Philly Half Marathon

We left DC around 1 pm and headed to Philly....in time to make the expo and pick up my race bib and packet....

What we thought would be a speedy two or two and a half hour ride in...

turned into four hours...

that I was sure was never going to end....

Mark and I finally switched places and I walked to the Convention Center, where I was greeted by what my eyes had waited hours to see!

The expo was hopping with less than two hours to go...

I quickly and easily picked up my bib, but then got into this mongo line to get my tshirt and bag...I wasn't sure what was longer--the tshirt line or the traffic into the city. Thankfully, the line inside the Convention Center moved faster than the one outside!

I took a quick photo inside and went outside to meet up with Mark.

We happened to get a great deal on Expedia and stayed at the Omni right across from Independence Park. It was wonderful to stay there and in such an historic location! We quickly scoured our options for dinner and realized we should have made a reservation since of course, the rest of the runners wanted pasta too. We decided to order out at Maggiano's and what started as a 15-20 minute wait for dinner turned into nearly an hour. What a fiasco! 2o minutes in the restaurant called us (as we were about to enter the pick up door of course!) and they said it had been entered incorrectly and it would be another 30-35 minutes until our meal was ready....arg. But when we finally did get it, we had a yummy feast back in our hotel room. Mark and I discovered a new series: Wreck Chasers. We had no idea--a whole new lifestyle was revealed to us. We felt lucky to be watching it in the city that it was filmed!

The morning came quickly. I had a quick yogurt and we stopped for Starbucks. Mark drove me to the start line--well, about three blocks before it, which was outstanding!

It was near 40 degrees at the start, but it felt pretty great!

Mark took to the road, after dropping off the car, on his bike. His stakeout yielded some great shots!



And he even found me! :)

Again,

and again...




(and he found this guy dressed in a green one piece while waiting for me)....


and again...


and even again with this sneak shot from up above!

The best was when my #1 cheerleader found me at the finish line!

The half marathon was really good to me. I ran a 1:52...a PR by more than 5 minutes! I felt good and felt strong throughout. I think it was the combination of the weather, the rest the night before, and seeing Mark along the course.



Here he is! :) Go Mark the running cheerleader!

I really appreciate him being there!

Mark and I walked back to the hotel, enjoying the scenery along the way!







We had a great time in the city of Brotherly Love!

We showered and were on the road. Red Robin was calling to us, so we found one a half hour outside of Philly in Wilmington, DE.

Need I say more? So tasty!


THIS is a happy runner! :)



Race #23. Conquered!

Bib

FName

LName

City

State

Country

Div

Age

Sex

ChipTime

ClockTime

Overall

SexPl

DivPl

AgeGrade

10K

22112

Amy

Trenkle

Washington

DC

FEMALES 34 TO 39

35

F

01:52:24

01:57:35

1608

636

80

59.3%

My 10K split was 52:21.

My mile by mile splits were:

Mile 1 8:11.45
Mile 2 8:28.14
Mile 3 9:04.12
Mile 4 8:07.75
Mile 5 8:27.92
Mile 8 25.50.96
Mile 9 8:56.78
Mile 10 9:09.97
Mile 11 8:34.37
Mile 12 8:18.63
Mile 13 9:02.58
Mile .1 12.55

1:52.25.22

8395 Finishers - 3026 M / 5369 F

Be More in B'More--the Baltimore Half Marathon

My 19th race was a race that I've registered for at least twice before but never run. I was anxious for the start of it this year...just making it to Baltimore for the start of the race was a victory!

I was pretty excited to run it. I loved that the race started at 9:45---getting from DC to Baltimore by 9:45 meant that we didn't have to get up ridiculously early and that I felt a bit warmed up.

But as I said good bye to Mark, my back froze up and felt so incredibly stiff. I know that I felt like I had tweaked it the day before, but it just tensed up....I couldn't bring my hands up behind my back and it hurt to turn from side to side.

I was worried as I walked to the start, but hoped that the more I walked the better I would feel.

I stood in the corral for my wave. And waited. And waited. I didn't feel much better, but hoped that when I started to run I would be ok.


The gun went off! I started to run. It was tense, but if I didn't turn much I was ok. Around the .5 mile mark I stopped to walk, wondering if I would be able to make it to mile one, let alone 13.1. I was glad not to see Mark because I think if I had, I wouldn't have finished this race.


It wasn't until mile 8 that I started to feel better. I loved the course. Probably because I seemed to know where I was but it was also a lot of new places. I LOVED the last three miles, which ran from Hopkins to the Inner Harbor---all downhill! I must say, there were more spectators than what I had hoped for--and they were awesome!

Around mile four, there were supporters who had a sign that said, "Nobody made you do this." I love it. Another sign called all the runners "smurfs" because of the color of the race shirts (which were quality by the way!).



In the end, I was happy with my time because I finished! By the end, when I was feeling better and knew I would finish I was elated. I will definitely register again for this race. I think the marathon would be a good one too....Definitely an awesome, awesome surprise.


Two thumbs up (and one joyous leg kick) for this race!


And always, thanks to Mark for supporting me along the way! We brought Soba this time which meant that Mark didn't have his bike. I saw him at the finish line just before I crossed it! :)




We enjoyed a tasty lunch at our favorite Baltimore diner, the City Cafe--a delicious post race meal! It took us FOREVER to get out of Baltimore because the marathon was still going on and all the cross streets were still closed. But it was nice to be sitting in a car, with Mark and Soba, on a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon.

One more race to go until my New Year's Resolution has been met!


Splits:

Mile 1 9:45.68
Mile 2 9:18.17
Mile 3 9:17.13
Mile 4 9:09.16
Mile 5&6 18:40.93
Mile 7 9:17.12
Mile 8 9:25.17
Mile 9 9:20.16
Mile 10 9:31.60
Mile 11 8:59.78
Mile 12 9:20.14
Mile 13.1 9:23.43

Total 2:01:28.47

Bib

FName

LName

City

State

Country

Div

Age

Sex

ChipTime

ClockTime

Overall

SexPl

DivPl

AgeGrade

Split1

Split2

Divt

Sext

21632

AMY

TRENKLE

WASHINGTON

DC

USA

FEMALES 35-39

35

F

2:01:26

2:07:37

2477

981

139

54.9%