This morning I had the pleasure of running another race in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, a county in Maryland that does not usually have very many year-around running events. In fact, it was in this very county where I ran the Race to Impact 10K back in March and as a result, I started to have thoughts about attempting to run in at least one running event in all the counties of Maryland. It was nice to come back to this area right along the chesapeake Bay. This was also cool, because as a result of completing this race, I can now say that this year I have run in a race everyday of the week. If you're like me, a runner outside of high school and college, where road races and all-comers races typically occur on the weekend as opposed to interscholastic and intercollegiate cross country and track-and-field meets that occur on weekdays as well, it's hard to do.
This year, there has hardly been a weekend that has gone by that has not involved at least one race. Monday, September 3, I ran the Labor Day Rogue Race 5K in Eldersburg (Carroll County), Maryland. I had a couple of Tuesday evening cross country races out in Washington and Allegany Counties in Maryland. I ran plenty of Wednesday evening races, especially through the Howard County Striders' Summer Series Races. I ran at least a couple of events on Thursdays. So this was the only running event I have run on a Friday so far this year, whoohoo!
It's also neat, because these races were all done in Maryland too!
Now onto details about the race. I liked the venue. Like many races on the Maryland Eastern Shore, it was flat. This went in a loop around the Prospect Bay Country Club campus in Grasonville. This has been the first race I have run in Queen Anne's County (not including the Governor's Bay Bridge Run that starts in Queen Anne's County and ends in Anne Arundel County) that did not occur on the Cross Island Trail. I figured I check this one out. This was the first year they did it and I'm glad I got to run in it, because I heard in the future they may actually hold it on Thanksgiving Day, and that may be a conflict for me, because that may interfere with the Turkey Trot 10K Prediction Run I like to run in Howard County, Maryland (and as of this year, I have run in that event for ten years in a row).
I suprised myself at the start, I was able to keep up with the lead runners, and then for the remainder of the first mile, I was able to hang with the lead runner. I crossed the one mile mark at about 6:03 (which I thought was pretty quick for me considering I have only been running for about a weke now since my off season). I knew I had gone out a lot faster than I expected, but I was feeling all right and even though the lead runner was widening the gap, I still had him in sight.
Towards the second mile, the wind really picked up and that made it challenging for us. I think I went by the two-mile mark somewhere in the 12:30's, maybe a bit slower (hey, that's right around the time I ran that Turkey Trot Two Mile Fun Run in Caroline County, Maryland last weekend, not too bad). I tried to keep strong despite the wind and it helped that the lead runner was in sight.
Then, when I reached the third mile mark in about 19:36, that's about when my legs began to cramp up and lose feeling, and I could feel my form (at least where my legs were concerned) begin to fall-apart. Fortunately, since it was 5-kilometers (approximately 3.1 miles), I was almost done. However, I really thought that the three-mile mark was misplaced, because it took me over a minute to get to the finish line from the three-mile mark, and even though I was hurtin there towards the end and I was not in as strong shape as I used to be, I still do not think it should take me over a minute to run the difference between 3 and 3.1 miles. Anyway, I finished in 20:44, about the same time I hit a few weeks back at 10-The Race 5K in Columbia (Howard County), Maryland. This time, I was not cramping up as much as I was during the 10-The Race, at least not until the very end. And I think a lot of that was from the cold wind and just pushin' a relatively quick pace that I was not in that strong of shape to sustain (not yet anyways).
I am grateful that I finished second overall with an age group award as well. It was a nice post-race gathering inside the country club. I must say, this was a post-race reception with some ritz. To be honest, I don't think I've really been inside a country club before, at least not in a very long time. Aside from the occasional mini-golf games, I ain't much of a golfer.
You may remember from a couple of posts ago that I was also fixin' on running the Run for Hospice 5K Fun Run in Easton (Talbot County), Maryland right after this race. However, right around the time I finished this one, it was almost time for that race to start and I figured it was just plain ridiculous to expect to get in because it would probably have taken me almost a half-hour to get there (and that's if traffic was good). I knew my chances were slim of being able to do both, but this race started a little late than scheduled and when I realized that, I sorta put it outta my head to not make it an objective to run in the Run for Hospice 5K this year. I have never run in that event yet, maybe I'll do that next year. I am glad I chose this one, because it may not be that convenient for me to run in the future if it is moved to Thanksgiving Day. Also, I am glad I stuck around for the awards cermony, because not only did I earn a beautiful trophy as an age-group award, but they had raffles (and there weren't that many participants there, probably no more than fifty or sixty), and I won a gift certificate to a "natural" massage at this place in Annapolis. It sounds appealing too me. I've hardly get massages, I don't think I've ever gone out of my way to get one, so I think it would be a neat experience!
After leaving this race, I went over to the YMCA of Talbot County to pick up my packet (I figured since I pre-registered for this event before I found out about the Belly Buster 5K, I might as well get the t-shirt as well as any other freebies that come with it). I met the gentleman in charge of it and I told him about how I had recently run in a race in every county of Maryland this year, and how I use these blogs to display results of running events that typically do not have their results posted/covered. Although he said he would probably have them posted on the YMCA's website (http://www.talbotymca.org), he would be glad to have me post them as well on my website. He seemed enthusiastic about it and I was grateful that he thought the idea was cool. I hope to sometime in the near future have some race results for Talbot County, Maryland on my Talbot County running event page. (http://runintalbotcountymd.blogspot.com)
So far it's been a pretty nice day. Tonight I hope to make it out to afriend's house in Ellicott City (Howard County), Maryland for a get-together/Holiday party. Then, tomorrow, I hope to make it to Laurel (Prince George's County), Maryland for Tom's 6th Annual 5K Reindeer Run. I ran it last year and it was fun, but a little challenging. I hope to participate in it for fun and not worry about my finishing time too much (and certainly I hope not to go through the first mile in a 5K distance that fast for a while).
All right, thank you all for reading. I hope that you all had a nice Thanksgiving and that you enjoy the upcoming weekend :)
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