Maryland races

How I ran a sub-1:40 half marathon: A recap of the Historic Drawbridge Half

/ runningforunicorns / 4 Comments

This past Saturday, I ran my 20th half marathon and broke 1:40 for the first time! I finished the Historic Drawbridge Half on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1:38:53, and I could not be more proud of myself.

As I’ve written previously, my goal was to break 1:40 in the half by the time I turn 40 next July, and I was training to do it at the Philadelphia Half Marathon on Nov. 23. This was actually the first time I ever followed a formal training plan for a half; when gearing up for a half marathon before, I just ran my normal 3-6 miles a few times a week, plus a long run of 10-12 miles on the weekends. That was always good enough for a solid 1:42-1:45 finish time, but I knew I had to kick it up a notch if I wanted to run a sub-1:40.

Enter Hal Higdon’s Advanced Half Marathon Training Program, which prescribed a 15K (9.3 mile) race for last weekend’s long run. 15Ks are hard to find, so I started searching for a 10 mile race when I found out about the inaugural Historic Drawbridge Half from Tilghman Island to St. Michael’s. The race, organized by TCR Event Management, raised money for volunteer fire companies in the area.

It looked like a great PR course — pancake flat and point to point, with no turns until, the race director joked, mile 13.05 when runners turned left into the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum where the finish line was. Only a few hundred runners were expected, so I knew I wasn’t going to get caught up in the crowds like I did in the Baltimore Half. AND there was a 1:40 pacer! Six days before the race, I decided to sign up and go for it. I’m obviously really glad that I did.

I can’t say enough about how well-organized the race was. Because it was the first year for the race, I expected a few logistical hiccups, but everything went so smoothly. I picked up my packet at the Maritime Museum Saturday morning and boarded a bus to the start line on Tilghman Island, exactly 13.1 miles away. There were no delays whatsoever with the bus, and we were all treated to an absolutely beautiful sunrise as we waited for the race to begin.

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It was about 40 degrees outside and I wore running shorts, knee high VitalSox compression socks, my long-sleeved Boston race shirt and my Boston Celebration jacket. I was actually afraid of overheating in the jacket, but I felt pretty comfortable throughout the race. All in all, the weather was pretty ideal.

I started off with the 1:40 pacer and he said he was going to try to come within a minute of his goal time — so if I stuck with him, I’d have a 1:39:xx time. I was planning to run with the group until mile 10 or 11, then pull on ahead.

Mile 1: 7:29
Mile 2: 7:33
Mile 3: 7:31
Mile 4: 7:32

As it happened, I ran with the 1:40 group for the first few miles, then was feeling good so I pulled ahead. I knew it was risky and that I could blow up in the later miles, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Mile 5: 7:28
Mile 6: 7:21
Mile 7: 7:29
Mile 8: 7:25

Around miles 7 and 8 (I think), we started running into a headwind, and that was annoying. (Though I heard some other runners who live in the area say after the race that it was nothing like what they normally deal with.) One downside of this race is that it also got kind of boring after a while. We were running on the shoulder of the highway and there was zero spectator support. But to be honest, I wasn’t there to be wowed by the crowds; I’ll get that in Philly later this month. I was there for a PR.

Mile 9: 7:34
Mile 10: 7:45

Mile 10 was my slowest mile of the race. This is when the race got hard and I really had to rally mentally. I was recently asked what I think about when I am racing, and I didn’t have a good answer. But I realized during the race that I give myself pep talks. In this race, I kept telling myself I had trained for this and that it was time for me to finish the fight. (Seriously. I was really into the World Series this year and was cheering for the Nats, what can I say?)

Mile 11: 7:33
Mile 12: 7:35

I was really proud that I was able to hold a pace in the 7:30s that late in the race, because it was a huge struggle. After I passed the mile 12 marker, I told myself, “You could run a 9-minute mile right now and still meet your goal!” I ended up maintaining my pace pretty well, though.

Mile 13: 7:39

I ran the last 0.1 in 59 seconds, saw 1:38 on the finish line clock and broke into a huge smile! (The finish line announcer called out my name and said I was “grinning from ear to ear.”) Once I stopped, I must have looked pretty spent, though, because a volunteer handed me a bottle of water, asked me if I was OK and if I needed to sit down. I felt pretty good — just pooped! But so happy!

I later found out that I was the third female finisher, which was cool, but I was way more excited about breaking 1:40.

I cashed in my beer tickets (finishers got two free beers!) while I waited for the awards ceremony to start. Turns out I was a VERY distant third place finisher — the first female ran a 1:21 and the second place female ran a 1:25. So freaking fast.

The awards ceremony was awesome for several reasons:

1. They played the Jurassic Park theme song. Who doesn’t love that?

2. As I walked up to the podium, the announcer said, “Here comes Allison Sauntry, sauntering up to get her award!” and that cracked me up.

3. Of course I had one of my freebie beers in my hand, so I had to set that down by the podium so I could accept my prize. Afterwards, the second place female (I think) handed me her two free beer tickets — I’m sure she assumed I would put them to good use. Had I not driven myself to the race, I certainly would have.

I won a $15 gift certificate to TriCycle and Run on St. Michael’s (the owners also own TCR Event Management), which I used to buy awesome Brooks cushioned socks. I also won a nice trophy.

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I heard that TCR put this race together to replace Across the Bay 10K, the annual race across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge that was put on hold this year due to bridge construction. As someone who prefers half marathons to 10Ks anyway, I am a huge fan. I would definitely recommend this race to other runners!

A 5K double header: One in the morning, one in the afternoon

/ runningforunicorns / 2 Comments

Have I mentioned how much I hate 5Ks?

OK, I don’t hate them. I mean, if I’m counting right, I’ve done nine in 2019 alone, and we have three months left in the year! So, obviously, they can’t be too terrible!

Except almost every time I run one, I think, “Well, that sucked!” and “I could have done better.” They just hurt so bad and I struggle with pacing myself correctly. Earlier this year, I attempted to train to run a fast 5K (anything under 22 minutes for me), and then targeted a race that ended up being a total disaster. “5Ks just aren’t my thing,” I told myself afterwards. “It’s fine.”

And yet — I keep signing up for them. Like this past Sunday when I ran a 5K at 9 am and then another 5K at 2 pm.

I mean, why not? I do like to challenge myself. (I actually have run two races in one day before, but the second one was a fun run.)

The first 5K was the Together in TEAL — Ending Ovarian Cancer — 5K Run/3K Walk to benefit the Central Maryland chapter of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. My employer was one of the sponsors, and we had a team at work, so my co-worker and friend Ariana and I decided to run it.

The second was the 9/11 Heroes Run benefiting the Travis Manion Foundation, named in honor of a Naval Academy graduate who was killed in Iraq in 2007. I had written about the Heroes Run when I was at ABC2 in Baltimore, and my first ever story for RunWashington was a profile of a woman who works with the Foundation to honor fallen soldiers. So I was very familiar with the organization and all that it stands for.

The two runs obviously totaled 6.2 miles, far less than I would typically run on a Sunday, but of course the effort was much faster. Oh, and it was really hot out, even though it was the day before the official start of fall. I’m so ready for cooler running weather.

I got to the NOCC run at 8 am, since I planned to take pictures to share on social media for work. Before the race started, several ovarian cancer survivors spoke, as well as those who had lost their loved ones to ovarian cancer. It was very emotional and I know I wasn’t the only one in the audience who got teary.

The race started promptly at 9 and to be honest, I did not care for the course, which was entirely in the Annapolis Mall parking lot. It was just really boring, and of course, there was no shade (except for around mile 1.5, when we turned into the Nordstrom parking garage and did a small loop.) It was mostly flat, but running around a mall for 3.1 miles isn’t exactly the most scenic or exciting route!

I did a HORRIBLE job of pacing this one. HORRIBLE. I took off way too fast and hit the first mile in 6:15. 6:15!!! WTF! That’s only four seconds slower than I ran the Market Street Mile, and it’s at least 45 seconds too fast for the first mile of a 5K.

I never stopped to walk, but my splits were UGLY. My second mile was a 7:07 and my third mile was a 7:34. And that’s why I suck at 5Ks! I have such a hard time holding back and I all too often expend all my energy in the first mile.

I pretty much felt like crap halfway through and just kept telling myself it would be over soon. (But I also asked myself, “Why are you doing another one of these this afternoon? What is wrong with you?”) There weren’t many spectators and there was nothing to really look at except for the parking lot, so like I said, it was boring. The course was also not that well marked, and if I had been in the lead, I probably would have made a wrong turn and messed up my race. At around mile 2.6, we approached the finish line and I thought, “Man, this course is really short!”

I started to make a right turn toward the finish line and a volunteer steered me away and in the direction of one last half-mile loop before turning around and actually running through the finish. My final time was 22:13, which was good for first in my age group and second overall female. The age group situation was different — I was in the 31-40 year old group, whereas usually I fall in the 30-39 group or the 35-39 group. Whatever. An age group win is an age group win!

Even though I didn’t love the course, I would recommend the race because it is for a good cause. Learn more about the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, and the annual race, here.

9/11 Heroes Run

I had a few hours of downtime until I had to head to the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for the Heroes Run. As I mentioned earlier, it got hot — temperatures neared 90 degrees by early afternoon. Awesome. I didn’t have high expectations, time-wise, for this race, given the heat and the fact that I had already raced that day. My biggest hope was to run more even splits!

Because Lt. Manion was a Naval Academy grad, it seemed like at least half of the race participants were midshipmen. In fact, there was one whole age group for 19-year-olds, one for 20-year-olds and one for 21-year-olds! My age group for this race was unusual, too– 36-44. Never seen that before!

The start of the race was VERY crowded, which was probably a good thing for me because it kept me from going out too fast. The race began at the stadium and went through the Admiral Heights neighborhood before returning to the stadium. I ran the first mile in 7:14 and felt good about it. The neighborhood was a little hilly, but nothing too crazy — it was comparable to the rolling hills in my neighborhood in Edgewater. I was able to pass a lot of other runners after the first mile, when the field thinned out. Even with the hills, running in Admiral Heights was way better than running in the mall parking lot — there was at least a little shade and lots of the residents came out to watch the race and cheer us on! I ran the second mile in 7:23.

After we left the neighborhood, we headed back toward the stadium and ran a loop around it before heading toward the finish line. Veteran A10 runners are very familiar with the infamous uphill finish — this race had the same finish. My third mile was a 7:22, so I can definitely say that I accomplished my goal of running more even splits than in the NOCC 5K (not like that would have been hard, LOL!)

My watch read 22:25, and I was pretty excited that I ran this 5K only 13 seconds slower. I thought I had a good chance of winning another age group award, as I didn’t see any women near me on the course who looked to be around my age. Ariana came out to spectate this race and she stayed with me through the awards ceremony, but they didn’t call my name. Oh well, I thought.

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Conquering the 911 Heroes Run, benefiting the Travis Manion Foundation!

But! The day after the race, I looked up the results online (mostly because I wanted to see what my official time was — I usually stop my watch a second or two after I cross the finish line) and realized I wasn’t listed in the results at all. I also looked at the award winners in the female 36-44 year old age group and saw that the winner was listed as running a 22:47.

I emailed the race director, and apparently I wasn’t the only one who experienced this. The race timing company had a major issue with its equipment and a lot of other results were missing. The race organizers are still looking into getting the results sorted out as much as they can, so maybe I won something, maybe not! It’s not really that important — it’s not like this was a BQ marathon or anything. The important thing is that I had fun and helped raise money for a good cause.

Next up for me is the Baltimore Half Marathon on Oct. 19! I don’t really have a time goal — I’m mainly using it as a training run for the Philly Half Marathon in November, when I’ll try to break 1:40. I figure I’ll stay with the 1:45 group in Baltimore and see how I feel. The Baltimore Running Festival is one of my favorite fall running events in Maryland, and I always look forward to it.