Weekend in Baltimore

Last week my dad came to visit! We had fun.

He hung out around town while I worked Thursday, and then Friday we went to Baltimore so I could run a half marathon.

We took the train. I thought the first couple hours were fun and the scenery was beautiful. But then after some delay and impatience I was ready to arrive already. And then we did, around 3pm.
 

Welcome!

We took the light rail to the convention center and then walked a few blocks to our hotel in the Inner Harbor. We checked in and dropped off our bags, then headed back out. We ate (finally) at the Pratt Street Ale House. Then we went to the race expo so I could get my race packet, and I bought a new belt that would fit my phone plus some food. Then we walked around and explored the harbor.

After all that walking my feet were ready to stop walking, since I had a race to look forward to in the morning. We had dessert at a restaurant and then headed back to the hotel. I was still able to hang out and relax a bit before going to sleep at 10pm.

Saturday morning I got up, ate my bagel with peanut butter, banana, orange juice, and coffee, and then was ready to go run a half marathon! Our hotel was right across the street from the start line, which was awesome. I went to the start, while Dad headed in the opposite direction so he could see me later along the course. We took off at 8:45.

I was in the first wave, and started pretty close to the front. Which meant lots of people passed me in the beginning as I forced myself to take the first mile easy.

I trained enough to safely run a half marathon, but I didn't necessarily train to be really fast. I still planned to attempt a PR though. (Spoiler: I did it!) Luckily the course was relatively flat. And sometimes there were good not-too-steep downhills and I was able to go faster than intended. I succeeded at negative splits, too!

Dad and I planned to see each other three times along the course. There were over 8,500 runners doing the half marathon (which eventually joined up with the full marathon course), and Dad was worried about finding me. But I knew we'd be fine as long as he was where we planned, since I'd be looking for him, too. Unfortunately he missed the first spot, but he was there as planned just before mile 5.

I ate a GU at mile 3.5 and started eating chews at mile 7. I also carried a little bottle of Gatorade and refilled it every once in a while at water stops. I felt pretty strong the whole time. I made sure to look around and enjoy the scenery, I loved reading the funny signs and appreciated the cheers along the way, and I grinned ear to ear as I ran past two women blaring Hairspray's "Good Morning Baltimore." I saw Dad again at mile 12.

The last couple miles I was getting kinda worn down, and while I wasn't really able to kick it even faster for the last mile I did manage to hang on to my pace. It felt like it took forever to actually get to the finish line though, because there was a big crowd and photographers right before we entered Camden Yards and I thought maybe that was it, but then we went through Camden Yards, which was a little lonely with very few spectators. When we got out of there the crowd picked up but the line was still a little ways off. Man oh man I was ready to stop. But I felt happy because I knew I would finish under 1:57, which was my PR from my very first half marathon.

The elusive finish line.

I finished in 1:55:12! My pace (according to my Garmin, which says I ran 13.35 miles) was 8:39. That's pretty exciting for me. I came in 77 in my division (out of 897), 416 for my gender (out of 5158), and 1306 overall (out of 8643).

I sat and stretched in the finisher area and ate some snacks, then met up with Dad (who was walking from that mile 12 point). Finishers got beer tickets, so I shared with him.

Finally we headed back to the hotel so I could shower and rest a little. Eventually we headed back out and walked to Fell's Point, where we had mussels and paella for our early dinner. After more walking we ended the night with dessert at another restaurant. (We sure ate well during Dad's whole visit.)

Sunday we got up and headed out to the National Aquarium. We saw all the fish and animals, and watched the 4D movie on sea monsters.

After the aquarium we still had some time to kill before our train, so we went to another seafood place for a good lunch. Then we grabbed our bags at the hotel and took a cab (Dad's first!) to the train station. Adios Baltimore, it was fun.

Back in Charlottesville Sunday night, Dad and I ate cheese and crackers and guacamole and chips and grapes while watching tv. Monday I went to work while he hung out on his own again. We ate dinner at the Local, followed by an evening of hanging up pictures around my house. Tuesday morning we went out to brunch before I dropped him off at the airport.

So my plan to run a half marathon as an excuse to have a mini-vacation with my dad was a success! And the PR was a nice bonus.

downtown sighting

I know you guys were hoping I'd post another picture of a pistachio shell sighting soon.

my first century!

Saturday I spent nine and a half hours on a bike ride doing the Culpeper Cycling Century. It was pretty fun.

JoAnne came to pick me up at 6:45 in the morning and I scrambled to get all my things ready to go. (Biking takes a lot of things.) We drove to downtown Culpeper and then scrambled some more to get our ride packets, use the porta potties, and get our bikes ready. Race bib on, tires pumped, sunscreen applied, socks and cycle shoes on, gloves, helmet, and sunglasses on, cue sheet and map folded and in my pocket, water bottles and computer on the bike, and voila! Ready to ride (five minutes later than the 8:30 start time).

Getting ready.

JoAnne and I have been riding together for several weekends now, and somehow I have been designated to always ride in front. I made a big effort to take it easy in the beginning, knowing that we didn't want to get worn out too soon. We had a lot of miles and many hills ahead of us. We also made sure to stop at every rest stop, which were set up about every 15 miles. They were well stocked with snacks and drinks and a couple even had real bathrooms!

Hitching post at Brightwood Store

Eating all the snacks!

The ride was really beautiful. Parts of the route were the same as the Tour de Madison I did earlier this year. The weather was also just about perfect. A couple times we got chilly (usually after restarting from a rest stop), but we warmed up. And a couple times it got windy, but it wasn't too bad.

Look how pretty!

At mile 58 we got boxed lunches. My legs were pretty sore at that point and I was grateful for a chance to stretch out and sit down. But after our break we were back on the road!

The event included a 35 and a 65 mile option, which split off from us. At our lunch stop it became very clear to us that we were probably the last of the hundred milers. There had been a few other people at that stop, and we saw two guys again at the next stop, but by about mile 75 we knew we were in the very rear. But we just kept riding.

A few miles before the last stop at mile 92 the SAG vehicle pulled up next to us to tell us the last stop had closed. Then the guy said it was five o'clock. What?!? Where did the time go? I thought it was around 3:30. Time flies when you're having fun. The SAG guy asked if we were going to be okay or if we wanted him to call a truck to come get us.

You guys, the event was over and the SAG truck was ready to drive us back to our car. How did this happen? We had no idea we were so slow. This was embarrassing. But there was no way we were going to let them take us off the road. We were going to ride one hundred miles no matter what. So we told the guy we'd be fine and rode on to the next stop for a break anyway, planning to eat our own snacks. But a different SAG vehicle (the truck) met us there and this new guy offered us snacks and drinks. He was nice. We felt really bad for his having to be with us, and we offered to take off our bib numbers and just ride on like two strangers unrelated to the event. But he said no, this happens every year. And then he proceeded to ride just ahead of us the entire last nine miles with his yellow lights flashing.

We were basically escorted back into town. Again, embarrassing. But we also found the whole situation hilarious. It's always a joking fear in races that one will get picked up by the SAG truck if you can't meet the cutoff time. It never really occurred to us that we wouldn't make the cutoff time. Guess I shouldn't have taken it so easy in the beginning. And we shouldn't have spent so much time at each stop. Lessons learned.

Anyway, the nice SAG guy met us at the car after we'd completed all 101 miles on our own. He took our picture (in front of a pretty empty parking lot, since everyone else was long gone) and gave us a recommendation on where to get some food.

We did it!

Sure we were tired and I was a little sore, but overall we were in great shape. (That's a perk to taking our time!) We had averaged 13.5 mph, which isn't that great but don't forget there were lots of hills (a 5,750 ft. elevation gain). I think we were both plenty pleased with how it all went, despite the SAG escort. And of course if either of us decides to do another century (likely), we'll pick up the pace.

(For JoAnne's version and extra photos, see her post here!)