I'm back, very tired and sore but overall happy with my race. The short version is I got a 5 minute PR (chip time of 4:16:47, gun time 4:17:41).

Longer version: We drove down to MD Saturday and joined some family members for a late brunch.  It was hot (78) but the forecast was for a cooldown overnight with a chance of showers. After lunch, we headed to the expo, which was supposed to run until 5 p.m. At 4:00 it was mostly packed up, but they let me pick up my bib and chip, fortunately. Then we drove to a motel, which turned out to be the wrong one (who would guess there are two Red Roofs near the airport!)  It was a frustrating prestart to the race. We went to bed early, but I couldn't sleep.  I got at most 2 hours. The previous night wasn't much better, because Ben was sick with diarrhea, so we had to keep one ear open in case he needed to go out.  The good part was, we woke up early, ate coffee and bagel and banana, and headed to the race. The high school parking lot was full when we got there, so we drove around looking for on street parking, then had a brisk hike back to the school. I only had 10 minutes to stand in line and go to the bathroom.  Just enough since everyone was heading out the door of the school while we were heading in.

I got out to the course while they were playing the National Anthem, kissed Jim and went to find my place in the crowd.  They had approximate paces marked on the side, so I put myself between the 9:00 and 10:00 signs. There were 600 half marathoners and 200 marathoners. The race is too small for pacers. (It is pretty much a no-frills race - well organized, but don't expect swag.)

It was a cool gray day, colder and windier than forecast: 47 at the start, 48 at end of race with 10 mph winds that were in my face off and on the first 7 miles and the last 6.  The rain held off until after we were done. The B&A is a paved rail trail, so we started at Severna Park HS, wound through some neighborhoods, then headed out 7 miles on the rail trail and back then out the other direction 6 miles and back, with a .5 side jaunt.  The first half was busy, but not overly crowded. There was a little weaving, but it wasn't too bad. At 13, the HMers split off and all of a sudden the course was empty.  There were neighborhood people out walking, running and on bikes, but the marathoners were really spread out by then.  The rail trail ran through woods and wooded neighborhoods mostly, so it was nice for the most part, but not terrifically exciting. Elev. gain and loss was around 569' per my Garmin, so the course wasn't as flat as I expected. The biggest hill was a long gradual 72' and there were a couple of overpasses, but nothing major.

My Garmin failed at 25.65.  Aargh! Fortunately, it saved what I had done until then.  I intended to run about 9:45 average, so I'd finish around 4:15, but I followed someone for the first 8 miles or so who was running consistently at about the pace I wanted, just a little fast,  - 9:35.  I had done some of my easy runs at about that pace, so thought I could do it at least for a while. I kept him in sight, but didn't try too hard to stay close. However, I was able to maintain that pace for the first 19 miles.  It wasn't super easy, but it wasn't hard either.  I was also surprisingly consistent, for me.  9:34, 9:34, 9:35, 9:33, 9:38, 9:28, 9:33, 9:31, 9:36, 9:33, 9:34, 9:25, 9:31, 9:36, 9:44, 9:28, 9:50, 9:33, 9:46

However, at the second turnaround the wind was in my face again and I was getting tired.  I had walked briefly at the water stops every 2.5 miles or so, but after 19 I started doing more walking. My legs were almost rigid by that time, mostly left glutes and quads, but I didn't always feel my feet and was afraid my legs were going to collapse a couple of times.  So I had a couple of slower miles (10:11, 10:15) then the really hard miles were 22-23 (10:58, 10:32).  I was still passing people and no one was passing me except a few that I was leapfrogging. I sped up a little, but still was walking about a minute every mile or so but I felt pretty strong  (10:12, 10:13, 6:50 for .65 and 5:46 for the missing .6).  I ran the last .25 hard, finishing at 4:16:47 chip time, 4:17:41 gun time.  I feel good about the results, as I got two out of my 3 possible goals (PR and BQ) but not the 4:15 I was hoping for.

Food and drink worked out pretty well. I ended up eating 4 gus (5, 10, 15, and 20) and alternated water and Gatorade. Because I was told the water was every 3 miles and I usually train drinking every 2 on a LR, I carried water in my fanny pack, but only needed it once, when the Razzberry gel didn't want to go down.  I had brief cramps around mile 20, but nothing awful. No bathroom stops or need for any.

Jim and some other family members met me at the end, so I hugged everybody, got some liquid and potato chips, then got a painful but good 15 minute massage.  I was too tired to be sociable and my stomach was too iffy to have any desire to eat real food then, so we didn't stick around very long.  Lunch was a couple of hours later. Poor Jim, up at 5:30, and lunch at 3:00.  He ate some of my chips at least.

All in all, it was a very good day.

Awesome new PR and BQ (oops, I missed that)!  Great job!  Very happy for you!

Your description of the last 10k sounds an awful lot like my last marathon. Nice job on the big PR and BQ!

Excellent job, Ginny!  Congratulations on the PR and BQ!

I saw a couple of replies before I read the report and thought "BQ in a trail marathon???"  But it all makes sense now!  

Congrats Ginny!

Ginny, like I told you on FB, your BQ is not the result of your AG standard becoming easier, it's instead the result of your aging strong and healthy. You are still as fast, actually you are faster, than you were a few years ago. That's a wonderful accomplishment. One that shows your commitment to your fitness and to your sport.

I'm sorry I missed your RR last month, but better late than never, I hope. Congratulations both on a strong PR and BQ (and on only 2 hours of sleep)! Thank you for sharing your great race with us, you are amazing, be proud of yourself!

P.S. Your husband is the perfect husband for a runner. You trained him well.

Lily!!!!!

Hi guys. I'm still running, but getting slower. Something tells me that on the other hand, you've all been doing great. :-) Miss you all!

This is me, exactly. Hi, Lily!