Monday: 9.5m easy 8:35/pace

One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to be a more social runner. Maybe join a running group, run with friends, make new friends, reach out to people in the area who have the same interests… It’s hard to step outside my bubble, but i’m getting better at it, and enjoying each experience. When I was accepted to be a Zooma Ambassador I had no clue i’d be making friends and becoming part of a group of women who truly support and care for one another.

It was so much fun putting names to faces…well, more like blogs and instagram handles to faces. These girls are smart, funny and all about a good time.

The morning of the race was nothing out of the ordinary. A runner leaving the same hotel lead me and Lauren (Breathe Deeply and Smile) out of the way to get to the start line, and like all the races this season we had 8 minutes between the port-o-potties and jogging to the start line. Hey, at least I didn’t have to pee in public this time. hahahah ugh.. please laugh with me.

We even missed the group ambassador photo–but i’m sharing it anyway because everyone looked awesome!

Lauren and I didn’t have a game plan. I didn’t know we’d be running side by side the entire race, but it kinda happened that way. Neither one of us was planning to PR or pushing a crazy pace. We settled in around an 8:00/pace. Between the hills and humidity, that felt a lot harder than it should have. I wasn’t mentally or physically prepared for this race. Hence my struggle fest picture below.

We didn’t talk to each other most of the race, just a a quick word here and there checking in and making sure we weren’t holding each other back. Lauren has a very similar running cadence so i kept picturing us as Shalane & Amy at the Olympic Trials. A stretch sure, but i felt like we looked strong side by side and were helping each other keep our heads in the race.

The course was hilly with a lot of out and back turnarounds in neighborhoods. I would have gotten lost had the volunteers not been there. Running around Annapolis was super fun, i’ve only done it one other time and promised myself i’d return.

The details of this race are sort of lost, i think i was so focused on not stopping and getting the work done, such as ascending the giant bridge twice.

Also, i was scared of losing Lauren. For the majority of the race we were alone or around only small groups of runners at a time. If she wasn’t next to me it would have been easy to  stop, walk or slow down plenty of times. She was my prime source of motivation. This was my first time running a race with someone, and i liked it! It was fun, we felt like a team in our matching blue Zooma singlets, passing runners together and laughing at times when we thought we may have taken a wrong turn.

We crossed the finish line, grabbed water bananas & trail mix, took some blog pics and got out of there. It took a few minutes for us to cool down from the humidity–that was a SWEATY race. The New Balance singlet kept me cool even though it was soaked. I might be investing in some NB tanks for the summer.

My official time was 1:45:23, 15th overall and 3rd in my age group. Zooma put on a great race. I loved it, the volunteers were outstanding and the much needed on course water stations were spaced perfectly. I feel like I came out of this race a strong, supported, female runner.

Once I got home I went out to get pizza and a hard coffee. I was in heaven…

I can drink coffee with any meal. Don’t judge. Till next time…

What’s your go-to after race meal?  

Any summer races?