Mother's Day Weekend

So this past weekend I ran one race and attempted to run another. Let me start by saying that the past week has been much hotter and more humid that it has been in the past this time of year…it seems like we went from winter straight to summer but with a lot of pollen.

This past weekend, Mother’s Day weekend, I was scheduled to run the Maryland Half on Saturday and Potomac River Running’s Mother’s Day Four Miler Sunday with my mom before brunch. That week I had run pretty much every day except Tuesday with a total of 20 miles. Most days were pretty humid and got hotter as the week progressed. I normally run in the morning because it’s cooler yet sometimes more humid but most of last week was mid 50s low 60s but Fridays I run in the evening with  the Argonaut Running Club…they are a great group that meets every Friday 6:00PM by the Argonaut back patio. If you live in the H St NE/Capitol Hill area check them out….so this Friday was pretty gross and I had the half the next day and I hadn’t been feeling well most of the week so I ran the 4 mile route. During my run I felt off and had issues with breathing but I chalked it up to the hot weather.

Saturday Morning I got up at 640AM and drove from down town DC to the Maple Lawn community in Fulton, MD where the Maryland half was to take place. It was about 63 degrees out and quite humid and had been sprinkling on and off. I wasn’t feeling my best….morning digestive issues and allergies?...anyway there was plenty of parking at the race which was awesome and there didn’t seem to be an overwhelming number of runners which made the porta potty situation quitter favorable especially since I was in there a bit. The race was to begin at 8:00AM but I guess there was some sort of delay because we didn’t start until about 15 after. As I began to run my legs felt heavy and my stomach unsettled and I felt quite dehydrated. I pushed along and about a mile in discovered this race was much much hillier than the elevation map lead you to believe. My pace, endurance, and mental state quickly deteriorated and around mile 4 I had to stop and sit for a minute as I was now starting to feel dazed. I nice runner provided me with a salt pill and some water and I attempted to continue on the next two miles were much slower and my mental demons got the best of me. I located a police officer who flagged down the EMTs who took me back to the start…this is my first ever DNF…the whole ride back to the start I struggled with the disappointment of not finishing a race…last year I ran Zooma Annapolis where I aggravated my piriformis at about mile 3 and ended up sidelined for 5 months after the race but I still willed myself to go those remaining 10 miles but this time it wasn’t pain I had to deal with but the possibility of losing consciousness and ending up in the ER still I could not help feeling the disappointment.

Now let me tell you about the race minus my DNF…the race is on the Saturday before Mother’s Day in Fulton, MD…the packet pick up is a week long but it is all during the week so if you full time M-F 9-5 like I do and do not live in Fulton or near Baltimore this is extremely inconvenient…I had to take off a half day of work and even so ran into traffic going to MD from DC around 1PM on a Friday. They had race day packet pick up but only if you registered at the race…I think this was unfair they should let no one or everyone have race day packet pick up because some people like myself just don’t have the time to drive that far out. The race shirt was from Under Armor and was a very nice grey color and material with lovely simplistic design on the front …I’m pretty sad I can’t wear it (I don’t wear race shirts I don’t earn). The medal also looked pretty cool and I am also sad I didn’t earn mine. The race starts in the Maple Lawn Community area and makes its way around Fulton, MD…I wasn’t too fond of this course not because the hills…I usually quite enjoy them such as when I rant the 17.75k…but because there really are no spectators and it’s just boring rural roads no woods no nothing…or at least the part I ran was like that. The finish line party seemed like it would have been quite nice. All in all if this race was located closer to home and during a time of the year where the weather could be great or terrible I would try it again.

Now after the race I had to go play softball…social not competitive thank goodness because I was still feeling terrible and every time I had to run I felt sick but my team was short players so I went. After the game I went to my mom’s house and just rested and hydrated the rest of the day to prepare for my next race.

The Mother’s Day 4 Miler was located at Baron Cameron Park in Reston, VA. The packet pickup for this race was either the Friday or Saturday before at the Potomac River Running store in Reston or race day at the race site. We elected to pick up our race packets race day because Reston was not close to us. We got to the race at 7:20AM and were able to easily get our race packets…parking was a bit tricky and I think if we would have gotten there any later we may not have found parking. The weather that day was a bit warmer than the day before and just as humid but I was feeling better and it was only 4 miles. I began to run and still felt a bit out of it but I continued on the course was a large loop that went around Baron Cameron Park. The course like MD wasn’t too scenic but there seemed to be a bit more spectators and while there were hills especially right at the start the course wasn’t too hilly. Each mile went by slower than they normally would but I continued along. When I finally crossed the finish I drank lots of water and had to sit down. I finished in 30:46 about 2 minutes slower than last year. Once I felt rested I ran along the course to look for my mom and my aunt so I could cheer them on. When they crossed the finish line we looked at the results and I saw that I had finished first in my age group which was very surprising to me since last year I finished 3^rd and was much faster. Overall I still think this a great race and I will probably do it again next year unless I find another Mother’s Day 4 miler closer to home.

My mom and I post race