How it went

Today was the 2nd Annual Ft. McHenry Tunnel 5k Walk/Run.  The race takes you through one of the tunnels on I-95 in Baltimore, which is pretty cool.  It's a place you obviously wouldn't have a chance to just go for a run at, so it was one of the reasons we decided to do it last year.  We did it this year, because it was a fun run.

The temps today were beautiful.  I was very excited about that, good running weather.  Then I remembered that it's never quite the same IN the tunnel.  And it wasn't.  LOL!  We started a tad late, but not too bad.  I had the cadets behind me as I ran, like last year.  Last year, the passed me at about the 1 mile marker, maybe a bit beyond.  This year I went MUCH further before that happened.  :-) 

The start of the race isn't too bad, as it's all downhill.  Sadly, it's not too far before you have to go uphill...for a very long time.  LOL!  I had a pretty slow first mile, which I was a little surprised at, but whatever.  Got to the turnaround point and was very happy.  It's always good to hit the halfway point.  When I hit the 2 mile marker, I was doing good.  I had the best 2 mile time I've ever had.  I was excited thinking I had this race.  I anticipated a PR. 

Yea, then I hit the last mile of the race.  Which is allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll uphill.  It was bad.  Very, very bad.  I anticipated crossing the finish line at 60 minutes at the rate I was going.  I did have a good time keeping pace with the cadets for a little while.  It took them until past the 2 mile marker to pass me this year.  I say that's progress.  :-)

When I hit the finish line, I was surprised to see I did better than last year.  You could have knocked me over with a feather.  Maybe it was more from the fact I was exhausted from running up that hill, but I was shocked to have finished better than last Sept.  I was happy with that.  I had forgotten how rough that hill was at the end.

So, a good run was had by all today.  And, believe it or not, I can visible in that photo.  Took me awhile to find me, but I'm there.  :-)  With this race, I have completed five 5ks this year, as well as the Harrisburg Mile in July.  I have two more races scheduled for the rest of the year - the Baltimore Marathon Relay (Oct. 16th) and the Jingle Bell Race (Dec.).  Not a bad running year!