B&A Half Marathon.

B&A Half Marathon.

I was worried about how I would do in this race. I ran a 1:49:14 (and PRed) at my last 1/2 (the Virginia Beach Rock and Roll half), but that was in the middle of marathon training, and I was putting in many more miles. I told myself I’d be happy with anything under two hours — especially since my training has been off a bit during the move.

Up very early (6:00 a.m.) to shower (don’t ask, it’s just this thing I have to do before a race) and stuff some bread down my throat. My friend L. picked me up at 6:30 and we drove to the start, stopping twice: once at Dunkin’ Donuts (bagel for her), and once at 7-11 (bathroom for me). We got to the start at 7:15 a.m., perfect timing for a 7:30 race.

… and we’re off! The B&A half is on a trial (the baltimore/annapolis trail), but the word “trail” is misleading: it’s completely paved. The first couple of miles go through a neighborhood, then turns onto the trail. The race was much more crowded than last year, but that was okay — it made it easier to find some friends to chat with for a bit I did the first few miles at an 8:30ish pace, I think. At mile 6 we left the trail to run downhill (love it), turn around (love it), and then run up the hill (not so much love). I passed some friends coming back, which was nice, and headed toward the home stretch. I really picked it up for the last three or four miles, running about an 8:10-8:20 pace. I was atempting to do the math to see if I could PR, and thought I probably would come close, but would miss it (I was right).

We split from the marathoners (have fun with another 13.1 miles, guys!) and ran the last half mile toward the finish. I pulled together everything I had left and hit the finish pad at 1:50:01// 8:24 pace (by my watch, still waiting for my chip time) … missing a pr by less than a minute! Oh well … still a good race, and I’m happy with my time