Frederick Running Festival Half Marathon
May 4, 2014
2:09:24
Fastest half marathon since 2009 AKA Master’s PR!!!
Temp: high 40s and sunny to start but quickly warmed from there
What I wore: hat, short sleeve shirt, Skirt Sports Happy Girl skirt,
PROCompression socks, Nike Elite arm sleeves, and my trusty Altra Intuitions
I LOVED this half last year, so I was afraid that I’d built it up in my head as more awesome than it was. I also may have had a bit more to drink on Saturday night than I normally would before a race. I also got only a couple of hours of sleep.
My plan? Run at a consistent 10:10-10:15 pace and then really push it the last mile to see if I could PR by a few seconds. I did exactly this for the first 5 miles. I’m not sure what happened in mile 6. Suddenly, I found my fast legs and dropped down to a high 9 pace and stayed there for the remainder of the race, with the exception of mile 8. Mile 8 was run in 9:15. Umm….
The good:
- The course is awesome. I love the varied scenery and the lightly rolling hills.
- Packet pickup: I got there at 4pm on Saturday and it was a breeze to pick up my bib and shirt.
- The weather was perfect for the first 10 miles. I tossed Beer Geek my arm warmers at mile 3. At mile 11, I started to get a little warm but I knew I was nearly done.
- Convenience: I left my boss’ house at 6:2o, walked over, hit the portapotties, and was in the “corrals” with 5 minutes to spare.
- Plentiful water stops with Gatorade at every stop after the first one. I went with early and often on the Gatorade and felt great the whole race.
- The after party always looks fun, but we have to head home, so I just grab my medal and water and head out.
The bad:
- The hill at mile 12
- The dirt track at the end. I find it dirty and dusty and it seems to suck all the energy out of my legs. Luckily, it’s less than a quarter of a mile distance.
The ugly:
- Nothing related to the race, but the 2am closing of the local bar necessitated closing the bedroom windows LOL.
Would I run it again?
Yes! This course did not disappoint! I love the rolling hills and I even ran up the hills at mile 9 and 12 without slowing much at all. Having a place to stay that’s an easy walk to packet pickup and the race does not suck either. Frederick Running Festival continues to be my favorite half marathon and it will be on my calendar again next year!
10 half marathons down, 3 to go! I can almost see Venus!!!
Now go and enter my Lift Your Sole charm giveaway!!!
Yay! Congrats on the PR! I’m glad you had such a good time. I loved the race last year and want to do it again. I agree with you about the hill at the end and the dusty track, though. Oof.
Yeah, the track sucks, but the rest is pretty awesome! I think everyone should join me next year LOL.
Congrats on the PR!! Deferred to next year, so hoping to check this one off the list!!
I’m sorry you had to miss it, but I’ll look forward to hanging out there with you next year.
Congrats on your Master’s PR and breaking 2:10! Love it.
And, I’m wearing that blue outfit to run in the is morning. You look great in it!!
It’s a great combo. Thanks for “making” me buy the skirt LOL.
Congrats on the PR! I loved the course as well.
Thanks! Maybe I’ll see you there next year…
AWESOME job!!!
Wow – 10 down and it is only the beginning of May!!!
You are killing all of your half marathons this year!
I feel like I’m finally making progress after two years of getting slower and slower…
Good work and I like your pre race fueling style, true can’t do that for every race but at least it was enjoyable.
I admit, I usually have a beer the night before a race. I don’t usually drink quite as much as I did this past weekend LOL.
Congrats on the PR! Frederick is def on my race bucket list – as I always love the MD flag incorporated into their race gear.
I loved last year’s half zip. The long sleeve shirt this year has thumbholes, and that’s pretty cool!
AWESOME PR!! Congrats! Sounds like its a really good race too, always on the lookout for ones to add to my list!
It’s an awesome race! I’m trying to get everyone to join me next year!