DreamBig 2014 - #33 Maryland

State #33 - Baltimore, Maryland
Under Armour Baltimore Running Festival Half Marathon
Finishers: 8,646

October 17, 2014
This was weekend was special because it was a daddy-daughter weekend! Dad had not been to a race since 2011 when I ran race #4 in Nashville, Tennessee - where have you been, Dad? Kidding - I never invited him. Regardless, I was excited to explore Baltimore and the area with my pops. I flew in from Atlanta and he flew in from West Palm Beach and we met at BWI. After waiting in a car rental line the length of a Disney theme park, we finally got into town and found our hotel downtown. After we got settled, we went to the race expo at the conference center and since this is one of the larger races, dad was surprised by the amount of people all over the place. We went back to the hotel bar and dad had a beer while we thought about what to do for dinner. We decided on Phillips Seafood which was down by the harbor so that we could people watch and get a little taste of the town before my race in the morning. Of course, dinner was followed by me getting icecream because I have zero clue how to appropriately fuel before a race. Honestly, the worse I eat usually the better I run. We watched some street performers for a while and then walked back to the hotel so I could plot out where dad could watch me for the race and get to bed early.

October 18, 2014
The race had an oddly late start because the marathon started first, and then the half kicked off. When I say late start, I mean like 9:45AM. So I was able to sleep in but still had my nervous antics going on and when I was just about ready to beat dad up for asking me basic questions, I decided it was probably time for me to leave the hotel and just walk it off (girl has issues). It was supposed to be super cold for the race but as luck may have it, it actually wasn't too bad. I was actually concerned I would be too warm. The half marathon started between a loop that the marathon looped around - I was fine getting across into the corral because I am the world's earliest arriver but some people had to run across the marathon course to get in to the corral. It was encouraging getting to cheer on all the marathoners though. Waiting for the gun to go off, I was eavesdropping on some ladies talking about their college kids and one mentioned touring Auburn so OF COURSE I inappropriately interjected and told them that I was an out of state Auburn Alum and how much I loved my time there and had no issues making friends even though I only knew one person at the entire university. They awkwardly thanked my for my input and off we went.

Panorama of before the start

The first couple of miles we ran through some not so good neighborhoods and around a big park and then through some more not so good neighborhoods. I didn't see dad in any of the spots he had told me, but as history serves, he typically gets distracted by coffee and bagels and misses a few of the first stops. I can't blame him - he told me after the race that when he started walking to a few of the stops he was asked by a police officer if he knew where he was going and later learned he was basically walking through the penitentiary and should rethink his route. That made up his mind and he headed to the finish to just wait it out. So, I'm out on the course and although the neighborhood wasn't that great, the amount of potentially homeless people out on the course cheering with their dogs was incredible. It was honestly some of the most excited spectators I have ever experienced. Around Mile 3 leaves were falling off the tree so I entertained myself by trying to catch one before they hit the ground. I ended up catching a few, but only held on to one for the rest of the race. Coach Finnerty, my high school cross country coach, used to tell us to run like we are holding a potato chip to keep your hands relaxed. Potato Chip...Leaf....same thing. I held on to my leaf until at least Mile 9 and then I lost it (see realization in video). We got to Mile 7 and it looped around a big park which is sometimes hard because you can see how much more you have to run and in reality its only like 1.5 miles of the 13 miles total. I wasn't feeling too bad just knew I wasn't running an awesome race, so I tried my best to enjoy it.

May not feel good - but can't miss a photo opp!

The last few miles were fun because they ran through John's Hopkins and a lot of students had little tables set up on the street some of which had little cups of beer. I had seen this before on other courses but I had never stopped because I guess at the time I was feeling too good about my race. This time I said "YOLO" (Mom, this stands for 'You Only Live Once') and got a cup and made sure to snapchat it for some of my lucky friends to see. And this is when I realized I lost that leaf I mentioned from Mile 3.

In case the video doesn't work, here is the proof of the Mile 9 beer break. #YOLO

The last few miles not only was I feeling a little buzz from the beer (big surprise - I am even more of a lightweight when I am running a half marathon) but it was slightly downhill and I knew where I was going and knew I was on the home stretch. Finally at around Mile 12.5 I heard the typical, "War Eagle!" and saw dad on the side of the road. I thought he would just meet me at the finish line but Mile 12.5 works too. The last little stretch of the race ran through grounds of Camden Yards where the Orioles play which was pretty cool to see and then finished in a big parking lot.

Kickin through Camden Yards to the finish

I called dad but he went back to the hotel instead of dealing with the zoo at the finish line. I tried to hunt down Jenn Johnson who I knew from the Camp War Eagle staff back at Auburn but the finish zone was such a mad house I finally gave up and head down to the pier to get my picture. With no dad around, I asked a random girl if she could take my picture (she ended up being a Ravens Cheerleader and I think at first thought I wanted my picture WITH her -- sorry sweetheart).

Official Race Photo - Maryland State #33 - 17 more to go!

I ran back to the hotel -- so all in all I probably ran like a 16 mile half marathon (for the love of pictures). After a quick shower, dad and I hopped in the car and drove down to the Boat Show in Annapolis where we got some awesome chowder and then got some coffee and wandered the city before stopping at the Naval Academy campus where we stumbled upon a Navy/Stanford Women's Lacrosse game that we sat and watched for a while. I used to play lacrosse in high school so it was a lot of fun to for me to watch and reminisce. Once it got cold we walked over to O'Learys Seafood for dinner and then I got super sleepy and we drove back to the Baltimore area to get some rest before our Sunday adventure.

October 19, 2014
Dad and I woke up early and decided to make a day trip to Washington D.C. for the day. It was chilly so we opted to do a little walking and explore the museums. I had just been to DC with Gregg about a month ago so I was able to give dad a tour of the Air and Space Museum. We did a flight simulator and it is now noted I should never fly a plane and I almost made dad sick with my horrible flying skills. Stick to running, princess. We also went to some art museum but I put myself on a couch in front of a Monet Water Lilies painting and waited for dad to come back and get me. Me and art don't really see eye to eye. After our museum tour, we decided to try and grab a quick bite in Georgetown before heading back to Baltimore to catch our flight home. I got us a last second reservation at Clyde's of Georgetown where we had a good brunch and also had a special visitor join us! So random story - about a month ago Gregg and I were in DC for the Nation's Olympic Triathlon. The way the race started was in huge waves so Gregg started about an hour before me. While I was waiting, I was just watching people take off and I strike up conversation with a guy, Matt, who lived in DC and who was telling me about all of the places we should check out while we were in town. We ended up exchanging numbers and he hung out and drank and ate pizza with Gregg and I that entire evening and we kept in touch. I mentioned to him that Dad and I were in town and spontaneously invited him to brunch with us which is always a risk when it comes to trying to anticipate what may come out of dad's mouth. But dad and Matt hit it off very well and I was glad we all got to spend some time together. All in all it was a great trip - I don't know how I don't have any pictures of dad and I but I promise he was there with me.

Matt and I post brunch in Georgetown

33 states down - 17 more to go!
#DREAMBIG