April Showers Bring Me Down

I went out for a run yesterday morning and it felt great to get back out on the road. I did 5 miles without much in the way of exhaustion, which is a great sign. I was certain that I'd get about 2 miles into the run and my endurance, such as it is, would crap out on me. But no. Although I didn't push it (I think I averaged around a 9:15 pace) and the cooler weather this week probably helped my body handle the exercise, I'm pleased with that result. Adding another mile, and dropping the pace a little bit is definitely within the realm of possibilities.

This whole week has been largely a bust in terms of enjoying Spring. Monday was a horribly rainy day with wind, etc. That brought a nice cold front through, dropping temperatures from the nice mid to high 70's we got last week to the low 50's. Tuesday morning it was about 45 degrees out, which isn't bad when compared to mid February temps in the high 20's at that time of the morning. This morning was even colder, with temps hovering in the high 30's. Even though it was otherwise a fine day to run, I went back to bed. I'm tired of running in the 30's. It's the last day of April and I shouldn't have to settle at this point. Early and even mid-April, I can admit that one shouldn't turn their nose up at 38 degrees. But now? Memorial Day is less than a month away and people are wearing winter coats. That's just not right and I won't be a part of it by bundling up to run. I'm taking a stand...like Ghandi, only like a million times more important (kidding!).

Anyway, tomorrow is supposed to be much warmer (mid 50's in the A.M.) so I'll get another 5 miles in tomorrow, followed by maybe another on Friday, as my legs had recovered from yesterday's run by noon time, which is a good sing that my body hasn't lose its memory for running!

Then it's the Apple Blossom 10K on Saturday morning. It should be a nice day for a race with temps in the 50's and overcast. It won't be like running the Frederick Half Marathon, but hey, there's always next year. And afterwards, I'm meeting my parents and Annie (who is going to stay in bed on Saturday morning) at one of my favorite restaurants, the International House of Pancakes, nearby to enjoy a post-run feast. That's so much better than a bagel and banana that I usually get.

On a related note, has anyone else in the Baltimore-DC area with Comcast service seen the recent ads for the Frederick Marathon on MASN during Nationals and/or Orioles games? They just started maybe three weeks ago and have gotten more prevalent since then. I assume they're trying to get people to come out for the event rather than get runners because, to my knowledge, the races are full or very nearly full. I guess it's an odd position for a race to be in because on the one hand, the benefit of airing commercials for the race months in advance when there are still spots left that new runners or just runners not in the know might want to take is probably outweighed by the cost of paying for the air time. However, by the time commercials are worth the money, your race is full and some touchy people will get pissed when they call to register and are told that the race is full. I think it would be worth exploring running ads in February and March one year to see how that differs from running ads heavily in mid to late April. I just thought it was interesting to see a commercial that makes it sound like you can still run the race even if you haven't signed up yet. What do I know? Maybe there still spots available.

Back from the Weekend

The last two weekends have been disastrous for my running schedule. And the last three work weeks have been even worse. I think I've only gotten out to run once a week or maybe twice since the beginning of April, which is terrible. With my school's Alumni Weekend taking up the entire weekend (I was up at 6:45 AM on Saturday and then had church to attend Sunday morning), the last time I ran was Wednesday! I was hoping to get out this morning but the weather here in Baltimore has been horrible since about February. It's supposed to rain all day today but clear out overnight. So I need to run each day leading up to the Apple Blossom 10K to salvage some fitness. I need to do 5 miles per day with Friday as a rest day.

After this weekend, however, my schedule shoudl normalize considerably. Next weekend we don't have anything planned, as Annie is auditioning for the Baltimore Opera Chorus on Saturday. Then the next week we're going to Cincinnati on Thursday, coming back on Saturday so I'll be able to run a normal schedule, taking Saturday as a rest day before the Delaware 10 Miler on Sunday the 18th. After that, Annie heads out to Opera in the Ozarks on the 21st and I'm left with several weeks of training weekends to fill, which will be great. I am considering going to my school's Commencement on June 1st, but it's a long drive and I'm going to be back there anyway the next weekend for an Alumni Event that as a member of the Alumni Council, I have to attend. The next day (June 8th) is the Survivor Harbor 7 Miler so that will be a great race. So, as you can see, April and May and early June are busy months that conspire against my running schedule.

So, all that being said, I need to get back on the horse and just do it. I anticipate not being quite so exhausted in the morning since the busiest month of the eyar for us (April) is over and I am beginning my real push to get to sleep earlier than in the recent past.

1 and 1

Thus far this week I'm 1 for 2 in terms of getting out and running, which isn't too bad all things considered. Monday I took off thanks to horrendous weather. Tuesday morning wasn't much better weather-wise. Wednesday I got out the door and got 5 solid miles in without any problems. Today, I hit snooze. I didn't get to bed until almost 11:45, which is terrible. I need to start going to sleep earlier but I just don't have enough time in my day to get everything done I need to get done. However that ends up screwing me over for the next day as I end up missing my run, which puts me in a bad mood (totally self-induced, I know) for the rest of the day.

Tonight I aim to get to sleep by 11 at the latest. I have to do about 90 minutes of CFA reading tonight but other than that, not much else. Annie is going to a recital tonight and then heading out with her friends to martini night so I'll have plenty of time to get things done tonight. Then I can get up tomorrow and get another 5 miles in before leaving for my prep school's alumni weekend.

Speaking of which, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get any sort of long run in on Saturday or Sunday. I have meetings and events planned on Saturday morning and then I really should attend the chapel service on Sunday @ 11 AM before driving back to Baltimore. So, my best time, I think, will be Sunday morning, but there's not really a convenient place near my parents' house to run so I think my choice will come down to running or going to the service. While the Alumni Council member part of me says I should be at the service, the rest of me says I should get a good long run along country roads in while I have the chance and then drive back to Baltimore. I could conceivably do both if I woke up early enough, but I didn't sleep in at all last weekend (as in waking up around 8 or 9 rather than 6 AM) and would like one day to rest up. We'll see.

In other news, I'm starting to think about what races I'd like to do during the Summer. With Annie in Arkansas and then Colorado for gigs, I have much of the summer to spend running and studying for the CFA. Right now, I've found the following races which look interesting. I won't do them all, but I want a long list that I can scale down later.

1. Sons of Thunder 10K, June 14, 2008 Damascus, MD (the name alone is enough)

2. Patterson Park 4 Miler, June 14, 2008 Baltimore, MD

3. Spirit of Gettysburg 5K, July 12, 2008 Gettysburg, PA (the race is on the battlefield, which is really cool)

4. Shenandoah Riverfront 5 Miler, July 12, 2008 Shenandoah, VA

And then of course there's the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon on August 9 out in Colorado.

So we'll see how the racing season shapes up. For right now, I just need to get my butt out of bed tomorrow morning and try to keep my momentum going.

This Week's Theme has been Acclimatize!

Now that Spring is finally arriving and staying around, warm weather running is upon us once again. For me, this will be the first time I've actually trained outdoors because last summer I spent the season in the gym on the treadmill trying to run more than 2 miles without falling over. It wasn't until I got my Garmin 305 for my birthday in November that I got outside once and for all.

And just like November, I found out this weekend that my body can't just go from running in temps in the high 30's to temps in the mid 60's without some push back. Yesterday I got just about 5 miles in and it hurt! Now, I went out way too fast in the first 2 miles, which I need to work on for my racing strategy, so that probably had something to do with it. But it was in the high 60's yesterday morning when I got out and that temperature change took its toll. I didn't really run super slowly, but those 5 miles felt awful.

Today I wanted to get a nice 10 miles in before my parents arrive for lunch and with the temps a little lower, I thought I might reach it. But alas, no. It was still in the mid 60's (thanks weatherman for saying we'd be lucky to crack 60 today...it's 70 out right now so thanks for that forecast) when I got out and warmed up as I ran. It got more humid out too, as we're supposed to get lots of rain this afternoon and evening. So again, I was struggling by mile 5. I soldiered on and got to 7 miles before calling it a day. I'd walk for a while but my heart rate never was able to come back down enough and would shoot back up as soon as I started running. So, I think my body needs a week or so of these higher temps (even running in the morning when it's in the 50's will help) to acclimatize to the season.

On a better note, my new shoes feel awesome and will make their predecessors proud. I'm going to keep my old pair in case I just feel like running in them from time to time over short distances but with my new shoes, my legs don't feel nearly as tired or sore after 7 miles as they would with my older pair.

So, now it's off to the Rusty Scupper here in Baltimore where I'll meet up with my parents and get treated to a seafood feast! Then we'll go to Annie's recital at 5. After that, I'm off the hook for any family obligations so I'll return to my reading or CFA studying...probably a little of both.

My schedule for the work week is pretty stable but this upcoming weekend I'm going to my prep school's Alumni Weekend, which takes up all of Saturday and parts of Sunday. So we'll see what kind of runs I can get in while I'm at home. Once I have a better idea of my time for the weekend, I'll post my goal workout schedule for the week.

For Shame!

I continue to fight my battles with going to bed on time. Last night was another night where I stayed up too late and thus, had little chance of getting up this morning for my interval workout.

Tonight, I aim to be in bed before 10:30.

Tomorrow I will do my speed workout and then push my easy run to Saturday where it'll be combined with some swimming. Then another 10 miles on Sunday and a renewed hope of actually completing my workout schedule for the week.

Saved...hopefully.

After some tinkering with airfares and schedules, I may have found a solution to our problem! The meeting with the priest is pretty much the only reason we're going to Cincinnati, which gives us lots of flexibility. If we leave on Thursday the 15th in the morning, and come back on Saturday afternoon, that'll accomplish the wedding goals and get us back into Baltimore so that I can make it Wilmington on Sunday and Annie won't have to miss her church job. And, to top it all off, the airfares are pretty cheap for that schedule, so the only things remaining are to make sure her parents are OK with that (since that's where we'll be staying) and that the priest can meet with us on Thursday afternoon, Friday at any point, or even Saturday morning before our flight. These shouldn't be huge obstacles, so it looks like I'll get to run the 10 miler after all, which makes me very happy. I'm waiting for Annie to talk to her mom tomorrow when she's in Cincinnati (she's going home for the funeral of one of her friends' fathers) to get the final go-ahead.

Papal Bull Hockey

I've got some precious time here at the beginning of my day at work to post so I thought I would seize the chance. Sometimes I resolve to post later in the day as a break from work, but inevitably I forget about that and before I knwo it, it's 6 or 6:30 and I'd rather just go home (or go study CFA material!) than sit at my desk for another 10 minutes. Ironically, most of the time I actually feel better sitting in a conference room studying probabilities or whatever after work than I do the last hour or so of actual work. I think it's just the change of scenery because CFA material, while interesting, is not how I want to spend 2 hours each night.

Anyway, I've got some time so here I am. Not a whole lot to report. I might have to miss the Delaware Marathon 10-Miler because we might have to go to Cincinnati for some wedding stuff, which I am not happy about. However, this will be pretty much the last free weekend that both Annie and I will have before she leaves for Opera in the Ozarks on May 22nd and then we wont' be abel to get back out there until after she returns from Colorado in late August...so we'll see. Without getting into my own personal feelings on the topic, the only reason we have to go is to meet with the priest who's marrying us for another meeting as part of the various loopholes the Catholic Church requires you to jump through to actually have the honor of being married in the Church. Can you tell that I'm Episcopalian? Whiel I find the whole thing bordering on lunacy, I grit my teeth and just do it since there's really no option here. Nonetheless, I've already sent in my registration fee for the race and won't be happy to have to swallow that $30 as a loss. We'll see, though. I'm hoping the priest will be amenable to meeting with us in August.

Oh, and also the Nationals are in town to play the O's that entire weekend, so I'd also miss that series, which is pretty much the only time I get to see the Nats play other than maybe one ot two other times during the season.

At any rate, yesterday was a rest day so I didn't do much of anything. Today, I woke up to a windy day with temps in the mid 30's...nice. Thanks Spring. I looked at the 7 day forecast and was happy to see that each day gets warmer. So, tomorrow is my speed workout at the gym and by Thursday and Friday, the morning temps will be in the 40's which is a little more reasonable for mid April. So, I went back to sleep today and will make up the lost 5 miles on Friday.

Wednesday: Speed workout (gym)

Thursday: 5 miles

Friday: 5 miles

Saturday: Cross Train

Sunday: 10 mile long run

Total shoudl be around 24-25 miles for the week.

I Run for Uncle Bob's

Finally made it back out for a run this weekend. It just didn't come together on Saturday. We woke up early (I'm talking 6:30 AM) and headed to Lancaster, PA because Annie had an audition out there at 9:50. We made it on time, although the company she was auditioning for seems kinda amateurish. But we'll see how that goes. We stopped at Uncle Bob's (a.k.a. Bob Evans) on our way back to Baltimore and I had the stuffed blueberry hotcakes. It's two hotcakes with vanilla cream cheese between them topped with blueberries and whipped cream. Excellent, if I do say so myself.

We got back home around 12:15 and I contemplated going for a run around 1 to allow plenty of time for digestion. However, the weather was really great yesterday, which brought out tons of tourists to the Inner Harbor, as well as plenty of crazies to panhandle and generally cause mischief. One of my greatest pet peeves is to be talked to/at while running. I prefer to be left alone when running, which is why I run early in the mornings when the idiots are asleep. Sorry if that's not PC, but that's how I feel. I don't go running to get commentary and conversations. Plus it's like dodging cars when you run around the harbor during high tourist season. So, instead I went to the office for a few hours and got some extra work done, as this week will be busy, once again. No time for running, unfortunately.

Today, I woke up with Annie and headed out for a 10-miler when she went off to her church job. Nothing too exciting along the way, as Sunday mornings are pretty quiet around Baltimore. My pace was actually a little lower, at 9:20/mile, which is a good sign. I think if I can keep to my new speed workout schedule I'll see consistently faster paces like this one.

I didn't get to try out my new running shoes yet, as I was hesitant to make a 10 mile run my first with new shoes. Tuesday's run will be their maiden voyage though, which is just in time as my current shoes have just reached the 500 mile mark today. Tomorrow I'll actually cross train at the gym rather than take the entire day off like I normally do. This is another part of my Summer 2008 Fitness Plan. I'd like to be active 6 days a week, making two of those days cross training days and one a day of complete rest. So, I'm debating whether to hit the bike tomorrow or the pool. The pool sounds more inviting, to be honest. My second decision is whether to go to the gym in the morning before work or wait until I come home...with studying for the CFA starting to take up more of my time, I think getting up early might become a permanent part of my routine, unfortunately. But, it's either that or I don't get in everything I'd like to do during my day.

Speed is my Middle Name

I was so close to going back to sleep this mornign when I woke up. I got to bed later than I had wanted again last night, which didn't bode well for the morning workout. However, I dug deep and got myself out of bed for my inaugural speed workout this morning. In choosing a speed workout to start with, I wanted a wide variety of beginner options and so I did some research on Runner's World's website and got some decent ideas. I ended up choosing a humble workout to begin with with the expectation of woking up to more ambitious workouts as the summer goes on.

This morning I did three sets of 4 X 200 meters at the gym. I also decided to choose approximately my 10K pace as the speed pace, which equates to somewhere around 8:50/mile. So, I ran 200 meters at 10K pace, then recovered for 200 meters. It went well and I was happy to have the treadmill to keep me right on distance and pace. As I get more accustomed, I'll start doing more of these outdoors. For now, the gym will create a nice control environment. The article I got this workout from also said to decrease the recovery to 100 meters eventually.

Overall, it went well and took about 45 minutes in total, although I didn't give myself enough time for a cooldown at the end. Next week I'll need to get to the gym a little sooner. Hopefully I'll start to see some dividends from this workout regimine in the coming weeks and months. Tomorrow is an easy run in the morning. We have to go to Lancaster, PA on Saturday morning so my workout will have to wait until the afternoon but I'm only doing cross training anyway so that won't be too bad.

Not much else to report, other than that.

I Heart my Bed, I Un-Heart Bedtime

Just a quick post to update during this hectic week at work.

I go tout the door yesterday morning and got about 4.4 miles in, which was great. The weather wasn't too bad and I felt strong the entire way. I fully intended to get to the gym this morning to start my speed workouts (one of my goals for this Spring and Summer is to improve my pace now that my distance is at a pretty solid level). However, the old nemesis of late bedtimes has plagued me this week. I just can't seem to get to to bed before 11, which is not enough sleep for me. Some people can operate on 4 or 6 hours of sleep, and I know that if I had to, I could. But I don't have to, so why should I when 7-8 hours makes a world of difference?

Last night I didn't turn the lights off until almost 11:30, which gave me under 6 hours of sleep, making me feel like crap when I woke up this morning. Thus, I reset my alarm and went back to sleep for another 90 minutes. Tonight my goal is to be in bed by 10:30 so I can get to the gym for my speed workout tomorrow morning. Friday's weather looks fine so I'll do another easy 4 or 5 miles and then will cross train Saturday at the gym (squash or cycling and swimming!) and hit an 8-10 miler on Sunday morning, barring any weather impediments.

On another note, I mailed off the final registrations for my Spring races so I'm now registered (or will be once the forms arrive in the mail) for the Apple Blossom 10K, Delaware Marathon 10-Miler, and Survivor Harbor 7.

And finally, my new running shoes should be arriving today sometime. I had them shipped to the office so I can open them immediately...also because one time I had something delivered to my apartment building and it got sent back and then had to be resent and it was a mess. Nevermind that the package contained my heart medicine, the illustrious USPS kept it at their sorting facility for a couple weeks. Nice. All this is by way of saying that I want my shoes so I had them sent to my office to ensure they arrive. I garnered some new Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8's from RunningWarehouse.com for under $80 with FREE 2ND DAY AIR SHIPPING from UPS. Pretty sweet deal when other sites are selling them for around $90 and charge shipping.

Against the Wind...Against the Wind

After a full week off, I got back out on the roads today and boy am I feeling it! The first run back after any break longer than a few days is usually a tough go and this was no different. I did a simple out and back to Ft. McHenry but opted to return along Key Highway rather than Fort Ave to avoid that last hill, so the distance came out to be about 5.6 miles rather than the usual 6 even. I pushed the pace a little today on the first half of the run without really knowing it, so that's probably one reason I trailed off at the end.

Nonetheless, the weather was fantastic for running and I actually got to wear shorts AND a T-Shirt for the first time this season. I broke out my new National Half Marathon shirt. It was windy out (big surprise...it's been windy almost everyday since early February it seems) and I felt like I was always running into the wind, even after I had turned a corner or changed directions! Very frustrating.

Tomorrow I'll probably just do an easy 4 miles or so in the morning when Annie goes to her church job and then spend the rest of the afternoon studying the CFA books I borrowed from a co-worker. Woohoo!

In a race calendar update, I've added one race for certain to the Fall portion of the season and am seriously hoping I can do another one later in the summer.

I will, unless something huge comes up, be running the SunTrust Richmond Half Marathon on November 15, 2008. It's been newly added to the Richmond Marathon program this year and I've heard great things about Richmond from other runners who've run the race. The real reason I want to run this race, however, is that it takes place on my birthday and I think it'd be a great way to spend the day. Compared to how I usually spend my birthday (i.e. at work, at home, etc), running 13.1 miles would be pretty cool. Plus, the medal and t-shirt will always be a unique reminder of the occasion. So, I think it'll be worth the $60 entry fee.

The second race is the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon on August 9, 2008. The race starts in Georgetown, CO at 8,500 ft above sea level and proceeds to Idaho Springs, CO 1,000 feet below. Pretty awesome and a cheap race at just $30. Annie not only got the role of Mimi in La Boheme at Opera in the Ozarks, but she also got the lead in Emerald City Opera's production of Cosi Fan Tutte. Emerald City Opera is in Steamboat Springs, CO, so I could run the race as part of a visit out there to see her performance two days after the race. Right now this is just in the formative stages, but is definitely feasible.

And finally, I finally reached the conclusion that I need new running shoes today. I'm not hurting or have any injuries from worn out shoes, but I just didn't realize how many miles I had on my current Brooks Adrenaline GTS 7's. I thought I was somewhere around 370 miles, which is getting up there but not really grounds for new shoes yet. According to my Running Ahead journal, though, my shoes are north of the 460 mile mark! So, I went shopping last night, and found the new Adrenaline GTS 8's on sale for $78 at Runners Warehouse. If you haven't gone to this site yet, I'd strongly encourage it as they have FREE SHIPPING and a wide inventory. Their prices are pretty competitive on shoes and most apparel. Check it out! So, where I paid $95 for my current pair last July, I'm saving $20 on a brand new pair this year. Granted, I needed to actually figure out what type of shoe I needed last year and so had to go to the running store, which has higher prices, so that knowledge was certainly worth $20.

This time around, however, I know exactly what I want and I also know I don't want to pay $100 for freaking shoes, no matter how comfortable they are.

Revised Spring Race Schedule

I haven't posted since my race report on Tuesday because I have taken the last few days off from running to allow my body to fully heal (even though I felt ready to go on Tuesday, I figure it can't hurt to take it easy and fully recover). I've also been really busy the last few days at work and have also failed to get to bed on time this entire week. All of which adds up to not getting up in the morning to run. I have to go to New York for the day tomorrow to take a tour of the New York Stock Exchange with two fixed income associates from one of our clients, so today is my Friday, essentially. My train isn't until 8:30, which means I'll be able to sleep an extra 30 minutes before getting up and running before showering and heading up to NYC. I'll be back by 4 (thank you Acela Express) so it'll be a nice Friday. At any rate, I really do plan on getting back to running tomorrow.

As I said in my last post, I've revisited my Spring racing schedule and have changed things a bit to better fit our schedules. We had planned on going to Cincinnati the first weekend in May to get some wedding stuff done, which meant that I would be able to run the Flying Pig Half Marathon. These plans had been pretty much in place until Christmas, so I thought I wouldn't be around the run the Frederick Half Marathon which is that same weekend. Unfortunately, Annie is organizing a whole series of opera scene performances for Peabody undergrads (a process that is remarkably similar to herding cats) and so we won't be able to take those days off like we had hoped. Luckily I hadn't paid the Flying Pig registration fee so all is not lost. But the Frederick Half is totally full and has a 125 person waiting list, so I'm not able to run that race either. I'm not sure what the 125th person on that list is thinking...perhaps they're eternal optimists? Maybe they're actually pessimists and they think 125 runners will be killed in a freak gasoline fight accident prior to race day? Who knows? At any rate, that's a bummer, as I would have liked to have been able to run another half marathon as planned. Instead, I needed to find some other races to run in May. Where possible, I've linked this post to the race's websites for those who are interested.

I've registered for the Apple Blossom 10K race on May 3rd in Winchester, VA. It's part of the Apple Blossom Festival in the area and it's only 20 minutes from my parents' house. So we'll drive up there on Friday evening and visit them and Redford. I'll go run the race the next morning and then hopefully talk them and Annie into meeting me at IHOP afterwards so I can FEAST! I haven't hit an IHOP in a long time so it'd be nice to dig into a Rutty Tooty Fresh and Fruity for old time's sake.

The next race I signed up for is the 10-miler that's associated with the Delaware Marathon on May 18th. I'm not sure why they don't have a half marathon, but this will be a great race. It's really small, as they're limiting the enrollment to just 300 runners. Right now there's 77 registered, so I need to get on that so I get a spot. It should be a lot of fun and the course should be exceedingly flat since Delaware is flat as a pancake. And with such a small number of runners, I don't have to worry about seeing 5,000 other people wearing the race T-Shirt!

And the final race that I'll be running this Spring is actually at the border between Spring and Summer. It's the Survivor Harbor 7 race here in downtown Baltimore. It's supposed to be a great race and it runs along my morning run route so I can just walk to the starting line. This race is capped at 2,000 runners, so I already registered since it's really popular. It'll be much less congested than the Kelly St. Patrick's Day 5K, which had about 4,000 runners. There's a 3 mile option for the race too, but they start after the 7-milers. Should be a very cool race because survivors of various diseases (cancer, heart disease, etc.) can run in a special category.

So that's the Spring race schedule now. Annie will be leaving for her summer program (Opera in the Ozarks , which is literally in the middle of nowhere Arkansas) on May 22 and will be gone until July sometime, so I'll have plenty of time to train and race and live like a free man...I mean, like a man desperately missing his fiance. Yeah, that's what I meant. So, I imagine I will plan to run a race in another part of the country during that time as a little vacation and to branch out from running in the DC-Baltimore area for once. Now I just have to pick my race!

2008 National Half Marathon Race Report

OK, so I wasn't able to post my race report yesterday as I had planned. Some Mondays, as you all know, are relatively slow and uneventful days, however some of them are busy from the moment you get to work until the moment you leave! Yesterday was one of those days. I got to work and immediately spent the morning getting things straightened out on a new computer thanks to the firm slowly merging two old networks into one new network. Then I scored a ticket to the Orioles' home opener against the mighty Tamp Bay Rays so I had to rush to get a bunch of stuff done before leaving for the game. I even got to the game an hour late (my office is within walking distance of Camden Yards, so no big deal) and had to come back after the game to finish up some stuff before finally going home. Needless to say, there was little time left for anything else!

So, today I have some time this morning to write a nice race report and reflect on an incredible weekend. I picked Annie up from Peabody at 4 and we headed off to Washington on time. The traffic wasn't too bad until we actually got into the District and New York Ave seized up. Eventually we reached the hotel and checked in, although parking was a mess down there. The hotel had a garage but it was full (nice) and when Annie asked where we could park, the front desk agent said "just park on the street anywhere. It's free all weekend." OK, well that's fine except most of the spaces had 1 or 2 hour meters with signs that the time limits were enforced everyday save for Sunday. We did notice that parking on K St would be free after 6:30, so I drove Annie out to the theatre for her performance and then came back after 6:30 and found a space on K St right across from the hotel. I'm a horrible parallel parker and it took me 4 attempts to finally park the Jeep. Nice.

I moved our bags into the room and then set out for the Marathon Health & Fitness Expo at the DC Armory. I got there shortly before 8 PM and it closed at 9, so I temper my comments by thinking that perhaps it was bigger earlier in the day when most of the runners arrived and registered. However, when I got there, the place was practically empty. There were only maybe a dozen vendors, most of which were not selling merchandise. I saw one vendor selling sunglasses for $12.00 (so how good could they be at keeping me from getting eye cancer? Really?) and one for the Baltimore Marathon and Frederick Marathon, which is on May 3rd, I believe. There was only one vendor selling running shirts and shorts and their inventory was paltry. They had some nice stuff, but nothing I couldn't find somewhere else for a lower price. They were offering 1/3 off everything, but when they're trying to charge $50.00 for an Asics long sleeved running shirt, the deal isn't so good. However, packet pickup was easy and the volunteers were all superb and helpful. I got my awesome National Half Marathon shirt from Brooks and was very happy with the design. It's red with the marathon logo on the front and "13.1 Finisher" underneath. On the back are the sponsors and "13.1 Finisher" across the shoulders in yellow. I can't wait to wear that baby around this summer. I milled around a little bit, but there wasn't enough there to merit sticking around for more than 15 minutes. I think as the marathon gets older, they'll expand the expo so that it matches Baltimore and other races, which have dozens of vendors offering all sorts of running paraphernalia. It's a work in progress and that's actually one of the things I enjoyed about this race.

I got back to the hotel and got to watch some TV before Annie called me and I met her and her sister and brother at Clyde's on 7th St for a late dinner. I strongly suggested we eat somewhere else that was not a chain restaurant and thus cheaper and faster and better, but I was overruled. Clyde's is nothing special and the service we got was nice, but SLOW. We didn't get back to the hotel until almost midnight and I didn't get to sleep until close to 1 AM because I had to put out my running stuff for the next morning (actually later that morning!). I woke up at 3:30 AM and couldn't get back to sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time because I was so anxious. Nice. So, I got up at 5:30, got dressed and gathered my stuff. It wasn't horribly cold out, maybe around 35 or so, but still not exactly the weather I had envisioned. When I got on the Metro, the only people on it were fellow runners. I'm glad that I do my weekday runs in the early morning because I was at least somewhat used to being up that early. Some of the runners looked half dead! I got to the Runner's Village (or Athlete's Village? Something like that) around 6:30, which was just enough time to stand in the bag check line for 20 minutes and decide to hit the bathroom before the race. Unfortunately, the lines for the bathrooms were miles long so I eventually ran down to RFK stadium and found a bathroom behind a tree. Nice.

Got to the corral with 30 seconds to spare before the race began. I lined up between the 8:30-9:15 corral and the 9:15-10:00 corral. I figured that was very close to my goal pace of 9:15-9:30. The corral system worked pretty well, as we were able to actually run across the start line. The first 4 miles of the course wound through downtown DC, skirting the Capitol, National Mall, White House, Washington Monument and other government offices. The streets of DC are all expansive so there was tons of room to spread out and run comfortably, which I appreciated. Running down Constitution Ave was awesome. On one side you have the National Mall with the Smithsonian and Washington Monument, on the other you have the National Archives and huge embassies. Very cool. There were also people out along the course, although the crowds weren't huge since it was 7 AM on a Saturday morning. But you realize just how great a running town DC is when you imagine being able to run those streets and parks every morning.

Around the 4.5 mile mark we turned north and headed up towards Dupont Circle and upper northwest. This is where the course's hills really started. From mile 5 through mile 7 we climbed somewhere around 200 feet, but mostly in spurts of hills. Around mile 7 there was a killer hill up Connecticut Ave that just about did me in. But I ran the whole way up! I knew I'd pay for it later that day but who cares! That's what ibuprofen is for! A little after that hill, we hit a water stop (they had Gatorade at each station too, but it was too sweet for me) and I took my GU gel. It was REALLY sweet, which helped it go down easier. I drank some water and continued on. In Adams Morgan the DC mayor's father, who owns a running store there, was out cheering us on and handing out water, etc. Very cool. The mayor ran the marathon and finished in like 3:30 or something. I envy Washington for having a mayor who's involved in his city's growth as well as committed to its future.

Around mile 8 or so we turned east onto Harvard St and then onto Michigan Ave, which borders Catholic University at one point. This was uphill and downhill all the way and really taxed the runners. I was feeling OK at this point and was just trying to stay around my goal pace. At North Capitol St we hung a right to head south through mile 10 or so. Ahead we could see the Capitol again in the distance, slowly growing bigger as we passed the blocks. One guy I was running near had on a Seattle Marathon shirt, which I thought was cool. He said that he didn't get to run the race though, because shortly before the date, he was deployed to Iraq. They sent him the shirt anyway and I think he's well deserved to wear it for having to go to war instead of to a race.

At H St. we turned left and headed out into Northeast. We went from 4th St all the way to 13th St, where we turned right at the intersection where the Atlas Theatre, where Annie is performing, sits. Very cool! From there we headed south through miles 11 and 12 towards North Carolina Ave, which curved around towards East Capitol St and RFK Stadium, the finish line. We could see the stadium and hear the loudspeakers from the Runner's Village, which drove us on. The final quarter mile was uphill (Nice.) but at that point, I was so excited that I had reached the end, I didn't feel the pain. I ran through the finish line, finishing my first half marathon in 2:06:27, which is a 9:33 pace. I stayed right on target, and am really pleased with that result. My goal was to finish the race and I did. As I was limping out of the chute, I saw Annie, although she hadn't seen me finish because she hadn't been able to find a way around to the finish line. She literally got there right after I finished, thanks to crappy directions from some guy. But she got a picture of me afterwards with my medal. We stood in yet another line to get my bag back, grabbed some free food and then headed back to the hotel.

I was totally exhausted, from the run and from the 2 hours of sleep I got the night before. I was also dehydrated, as my stomach was upset, which is a sure sign of not having enough fluids. I should have grabbed 4 or 5 bottles of water at the marathon, I don't know why I didn't. Next time, I'm grabbing as much water as I can carry! They had tables and tables of the stuff, so it wasn't like there wasn't enough to go around. Anyway, that plagued me the rest of the day as well as some totally preventable chaffing (ouch!). I brought my Body Glide but didn't use it in all the right places. Won't make that mistake twice! We got back to the hotel and I showered and changed and we checked out around 1 for Annie's matinee. After that, we ate dinner at Union Station and I hopped on a train for Baltimore. I spent the rest of the day sleeping, drinking water and treating my chaffing (again, ouch!). By Sunday I felt a lot better, though and finally today I feel back to normal. My Achilles and quads were fried from the hills on the course so it took them an extra day to recover. My hamstring also got a little out of whack, but it feels better today as well. I think I'll start back on the roads tomorrow morning. And the chaffing healed up nicely thanks to rest and some prescription strength (literally, a doctor has to give it to you) hydro-cortisone cream. It's a wonder drug, really.

All in all, it was a terrific weekend and an awesome culmination to weeks of training and planning. I ran my race the way I wanted to and hit my pace goal and time goals well. I had a great time running the course, didn't let anything really bother me and kept focused on running the entire time. I'm hooked on the half marathon now and can't wait to hit another 13.1 miles soon. This weekend also brought my 2008 spring and early summer racing season into better focus, which I will post about later. Suffice to say this was a great way to kick off my first full running season.