Baltimore....finally.
I finally signed up for the Baltimore Half Marathon today. I have been mulling running it for a couple of years now and finally made the commitment before it sells out. I started training this week while I was in WY. I am following a beginner's schedule, but am going to modify it to include some speedwork (hopefully). I guess I should catch up on what's been going with my running.
I trained and ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in April. It was a great race, in fact I set a new PR for the 10 mile distance. I ran it in 1:33:29 which is a 9:21 min/mile pace...woo hoo! My previous best time was 9:27 min/mile which was the Spring after I ran the marathon and was in great shape. At the Cherry Blossom, I was 3001 out of 8323 females and 562 out of 1678 females in my age group. I tried a different strategy for this race that paid off. Usually, I run very conservative, always conserving energy and usually crossing the finish line strong. This time I decided to run aggressive and not slow unless I absolutely felt it necessary. It felt good and making good time in the beginning (9:20 min/mile), instead of starting out conervative helped me achieve the PR.
After the Cherry Blossom, we (H, C, and me) ran the Pike's Peek 10K in MD. We decided to cross the finish line together holding hands...awwww. We started strong with a good pace, but it was a hot, humid day and even though the course had negative elevation change, there were still some long, gradual hills. I *don't like* long, gradual hills. They just wear you down. Anyways, H and I were keeping the pace, but C had to slow. I got to within a 1/2 mile of the finish line and as difficult as it was, I turned and started walking backwards looking for H and C. H had already slowed to find C. We finally caught up with one another and crossed the finish line holding pinkies....the crowd loved it. They had pure junk food for the post race food....pizza and donuts, it was great. We actually didn't do too bad. We finished in 1:00:31 which is a 9:45 min/mile pace. I was 108 out of 232 in my age group and 602/1296 in females.
After those races, I took a "break" from serious running. I did the eliptical more often and walked a lot. I still ran, but it was short runs and only 2-3 days/week. I have been running consistently for about 4 years now. My first 5K was in Spring 2005. I keep saying that I will do something else, but the running and having a running goal (i.e. race) keeps me in the best shape, by far. Thus, I signed up for the Baltimore Half despite saying I was not racing this fall. I have mixed feelings about it in terms of wondering if I will be motivated for the training, but it always seems to work out.
I trained and ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in April. It was a great race, in fact I set a new PR for the 10 mile distance. I ran it in 1:33:29 which is a 9:21 min/mile pace...woo hoo! My previous best time was 9:27 min/mile which was the Spring after I ran the marathon and was in great shape. At the Cherry Blossom, I was 3001 out of 8323 females and 562 out of 1678 females in my age group. I tried a different strategy for this race that paid off. Usually, I run very conservative, always conserving energy and usually crossing the finish line strong. This time I decided to run aggressive and not slow unless I absolutely felt it necessary. It felt good and making good time in the beginning (9:20 min/mile), instead of starting out conervative helped me achieve the PR.
After the Cherry Blossom, we (H, C, and me) ran the Pike's Peek 10K in MD. We decided to cross the finish line together holding hands...awwww. We started strong with a good pace, but it was a hot, humid day and even though the course had negative elevation change, there were still some long, gradual hills. I *don't like* long, gradual hills. They just wear you down. Anyways, H and I were keeping the pace, but C had to slow. I got to within a 1/2 mile of the finish line and as difficult as it was, I turned and started walking backwards looking for H and C. H had already slowed to find C. We finally caught up with one another and crossed the finish line holding pinkies....the crowd loved it. They had pure junk food for the post race food....pizza and donuts, it was great. We actually didn't do too bad. We finished in 1:00:31 which is a 9:45 min/mile pace. I was 108 out of 232 in my age group and 602/1296 in females.
After those races, I took a "break" from serious running. I did the eliptical more often and walked a lot. I still ran, but it was short runs and only 2-3 days/week. I have been running consistently for about 4 years now. My first 5K was in Spring 2005. I keep saying that I will do something else, but the running and having a running goal (i.e. race) keeps me in the best shape, by far. Thus, I signed up for the Baltimore Half despite saying I was not racing this fall. I have mixed feelings about it in terms of wondering if I will be motivated for the training, but it always seems to work out.
posted by Aud at 12:13 PM
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