Matt, Laura and I left at 6:45am to get to the Baltimore Running Festival Saturday morning. We were 3 very different runners with 3 very different goals.

Matt was running the first race of the day, the 5K and was aiming for a sub-20:00. Laura and I very nervously waited at the finish line, eating our peanut butter and bagel breakfasts, watching the clock get closer and closer to the 20 minute mark. At 19:30 we saw Matt round the corner toward the finish. Neither of us knew if he’d make it, the time was ticking by so quickly, but he snuck over the timing mats in 19:58! (6:24/pace & 2nd in his division!)

Laura and I were up next for the 1/2 marathon that started an hour after Matt’s race. She ran with her friend Becky, who did an excellent job pacing her. Laura ran without headphones and apparently with amazing optimism while smiling like a fool the whole way. She finished in an impressive 2:16:14 (10:23 pace!) I still can’t get over how amazing her first 1/2 time was. She never even had that moment where you hate running and question why you signed up for the race.. I know.. what a B. (hahah jk! She will be doing a guest post on losing her 1/2 mary virginity soon!)

I accomplished way more than I expected on Saturday. I had two goals for this race; to maintain around an 8:00-8:15 pace and have fun. I did it, but you can tell by my splits below that it was a hilly course, and I wasn’t maintaining any real pace. I went 100% on effort. I slowed down on the uphills, let my legs fly on the downhills, enjoyed the small breaks to drink at water stations and I stopped about 5 times to stretch out my legs when they tightened up. I smiled a lot, because i felt really GOOD this whole race. I ran my fastest 5 & 10 mile splits ever (including training runs) and I have much more faith in myself that I can push through an entire race at a quicker pace . The only time I hurt was the last two miles where I knew I would PR and for the first time I had the energy to kick. I PR’d by 2:03 with a time of 1:41:22!

Saturday’s 1/2 marathon splits (7:43/pace): 7:44, 7:45, 7:16, 7:34, 7:36, 8:20, 7:36, 7:53, 8:05, 7:51, 7:19, 8:25

1:41:22 Overall place 472 out of 9,657 runners. Division 25-29 female age group 33 out of 1348

This day wasn’t over, I still have a 5K to recap… till tomorrow!

Weekly Summary

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 8 Miles 8:04/pace

Wednesday: 25 min triceps, 15 min abs

Thursday: 15 min abs, 15 min foam rolling/stretching

Friday: 15 min foam rolling/stretching

Saturday: 13.1 race + 3.1 race

Sunday: Big Time REST

Total Miles: 24.2