2007 Baltimore half-marathon
divShort Version/divbr /divbr /1:35:23 on a hilly coursebr /Improved my time by 101 seconds over 2006 racebr /Place 150/5044/divbr /divbr /Long Version/divbr /divbr /A little over a week ago I ran in my third Baltimore half-marathon and came away very pleased with my race. I improved my personal-best for the course by 101 seconds and finished in 150th place out of 5044 finishers. In the weeks leading up to race day I was unsure about my fitness level so I went into the race not knowing where I would finish. I flew down to Baltimore on Friday morning and Jason met me at the airport. We went over to the race expo and I picked up my race package. At the expo they had a cool exhibit for horseradish cheese (a href=”http://www.cabotcheese.com/f1.php?left=menu-ourproducts.htmlamp;right=/ourproducts.html” goog_docs_charindex=”730″http://www.cabotcheese.com/f1.php?left=menu-ourproducts.htmlamp;right=/ourproducts.html/a) which had a mild taste. I headed back to the hotel to unpack and to lay out my racing gear for the morning. Later in the day, Jason, Emily and I went out for a carbo-loading meal at an Indian restaurant where I ate a humongous plate of rice. After the meal we went up to John Hopkins University to take in some swing dancing. I danced less than I would have like but I didn’t want to stress the legs for the big race the next morning./divbr /divbr /I was up early on Saturday at 5:30 am. I wanted to have my breakfast fully digested by race time. It took the form of a couple of bowls of Vector cereal, a handful of bananas and some strong tea. The original plan was to do my warmup run (5km/3.1 miles) starting from the hotel and ending at the start line. At the last minute, I changed my mind as the hotel was offering a shuttle that would take you close to the start line. This was a relief. I caught the 7:00 am shuttle and quickly located the bag-check area. I spent a little while chilling before I headed over to watch the start of the marathon(a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/RunningPictures/photo#5124946330669151794″a/a) (a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/RunningPictures/photo#5124946352143988290″b/a). Along the way I spotted a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/RunningPictures/photo#5124946309194315298″Larry-the-lighthouse/a who was going to run the race as a lighthouse. Once the marathoners were on their way I headed back to bag-area and munched on a Clif bar. The spurt of energy would ensure that I was fully fueled for the race. At this point time seemed to speed up as soon it was forty-five minutes before race time. I ditched my sweats and warmed up over to the start. I waded through 4700 runners before I found an opening near the first corral. At 10:45 am the siren sounded and we were off with 13.1 miles to go. The course heads south slightly before heading in a westerly direction for a couple of miles. At around the three mile mark a familiar site came into view Patterson Park. We ran down one side of the park along the bottom and the up the hill on the other side. At this point the marathoners met up with the half-marathoners. A distinguishing feature of the marathoners was a “FULL” sticker on their singlets. As we ran further and further away from the harbor we gained elevation eventually reaching one of my favourite parts of the course, Clifton Park. Clifton Park is the former estate of John Hopkins and has an eight-sided gazebo [Clifton Gate House (1887) ] (a href=”http://www.baltimorecity.gov/government/recnparks/popups/parks/clifton_park.htm” goog_docs_charindex=”3083″http://www.baltimorecity.gov/government/recnparks/popups/parks/clifton_park.htm/a) which is a relay point for the marathon.br //divbr /divOnce past Clifton Park we ran on uncharted territory. For the past three years the bike path around Lake Montebello has been closed for construction. This year they re-introduced the mile-long loop back into the race course. This was another highlight of the race. The race does a 360 degree loop of the lake. I really enjoyed this part of the race. The next part of the course would take us along the edge of the John Hopkins University campus. I was getting close to the ten mile where my energy levels start to wane. I sucked on a caffeinated-Clif gel which gave me a surge of energy allowing me to surge by a large number of suffering participants. The final three miles are all downhill with exception of one hill that takes you over a multi-coloured bridge. Last year, this was the point where I was really suffering. This year I was able to run over the bridge with a fair amount of gusto. I did a couple of long surges over the next couple of miles. The goal was to get to the finish as quickly as possible before I ran out of energy. The final mile was fast and painful. It was also a fun mile as you run through the gates of Camden Yards, the home of the Orioles. The finish line was a welcome site. It would take me a couple hours to learn from the web that I had improved my time by 101 seconds over 2006. My third Baltimore half-marathon was a great success and I am looking forward to my forth in 2008./div
Boilermaker Jazz Band
When I was in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago I listened to and swing danced to the a href=”http://www.boilermakerjazzband.com/”Boilermaker Jazz Band/a. Jason gave me a couple of there tunes to check out. Once back home I went over to iTunes to see if any of BJB’s music was available and I discovered that I really like “St. Phillip Street Breakdown”, “Down By the Riverside” and “Home Sweet Home.” Some of these tunes I can dance to at the same time I am eager to expand my dancing repertoire.
Stoli Doli
Over the next couple of days, I will experience something that I have been curious about for a little while and that is, what does a a href=”http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Stoli-Doli/Detail.aspx”Stoli Doli’s/a taste like. a href=”http://jasonplancaster.com”Jason /a talked about them in a a href=”http://jasonplancaster.com/2007/07/27/weekend-in-florida/”post /a a little while ago and that sort of sparked my curiosity. I’ll consume the Stoli Doli on a special occasion which will make it even more memorable. I’m sure that I’ll post a blog describing the experience.
Swing dancing
Last night we were fortunate to have a live band at swing dancing and it was great to hear the live music. I should have stayed longer but couldn’t stay awake as I’ve had some late nights recently. I have been dancing for a short while and slowly learning new moves. I’m working through some issues very slowly but making good progress. They tried to teach us the slide followed by a turn but it didn’t work out to well as many dancers were getting confused.br /br /One of the fun things about the lesson is that followers rotate between the leaders during the lesson so you get to dance with many folks over the hour. Something caught my attention last night that had also picqued my curiousity last week and that is, how the follower interacts with the leader’s hands. I’ve got a variety of hand interactions from limp hands, relaxed hands, sweating hands, vulture-grip hand (they hurt) to visibly shaking hands. Does this mean anything I’m not sure? I have danced with Niki a couple of times and every time we dance whether during the lesson or afterwards her hands visible shake while I have relaxed calm hands. What is interesting is that I’m around 6′3″ and Niki is 6′6″ so I have to raise my hands when I dance with her rather than lowering them for most women. I hope that JL has some ideas about the hand thing.
Swing…
I have been swing dancing for a little while and still amazed by the new moves and variations that we learn each week. The one we learned tonight I still find confusing but will eventually get it. It is a 6-step variation on a Charleston. The move is a rock-step/kick-step/scoop and then a step. The kick step is the neatest part as you kick with your left leg and then it ends up crossed.br /In two weeks, I’ll be sitting in a lean-to most likely at Marcy Dam in the Adirondacks of New York. It is a adventure that I have been waiting for a while. I still can’t decide whether to wear my hiking boots with thick socks or my snowlion boots. We have a group meeting on Monday night so many of the details will be worked out then. Tonight, I bought a new thermarest air matress as I’m adding to the hiking/camping gear that my father and I share. My snowshoes are waiting there first trip stateside.
Swing dancing
Tonight I did something that I have done for a while and that is go swing dancing. We had a bad snowstorm earlier in the day which cut back on the number of folks attending. With fewer dancers we were able to go over the lesson a couple of additional. It felt good to dance again and know that I haven’t lost my touch of RS-SH-SH-RS. We did inside turns, outside turns, the close position and the kick from a closed position. There is another dance at the place that I swim at tomorrow night so I might head over and see how it goes.
