Baltimore Race Report

I think I'm finally climbing out of my post-race fog. It's so strange...I've been walking around in a daze since Sunday. I'm feeling very "now what the hell do I do?" and I also came down with some kind of head cold. I spent most of Monday and Tuesday couch bound with zero energy, a killer headache and some major nose issues. I didn't utter a single complaint though because I was so happy my body waited until Monday to come down with it! Now that I'm feeling better, I've noticed that the 'now what' feeling still lingers. After the Marine Corps Half back in May, I never had this feeling because I went straight from total elation of having crossed the finish line to training for Baltimore. Now, with no races on the horizon, I'm feeling a wee bit lost. So what now.....take up a new hobby? Yoga perhaps? I think I'm too hyper for yoga. Maybe I'll try spinning? I've yet to run since Saturday and was thinking about heading out tomorrow to see what happens. I'm fully expecting my legs to buckle under me causing a major fall.

So enough of that....

On to the Official Race Report!!

When we arrived in Baltimore, we drove the route before heading to our hotel. To say that it scared the crap out of me is an understatement. Literally from the first few steps across the starting mats to mile 9, the course was hilly. Big time hilly. There were a few flat parts but I felt like we were doing noting but climbing. My husband was trying to make light of it, cracking jokes about how he was glad he wasn't driving a stick shift and when at stop lights, asking if we were rolling backwards. My face must have been white because then he was all, "Just get to mile 9 then it's all downhill!" Oy.

We headed back to the hotel where I was so anxious, I couldn't sit still so we decided to walk over to the Raven's stadium where the expo was. After getting my packet (quite the odd layout I have to say - there was quite a bit of walking between each 'step' involved and while I'm sure this was all marketing so that you could see all the booths and hopefully spend money, I found it pretty irritating) we decided to walk over to the Inner Harbor for dinner. In all, the walk from our hotel to the harbor (and the starting line for the next day) was 1.5 miles and I was (duh) wearing flip flops. I started imagining all these random pains in my feet and calves and was seriously considering a cab.

The fist thing I did differently from my first half was to eat a big dinner. The night before Fredericksburg, I was also very (majorly) nervous and could barely force down a piece of grilled chicken but Friday night in Baltimore, I went all out. I ordered the whole wheat fettucini with grilled chicken and spinach. It was the most pasta I've eaten in 6 months but man was it good! And I had 3 beers. Carbs people, it's all about the carbs.....ok, and the nerves.

After dinner, and feeling a bit more relaxed, we walked through the Harbor where I stopped into Urban Outfitters and found a sweet top on clearance for $19.99. I was starting to feel things were swinging my way....I do love a good buy. We started to walk the 1.5 miles back to the hotel and of course since I'm a woman and I had 3 beers, I had to go to the bathroom. So our walk turned into a speed walk. Probably not so smart the night before a big race!

I read for a bit then it was lights out around 9:15. I actually slept really well which was a good thing. Another good, the start time. The half marathon was scheduled to start at 9:45 so I had a bit of time in the morning to have a good breakfast, coffee and a shower. After discovering what eggs can do, I had 3 plain eggs on a whole wheat english muffin and that, my friends, is another big difference between Fredericksburg and Baltimore. In my first half, I had one packet of instant oatmeal and a banana which probably isn't bad but I don't think was enough after the small dinner I had the night before.

We walked over to the start and found my pen. I got in there with 2,500 other cattle and waited. And waited, and waited. That part was so hard. Way too much time to stand there and think about the hills. And the heat. I was very concerned about the heat. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was already feeling pretty hot.

Finally, at 9:50, they started walking us to the starting line.

The first 2 miles were so crowded. It was all about weaving around people - already quite a few walkers - and trying to find some kind of rhythm. The good news, we were going so slow that those first few hills were not so bad. I finished mile 1 in 9:30 and mile 2 in 10:00. After that first water stop at mile 2, things started to open up a bit and I started to find a pace I wanted to try and hold on to.

Honestly, I don't know what happened. Everything was just clicking. I felt really good, really strong. The heat wasn't noticeable. The hills, while noticeable, were not kicking my ass they way I assumed they would. I didn't look down at my feet while hitting the hills like in my first half, instead, I kept my head up and talked my way up.

Before the race, I had written on the inside of my wrist '6 in 50!' because I knew, if I were to get this thing done in 1:50, I had to be at mile 6 in 50:23 so I was starting to get my hopes up when I crossed mile 6, looked at my watch and saw 50:10. I started telling myself I should slow down because I didn't want to hit the wall at mile 10 like I did in Fredericksburg. I slowed for a bit but felt so good that I sped back up again.

Before I knew it, I was at mile 9 and practically giddy with happiness. The guy on top of his car wearing a full tiger suit blasting 'Eye of the Tiger' helped.

At mile 11.5, I started to feel tired so I had to pull my iPod off and get my shit back in order. I thought about my form and tried to get my attitude back in check. Fortunately, that was at the exact time that I noticed a guy watching who was holding up a sign that said "RUN YOU CRAZY BITCHES!" which made me laugh out loud. By mile 12, felt pretty damn good again.

The finish was awesome. I felt strong and very, very happy. I wasn't on the verge of tears like last time and boy, does that make a world of difference!

After I crossed the line and checked my watch no less than 10 times to be sure I really did finish in 1:49:10, I just started clapping and laughing like a crazy person. People around me were looking at me like I was nuts....especially when I let out a few "WooHoo!" shouts.

So that's it. I don't remember any particular funny stories...I was in some kind of freaky zone where I was the only one there. There were some spots on the course that felt horribly crowded and you really had to force yourself not to give into the frustration of it, but other than that, I really have no complaints.

We found the Mich Ultra stand and some shade and drank a couple of beers. Then we walked over to a sports bar to partake in more post-race beers and watch the Texas/Oklahoma game. We had a blast.

And so now it's over and while it couldn't have gone better - it went exactly the way I wanted it too - I still can't get past my 'now what' feeling. I'm hoping that once I get out and run just to run, I'll get over that. Runners are unbelievably obsessed people.