running

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

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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!  

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

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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!

100 miles in one month: Mission accomplished!

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I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions. It’s not that I’m not a goal-oriented person. But it always makes more sense to me to set personal goals on my birthday than on New Year’s. (This could be because I think New Year’s is the most overblown, overhyped holiday out there. But I digress.)

That said, I LOVE a good challenge, especially when there is a competitive edge to it! So I am happy to announce that I completed my friend Matt’s annual 25/50/75/100 Mile Challenge for the month of January.

The rules are simple: You choose your goal (could be 25, 50, 75 or 100 miles) and commit to completing that mileage by Jan. 31. Every time you finish a run, you log your miles and report them to Matt, who keeps a daily leaderboard that he posts in a private Facebook event. Several dozen of his friends signed up for the challenge, and it’s so fun to see all the participants proudly reporting their miles each day — especially because not everyone is a hardcore runner. It’s inspiring to see people who insist they aren’t runners crush their goals!

Since I am training for yet another marathon, I knew reaching 100 miles would not be a problem for me, but I thought I’d get there sooner than I did. I hit 100 on Jan. 26, after being sick with a nasty cold/cough the week earlier that ruined my long run plans for last weekend. And as I said, having a friendly competition is a powerful motivator! I knew my friend Kree (Matt’s wife) would be at 100 miles on Jan. 26, so I made sure I met my goal that night — even though it was Friday night and I totally did not feel like getting on the treadmill. But I ran those last five miles anyway!

Then the next day, I ran 16 miles in keeping with my marathon training plan — so I am now at 116 miles for January. I should be able to finish out the month somewhere in the low 120s. I was hoping to be in the 130s, and I probably would have been had I not gotten sick. But what can you do? It is cold and flu season, after all.

January is my least favorite month by far — it’s cold (though we’ve had some mild days the past week), the holidays are over and spring and summer feel SO far away. Having a goal definitely makes the month go by faster — which is probably why I just can’t quit spring marathons!

Speed work makes the dream work

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…. or something like that.

As I mentioned before, I’m following Hal Higdon’s Advanced 2 marathon training plan as I prepare for the Rehoboth Marathon. It’s far more challenging than the plan I’ve followed previously, incorporating hill repeats, speed workouts and a total of three 20-mile long runs leading up to the race. (My old plan had me running one 20-miler before the taper.) But let’s talk about those speed workouts.

This is my first time doing Yasso 800s, which are supposed to be a way to predict your marathon finishing time. They’re named for Bart Yasso, longtime race services manager at Runner’s World magazine and a seasoned marathoner and ultramarathoner. (I’m reading his book now — review to come!)

Basically, Yasso realized that he could gauge his marathon time based on how long it took him to run 800 meters, or a half-mile. If you can run, say, 800 meters (two laps around your typical high school track) in four minutes, you will likely bang out a four-hour marathon. Training to run a 3:30 marathon? Then run your Yasso 800s in three minutes and 30 seconds. You get the idea. Here’s the whole history of Yasso 800s and how Bart came up with the concept.

With the plan I am following, I’m running my 800s every third week. I started with four repeats three weeks ago and will progress up to eight repeats. In between each 800-meter sprint, I jog for 400 meters to recover. I’ve been shooting for 800s in 3:35. My Boston qualifying standard is 3:40, but I’m trying to give myself a solid cushion, so a 3:35 marathon is my ultimate goal! It means I need to knock seven minutes off my marathon time– definitely not impossible.

I’m not going to lie — speed work is not my favorite thing to do. In fact, I think it kind of blows. So I’m hoping this is as effective as the pros say! Three weeks ago, I went to the track at the local high school and ran my 800s as the football team practiced in the background. Tonight, it was pouring, so I ran my five repeats on the treadmill. Works just as well.

Not everyone believes in the total accuracy of the Yasso 800s — this article notes there’s no scientific data to back up its legitimacy as a time predictor. So we’ll see! Regardless, it’s certainly challenging my body and helping me to mix up my training.

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

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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!