supposed to have gotten last year!   

Micah, who turned 50 at the end of August, also ran the race for the second time. He had run the 40th anniversary of the race when he turned 40, so it had been a full decade. He doesn’t run much these days and didn’t train at all, but did pretty well all things considered, finishing in just over 2 hours.    

Much like last year, the weather was fantastic. A little humid, but not even 70 degrees at the start of the race, truly a blessing for late August.

The A10 course is challenging and hilly. But it is also very scenic and there is a decent amount of crowd support for a small town race, which always helps pump up my mood. 

I also know the course very well after so many years of running it, which I think gives me a huge advantage. This was easily my best race since, well, last year’s A10. I ran three 10 milers during Boston prep: The Lewis 10 Miler in 1:18:00 (a prediction race where the first half is straight uphill), the Road Runners Club of America 10 Mile Challenge in 1:14:50 and the Shamrock Shuffle 10 Miler in 1:13:23. I actually won the Shamrock Shuffle, but was disappointed in my time, having expected to be closer to 1:10 in that pancake flat race. I did run it two days after a 20-mile long run, though.  

Aside from my familiarity with the course, this year’s race took place 3 weeks out from my September marathon, the Wicked Fast Poconos Marathon, and I felt like I was in peak shape thanks to many of the workouts my coach has given me over the past few weeks! I’ve run lower mileage this training block, but more workouts– each week has a track workout, a tempo run, and of course a long run, but always with marathon pace miles. It’s been tough, but fun, and I think my body is holding up well!  

The race takes you on a tour of historic Annapolis, starting at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and heading downtown, past the Naval Academy and over the Naval Academy Bridge (a tough climb that rewards you with amazing views at the top), through the Pendennis Mount community and then back over the bridge before ending at the stadium. As I mentioned earlier, the crowd support is great. The midshipmen staff a water stop at miles 4 and 9, and they are always cheering loudly and playing great music. Lots of residents of Pendennis Mount come out to support the runners as we run through their neighborhood. 

But my favorite part this year, hands down, was how many runner friends I saw on the course! I said before the race I probably knew a hundred people who were running, and that’s a low estimate. As soon as Micah and I got to the race that morning, I started bumping into people I recognized. “Geez, do you know everyone?” he said with a laugh. It was such a boost to see and hear “go Allison!” from others on the course. I really felt the love this year! A woman who was running near me around mile 7 even said “wow, you’re popular!” I guess this is what happens when you run your hometown race year after year!  

I kept up with the 1:10 group pretty well, but they pulled ahead somewhere around mile 6. Still, I was able to keep them in my sights pretty much the whole way until the finish line, and so I knew a 1:10:xx finish was in the cards. Around mile 8, I saw Coach Beth handing out lemonade and water. She had told our marathon training group she would be out there with refreshments, which was awesome, but at that point I was in too much of a hurry to stop, ha! She later said my running looked “effortless,” but let me tell you, I was definitely working hard at that point. The second trip over the Naval Academy Bridge was soul crushing!

But I am super pumped with how it went and it was a real confidence booster going into Wicked Fast next weekend. When I ran my A10 course PR three years ago, I went on to set my marathon PR later that fall in Chicago. I know my marathon PR is really solid and will be tough to ever beat. But maybe I can get closer to it than I think. I keep saying I’ll be happy with any time under 3:25, and I definitely think that’s reasonable. Plus, Wicked Fast is a point-to-point downhill– designed to run fast. Let’s go see what I can do out there!

In my racing era: Boston Marathon 2025 training

/ runningforunicorns / Leave a comment

How is the 2025 Boston Marathon only 28 days away? 

I train in 12-week blocks, and it always seems to go really fast. This cycle has proven to be no exception. Though it’s not necessarily been the easiest training cycle. This winter was pretty much the worst winter I’ve trained through since I started running marathons a decade ago. There wasn’t quite as much snow and ice as there was during the winter of 2015, thank goodness, but it’s been really cold. I don’t even mind the cold, and it was still too much for me. Thankfully we are coming out of it now and it’s actually expected to be close to 80 this weekend– so I might start complaining about the heat soon! 

I’ve incorporated a bunch of races into my training this past winter, so here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to! 

Road Runners Club of America 10 Mile Challenge

This 10-mile race happens every February in Columbia, and it is known for being very competitive – I think the top 50 runners all finish in under an hour– and challenging. My friend Daniel was running with team Bullseye Running, and they were looking for another female in the 40-49 age group, so he asked me to run. I had a planned weekend long run of 16 miles with 10 at goal marathon pace, so I said sure, why not. It was cold, it was windy, and the course was hilly, but nowhere near as hard as the Lewis 10 Miler that I’d run a few weeks prior. I ran a 1:14:50/7:30 pace, which seems wildly optimistic for Boston Marathon pace, but hey. That time would typically earn me at least an age group award in a local race. Not at this race! I was 20th in my age group! Like I said, it is a very fast crowd! I also ran 4 miles before the race and 2 miles after it to get to 16 for the day. 

Spring Ahead Half Marathon 

Signing up for this half, held a little more than two hours away in the small town of Douglassville, PA, was a last minute decision. But I had 15 miles to run with 12 at marathon pace, and what I won’t do to avoid doing that alone in a training run. When I saw this half marathon wasn’t happening until 10 in the morning, meaning I wouldn’t even have to leave the house all that early, I decided to sign up. I’m glad I did! The trail it was on, mostly the Schuylkill River Greenway, was beautiful, as well as flat and fast. My only complaint was a really annoying headwind on the way back to the finish line and my Garmin didn’t seem to want to function with the trees lining the trail. At one point late in the race, it told me I was running a 9:30 pace and I knew damn well that wasn’t the case, that I was probably running around 7:30 or faster. Trust me, I’ve been running long enough that I know what 7:30 pace feels like vs. 9:30! I finished in 1:37:52/7:29 average pace, again overshooting what my marathon pace is likely going to be. (I’m thinking 7:40-7:45 is more realistic for my current fitness.) I was 6th overall female and first in my age group. My husband and I got brunch at the Fork and Ale a few steps from the trail and it was awesome! All the runners got one free beer, which of course I was happy about! 

Shamrock Shuffle 10 Miler

Aside from Boston, this race in Cape Henlopen State Park in Rehoboth Beach and Lewes, DE was the one on my calendar that I was most excited about this spring. I’d been looking forward to our little St. Patrick’s Day weekend getaway since Christmas. I love the beach any time of year, but I really appreciate it in the off season. My plan was also to race this 10 miler, rather than stick to marathon pace, and I thought I could finish somewhere around 1:10-1:11. I ran the Annapolis 10 Mile Run, which is a much harder course, in 1:11 last August! 

So I was somewhat disappointed to finish in 1:13:23/7:20 average pace. I think there were probably a few reasons why I was slower than expected. This race came at the tail end of a 61-mile peak week of training. I also ran a strong 20 miler Friday morning before we left for the beach, and my legs probably weren’t recovered. I got up Saturday morning and ran a 4-mile shakeout around Rehoboth, and my legs definitely felt tired. That said, I set my 10-mile PR of 1:08:03 the day after running a 16-mile long run, so. Sometimes you get lucky. Despite the Shamrock Shuffle being the day before St. Paddy’s Day, that didn’t happen this time. 

All that said, I won the race! So it’s hard to be too bummed, ha! And I had fun. I might make it an annual St. Patrick’s Day tradition! 

I had a lead bike to chase!

Piece of Cake 10K       

Big fat DNS (Did Not Start) for this race! 

My plan called for me to race a 10K this past weekend, and normally I would have signed up for the 10K at the Annapolis Running Festival, which I have run twice before. But Christ, it’s expensive – $85 when I went to sign up in December, which is awfully steep for a 10K in my opinion, especially one that I have already run. So I found another one in Montgomery County that was only $17, happening the same weekend. It was on a Sunday, so I planned to run my long run of 17 miles on Saturday. 

As mentioned above, I’ve run really strong races the day after knocking out a long run. Well, I knew after I finished my 17 miles that I was not running a fast 10K on Sunday. The cumulative fatigue had really caught up with me. I think a lot of that was due to a particularly hard kickboxing class on Thursday night, which involved a ton of weighted squats. I got through the 17 miles fine, though the last 5 miles were a real slog, but I was soooo sore afterwards. At first I thought, well, I’ll go and just run the 10K at marathon pace. Then as the day wore on, I knew I wasn’t up even to that. So I bagged it and ran an easy 6 miles around my neighborhood. I have no regrets! 

The plan calls for me to race another 10K in two weeks/just before my taper starts, but it looks like my only option is the Sole of the City 10K in Baltimore. Which looks great, but also expensive– currently right around $100! Yikes! So I will probably chuck it in the f*ck it bucket, as my friend Chris likes to say.

I’ve always heard it’s better to get to the start line of a marathon slightly undercooked than overcooked anyway. We’ll see what my 5th Marathon Monday holds!

Recap of The Naptown Half Marathon: Overcoming my bad attitude

/ runningforunicorns / Leave a comment

I didn’t really want to run the Naptown Half.

The race, which also includes a 5K and a 10K, has been around for a few years now, but I’ve never signed up for it because it’s always on the same day as the Santa Speedo Run. The Santa Speedo Run is NOT a competitive race; it’s a drunken stumble from O’Briens in downtown Annapolis to Church Circle and back, followed by a dance party. It also raises a lot of money for local charities. I’ve been participating in the Speedo Run for the last few years, and never want to miss the chance to run around downtown in my favorite skimpy, festive, probably highly flammable Amazon outfit.

But this year, the Speedo Run was on the 14th and the Naptown Run was on the 21st. It still wasn’t really on my radar until one of my friends from my old job at the local hospital said he was going to be in town and was thinking about signing up for the 10K. He asked me and a few of our other friends/old colleagues if we were interested, too. I said, what the hell, might as well run the half. This was back in September, when I was training for Ocean City. 

The fall flew by, I (disastrously) ran the Ocean City Marathon, and before I knew it, it was December. This is usually one of my favorite months of the year. Well, December 2024 was a little bit different. Without going into a ton of detail, we had a huge restructuring at work and a bunch of my colleagues got laid off. My original position with the company was eliminated, and I got reassigned to a new role. Was I thankful to still have a job? Of course! But anyone who has been through one of these situations knows just how stressful it is, and seeing friends and colleagues lose their jobs is devastating. Plus, it’s just weird to wake up one day and be expected to do one job, then the next day be in a whole new one. So yeah, that all put a damper on the whole month and it was hard to feel very holly and jolly.

The day before the race, I had to go pick up my bib and I was just in a sour mood. I didn’t feel like waking up super early and running a half marathon in the cold and wind. (After a string of really mild winters in Maryland, this winter is coming in with a bang.) But I reminded myself that running through Annapolis is always fun, and it’s not like it was going to be a PR attempt, so there was no pressure. I was going to run on vibes. 

So that’s what I did– and it went better than expected. 

The weather was about the same as it was for the Rehoboth Half, but I decided against wearing running tights under my Christmas themed shorts this time. And honestly, I was totally fine. Definitely cold while waiting for the race to start, but once I got going, I was pretty comfortable. 

I didn’t look at the course ahead of time, but I figured it would be pretty similar to the old Annapolis Running Classic half marathon I used to run, and it was. We started at the Navy stadium, ran through downtown and by the Naval Academy, then headed over the Naval Academy Bridge and to the B&A Trail. We were on the B&A for probably a little over 3 miles before heading back into Annapolis, running over the bridge for a second time, and finishing at the stadium. My favorite part was seeing a lot of friends on the out and back on the B&A! Also, someone, not sure who, told me I looked festive and fast, and it made my day.

Like I said, this was no PR attempt. I’ve done little to no speedwork since the marathon and haven’t been running more than 30-32 miles a week (that’ll be ticking up in a few weeks as I begin my Boston 2025 build!) But I felt surprisingly good. I started out running around a 7:30-7:35 pace, and it felt pretty comfortable. I was actually able to speed up quite a bit in the second half of the race, dropping down to 7:15-7:20 pace. The course is definitely hilly, but I did my best to take advantage of the downhills. 

I ended up finishing in 1:38:05, almost a minute faster than Rehoboth, which is a much easier course! Second in my age group and 8th overall female (this is also a way less competitive race than Rehoboth.) I think I would have dipped under 1:38 had I not been fighting a headwind the entire last mile and a half. That really sucked.  

Thank you to my IG friend Rachel for the finish line pic!
I think the wind was blowing me sideways

But I was super happy with how I did, especially given my pissy attitude. This was a fun way to kick off my Christmas vacation, and I also got to catch up with some friends I don’t get to see nearly enough! 

Boston training officially begins on Monday, January 27, and I don’t have any races on my calendar until March, when I run the Shamrock Shuffle 10 Miler in Lewes, Delaware on St. Patrick’s Day weekend. 10 mile races are my favorite and I think it is the distance I am actually the strongest in, so I am hoping to run under 70 minutes. I also have a small 10K race on my schedule for the weekend after that. I may find another 10K to race before Boston, as I think my lord and savior Pfitzinger recommends one two weeks out.    

Looking forward to seeing what the rest of 2025 holds!

Recap of the 2024 Rehoboth Seashore Half Marathon

/ runningforunicorns / Leave a comment

Earlier this month, I participated in what has become an annual holiday tradition for me, the Rehoboth Seashore Half Marathon! Longtime readers/followers will know that I ran my first BQ at the Rehoboth Seashore Marathon 7 (!!!) years ago, and I’ve returned most years since then to run the half. It is flat, fast, and festive, with a hell of an after party!

Plus, I love Rehoboth, my family’s annual vacation spot for my entire life, and I will use any excuse to visit. If you’ve never gone during the holiday season before, I highly recommend it. It’s a magical time!

I had a blast as always this year, though I wouldn’t say I ran especially “fast” (remember, it is all relative.)

I wasn’t expecting to, either. My recovery from the dumpster fire that was the Ocean City Marathon has felt slower than my usual marathon recovery (is this aging?) A week before the half marathon, I ran my hometown’s annual Turkey Trot in 21:47, my slowest Turkey Trot in about 5 years. I hadn’t done any speed work since the marathon and it was super rainy, but I also went out way too fast. So I blew up in epic fashion. First mile was 6:26, last mile was 7:30. Nice. I did win my age group, so that was cool. 

Anyway, that didn’t inspire much confidence for the Rehoboth Half, but I told a few people ahead of time that I would probably run between 1:35 (if I was having a good day) and 1:40. In the end, I finished in 1:38:58. 

I’m sure there are people who will read this and think, hey, that’s fast! But like I said, it is all relative. My PR is 1:29! Last year, I ran a 1:31:45 on that same course when I was specifically training for half marathons. This year, I’d run Ocean City about a month prior and didn’t feel like I was really in race shape anymore, logging around 30 miles a week of all easy runs since then. So, my body was capable of a 1:38 during this race and that’s OK! 

Micah and I left for Rehoboth after work Friday, the night before the race and got to the beach in less than 2 hours – one of the reasons I love going in the off season! I grabbed my bib/race packet and then we headed to Dogfish Head for my usual pre-race meal of a veggie burger, fries, and beer. Except I decided to mix it up a bit this time and order mac and cheese instead of fries. Living on the edge! In the end, it was totally fine and I didn’t have stomach issues or anything. If you go to Dogfish, totally check out their mac and cheese. It is really good!  

Race day was cold. Really cold. Totally different than last year, when it was in the mid-50s and humid, and the year before, when it was about 60 and also humid. I am all about racing in the cold, so I wasn’t too concerned especially when I saw the start temperature would be around 30. No big deal! But then my friend Stacy, who was also running, pointed out that the windchill was forecasted to be around 13. Shit! I figured that was a little too cold for the outfit I had planned– red tank, green arm warmers, and shorts with Christmas gnomes on them. I ended up putting on my long sleeved red shirt from this year’s Baltimore Running Festival, the Christmas shorts, and black running tights underneath the shorts. I wound up regretting the leggings! I wasn’t too warm, but they just felt bulky with the shorts over top. 0/10 do not recommend unless you are someone who runs really cold. 

We stayed on the boardwalk literally a block from the start, which was so convenient because I could leave the hotel just before the race started at 7! We met Stacy at 6:45, she gave Micah her coat to hold, and then we lined up. It was very crowded at the start, which I think kept us from getting too cold! Before I knew it, we were off. 

The course for the half – and the course for the marathon, too– is really pretty. You start at the Rehoboth bandstand, head down Rehoboth Avenue and then wind around the neighborhoods around Silver Lake before going down the boardwalk. From there you go into Cape Henlopen State Park before turning around and running through Rehoboth toward the Breakwater and Junction Trail. You do an out and back on the trail before coming back into town and finishing by the Cultured Pearl restaurant. My only complaint about the course is that the trail is kind of rocky and depending on the weather, it can be a little muddy. But it is a very scenic course and I do think it’s a fast one!    

And even though I wasn’t running as “fast” as I did last year, I felt like the miles were just flying by and everything felt good. I paced it really well, running consistent 7:30-7:35 miles. No major blowups like in the Turkey Trot. I was happy about that! Before I knew it, I was turning that last corner toward the finish line. Stacy PR’d, finishing about a minute ahead of me! 

I collected my medal and space blanket and headed back toward the finish line to see a few other friends, Mindy and Rachel, finish their races. Then it was time to hit the party tent! As mentioned many times on this blog, the after party is pretty lit. Runners get 3 beer tickets with their bibs (you can also purchase beer bracelets for friends/family) and I’ve definitely partied pretty hard at the after party before. In 2022, I tripped, fell, and skinned my knee while reaching for a Fireball shot! Whoops! This year, the race directors cracked down on alcohol being brought in from outside, so there were no fireball shots handed out by “Team Fireball” this time. Probably a good thing, for me at least. I still had a blast, though I did take issue with the DJ refusing to play All I Want For Christmas Is You (“A lot of people don’t like that song,” he told me. Bah humbug!) 

This race is pretty competitive and I came in 5th in my age group. It was actually only the third race I ran this year where I didn’t get an age group or overall award – Boston, of course, and then Riley’s Rumble didn’t give out any awards at all. Oh well! 

I actually have one last race to run in 2024, the Naptown Half Marathon, this weekend! The weather looks really similar to the Rehoboth race. But I can tell you I won’t be wearing legging for this one! 

I received a free entry to the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Half Marathon as part of a partnership with The Vibe: A BibRave Network. Thank you so much for this opportunity!  

A tale of 2 half marathons: The Bird-in-Hand Half Marathon and the Susquehanna River Running Festival Half Marathon

/ runningforunicorns / Leave a comment

Last month, as part of my training for the Ocean City Marathon, I decided to incorporate two half marathons into my running schedule – the Bird-in-Hand Half Marathon in Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River Running Festival Half Marathon in Havre de Grace, Maryland. 

Both occurred on weekends when I was scheduled to run a big chunk of my long runs at goal marathon pace, and it’s a hell of a lot easier to do that in a race than it is on my own! Plus, I’d heard really good things about both half marathons. The only drawback to doing this is I knew I’d probably end up running at least a little bit faster than my actual goal marathon pace, just because I’d be in a race environment and would have a hard time holding back. And that’s what I did, especially at Susquehanna. But, oh well. They were both solid efforts that hopefully will benefit me in Ocean City! 

Here’s a look at how they went! 

The Bird-in-Hand Half Marathon (1:37:39)

This was a race I’d been hearing about for years because of how unique it is. It takes place every year the weekend after Labor Day in the heart of Amish Country, Pennsylvania. The Amish and Mennonite communities volunteer at the race and also host a pre-race dinner the night before the race as well as an after party following the race. Let me tell you, it was pretty much some of the best food I’d eaten at a race, ever. The s’mores bonfire the night before the half marathon! The pie! And all the runners even got whoopie pies (as a native western Pennsylvanian, I call them gobs, but I recognize that most other people call them whoopie pies!) in our swag bags along with our T-shirts and bibs. It was so great. I also signed up for the Friday night 5K as a shakeout run, and that was lots of fun. I didn’t go all out, running at an 8:04 pace, but definitely faster than my typical pace for a shakeout run. I don’t really think it mattered much, though. 

The next morning, I actually had 16 miles on my plan, so Micah and I left our hotel early so I could crank out an extra 3 miles before the half. By the way, I can’t say enough about how well-organized this race was. Parking was super easy and even though the porta-potty lines were VERY long in the last few minutes leading up to the race, the volunteers kept everything moving so smoothly. 10/10, no notes! 

Since this was really meant to be a long run workout, I didn’t have any real time goals, but I did think I’d finish around 1:35ish. My last half marathon just about a month before Boston was a huge PR and my first time breaking 90 minutes. I knew I wasn’t in shape to do that in Bird-in-Hand, but I thought 1:35 seemed realistic. 

But the course was a LOT harder than I expected. I had been hearing about the race for a long time, but hadn’t heard anyone mention that it was particularly hilly. And while it wasn’t anything like Riley’s Rumble, LOL, it was definitely hillier than I had bargained for. Rollers pretty much the whole 13.1 miles. I ran the first few miles around 7:10-7:15 pace, but really never got much faster than that save for one or two miles where there were long downhill stretches. All that being said, the course was absolutely beautiful and I love running through the countryside. (One thing to note: The scent of manure is strong and there is horse poop all over the roads!)  It was also a really cool experience to have the Amish community volunteering throughout the race, passing out water and Gatorade. At one point later in the race, we also ran right through an Amish farm – up a semi-steep, crushed gravel path through a farm, I should say. My pace slipped to around a 7:50 in those final miles, but I gave it my all. I finished first in my age group and 8th overall female – getting passed by the 6th female in the last half mile and the 7th in, like, the final 200 meters. Ha! One thing I still don’t have after all of these years running is a finish line kick! 

After the race, I enjoyed a wonderful massage from a local chiropractic team that was volunteering at the event and then some delicious apple pie! We hit the Bird-in-Hand Artisan Market and the Bird-in-Hand Farmers Market before leaving town as well. I really liked the area and hope to return again! 

The Susquehanna River Running Festival Half Marathon (1:34:29)    

I hemmed and hawed over whether to run this race, which also includes a 5K and a 10K, for way too long, and by the time I actually signed up, the race fee for the half was $130. Womp womp. This price did include a great premium quarter zip and a nice finish line party, so whatever. Also, it was on September 21, and if you know me, you know I love Earth, Wind and Fire. Plus, my cousin Nate and his wife Kathryn live not too far from Havre de Grace, where the race begins and ends, so I figured it would be a good chance to catch up with them as well! 

Oh yeah, and Olympian and former American women’s marathon record holder, Deena Kastor, was there to hand out awards and get the race started! Pretty cool for a small town race. 

My plan for the weekend called for 15 miles with 12 at goal marathon pace, and again, I knew I’d likely end up running faster than marathon pace in the race. I ran 2 easy miles before the race started around Havre de Grace, then lined up for the half. The weather was a bit on the humid side for my liking, but overall, not bad.   

This was another really beautiful race course. We started in Havre de Grace and went over the Hatem Bridge crossing the Susquehanna River, then into the little town of Perryville, through Perry Point VA Hospital and Perryville Community Park along the Chesapeake Bay, and back over the bridge to Havre de Grace. I would say this is a relatively fast course, with a few rollers here and there, but nothing major. Once again, I knew sub-90 wasn’t likely, but I thought I might be able to break 1:35, especially when I clocked a few sub-7 miles in the middle part of the race and was feeling good! 

There were a few little things that maybe slowed me down a bit, however. First, I planned to take a gel at the halfway point, and it flew out of my Flipbelt around mile 2. (Gee, that’s never happened before!) And I didn’t bother to run back to pick it up. Maybe someone else did. It was a Maurten, and those are expensive! Then – also Flipbelt related– I had my car key attached to the key fob on the belt and it kept flying out and flopping around when I was running. So every so often I would have to adjust it and try to tuck it back in. I kept running while doing so, but I am sure it cost me a little bit of time. I’ve never had this kind of trouble with the Flipbelt before, so I am not ready to write it off all together, but geez. 

Then, going across the Hatem Bridge on the way back to the finish, the half marathon had merged with the 10K race and I found myself weaving around a lot of runners. So that slowed me down, too. 

All that being said, I still felt pretty strong the entire time! A highlight was seeing my cousin and his wife about a half mile before the finish line and then my friend Leslie and her husband right there at the finish – they were in town for another event! I was pretty thrilled to stop my watch and see 1:34– but also could not believe that I ran a half marathon literally 5 whole minutes faster just six months before, ha! I felt like I gave this one my all.  

I figured I placed as either a Master or in my age group, but when I went to check my time, I saw my time didn’t register. After what had happened in the A10 the previous month, I was like, really? What are the chances! Luckily, I talked to the man who was in charge of timing at the finish line, showed him my watch, and he corrected it pretty much on the spot. I was the third place Masters female winner and got to take home one of the most unique prizes I’ve ever received at a race – this awesome decoy! (Unfortunately, I totally missed the awards ceremony, and meeting Deena Kastor, because I was too busy talking and didn’t even realize it was happening, but I got my prize before leaving!) 

I’m so glad I ran both of these half marathons and I think they were great training races for Ocean City. Just 19 days to go!!

Continue reading →

A birthday half marathon: Recap of the Riley’s Rumble Half

/ runningforunicorns / Leave a comment

On my 44th birthday, I ran my 35th half marathon, the Riley’s Rumble Half Marathon in Germantown, Maryland. This was easily one of the hardest half marathons I have ever run. It is probably tied with the Asheville Half Marathon, which I ran a decade ago, as the hilliest and most difficult half I’ve done.

But I expected that when I signed up, and had zero time goals in mind. I had heard from multiple other runners that the course was nothing but hills, and the RunSignUp listing said the same thing, but of course I wondered if it was truly that hard. I do live and train in a relatively hilly area, after all. But I can assure you that yes, it lived up to its reputation!

The main reason I wanted to run this race is because it was on my birthday! I ran the Tracksmith Twilight 5000 last year on my birthday, but I had never run a half on my birthday. If memory serves, I was actually signed up for this race in 2020, and that year it was either on or near my 40th birthday…. But obviously we know what happened in 2020, and I never ran the race.

Until this year!

My last half marathon was in March and it was a massive PR. I broke 90 minutes for the first time, and again, I had no expectations of being anywhere close to that time at Riley’s. One, because of the course, and two, because I am currently not in that kind of shape. I have been slowly increasing my mileage these last few weeks as I prepare to start training for the Ocean City Marathon, but I have done pretty much no speedwork in months. I thought I’d be lucky to be within 10 minutes of my PR.

Turns out I was 14 minutes off, finishing in 1:43:00. It was my slowest half in years!

One thing that was in my favor—the weather was decent, at least at the beginning of the race. This summer has been the hottest and most humid summer I can remember running through in years, possibly ever, but the morning of the race was pretty cool. It was about 64 degrees when we got to the race venue, and I felt chilly in my sports bra and shorts.

We started right at 7:30 and there was a lot of downhill in the first few miles, which I knew was going to come back to bite me at the end! (Instagram friend Libby, a member of the Montgomery County Road Runners Competitive Racing Team, had warned me of this!) This part of the race, and actually a lot of the race, was pretty well shaded, too. That was nice. I was flying down the hills and running well under 7:30 per mile, and honestly feeling pretty great through the first half of the race. I knew Libby was going to be at the mile 6 water stop, right where the runners turn around to head back, so seeing her was a nice pick me up. She later said I looked strong, and I did feel pretty strong there.

After the turnaround, you get to run downhill again, then some more rolling hills, before you make a right around mile 7/7.5 and head through a stretch of road that is even more rolling hills and not at all shaded. By that point, the sun was out and it was getting hot, but the scenery was beautiful—lots of farmland. We were on that road for probably a mile and a half, then turned around again to head up a steep little hill. Right before that turnaround, there was a stop where volunteers were handing out popsicles, which is something this race is known for. They did look appealing, but I never know how my stomach is going to react when pushing hard in races, so I declined a popsicle. ( did take a Maurten gel halfway through the race.)

I would say this is where the race started to get really hard. Once I hit mile 10, I knew I only had a 5K left to go, but also that it was going to be mostly uphill. I pretty much stopped looking at my splits at this point, but hey, positive splits for positive people, right? The long steep uphill at mile 11 basically destroyed me and I walked up part of it (as quickly as I could.) Mile 12 wasn’t much better, but once I got through that I was like, OK, one more mile. I saw my husband waiting for me right at the last little turn toward the finish. He was very encouraging and said, “I thought you would have been done by now!” Hahahaha, thanks!  The last three quarters of a mile of the race felt like they took forever, and when I crossed the finish line I immediately went off to the side and sat down in the grass, happy to be done!

Riley’s Rumble Half Marathon 2024 – Photo by Dan Reichmann, MCRRC

There were no medals or awards, because as the race organizers, the Montgomery County Road Runners, said on the race website, you don’t need anything to remember your Riley’s Rumble experience. That was the truth! According to the results, though, I finished 7th female and was 5th in my age group. Masters Female runners had a great day!

Overall, I’d say I really enjoyed my Riley’s Rumble experience, challenging as it was! Because you didn’t get medals or awards, or even a T-shirt, the race was only $32, and free for members of the Montgomery County Road Runners. I live in Anne Arundel County and am not a member, but $32 is pretty damn cheap for a half.

It was a great way to kick off 44!

I ran a sub-90 minute half marathon at Rock ‘N Roll D.C.

/ runningforunicorns / 4 Comments

After three failed attempts last fall, I finally did it. I broke 90 minutes in the half marathon at the St. Jude Rock ‘N Roll D.C. Half Marathon on St. Patrick’s Day weekend! My official time was 1:29:27, good enough to win my age group and finish among the top 50 females at the race. 

I’m honestly still on cloud 9. Yes, Boston has been the focus of my training, but the desire to run a sub-90 half never went away and when I registered for Rock ‘N Roll D.C. a month out from Boston, I definitely thought “maybe this is my shot.” And it was! 

Here is my recap of my first sub-90 half marathon! 

I was originally registered to run the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler – I had gotten in as a seeded runner, meaning I was able to bypass the lottery because of my time at Cherry Blossom 2022 (still my 10 mile PR.) But when I registered, I did not realize it was 8 days before Boston and I knew I did not have the discipline to not race it all out …. So I transferred my bib to an Instagram friend’s husband. That’s when I decided to register for Rock ‘N Roll D.C. on March 16. I had run this race before, wayyyy back in 2015, as I trained for the Pittsburgh Marathon. I ran a then PR of 1:46 on a day with torrential downpours. I really enjoyed the course, even though the weather blew. I knew there were some rolling hills, but nothing crazy (or so I remembered!) I also ran the marathon, which no longer exists, in 2016. So I decided to register for the 2024 race. 

I wasn’t expecting there to be any pacers, as I couldn’t find anything on the website that said anything about pace teams. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out there was a 1:30 pacer, whom I met at the expo the day before the race. He told me he planned to go out slightly ahead of pace due to the infamous hill in Rock Creek Park. I did remember that hill from when I ran the half marathon and marathon years ago, but didn’t think it was going to be all that bad. (Spoiler alert: It was.)

On race day, I got up extremely early and got to D.C. by 6 am, even though the race wasn’t starting until 8. Ridiculously early, yes, but I was still scarred from my experience getting to the Annapolis Running Festival so damn late. At least I wasn’t rushed!! I checked my bag, used the porta potties about 100 times, LOL, chatted with other runners, and did a 1-mile warmup before hopping into my corral around 7:45. The weather was perfect. Low 50s, very little wind. The cherry blossoms were also blooming and looked beautiful! It was sunny enough that I didn’t wear arm warmers with my tank top and shorts, and felt very comfortable as soon as I started running. 

Rock ‘N Roll D.C. is a big race – over 13,000 people in the half, I think. (There is also a 5K.) I was put in corral A, just behind the elites, and the course was initially very crowded and I felt boxed in at the beginning. My goal pace was 6:50, but I ran the first mile around the National Mall in 7:07, which did not inspire much confidence for the rest of the race. Still, I told myself it was only the first mile. Lots of time to make up the difference.  

Mile 2 was a 6:52 – OK, much better, and I was locked in with the pace group by then. There were probably about 15 to 20 of us running with the pacer, and we were almost elbow to elbow as we ran across Arlington Memorial Bridge and back.

Those miles flew by, and I ran a 6:39 for mile 3 and a 6:18 (maybe?! The buildings could have messed up my Garmin) for mile 4. At that point, I was like, shit. 6:18 is faster than my 5K PR pace, so the fact that I ran that fast so early in a half marathon – if it was indeed accurate – was a bit alarming. But I was feeling pretty good and was able to get down a Maurten gel, and I continued to hang with the pace group. At that point, we were running down Rock Creek Parkway, and I knew the Rock Creek hill would be a little more than halfway through the race. The next few miles were also ahead of pace, but they were pretty flat: 

Mile 5: 6:43 

Mile 6: 6:36

Mile 7: 6:44

The hill came around mile 7.5. And. It was SO MUCH WORSE than I remembered. Heartbreak Hill ain’t got nothing on this incline. The Naval Academy Bridge is a piece of cake in comparison. This hill crushed my soul and I thought my race was over when I got to the top of it and the pacer left me (and a bunch of others) in the dust. I almost wanted to walk for a second, but there were so many spectators lining the course there, including a sergeant yelling “come on! It’s only a speed bump! Get to the top!” Haha. When my watch beeped for mile 8, I saw I had run a 7:06, so I definitely slowed down significantly, but not as much as I’d feared. But still, getting back up to speed wasn’t easy and I had lost track of the pacer, which was discouraging. I told myself to just do the best I could. 

I had been told that the race course was mostly flat and downhill after you turn onto Calvert Street following the Rock Creek hill, but honestly, that’s BS. There are a lot of rollers in the later part of the race. But I was able to drop my pace to sub-7s again. The race was definitely getting harder and the sun was glaring in my eyes despite my sunglasses, but I wasn’t going down without a fight. 

Mile 9: 6:58

Mile 10: 6:41

I hadn’t set my Garmin to elapsed time, and I actually had no idea how much longer I had to break 90. And I can’t really do math under the best of circumstances, so forget about trying to do it in a half marathon. I just tried to run as fast as I could, and I threw down some surprisingly fast miles in the final 5K of the race. There were more spectators around at that point as we headed toward the Capitol, but to be honest, I was so in the zone that I can’t remember much.

Mile 11: 6:37

Mile 12: 6:26

Just after I hit mile 12, I saw the pacer right up ahead of me! I had caught up! I thought he was probably aiming to finish just under 1:30 and I told myself, just hang on. You’re almost there. You might really be going sub-90! The main thing I remember is that around mile 12.5, the last band on the course (as it’s a Rock ‘N Roll race, there are bands every mile or two) was playing a rendition of the ‘90s R&B slow jam by Mint Condition, Pretty Brown Eyes. Love me some ‘90s R&B, but that was an interesting choice late in a half marathon. 

I ran mile 13 in 6:53, made the final turn toward the finish line, and gunned it as best I could. I’ve  never been great at that final kick, but I ran the final 0.29 (guess who was crap at running the tangents? I was probably weaving around other runners too much in the earlier part of the race) in 1:44. I immediately stopped my watch and saw 1:29:29 (official time was 1:29:27), let out a scream, and went up to the pacer and hugged him. My pace according to my Garmin was 6:44/mile over 13.29 miles. Again, I did not excel at running the tangents in this crowded race. Maybe if I’d run an actual 13.1, I could have been under 1:29! Oh well.   

Why did I finally succeed at sub-90?

My theory is that I finally accomplished my goal because I have been running higher mileage this spring. I’ve averaged around 60 miles per week in my Boston training, and have peaked at 65 miles per week. I am a runner who frankly does better when running a lot of miles. Less is not more for me. I saw a major breakthrough in my marathon time when I increased my training mileage from an average of 42-45 miles per week to an average of 52-53. Then I had another big PR when I started averaging 60+ miles each week. I am probably lucky that my body can handle that kind of training load and that I have the time to fit all the miles in – not everyone can, or wants to, of course. Last fall, when I first started trying to break 90, my weeks averaged around 55 miles and I only broke 60 miles per week twice in my 12-week training plan. That may not have been enough to accomplish my goal, even though I was doing way more half marathon specific pace work. Anyway, that’s what I think!   

Now it’s on to Boston! I was aiming for a 3:15, but this half time indicates I could be a little faster than that. Of course, Boston is a tough course and the weather is unpredictable at best…. But I am feeling optimistic and excited! 23 days to go!  

My running goals for 2024!

/ runningforunicorns / Leave a comment

Here we are already in the 2nd week of February, and this is my first blog post of the year! 

I guess I haven’t had that much to say. I haven’t had any races recently and I don’t have any planned for February. My first race of the year will be the 10K at the Annapolis Running Festival in March. I came in 3rd place female last year and would love to place again, but as always, you never know how you’ll actually perform or who else will show up who’s a lot faster!

I did want to take a quick moment to jot down my running goals for 2024! Here we go! 

Boston Marathon in 3:15 or faster! 

I think I have it in me to run a 3:15 marathon, possibly faster than that if I have a great day in Boston. My recent 1:31 half indicates a marathon finish time of 3:12-3:15. Is Boston a hard course? Yes, it certainly can be if you go out way too fast and get crushed on the Newton Hills. It can also be a relatively fast course if you play your cards right, i.e., start conservatively and then crush the later miles. I blew up in the final 10K in 2019, my first year running the race. But then in both 2022 and 2023, I came within about a minute of my then-PR both times. I don’t think PRing in Boston is impossible by any means. I’m going to go for it! I am currently following a modified version of Pfitzinger’s 12/70 plan, turning it into 12/65. Peaking at 70 miles per week is just a little too much for me. I’ve only done it once, when prepping for the 2022 Chicago Marathon. It did get me a 3:18 PR, but then for Boston last year, I peaked at 62 miles per week and ran a 3:19. So, mileage-wise I want to shoot for something in between that. Plus, running 15 miles on a random Wednesday before work is overkill to me and takes away from my enjoyment of marathon training. 12 miles is kind of my limit for a weekday run.  

Run the Ohiopyle Marathon for fun

Or maybe for a PR if Boston is a Dumpster fire. 😉 

If you’re a regular reader, you might remember that I asked my husband to sign me up for a bonus marathon this spring as part of my Christmas present. He picked a tiny marathon in western PA, about an hour from where I grew up, called the Great Allegheny Ohiopyle Marathon Race Festival. I was sure he would pick either Buffalo or Gettysburg, so I was very surprised and excited! Ohiopyle is really a pretty area – I have been there, but it’s probably been 25 years or so. My plan is to race Boston and run Ohiopyle for fun, kind of like I did when I ran Chicago and Philly in 2022. But again, if my race in Boston goes to hell, I’ll have this one to fall back on! 

Sub-90 Half! 

Still chasing that dream! I actually had no plans to run another half any time soon, but then I decided to sign up for the Rock ‘N Roll D.C. Half Marathon on March 16, mainly as a way to test my fitness a month before Boston. But let’s be real, I’ve been open about my goal to break 90 minutes in the half and I absolutely am going to try to do that again at this race. I ran this half marathon once before, in 2015, finishing in 1:46 – a PR at the time! I’ve obviously gotten a lot faster since then, so I know I can at least count on a nice course PR unless things go horribly off the rails. I also ran the marathon in 2016! 

So, that’s this spring. I haven’t thought much beyond that. I am most likely going to try to run the New York City Marathon in the fall. I did meet their qualifying standards, but that’s no guarantee I’ll get into the race – the race accepts qualifiers from New York Road Runners races first, and I have never run any of those races. If I can’t do NYC, I might sign up for Richmond. We’ll see! 

What are your goals for 2024?

Third time wasn’t the charm for sub-90: The 2023 Rehoboth Seashore Half Marathon

/ runningforunicorns / Leave a comment

The Rehoboth Half was my last ditch attempt at a sub-90 minute half marathon this fall. 

Third time wasn’t the charm for me. I finished in 1:31:45, another very modest PR – this time by 12 seconds. 

Honestly, though, I am not nearly as disappointed as I was after I finished Richmond. It was still a PR. I got second in my age group and finished 8th overall female out of more than 1,000 women. And, as I’ve written on my blog before, the after party at this race is insanely fun. You will not find a better after party at any race, anywhere! So, I went into this race knowing that even if it was a total shit show, I was going to have a great time. 

It wasn’t a total shit show (just a minor shit show, really), and I definitely did have a great time! Here’s how it went down.

Before the race 

On Thanksgiving Day, I ran the Turkey Trot in my hometown of Greensburg, PA, which I do every year. The course is brutal and hilly, but I ran a pretty significant course PR of 20:19 (previous fastest time on this course was 20:45.) So that was a huge confidence booster going into the half marathon. The weather was expected to be in the low 50s for the race, which is pretty good. No rain or crazy winds. Last year, it rained quite a bit for my final three miles of the half – I felt bad for the marathoners! 

My sister Catherine came to town the day before the race and she, Micah and I headed down to Rehoboth after I wrapped up work. Speaking of weather, it actually was disgustingly rainy that Friday, so the two-hour drive to the beach took more than 2.5 hours! We met up with Shannon, who was also running the half, once we got there and had dinner and drinks at Dogfish Head, then headed to the condo I rented near Lewes.

By the time I got into bed, it was close to midnight, which was not ideal. Sure enough, when I woke up the next morning, my Whoop told me I got less than 5 hours of sleep and my resting heart rate was elevated. Great! (I should know better than to look at that thing on race morning, to be honest. What good does it really do?)

Race day!

We got to downtown Rehoboth around 6:20, so I had plenty of time to use the bathroom before the 7 am race start. I ran into my friend Vanessa, who told me she saw a 1:30 half marathon pacer. I was excited about that, because I wasn’t expecting one! As in Richmond, there were quite a few of us who formed a pack around the 1:30 guy (there were also a bunch of marathoners running with the 3:00 pacer, so for the first few miles we were running with that group as well.) 

We went off promptly at 7 and I felt pretty warm almost immediately. Even though it was only in the 50s, it was more humid than I was expecting. I wore a tank top and shorts and wished I’d had a crop top or sports bra on instead. The first few miles felt OK. Not amazing. I was grabbing water at the water stations and pouring it on myself because I was that warm. They changed the course for this race a few years ago, and now you get to run the whole length of the boardwalk. Unfortunately, because it had rained quite a bit the previous day, the boards were slippery!

We also went out hot – too hot. My splits for the first three miles were 6:49, 6:42, and 6:51. Then we split mile 4 in 6:44. Yikes. My goal pace was 6:50-6:52, so well ahead of what I should have been running. But again, I felt OK, if not fantastic. I saw Catherine and Micah on the boardwalk around the mile 3 mark, and that pumped me up! 

The half marathon splits off from the marathon at Cape Henlopen State Park, and then the half marathoners run back through the neighborhoods in Rehoboth and then onto the Junction and Breakwater Trail. I was still running with the pack then and we ran mile 5 in 6:57, mile 6 in 6:56 and mile 7 in 6:51. I saw Catherine and Micah again at mile 6. Catherine was SO loud, haha! It is always nice to have such enthusiastic spectators!

Catherine got this pic of me around mile 6!

Unfortunately, right after I saw them is when my race basically started to go off the rails and each mile got progressively slower until the final mile of the race. Womp womp.

You start to enter the Junction and Breakwater Trail around mile 8, which is mostly crushed gravel/dirt. I’m very familiar with the trail, given that I’ve run this race many times in the past and I run on the trail when I’m in Rehoboth for vacation. It’s not what I would call technical, but because of the previous day’s weather, it was muddier and more slippery than usual, and I was definitely afraid of tripping and falling. I clocked a 7:00 flat for mile 8, and a 7:14 for mile 9, but the terrain wasn’t the only reason I was slowing down. I was simply paying for the earlier, too fast miles. I also had planned to take a Maurten gel halfway through the race, but then just like in Richmond, didn’t feel like I could stomach it. Need to figure that out! 

Once I hit mile 10 (7:17), I told myself the after party was waiting and I’d be there soon. The 1:30 pacer had left me in the dust at that point, but I was trying to smile and wave at runners who were running in the opposite direction. 

The next two miles heading back to the town of Rehoboth continued to trend downward – 7:20 and 7:22 for miles 11 and 12. 

I was able to pick up the pace during mile 13 (7:03). When I turned the last corner to run toward the finish, the man running next to me said, “come on, let’s go, we’ll be under 1:32” and I mustered all of my energy to have somewhat of a finish line kick – never really my strong point – and finish in 1:31:45.

Was I disappointed? Yes, but not devastated. I knew sub-90 was always going to be tough. I met up with Micah and Catherine, sat down for a few minutes, then headed back to the finish line area for Shannon. She had a great race, and finished 15 minutes faster than she did in Ocean City!

Then, it was on to the after party! (Honestly, I think this is the whole reason my sister came down to cheer me on! Haha!) Runners get three beer tickets for Dogfish Head beer, and your friends and family can buy their own wristbands and have access to the beer and food. There’s a DJ, and he always plays such fun music, especially for those of us in our 40s (since we all love our ‘80s and ‘90s music.)

“Do the limbo holding your award”

Last year, I tripped and skinned my knee reaching for a shot of Fireball at the after party, so I said not doing that was my main goal this year aside from breaking 90 minutes. I turned down several offers to take a shot this time, so at least I accomplished one of my goals.

Lessons learned and what’s next

Well, in Captain Obvious takes, going out too fast will blow up my race. I’m not mad at the pacer by any means, but maybe I shouldn’t rely on them too much. I’ve had such good luck with pace groups in marathons, though! 

As for what’s next, I am shelving the sub-90 half marathon goal for the time being, only because I am not signed up for any more half marathons in the near future. I’m taking some down time before I start training for the Boston Marathon in January. I am signed up for a 5K on Christmas Eve, which I will race, but I don’t have any big goals for it. Other than that, so far I am only registered for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in April, two weeks before Boston. I was able to use my 2022 Cherry Blossom time – still my 10 mile PR – to get in as a seeded runner and bypass the lottery, so I am excited about that. 

I’m optimistic that my half marathon training block set me up well for this spring. My 1:31 half time indicates a marathon time in the low 3:10s, and I would love to break 3:15 in Boston! I know it is a hard course, but it will also be the fourth time I have run it, so I have that on my side. 

Also! I asked my husband to sign me up for a “bonus” spring marathon for Christmas. I told him I wanted it to be after Boston and before Memorial Day, so I’ll find out what he signed me up for on Christmas. I can’t wait!

Sub-90 minute half marathon, attempt no. 2: A recap of The 2023 Richmond Half Marathon

/ runningforunicorns / 2 Comments

I thought I’d have a different story to tell about the Richmond Half Marathon. 

I was SO SURE this was going to be my day to break 90 minutes in the half. I’d heard nothing but amazing things about the race. The weather forecast was this runner’s dream – 40s and almost no wind. I’d run a super strong half in Ocean City two weeks prior when it was literally 40 degrees warmer. I felt so ready! 

Instead, I finished in 1:31:57, which was a 6-second PR. Still a great time and a race I am proud of. But it certainly wasn’t the time I was shooting for. 

So what happened? I think I screwed myself by getting ahead of the pace group wayyyyy too early in the race – I should have known better. More on that in a minute! 

The week after Ocean City, I didn’t run much because I was in Orlando for work (with a little fun tacked on.) I managed to squeeze in 4 miles before I left, then two 5-mile runs around the hotel I was staying at, then a 10-mile run when I got back home. I wasn’t too worried about it and don’t think it affected my race in Richmond. The week of the race, I followed the same schedule I did during the week leading up to OC. All good. 

I had the day before the race off of work, so Micah and I drove down to Richmond, hit the expo, and checked into the Virginia Crossings Hotel. We decided to eat at one of the restaurants at the hotel and I had salmon, quinoa, and veggies for dinner (plus two beers, duh!) I don’t normally eat salmon the night before a race, but I thought this seemed like a good mix of protein and carbs. 

Getting to downtown Richmond the next morning was pretty easy and I had plenty of time to pee, get into my start corral, and find the 1:30 pace group. I was really excited to have pacers this time since Ocean City didn’t have pacers. (So– why did I get ahead of the damn pacers then??! I have no explanation for my stupidity!) There was a huge pack of us who clustered around the two pacers, and I was excited about that. Teamwork! 

One of the pacers told another runner they’d be running even 6:52 splits, but now that I am looking back over the splits I ran during the race, the pacers actually went out faster than expected – we ran the first mile in 6:43 and the second mile in 6:46. So maybe it wasn’t all my fault that I went out too fast! That said, somewhere after mile 2 I got ahead of them as I think they dialed it back and I went on running full steam ahead. Miles 3 and 4 were closer to my goal half marathon pace; I finished those miles in 6:52 and 6:50, respectively. 

The next few miles of the race had some rolling hills, but I live in an area with lots of rolling hills and run on them every day, so I felt well-trained for it. This was also one of the prettiest parts of the course, with lots of beautiful fall foliage. I clocked a 7:07 for mile 5 and a 6:46 for mile 6. Mile 6 was, sadly, the last time I’d see a pace that began with a 6 that day. 

I had taken a Maurten gel just before the race started, and my plan was to take a second one halfway through the race, which I did in Ocean City. But my stomach was feeling a little funky, and I wondered if it was the previous night’s salmon that came back to bite me in the ass. Or, it could have been that I was just pushing really hard. Who knows. Either way, I never took my second gel. 

I ran mile 7 in 7:02, and the pace group passed me right about then, which is never encouraging. I told myself I could catch up with them. Spoiler alert, that never happened! The race was starting to feel hard around mile 8 (7:04) and then when I saw a 7:14 on my watch for mile 9, and lost sight of the pace group all together, I felt super defeated. But I told myself I only had four miles left, and that meant less than a half hour of running, so it was time to suck it up! 

I do have to point out that this course really was nice – definitely more interesting than Ocean City, even if there were more hills. And the crowds were awesome! The race, which also features a marathon and an 8K, bills itself as America’s Friendliest Marathon, and I can see why. They definitely pepped me up during the later miles! 

Mile 10: 7:04

Mile 11: 7:06

Mile 12: 7:15 

This race is known for its extremely steep downhill finish, so once I finished mile 12, I knew that was coming. However, I wasn’t counting on being able to run a stupid fast mile down it, because to be honest, I am not a strong downhill runner. I’m too tentative and afraid of falling and hurting myself. (For good reason! Do I need to remind anyone of my epic fall in Boston 2022?) I will say the downhill finish lives up to the hype, and if you are a great downhill runner, you’d love this. Runners were literally flying past me. The best I could do was a 7:08 mile, ha! 

I wasn’t looking at the elapsed time on my watch, but I knew I was over 1:30. As I approached the finish line, I saw the clock read 1:31:5x and I gave it everything I had to get under 1:32 and officially run a PR, if only by a tiny amount. 

I’m not one to get really upset by missing my goals in races, but this one hurt. I called Micah right after finishing and told him I’d never been so disappointed in a PR. I collected my medal, then my finisher’s hat and blanket (this race had really good swag!) and went to meet up with him. 

I wasn’t hungry at all after finishing, and in fact struggled to have much of an appetite for hours, but I did enjoy a delicious gingerbread stout beer at the after party! I also got to meet up with my Instagram friend Rachel for the first time in person. She had a fantastic race and ran a big PR! 

Of course, since a PR is a PR, no matter how small, I wanted to ring the PR bell! Too bad I was just a tiny bit overzealous and I broke it!! Luckily, Micah was there to put it back together. Yay for husbands who drive you to races and fix the PR bells you break. Ha! 

Given that Richmond is a much, much larger race than OC, I had no expectations of placing. But I finished 4th in my age group and Richmond gives awards to the top 5 finishers in each age group. According to the website, I’ll receive instructions on how to claim my personalized award in December. So that’s something to look forward to! 

So, what’s next? I’m not ready to give up the sub-90 dream yet. I am running the Rehoboth Seashore Half in two weekends and yes, I am going to go for it again. There will be a 1:30 pace group again and my plan is to stick with them no matter how good I think I’m feeling in the beginning. Since there are three weeks between Richmond and Rehoboth, I decided to just follow the last three weeks of my half marathon training plan. I know my training was optimized for Ocean City, but we’ll see what I can do one last time before my fall racing season officially ends. 

Either way, there will be a hell of an after party, so it’ll be a good day!