Still can’t believe race day has come and gone so fast, but I did it–completed my very first half-marathon!  Can’t wait to do it again!

I arrived in Baltimore on Friday afternoon and met up with Molly (close friend & former Penn State roommate) her boyfriend Matt (who ran the race with me).  We went out for dinner and for a nice walk around the harbor.

After a trip to the grocery store for some pre-race bagels and Powerade, went back to Matt’s apartment to relax a for a mini YouTube-fest ranging from cute to crazy absurd to downright disgusting.   Beware of that last one, but if you’re fearless and in the mood for serious vomiting go ahead and click.  But  I warned you…

Anyway, after I laid out my race gear (which Molly thought was pee-your-pants hilarious for whatever reason), we hung out for a few more laughs andthen called it a night.

7am wakeup call, breakfast, and a quick ride on the Light Rail, and we were in downtown B-more for the 9th Annual Running Festival.  Like our coordinated all-black ninja race outfits?  I do.

The Baltimore  Running Festival consisted of a marathon, half-marathon, marathon relay, 5k, and kids’ 100 yard dash.  Mad people!  I loved seeing that many people come together for running as a common goal, when in life most folks I encounter tell me I’m crazy for doing it.

So Matt and I started the half together while Molly headed to the finish line to wait for us.  We stuck together until mile 4, when I had to pee like you wouldn’t believe and didn’t want to make Matt wait.  He went on ahead, but I couldn’t quite catch up after that.

Let me tell you I was definitely not as prepared as i should have been.  It wasn’t the cakewalk I thought it would be.  Mmm, cake.

Anyway, the second half was a bit of a struggle.  I’ve been a runner for years but I now know that I had never run 13.1 miles at one time ever.  But the two things that kepts me going were the massive amounts of people who came out to cheer on the runners, and the awesome tour of downtown Baltimore.  I would actually consider moving there sometime in the near future.

So my offical time crossing the finish line was 2:21:34.  A little rough.  I was hoping to be a lot closer to two hours, but I’m still happy about it.   Matt’s time was way better than mine, which is badass since he barley trained.   And Molly finished first in being awesome.  All in all, a fantastic experience and one I would gladly repeat.  Next time though, I’ll complete a real training program in the months leading up to it, and also pee two or three times before starting.  Whew!

The finish line

Waiting patiently...

It's over!

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