Baltimore Marathon Relay Leg One (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

This past weekend I was part of a relay team that ran the Baltimore Marathon.  The team was made of of Ana, Meg, and Meranda.  Lacy decided to join us a few weeks ago to run the whole thing on her own.  This was the first time I had ever participated in a relay, so I really wasn't sure what to expect.


On Friday Lacy and I drove up from Virginia, while the others drove together from Pennsylvania.  Lacy and I were the first to arrive so we decided to take a quick walk through the Expo.  I went to pick up my bib and ended up picking up everyone's for the team as they were all in one envelope.  We walked through the Expo and Lacy picked up her shirt.  I wanted to wait for everyone else to get mine.  Shortly the rest of the gang joined us.  The Expo was good.  I really didn't want or need anything, so it was a quick trip through.  It really kinda reminded me of the Expos that we have here.  Nothing like Rock 'n Roll or Disney, but the Baltimore race really isn't that size, so that's not a fair comparison. 

We picked up our shirts and walked to the Inner Harbor to find some place to eat.  We ended up stopping at the first place to eat.  We had some good food, good wine, and great conversations.  We headed back to the hotel and called it a night. 

We had already decided who would run which leg.  Because I was very under trained and dealing with a knee issue, everyone was nice enough to let me run the shortest leg, which happened to be the first one.  I really had not looked at the map at all before the weekend.  I did take a peek at the elevation the night before and realized that I had very steep hills for the first 3 miles or so.  But then it did even out some with a few steep down hills.  Honestly, I was OK with that, mostly because the up hills were first.

Each person of the relay team had to take the bus once.  Leg 2 and 4 had to take a bus out and leg 1 and 3 had to take a bus back.  Seemed fair.  Since Meranda had the second leg, she had to take a bus out to where I would be meeting her.  She had to be on her bus by 7:30 and the race started at 8.  The race started outside Camden Yards where the Orioles play and the bus area was outside the M&T Bank Stadium where the Ravens play.  The two stadiums are just a few blocks away, so Lacy and I walked down to the buses with Meranda and dropped her off.  Then we headed back to the start line.


We still had about a half an hour before the race started so we stretched and sat near the bathrooms.  They actually opened up part of Camden Yards were the bathrooms were so we took advantaged of real toilets.  We both went 2-3 times even though we really didn't have to go.  The weather was a little cool, but it was quickly warming up.  The race probably started in the mid-50s.  Perfect weather for running.


We decided to head to the start and I walked Lacy up to the front and then headed back to my pace area.  There were no corrals, just signs with paces listed where you were supposed to line up.  I found a place in the 12 minute mile area, even though I know I am much slower then that.  I had found a nice empty space and just stayed there so I could do a few more stretches.

Right before the race started, Meranda texted me that I would be running through the zoo.  The zoo?!?  Wow, now I was really excited.  They played the national anthem and then we were off.

The race started through the inner part of the city.  We headed up one hill and it would even off and sometimes even go downhill for a little.  Then it would go up another hill steeper or longer then the last.  I kept looking back to see how many people were behind me and I kept seeing a stream of runners and then the police car that followed the last runner.  I felt like it was the balloon ladies stalking me.  Every time I got towards the top of a hill, I would look back and there was the police car.  I tried not to push it harder and hurt myself, but I was so terrified to be pulled off the course for going too slow and ruin the race for the other ladies.


I was running a 30:30 and was hitting every run interval.  I was proud that I kept up a pretty good pace, despite all of the up hills.  We ran through neighborhoods that were a bit sketchy.  Though there were a lot of people sitting on their steps and porches watching the race.  Like I do at all the other races, I wave and say hello and thank you to everyone that took the time to come out.  I very much appreciate anyone that comes out to watch and cheer us on.  I knew that the worst of the uphills would be over around mile 3, but they just felt like they went on forever.


We come up towards a park and I knew the Maryland Zoo had to be coming up.  I didn't know if we would be able to see any animals or how many.  But I just couldn't wait.


We got to a back entrance gate and they had two birds out for us to look at and take pictures.  They are Common Ravens named Rise and Conquer.  They are the live mascots of the Baltimore Ravens football team.  They are at every home game.


The next animal that they had out was the Lionhead Rabbit.  He was just a fluff ball of fur and so cute.


The next was another bird, the Kookaburra from Australia.


The last animal that they had out was a Penguin.  They actually had it set up with someone taking your picture.  This guy just kept looking at the person that was having their picture taken with him.  He just wouldn't turn around to face the camera.


So I decided to take a picture of him staring at me after our picture was done.


We ran through a little bit more of the zoo, but none of the actual exhibits were open or viewable.  All of the animals that we could see were the ones that they brought out to the course.  We exited the zoo and ran through a bit more of the park that surrounds the zoo. 

I noticed that because of being in the park and zoo and not having a strait shot behind me, I really didn't know how far back I was in the race.  I knew that I had spent some time taking pictures but I felt like I was making some good time.  There were still people around me, not tons, but enough to make me feel a little more comfortable.  Most everyone had pinned on the back of their shirts if they were running the relay or the full.  I do remember being very happy that I was only doing 6 miles instead of the full 26.  With my lack of training and only running once the 3 weeks before the race because of my knee injury I was getting tired and very happy to be about a mile from my end.

The park had a very beautiful lake.  It was starting to get a bit warm, but still a nice run.


And more hills.


And more hills.  At this point my knee was really hurting.  Hills are the trigger for my latest knee pain and I did a good bit of that.  I really couldn't wait for the end of my leg.


When I was about half a mile away from the relay exchange I texted Meranda to let her know.  She said that she was at the top of the hill.  Which hill?


I turned the corner of this last hill and I saw a bunch of people.  I knew that this must be the relay exchange.  Way down the road I saw someone waving frantically.  I thought it was someone on the side of the road to cheer for someone near me.  They were a bit away from the crowd and didn't pay too close attention.  I got a little closer and I realized that it was Meranda waving for me.  Yay!  I was done!  We had a quick hello and selfie.  She took the timing chip and I took her throw away and she was off.


I looked for some water and food, but all they had was the water station that was a few yards past the relay station.  Huh?  No water bottles to take with us on the bus back to the festival?  I couldn't believe that 'cause I was very thirsty.  They only had 2 water stations on my leg and I wanted water.  I walked down to the station and it looked like they were pouring the cups of water from gallon jugs.  There was one sitting on the table that was about a fourth full and I asked if I could take it and they said yes.  Yay, water for the ride home!

I headed to the buses.  They were using school buses to shuttle us around.  I got in and sat in the front.  There were still about 10 seats that needed to be filled before they would head back to the festival.  As we were waiting we talked to the bus driver.  He said that their instructions was to get as close to the football stadium as they could and good luck.  No instructions on the best route or what roads would be closed.  Thankfully our driver knew where he was going and got us back fairly quickly.

I went back to the festival and got my medal and food and more water.  By this point I was really hungry.  I don't eat much of anything before I run and after 6 miles and about an hour I needed some fuel.  I had about an hour before Lacy would pass the finish line so I headed back to the hotel for a quick shower.


I got back to the finish line and found Meranda.  By that time she had finished her leg and walked to the finish line.  As we were watching everyone and chatting, Lacy finished.  We both saw her but neither one of us were ready to take a picture.  Oh well.


We met Lacy in the medal/fuel area and headed towards the water.  She looked like she put almost everything on the course.  I made sure that I kept giving her another bottle of water when she was done with one.  We took a few pictures by the water and headed so that Lacy could get a massage.


Meranda and I left Lacy in good hands and headed back to the finish line.  We wanted to see Ana cross the finish line.  We knew that she was wearing a black tank top and black shorts.  Not long after, Meranda asked if that was her.  I looked, but she had already passed and all I could see was her back.  By the end of this race it was in the upper 70's, so very hot.  She had taken off her top and was running in her sports bra because of the heat.  We decided that we thought it was her and headed back to the medal/fuel area and as we were heading there we got a text saying that she was done.  It was her!

At the same time Meg was having a hard time getting back to the festival.  Her bus driver kept getting lost and it was taking them forever to get back to the festival area.  We found Lacy again (who looked much better after her massage) and Ana and Lacy went to find Meg and head back to the hotel to shower and get ready to check out.  Meranda wanted to get a massage, so I went down with her.

They were offering to do acupuncture as well as massage, so I decided to try it.  I've always been interested in trying it, but never got around to.  So I jumped at the chance.  I told her what was bothering me (at this point, my knee was fine, but my hips were stiff).  She had me lie on my back and she put the needles on a few places in my legs.  There wasn't any pain when she put the needles in.  I'm not sure if it helped or not, but she had stated usually only one treatment isn't very noticeable.


It was now after 1 and our checkout time was 2, so we headed back to the hotel to get ready to head out.  We checked out of the hotel and had Chipotle and Subway for lunch before we headed our respective ways home.

The weekend was so very quick, but it really was a lot of fun.  I wish we had more time hanging out.  This was the first time I had met Meg and Ana and I wish we had more time to get to know each other.  We will just have to do another race together then. :)

Meranda continued on to leg 2.

She passed the tracking chip on to Meg for leg 3.

And Ana took the last leg and ran to the finish line.

While we ran the relay, Lacy ran the whole 26.2 miles!

Have you ever been part of a relay?  Have you ever done any of the races in the Baltimore Festival (marathon, relay, half, or 5k)?  

I’m linking up with with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.

What's For Lunch? (Friday Five Edition)

With my new job, we are located downtown and in a part of town where there is not a lot of lunch options.  We do have a cafeteria but it doesn't have a huge selection that I like and it's very expensive.  We have a Subway across the street and a pub a few blocks down.  For anything else we have to drive at least 15 minutes.  It makes it hard when you are hourly.  So I just bring my lunch.

 

Lately I have been making different casseroles on Sunday night and splitting it up for the week.  That way I have dinner for Sunday and don't have to figure out what to make each evening when I get home late.  Yes, sometimes by Friday, I am tired of it, but that rarely happens.  When it does, I bring a sandwich or plan on buying my lunch.   Here is what goes into the process.

1. Meat - I chose what type of meat.  I can't eat red meat, so I usually rotate between ground turkey and chicken.  I'll cook up the ground turkey and add some spices.  Once it's cooked thoroughly, I add salsa.  This gives it a little more flavor and makes it easier to stir in other ingredients.   

 

2. Carbs - I decide between pasta and rice.  I usually go for pasta, but sometimes I need to shake things up and I cook up some rice.  For the rice, I just use those boil a bag, just cause it's a lot easier.  If I use pasta I pick from any shape and style.

 

3. Vegetables - I usually pick whatever looks good in the grocery store.  A lot of my go-tos are broccoli, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and cauliflower.  I don't have a steamer (or even room for one in my tiny kitchen), but I found this basket thing that is boil proof. 

 

I just chop up the vegetables, put it in the basket, put the basket in the pot and cover for 5-10 minutes.  

 

The vegetables turn out great.  I have been getting cherry tomatoes and cutting those in froths.  I won't steam them, but just add them raw.

4. Cheese - Every casserole has to have cheese.  And I believe that more is better. :)  For all but one of my dishes I just buy a bag of shredded cheese at the store.  If I am making something with the ground turkey, I usually go for a nacho type mix.  If it's chicken, usually sharp cheddar.  I have a Mac & Cheese recipe from my grandmother that I do sometimes and add chicken and veggies if I feel like making it healthier.  For that one I get cubes of sharp cheddar and then sprinkle on some different shredded cheese on top.

 

5. Bake - I mix everything in a casserole dish and put it in the oven for 10-15 minutes.  Everything has already been cooked, except the tomatoes, so it shouldn't take long for the cheese to melt and give it that nice crunch on the top.

 

Once it's done, I usually have a bowl for dinner and then put the rest into tupperware for the week.  These that I use you can get from getting Chinese delivered, or do what I do and buy 25 for like $10.  They are the perfect size for a lunch and not too bulky to put a bunch in the fridge for the week.

 

With so many different choices I can make, I have yet to get bored with my lunch. 

Do you bring your lunch to work?  Do you have any lunch hacks that are good and easy?  

I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0

Medal Monday - My First Medal (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

There are times when I walk down my hallway, I really start looking at all of my medals.  I don't know if I could honestly tell you if I had a favorite one, but each one has a story.  I thought I'd start a series of posts which shares these stories.

 

I had been running on an almost regular basis for a year and a half when I got this medal in May of 2012.  This was for The Race For the Cure 5k that always takes place Mother's Day weekend here.  I've only done this race once because my schedule never worked out to do it again (and it usually was on my birthday weekend as well).  

 

I had done a couple of 10k's (both the Ukrop's 10k) and a few 5k's before this in the year and a half.  I ran with a couple people from the gym and my race buddy.  We were running it because my gym teacher's wife was battling breast cancer (and won later that year).  One of the ladies from the gym was driving and she is a policewoman.  I remember her driving being very scary, but feeling very safe at the same time.  She would do these precision moves that you didn't think were possible and pulled them off.

 

The race is a course that by the river, downtown.  What I remember from the course are a few really steep hills up and one steep downhill at the end.  I would find out later that year that it's the same finish line as my first half marathon.

 

We didn't get the medal as we were finishing the race, but as we were leaving the after party and heading back to the car.  I didn't even know that they gave out medals at races as I had never gotten one before (the Ukrop's 10k only started giving medals out three years ago).  I thought they only gave them out if you won the race.  I am actually surprised I kept it and now I'm glad I did.

What was your first medal for?  Did you know that you got medals before you started entering races?

I’m linking up with with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.