Before I get into my own race, I'll start this by talking about what a great time my kids had at the fun run on Saturday night. It was their first race, and they enjoyed it immensely. They couldn't wait to get out on the track after watching the bigger kids run their race. We finally lined up and I was trying to get a few last minute pictures and it was ready, set, go! I ran with our three year old daughter and my wife ran with our 2 year old daughter. My 3 year old took off and started sprinting, passing other kids and parents and never slowed down. I was so proud of her. As soon as we finished, she asked me how many more times we get to race tonight! Our youngest daughter did very well also, keeping pace and enjoying the run. It was great for their first official race experience!
We got to Frederick in plenty of time and met up with our friends there. My wife was running the relay with a friend of ours. We all got to catch up for a few minutes and my wife had to catch her shuttle. It wasn't long before it was time to begin lining up. As we were waiting for the start of the race, we got to enjoy a nice tribute to the Boston Marathon with the playing of "Sweet Caroline", and of course the National Anthem. I looked up and noticed a hot air balloon that was similar to the one I pointed out to my kids the night before. That gave me a nice reminder of them right before the start. With all the preliminaries out of the way, it was time to run.
This race started much differently than the Shamrock did for me just 6 or 7 weeks earlier. I had trained much harder for the Shamrock, and was forced to take almost 4 weeks off due to some broken ribs that happened during a basketball game. We started off bunched up as usual and in the middle of the pack. As things finally began to separate somewhere around a half to three quarter miles in, I felt surprisingly good. My legs felt fresh, breathing was good, and I was moving through the crowd a bit. I ran my first mile almost 30 seconds faster than I anticipated, and immediately dropped the long sleeve shirt I had on to keep warm (my donation to the Frederick City Rescue Mission). We made the turn into downtown and I still felt surprisingly good, keeping up a faster than expected pace. I kept my headphones on thinking this would help me regulate my pace a little better, but I just kept pushing it seemed. The miles just seemed to melt away. We travelled through some beautiful residential areas, past a few great parks, churches, and a high school campus. It really seemed like the gentle rolling hills weren't going to bother me at all, and I felt as though everything seemed to be downhill.
As I kept rolling along thinking what a great run I was having, I kept wondering if the terrain was going to change. I made it through the halfway point, still moving along quite well. I started to approach mile 8, and there was my wife waiting at the exchange point for the relay. Her relay partner was not far behind me I told her since we ran together for the first 5 miles of the race. Once I passed mile 8, I could feel my pace begin to slow slightly, although I still felt pretty good and we were going through some very supportive neighborhoods. As the miles kept passing, I began to look forward to the finish. That's when the hills began. As I approached the 11 mile marker, there was a pretty good climb, and that took a little out of me. I settled in after that and kept a nice even pace. As we got closer and closer to the finish line, I could feel the adrenaline begin to kick in. That's when the final hill leading up to the 13th mile really hit. It was by far the toughest and steepest hill of the day, and for it to show up there at the end of the race was demoralizing. I finally conquered that, made the turn into the track and finished strong.
It was a totally different race than the Shamrock, rolling hills as opposed to the flat of the beach. Lots of turns within the city as opposed to long straight stretches of road. With all of that being said and with a lot less training, I was still able to take 30 seconds off my time. I was extremely happy. It was a great day running on fresh legs and a great race, very well organized, very well supported, and a great group of volunteers that helped make it all possible. Very much looking forward to next year!
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