marathoner452 | Entries tagged with half marathon

The fall Cresent City Classic 5k/10k in City Park is November 10th.

Then the Mardi Gras 1/2 Marathon on January 28th, 2008. That means I'll be peaking right around Christmas, but it also means that I'll be in recovery mode by the time the party really gets going.

Finally, before summer starts heating up, there will be the Cresent City Classic 10k on March 22nd.

No Tyvek suits required.

Some days you have it, some days you just don’t. Ran the first 5.5 miles at an easy pace (10-10:30), then was supposed to pick it up to marathon pace (9:10) for the rest of the race. Well, that didn’t happen. Ran 5 miles at 9-9:20 pace, then just lost it and jogged it in for a finish around 2:10. Not a bad race by any measure, but not my best effort either.

I did get to meet and talk with a bunch of other marathoners-in-training, which is always fun. Long runs/races are boring when you just do them by yourself. Turns out the woman I was running with ran her first marathon last spring in DC in 4:40, ran the Annapolis 10 Miler at the end of August (great race), and is training towards/tapering for Baltimore in 2 weeks. Great fun.

Next up: 6×800 in 4:00 or less with 400 recovery in 2 days.

See more progress on: run another marathon

Current Mood: sore

I was the race director for the Bachman Valley 1/2 Marathon in Westminster, Maryland last weekend. We had 4 water jugs for 3 water stops, we ran out of cups several times, and getting the race results compiled was a challenge because many runners didn't tear off their tags at the finish. We did see a rainbow prior to the race, have race tshirts for the first time in recent history, and have a new women's record set for the first time in 14 years. So I'd call the race a success. I think the runners would too:

"It was an excellent race on a beautiful course. Directing a race is huge, and can be very nerve racking. Thank you for your service to the running community."

So as we head into the heart of the fall racing season, remember before you run or before you complain that organizing a race is more difficult than you think. So offer to be on the planning committee. Volunteer at a water stop or put blankets around finishers after they finish their first marathon or set a personal best or qualify for Boston. Give back to the running community, because not only could races not function without volunteers, volunteering at a race does wonders for your motivation.

Besides, how else are most of us going to get to watch the winners cross the finish line?

~Bethany

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Current Mood: accomplished

I had my SMP presentation yesterday morning. Christine and Denise said I did a very good job and looked sounded very professional, but geez did those professors grill me. Slavery is a touchy subject, I suppose. It's done though. Now all I have is finals, which seem pretty anticlimatic after my SMP.

I'm exhausted. Maybe finishing up my SMP then running a 1/2 marathon 2 days later wasn't the best idea. We finished 5th out of 50 2-person Frederick Marathon relay teams, though. :D That made me very happy. I finished in 1:57:02, and my relay partner ran just over 1:30 to bring us in around 3:27. Yay! I ran in a 3:27 marathon. Someday I'll do that by myself. :-)

http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/84265_110977_2005.html

(We're "Half the Run, All the Fun.")

Next up: 18/55 Pfitz plan for the Baltimore Marathon, October 15th.

Oh, and I was accepted to this really cool-sounding internship in Charles Village. I'd be entering census information into their database to help preserve historic neighborhoods in Baltimore. The only catch is that it's about 45 minutes away and I don't have a car and the internship doesn't pay. :O So to do the internship I'd have to work 20 hours a week there, at least 20 hours a week someplace else to afford a car and gas-and never mind the Special Olympics sailing that I love and marathon training peaking at 55 miles a week, quality miles to boot.

Do I really want to do all that right after graduation? Or do I need a break? Right now I'm exhausted, but maybe after senior week and sleeping in a few mornings I'd feel better. It sounds like such an excellent opportunity, but I don't know if I can pull it off without running myself (literally) into the ground. And I have to decide by Friday. :O

Okay, back to studying for my exam tomorrow.

~Bethany

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Toby Mac-Diverse City

My SMP advisor says that whenever I use "conversely" it makes him want to jump out a window. His words, not mine. I'm actually getting quite a kick out of that-good thing, 'cause I'm going to need a sense of humor to get through this week.

8.2 miles yesterday with 3.6 of those miles at tempo pace. For me, that's 8:27 miles/7.1 mph on the treadmill. Today was 4 miles recovery at just under 10:00 pace. Woo hoo for the Frederick Marathon in 9 days! I'm running the first leg of the two-person relay, so for all intents and purposes I'm running a 1/2 marathon.

www.frederickmarathon.org

Okay, back to work. Yes, I'm working on my SMP on a Friday night. Yes, I was in the library almost until it closed getting all exited over history stuff. I'm so cool. :p

~ Bethany

I ran the B&A Trail 1/2 this morning in 1:55:01. That's a PR of 1 minute and 34 seconds, and a pace of 8:47. Woo hoo! It was a perfect day-chilly and breezy and sunny-couldn't have asked for better weather. And the race was very well-organized-complete with a performance shirt that I can actually wear running and a nifty medal and a free massage and lots of bagels and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. And the B&A Trail is very pretty and less isolated than the NCR Trail. I would highly recommend it.

One disclaimer though-the race is not flat, even though the trail is. We cruised through some rolling-hills neighborhoods for the first 3ish miles, then at the turnaround (mile 7), we left the trail and went down and then up a big hill. The trail is paved and flat and straight, though-perfect for fast times.

I'll post a link to my race report once it's finished.

~Bethany

Current Mood: excited

The B&A Trail 1/2 Marathon is in 2 days and I just made the biggest mistake a runner can make, that is, I tried something new right before the race. I tried a new hamstring stretch I'd read about-extra-big lunges with no weights, the goal being to keep moving instead of static stretching. And silly me pulled some serious hamstring muscles and I have less than 36 hours until the gun goes off. Errrgh. So tomorrow I'll be stretching all day, real gentle stuff in hopes of loosening up those muscles enough that they don't cramp up during the race.

You would think that after more than 3 years of reading running magazines, running races, hanging out with runners and running thousands of miles, I would have figured that out, but no. Errrgh. I'll keep you posted.

~Bethany

Current Mood: frustrated

I switched from the Baltimore Marathon to the Baltimore Half-Marathon, as of yesterday. Now if I could only shake this icky cold/whatever and get back to training, I'll be ready to rock the thing.
Okay, signing off before I start babbling incoherently. Come cheer me on in downtown Baltimore October 16th starting at 9:45 if you feel so inclined.

~Bethany

PS-These sunshine mood icons can be really disturbing.

Current Mood: exhausted

Over the weekend I went home for my favorite race, the Run to Remember 5k through Baltimore. My favorite race because I will never forget-how could I, when that day defines so much of the world as it is now, and so much of my life? I remember reading an article not long after September 11th describing us as the 9/11 generation, and I believe it. I never would have taken international politics, religious fundamentalism, or my current violence and non-violence philosophy class if the world hadn't been turned upside-down that day. My generation would not have a defining moment, however tragic, to look back to and say "I remember where I was, what I was doing..." Possibly I would never have started running, not marathons anyhow. My first 1/2 marathon was in NYC, my first marathon was in DC-advertised as a race for anyone who was feeling patriotic. I may never have found my inner social activist-with the anti-war movement back in the spring of 2003. It's impossible to imagine who I would be had those planes not crashed three weeks into my freshman year of college.
New college students ask me from time to time how hard it was to adjust to college life, asking for advice. I tell them that it's going to be a heck of a lot easier for them-they won't have to deal with terrorist attacks turning their peaceful world upside-down three weeks in.
Okay, that's enough remembering for entry. Back to studying for me-I have so much reading to do that it's not even funny. And for those of you (if anyone actually reads this) following my marathon progress, I'm no longer running the Baltimore Marathon. I'm running the half, and I'm not running another marathon until I can enjoy the level of training enough to not hurt the last 8 miles. Inflicting pain on oneself is not a smart idea-the half marathon should be challenge enough.

~Bethany