Hills and Hangovers and fortunately not Heat! Otherwise known as the Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon Race Report!
Saturday afternoon we went to the Kenny Chesney concert at FedExField! We had a great afternoon of tailgating planned: Corona and CornHole – what’s not to like? We also had fried chicken, pasta salad, chips, etc. A great afternoon in the sun, and I did some good carboloading! We played four fun rounds of cornhole. We also had a canopy to keep out of the sun when not playing. Fun fun fun! We headed into the stadium and got seated just after the first act – Uncle Kraker – started playing. We were pretty lucky – we had seats in the lower deck just under the upper deck overhang – out of the sun and possible rain. But – no rain! Next up was Billy Currington, followed by the Zac Brown Band. At some point my friend Teri and her husband came by for a visit. We got a great picture for our mutual friend Traci (who’d had a hand in getting Teri her tickets). Finally Kenny was up. He really puts on a great show! Loved the entire concert. We did skip out during the encore, when it semed he had all the different acts up there jamming and performing with him. But on a good note, we got out of the parking lot and home super fast. Even still, I only got about 4 hours of sleep before I had to get up for my race...
So, 4AM came awfully early on race day. Plus I’d woken up at 2AM when my son got home from being out. Anyway, got up I did. I was carpooling with Priscilla and she was going to be there for 5AM! I had organized everything the morning before, thank goodness! I was pretty much ready to go when she got there. Except I almost forgot my race number! Yikes!
Traffic to the race venue (Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium) was non-existent at 5AM on a Sunday. Also, the traffic into the stadium like last year was non-existent, too. Then when we were being directed to park we were wondering where they were sending us. But it was awesome – prime parking on an end spot right by the exit, right by the port-a-potties, and right by the finisher’s area. Perfect! P’s friend Cassie (who was doing the 10K) arrived and found us and we all hung out till the start. Sally got a bit of a late start so we weren’t sure we’d see her till after we’d finished.
I’d signed up for this race because Priscilla had decided to do it to qualify for Half Fanatic status. I thought – hey, that’d be cool, I’ll do it too. Then I'd need one more. This was before I’d realized that (1) Kinetic Half tri would work, and (2) that that race alone would be enough to qualify me for Half Fanatic status. But I was happy to be doing the race.
So, I was not sure how I’d feel running this race after my, um, LONG day the day before. I’d been trying to hydrate and was trying to eat but that did not taste good. I’d had a bit of coffee in the morning when I got up, then was alternating between Gatorade and water. Surprisingly when I started running I felt pretty good. And right after we crossed the start line then who ran by? Sally! Yay – she’d made it! I started off very slow, even though I was supposed to race at Z3/LZ4. I wanted to see how I felt. I think by mile 3 I was pretty warmed up and was able to pick up the pace a bit. The sun stayed away and there was a cool breeze, but it was a bit humid. Could have been worse though! Then at mile 4 came the lovely bridge! (The Naval Academy Bridge.) It would be the first of two times over it because the Half Marathon is an out and back at this point. The course has a lot of rolling hills and then at about mile 6 you break off the road and go onto the B&A (Baltimore & Annapolis) Park Trail. This was very nice! Here they handed out Gu. I was carrying two flavors (Chocolate and Espresso) of Gu but did not want to take one. They were handing out Vanilla Bean flavored...and that actually sounded OK. I took one and ate the entire thing. I felt pretty good after. Anyway, you followed this trail to the turnaround then retraced your steps back over “the bridge”. While one the park trail I got to slap hands with Sally and Priscilla. They were both running strong! Yay!! Back to the bridge... However, once you get across the bridge you don’t head straight toward the finish line. The course actually turns off back the way you came before crossing the bridge the first time for a total of a mile or so. We all agreed that this was the worst part of the course. Oh well. Finally got to that last turn around and was then headed back. Saw Sally cruising along here, still looking good. (I was feeling pretty cruddy at this point myself.) I was going between power walking and running because I was just feeling hot. I was hoping to finish at the same time as I’d finished the Pig. If I had I been feeling ‘better’ that could have happened. However...I finished just past 1:32, so all in all I was very happy with that. I waited at the finish line because I knew Sally was right behind me so I was able to cheer her in. Sally opened her finisher’s necklace pouch first – it was a Z for Zooma! (But also perfect for Team Z!) And I thought much cooler than last years’ sailboat finisher’s necklace. We decided to get a blanket and sit to eat our finishers’ food while we waited for Priscilla to finish. She showed up – early than she expected, too! Yay for Priscilla conquering her 3rd Half in 90 days for Half Fanatic status!! Woo hoo! After we’d all eaten we walked around the finishers area then took a picture overlooking the stadium. Time to head home! Where I made up for a LOT of lost sleep! In fact, I was so tired I skipped the opportunity for pizza and fun with the Zooma Finishers and Marlene. Maybe next time...
Next up – the Regent’s Park Summer 10K Series, #4! (OMG!!!)
Happy and Healthy Training!
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