No Reasonable Explanation (aka Catching Up: Pt. 2)

After a couple long runs, a couple of 50Ks, and some shorter runs, I was ready for my fall marathons.  I discovered Freedom's Run  a few years ago, and it has really become one of my favorites.  Some years it has coincided with the Baltimore Running Festival, and that leaves me in a quandary, as I have a streak going at Baltimore.  Well, sort of a streak, since I have done 12/15 of the marathons.  Because it is the hometown race, I feel somewhat compelled to support it. 

Luckily, this year both marathons were on different weekends. Yeah!  Of course they were only one week apart, and I was also signed up for a 50K on the next weekend, but is there REALLY too much of a good thing??


I just can't

Freedom's Run is just so beautiful.  Starting in Harper's Ferry, this run has some of every  kind of scenery imaginable. And despite my hate/hate relationship with the canal towpath, I ran every step of it this year.  It was as if I switched on autopilot and just cruised the full 10 or so miles.  Coming off the canal, there are some killer hills, and I continued my plugging along until I got to the Antietam Battlefields.  There are also some serious hills here, but the "downs" really balance the "ups".  It was here that I looked at my watch for the first time and had a "WTF??" moment.  Anyone who knows me as a runner knows that I don't much focus on time, rather run by feel and effort.  This run was feeling pretty comfortable, so when I saw I might finish in under 5 hours, I had to focus on that!  It would be my first sub-5 hour marathon in 7 years, and I have NO IDEA how that happened!  But I wasn't going to let it slip away so I really pushed the final few miles and came in at 4:58.  No one was more surprised than me!

sunrise over Harper's Ferry Visitor Center

such beautiful views

Of course after running a good race at Freedom's Run, my expectations for Baltimore were somewhat muted.  It was only 6 days later after all.  The weather looked to be perfect, and I was feeling pretty good.  And that is the way the race started, and continued until about 22 miles in.  At that point, my legs hurt so badly I just wanted to get to the finish.  Again, I looked at my watch and saw I could do a sub 5, but every step was agony and running fast was impossible.  I alternated walking and running for a little while, then fell in with some folks and tried to hold their pace.  I knew I would be okay if I could just stay ahead of the 5 hour pace group. 

Guess what didn't happen???  Yeah, they passed me and try as I did, I finished in 5:05, with my legs screaming in agony.  The good news is that for the first time in 3 years, and even with a faster time by 15 minutes or so, I didn't throw up, so there is that.  Still, Baltimore is a great race, and I will most likely always be tempted by the siren song of the run through Charm City.

I actually won a free massage from Geiko, but had to wear their shirt!

A week later I was at the starting line for the 2nd annual Patapsco Valley 50K.  Again, my expectations were not that high - last year it had taken me 8:24 to finish the deceptively hard course, and I was beginning to feel the cumulative effects of so many races in so few weeks!  But the day was gorgeous as was the course, and I came over the line in 7:59!

So three races, three weeks apart, with three best times in a long time.  Not even sure what happened there, but I'll take it!  Sometimes it is better to not question, just go with it!