I wrote about the st. Patrick's Day 5K in Caroline county, Maryland last Saturday, but not about the Kelly St. Patrick's Day 5K Run in Baltimore City, MD yesterday! That race went pretty well for me as well as for the friends that I went with. We were all happy to finish and to have particpated in such a large race (by far the largest one I have partcipated in this year with thousands of participants) My friend Andy drove, and we were fortunate enough to find a parking garage throughout the crowded and somewhat confusing city streets. We made it to the starting line with time to spare to stetch and warm up a bit. It was neat, I saw some runners I knew from the Howard County Striders, Baltimore area as well as the Maryland Eastern Shore! The weahter was fairly windy, especially towards the middle of hte course, but all-in-all it was pretty good running weather with temperatures probably in the low-to-mid 40's.
The race started on top of a hill and we therefore were running downhil at the start. It did not take us long to reach the inner harbor and go through the first mile on top of a relatively short hill (which I passed through in about 5:34). I fought hard to maintain my pace and form and I felt all right. We continued to run along this road in the city that took us towards the Federal Hill area of Baltimore City. Here, we made a u-turn (which I let slow me town and decrease my momentum, guess I needed the breather, haha). Shortly afterwards I ran by the water stop and managed to snatch a cup of water and take a quick sip or two while running. Soon after, I passed through the second mile in about 11:36 (11:40 according to the woman calling hte splits out, because I had started about four seconds behind the starting line when the race started and I did not start my watch until I got to the starting line). This part got encouraging because runners coming from the other direction before they made the u-turn near Federal Hill were passing by me, and one of them was my friend Allison and another was my friend Andy (who I came with), and both yelled encouragement and I tried to yell back at them (hopefully they heard me). I'm glad I got to hear them there, because at this point in the race, it was pretty windy.
Once I got back tot he Maryland Science Center/Inner Harbor area I began to feel tired and my right foot a bit tender, but I tried to hold on a bit longer. As I ran along the Inner Harbor, I rememberd last June running the Survivor Harbor Three-mile race right around the same area of Baltimore City, and I think that encouraged me a little bit to hang in there.
The course wound to the right (I think this was Pratt Street) for the final long stretch of the race. Like on many parts of this course, there were many people on the sides of the streets yelling and cheering us on. One of them was an avid runner from the Howard County Striders who spotted me and yelled for me to keep it up. That was encouraging, and I knew that the finish line would be coming up pretty soon.
Up ahead I saw the course turning left, and from my memory I knew that was where the PowerPlant Live was (from when I had my five-year high school reunion over there), and I remembered that was where they said the finish line was. I think it was that logic that helped me pick it up and put on a fairly strong kick, and after making that left turn, the finish line was probably less than a hundred yeards ahead and I pushed it all the way through the finish line with a time of 18:33 and a chiptime of 18:28.
All right!!!!
I hit my goal of breaking 18:50 (I wanted to top the 18:55 I ran at the St. Patrick's Day 5K in Denton, MD). It was awesome to have run two races in one weekend, wiht the second being faster than the first. The second one was probably no more challenging then the first, except I think the more dense compeition sorta helped get a stronger effort out of me, and my foot was hardly a bother during this run (at least as far as I remember), so that really helped a lot! I was pretty happy with it. I was glad to have finished in the top 100 in a really competitive and crowded race where the winning time was like 14:44. WOW!!!!
I'm motivated to see that my 5K times are back under a six-minute-per-mile pace. Hopefully this is a sign that I'm picking up momentum again after hurting my foot during the Ten-Mile Club Challenge last month. God-willing, I can continue to improve and train smart and well!
Next race I'm lookin' at doing is actually on Wednesday afternoon (March 19, 2008) in Washington D.C. by the Jefferson Memorial and the F.D.R. Memorial. It's called the Tidal Basin 3K and I heard it's pretty flat. The D.C. Road Runners (http://www.dcroadrunners.org) put on these Tidal Basin 3K races I think every third Wednesday of the month, and I'm grateful that spring break is this week when it coincides with this month's Tidal Basin run. I've heard about them and I'm glad it looks like I may be available to check 'em out.
Thank you all for stopping by and I hope you all stay safe on St. Patrick's Day and enjoy it :)
Running Events I have done this year as of Monday, March 17, 2008
Maryland
Allegany County
Anne Arundel County
-Valentine’s Day 5K Run – Saturday, February 9, 2008 – Kinder Mill Farm Park, Millersville/Severna Park – 10th overall (3rd in male 20-29 age group division) – 17:59.15 (my best time on course J)
Baltimore City
- Kelly St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock 5K – Sunday, March 16, 2008 – Baltimore City – 61st overall (guntime-based) – 18:33 (guntime), 18:28 (chiptime)
Baltimore County
- Baltimore Road Runners Club (BRRC) Grand Prix Series Eight-Mile Run – Sunday, January 13, 2008 – Loch Raven Reservoir – 11th overall – 53:34
Calvert County
- First Annual Southern Maryland Community Network Resolution 5K Run/Walk – Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – Prince Frederick – 4th overall (20-29 age group winner) – 18:47
Caroline County
- First Annual St. Patrick’s Day 5K – Saturday, March 15, 2008 – Denton – 2nd overall (20-29 age group winner) – 18:58 (clock), 18:55 (watch)
Carroll County
- Winfield Mile – Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – South Carroll High School, Winfield – 6th overall (2nd in 20-29 age group) – 5:11 (clock), 5:10 (watch)
Cecil County
Charles County
Dorchester County
Frederick County
Garrett County
Harford County
- Leap of Faith Fun Run (7K prediction run – Approximately 4.35 miles) – Sunday, February 17, 2008 – Abington (Harford County, MD) – 3rd/4th overall (8th closest to predicted time) – 27:24 (predicted time: 28:00)
Howard County
- Howard County Striders (H.C.S.) Weekly Series (“Operation Iceberg”) #1: Burleigh Manor Middle School 5-mile run – Sunday, January 6, 2008 – Columbia/Ellicott City area – 7th overall – 32:18
- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #3: Atholton High School 5K Run – Sunday, January 20, 2008 – Columbia – 6th overall – 18:38
- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #5: Jeffers Hill Neighborhood Center 15K (first 15K I’ve done as part of the H.C.S. weekly series :) – Columbia – 11th overall – 1:10:11
- Road Runners Club of America Ten-Mile Club Challenge – Sunday, February 24, 2008 – Columbia (Howard County), MD – 122nd overall – 1:07:58.85 (clock), 1:07:52 (watch)
Kent County
Montgomery County
- 5th Annual Walnut Hill Ribbon Run 5K – Sunday, February 10, 2008 – Gaithersburg – 2nd overall – 19:51
Prince George’s (P.G.) County
- Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex Track Showcase (indoor track) – Sunday, January 27, 2008 – Landover:
- 1,500 meter race – 15th overall - 5:04.9
- 800 meter race – 2nd overall –2:17.5
- 3,200 meter race – winner – 11:24 (best indoor track time for that distance by one second, and the 10:43 3,000 meter split I believe was right around an indoor track best time for me as well :)
- Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex Track Showcase (indoor track) – Sunday, February 3, 2008 – Landover:
- 800 meter run – 3rd overall – 2:15
- 3,200 meter run – 2nd overall – Have not gotten time yet, but I’m sure it was close to the 11:24 I hit there last weekend :)
Queen Anne’s County
Saint Mary’s County
Somerset County
Talbot County
- Talbot Kids Fun Run (advertised as three-miles, but less than that) – Saturday, March 8, 2008 – North Easton Sportsplex (Rails-to-Trails), Easton – Winner – Probably ran low-to-mid 14’s based on the times of other runners (I did not run my watch on this one)
Washington County
Wicomico County
- Mid-Shore Family YMCA Funny Bunny 5K Run – Saturday, March 8, 2008 – Salisbury – 2nd overall (20-29 age-group division winner) – 19:35
Worcester County
Events outside of Maryland
Delaware
Kent County
New Castle County
Sussex County
Virginia
Accomack County
Arlington County
- Potomac Valley Track Club All-Comers’ Indoor Track & Field Meet – Sunday, February 3, 2008 - Thomas Jefferson Community Center, Arlington:
- 1 mile run – 6th overall – 5:17.0
- 800 meter run – 6th overall – 2:22.5
- 3,000 meter run – 7th overall – 10:59.8
Northampton County
1 comment:
woohoo! Congratulations on your great run yesterday. You have a great goal.
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