Two rainy races and marathon training.

Its October, which means that its officially crazy time for both fall races and wedding planning (83 days to go!). So, this post is a catch-all: a long-overdue report on the A10, a recap of this past weekend's Metric Marathon, and a quick update on my fall marathon training.

The A-10.

The night before.

As previously noted in this blog, I've had a bit of a curse going with the Annapolis 10-mile run, better known as the A10. The A10 is an iconic Annapolis event, and something I dreamed of running for about 10 years before I was fit enough to do it. I finally entered for the first time in 2010. Two nights before? Emergency appendectomy. In 2011, I entered again. Three nights before? Race called off due to a hurricane. So, that's about $120 in non-refundable entry fees and two years of buildup with no actual race to show for it.

I might have sworn off the A10, had it not been for Andrew. He and I went on our first date the very night of the cancelled 2011 A10. The next day, I told some friends "I met someone awesome last night. Maybe he'll break my A10 curse!" At that point, my wildest dream was that I would still be dating him when the 2012 A10 rolled around, and that he would cheer for me as I crossed the finish line. I never imagined that I would be engaged to him and he would also run the race!

The morning of this year's A10, it looked like we might be in trouble again. We drove to the start in the middle of a thunderstorm, with lightning and soaking rain. Not again! Fortunately, the storm abated just as the starting gun went off... for about 10 minutes. Just as I spotted the mile 2 marker (and took off my rain jacket), the sky opened up and it started POURING. I didn't mind being cold and wet, but pretty soon, I was having visibility issues. The rain was actually getting under my contacts, knocking my visibility down to about 6 inches. Naturally, I didn't have a hat, but I did have sunglasses. I put them on, and saw an instant improvement. For the record, foggy sunglasses are way better than wet contacts!

The rain lasted probably 20 minutes- just long enough for me to give a grateful thumbs-up to my hearty future brother-in-law, who stood in a poncho at the bottom of Main Street to cheer for us! Ultimately, the rain was probably a blessing. It held off the notorious A10 heat for a good hour. I didn't start to feel uncomfortably hot until about mile 8. By that time, I was already on my second trip over the dreaded Naval Academy bridge and headed for the finish. I crossed the line at 1:50:17. That's a slow 10-mile time for me, but I felt great for the whole race, so I wasn't complaining.

Then came the best part: watching Andrew finish! He had a rough time in training, and was worried that the race would take 2 1/2 hours. I was worried that he would be miserable the whole time. Instead, he finished in 2:09:51 and felt great! In fact, he felt so great that he signed up for his first half-marathon. I was so proud of him that I actually got a little choked up when he crossed the finish line.

Finishers! Next stop: Baltimore Half! 

The Metric Marathon. 

This past Sunday, I ran another rainy race: the Striders' Metric Marathon. This 26.2K/16.3 mile race is the longest of the Striders' Champ Series, and it has not been a great race for me in the past. In 2010, I ran it with a miserable cold and spent the first half trying not to throw up and/or drop out. In 2011, I ran it in miserably cold weather (45 degrees and drizzling) and went out way too fast, making for a very painful finish. Given those two experiences, I was not excited about this year's race, but I knew I had to do it in order to get my 2012 IronMan award.

In true Metric Marathon fashion, I awoke on Sunday to less-than-ideal conditions. The day before: a cool, crisp 65-70 degrees. Race morning? 55 degrees and raining. Not drizzling, but raining. The rain and cold accompanied me for most of the race. Fortunately, so did my friend Mike. I met Mike when he started joining my running buddy Val at Striders events in 2011. That year, we were both feeling pretty fast, but Mike was faster than me. This year, we've both had some training issues and slowed down to about the same pace. We ran pretty much the entire race together. I like having company in any race, but I really appreciate it in the Metric, which is both challenging and so small that you can easily go a couple miles without seeing another runner. My 3:08:54 finish was nothing to write home about, but it was better than 2010 and WAY better than I expected.

As an added bonus, Andrew volunteered at a water stop along the course. It was great to get a little boost and some sympathy about the rain!

Marathon training. 

I haven't written much (or anything really) about my marathon training for this fall. That's mainly because I haven't been training. Between work, wedding prep, and life in general, I somehow got to early September having run no longer than 10 miles all summer. According to my training plan, I should have been doing regular 16-milers by then, with two 20-milers thrown in. Oops.

The deferral deadline for the Marine Corps Marathon was August 31st, and I strongly considered deferring. The only things that kept me from making that decision were sheer stubbornness and our save-the-date cards. What do save-the-date cards have to do with running a marathon? I'll show you:

What was I thinking? 

In case you can't tell, that's Andrew and I holding up New Year's resolution signs, in honor of our New Year's Eve wedding. And what's the second-to-last resolution on mine? Run the Marine Corps Marathon. So, I could have deferred, but then I would have had to face my failure staring back at me from every refrigerator at a close friend or family member's house.

So, I made a plan. I would join the Striders' marathon training group for every long run in September (after IG Rocky Gap) and try to build up to 20 miles before October. If I could complete an 18-20 mile run somewhere in there without collapsing or being in horrible pain, I would run Marine Corps. If not, I would bow out gracefully.

For better or worse, I did it! I ran 14 miles on 9/15, 18 on 9/22, and then 20 on 9/29. They were not fast or easy runs, but I made it! Between those runs and my better-than-expected performance at the Metric Marathon on Sunday, I'm actually feeling okay about Marine Corps. I doubt it will be a fast race, but I believe it will be do-able and maybe even a little fun. (But I'll settle for do-able.)