This was my third year doing the Baltimore 10 Miler as part of the King Crab Challenge. It's an event I don't ever see myself missing. The packet pickup is throughout the week before the race but they do have a special request for race day pickup, which I think is generally granted if you are traveling. It would be a three hour drive each way for me to get from work to packet pickup by 7pm on the race week pick ups so I've been happy to get the race day pick up the last two years. The race starts and ends in Druid Hill Park so parking can be a little bit congested but its free and its right there onsite which couldn't be better. The course itself is a bit hilly but its terrific, one of the best, right up there with the Baltimore Half Marathon course. Swag is generally pretty good. They are known for good premiums. Often jacket type things. Post race beer is always popular. I really can't see much they could do to make the event better.

http://www.inthelongrunliz.com/#!Baltimore-10-Miler/c1kod/5754545a0cf2cc77abf8e8c6

I have been wanting to run a race in Texas for quite a while. We try to visit Texas twice a year so I was hoping to combine that with a race. The Austin Marathon and Half Marathon is held in February each year, so it made sense since Dan’s niece has a birthday in February. There are a few other races in Austin that looked appealing but the date for this one was right on target. After stopping by a local running store last summer and talking area races over with an employee, I knew this race was a tough course. I run a lot of races with tough courses though. Have you seen Baltimore hills?

We booked flights to Dallas because it is far cheaper than flying to Austin. This means we had a 3 ½ hour drive from the airport to Dan’s sister’s house. We headed to Baltimore after work on Friday. Thankfully there was virtually no traffic ahead of our 8:15pm flight. What we didn’t really plan for was TSA having only one lane open. We fly in and out of Baltimore frequently and security is generally a breeze there. Even what looks like a long line usually moves quickly. We know the airport layout quite well, so we knew exactly where our gate was. The TSA agent overseeing the line was looking at boarding passes and sending some of the people in front of us to other terminals because their gates were in other areas. We got through security, without incident and went straight to our gate. Luckily, they were running a few minutes behind for our flight, which meant time to get my beloved iced tea and a quick trip to the bathroom. After an uneventful flight, we landed in Dallas. The car rental was offsite, so our current process of Dan gets the car, I get the luggage and we meet in the middle was a no-go. The car rental didn’t have any economy cars left so we got an SUV upgrade, which was nice for all of the driving ahead. We arrived at Dan’s sister’s house around 3:30am. I slept on and off through the driver but luckily 2nd shift Dan was in his prime. We got some sleep and got up Saturday morning ready to hit the expo and downtown Austin.

Finding free parking for the expo was actually pretty easy. The Austin Marathon put on a great expo. We walked every aisle checking out the booths and products. After the expo, we left the car in the free parking for a bit longer and walked around the area of town where the expo was. Once we were walked out, we drove through some more of Austin and saw lots of race preparations in action. The starting line was being set up and looking good.

Dan was hoping to hit a steakhouse while we were in town and I suggested doing it the night before the race. We plugged ‘Texas Land and Cattle’ into the GPS. There was a 20 minute wait but not bad for the night before Valentine’s Day. I had salad, bread, steak, and Brussel sprouts. I felt good, full but not stuffed. When we got home it was time for bed.

We were up early and after walking around outside deciding whether I should wear a skirt or capris, we were one our way to the race by 5:30 and I was dressed in a skirt. Again, we easily found free parking. On the way to the race, I drank my coffee and ate my Larabar and was ready for a nice brisk walk to the start. We found a bathroom area and I ran up and down the parking lot a few times. I got line and quickly realized that out of the 4 bathrooms, only one was open. I stayed in line because it seemed better than starting over. About 20 minutes out from race time, a lady came out of the bathroom and walked over to me in the line of mostly men and said there was no toilet paper. I decided it wasn’t worth waiting anymore. We walked further down the street looking for a bathroom. I was afraid we wouldn’t find one but down the block, we came across an entire row of bathrooms. I’m actually not sure the first set we stopped at was even part of the race. It was next to a loading dock and I think it may just been coincidence that they were near the race. The second line was sort of long but there were plenty of bathrooms and those lines generally move pretty quickly. I got to the starting area and was ready for the start.

At race time, the temperature was about 60 degrees and 85 percent humidity. There was a bit of a chill in the air but I was able to take my jacket off and leave it with Dan. My body was plenty warm through the beginning of the race but my fingers felt like ice for the first few miles. The first half of the race was smooth and my fingers warmed up. I was rolling at a really nice pace. I was hoping for a PR but also knew the hills were ahead. I took on the first few hills with ease. Around mile 8, we came to a killer hill. Then came another hill. And another hill. I decided to take the uphills as best I could and really capitalize on every yard of the downhills. I was right on the boarder of a PR. At 1 ½ miles left, I decided a PR was still possible but I had to dig deep and make every stride the best yet. There was still another hill between me and the finish line. In the end, no PR but still a time I’m really happy with.

During the race I felt really good. After I finished though I started feeling pretty crumby. I met up with Dan and switched to my flip flops and calf compression. For the most part, I am able to just carry about my day after a half marathon but this day I was moving slower as we walked to the car. We got in the car and I am usually talking non-stop about the race and what I saw and experienced. I was feeling some stomach upset and leg pain and just rode in silence. Looking back, I should have done a better job of fueling. I should have drank more and I should have eaten more. I have been avoiding Gatorade due to the sugar but now I’m thinking I need to start reintroducing some more electrolytes in longer runs. I took a very long shower and hobbled to the couch. I still had a banana in my bag so I slowly ate the banana and sipped a bottle of water. I started to feel better. We had planned to have lunch at a barbeque place and have a nice afternoon out and about. I told Dan I thought I needed to sleep a little. I slept only for about an hour but I awoke feeling like a completely different person, and we were able to pick up our plan for barbeque dinner at Salt Lick.

My next race is notoriously flat but it is a full marathon so I absolutely must do a good job of fueling. I feel I fueled well last year at the full marathon so I need to channel that again. I’m already registered for Austin Half Marathon 2017! Call me crazy but I am excited to see those hills again!

Last weekend, we ventured to South Florida for the 18th annual Key West Half Marathon. I also completed the Key West Half last year. It’s really the perfect time to escape the arctic tundra of the northeast for a few days in the middle of January. I recently read that the third Monday of January is the most depressing day of the year, could there be a more perfect time to be in ‘Paradise’?!

We were booked to fly to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday morning. I walked the terminal at the airport like a crazy person, determined to get my 10,000 steps in even though we were spending a majority of the day on a place or in the car. Our plane was delayed because Fort Lauderdale was not letting any incoming planes take off because the visibility there was 4 feet due to fog. All of the sudden, they got word the visibility had increased from 4 feet to 4 miles and we all had to rush to jump on the plane and get out of Baltimore. Once we landed and circled the airport on the ground for 20 minutes and then sat on the tarmac for another 20 minutes, a gate became available. We had the 3 ½ hour drive to Key West ahead of us and the packet pickup lasted until 7. We had plenty of time but traffic in and out of the keys can be brutal, especially on a Saturday. Once we deplaned, Dan went to get the rental car and I went to pick up our luggage.

Thankfully, those processes were pretty quick and painless and we were in the car headed for the keys pretty quickly. With a quick stop for lunch we got to Key West without any major traffic and it ended up being a lovely drive, complete with sunglasses and open windows. Once we got into town, we headed straight for packet pickup. The packet pickup is fairly small in Key West and we got there about an hour before it ended, so most vendors had either left or were in process of leaving. I was a little bummed because I do enjoy checking out the vendors and there were a few there I was really interested in but at least we were in plenty of time for my packet.

I checked the weather leading up the weekend and it looked like thunderstorms race morning were pretty certain. Before we left, I went to Sports Authority to buy a rain jacket. I figured even if I didn’t need it, a good rain jacket was a good thing to own and I’d rather be safe than sorry.

The race was set to start at 7am. I woke up at 5 with a plan to be out of the hotel by 6. I got ready and checked the event Facebook page. I’m always curious to see what people are saying. I noticed someone had posted a screenshot of a tornado warning and gale force winds. Ugh, seriously?! I had walked out on the balcony earlier and the conditions were windy and rainy but still warm. I was really glad when I got the email that the race was delayed by an hour. I hoped that would be enough. We decided to stay at the hotel a little longer. I started hearing that the Naples Half Marathon, on the Gulf Coast of Florida was cancelled. I was afraid we were headed for a cancellation. The weather was supposed to improve throughout the day but that doesn’t mean the city would allow the race to delay even further and close roads later into the day. I decided, even of the race was completely cancelled, I was determined to run 13.1 miles no matter what. Mid-afternoon looked like decent weather and I started planning that I would start posting on Facebook and try to gather as many people as I could to run even if it wasn’t an official event and roads were open and traffic was not diverted. I knew there would be lots of runners out there determined to run anyway and I figured we could all join forces. Once we got to the race, we sat in the car for about 45 minutes because the rain was heavy. It looked like I was going to get wet running but I didn’t want to start wet. Since we were in the car, I didn’t get to quite do my normal warm up. Power was going out and it looked a little like there was no way we were going to run anytime soon. We got out of the car just in time to go to the bathroom and get to the start. Luckily power was back.

Almost as if the sky knew it was race time, things started to clear up just in time. The race started with a sprinkle or two but quickly became sunny. The wind was another story. The first half, the wind was not so bad but the second half, we ran against some of the strongest wind I’ve ever experienced. I finished and had a lot of fun. Even though it was windy, I loved a warm and humid run especially in the middle of January. Monday and Tuesday, the weather was still windy and much cooler, only in the 60s. I was glad to at least have the warm temperatures for the race.

I’ve known for a while that the more races I registered for, the more chance of coming up to bad weather. I could only play the odds so many times. Luckily, even though conditions might not have been completely ideal, the race still happened and it was successful.