Ah..Charm City.
Mark drove me through Baltimore on Sunday afternoon to get a better sense of the Baltimore half-marathon route. I am not sure if it's better that I know what is in store for me or if I should have left it a mystery. See Baltimore half-marathon route
Baltimore half-marathon route. I think ultimately it is better to know what is in store.
I signed up for this race before I got into the Army 10-miler and decided (after much encouragement) to just run both races and see what happens. Remind me again why the hell I'm doing this race???!! I keep telling myself...you can do this...or at least walk/run it.
We drove the route and it is very, very hilly...long progressive hills, rolling hills, a steep one and short ones. See Elevation chart. We start near Camden Yards and then run up through neighborhoods, circle back down toward the waterfront and complete the race by running into Camden Yards.
There is a spot halfway through the race where you run around a man-made lake. I've decided that that will be "my wall." I will need to press forward and know that the downward decent toward the waterfront is just a mile away and my legs will be so happy to begin moving down.
I asked some folks who have run the race before for tips. They said it is a challenging course. They said that the city is very supportive and each neighborhood will line the streets and some neighborhoods will create a theme for the runners. Of course there will be bands to motivate us on. The consistent theme for this race (and frankly others) is to run your own race and not get wrapped up in what others are doing. That will be my goal --- stay controlled and consistent.
That's all fine and dandy...but this race still scares the shit out of me...but I know that I can always walk for a little while if I have to. My goal is to run...even if at times it will be a slow, pathetic attempt at running.
Baltimore...13.1 miles of fun...here I come.
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