On my quest to become a Half Fanatic, I became a Titanium
Girl! Yours truly completed the Iron Girl Columbia and Frederick Running
Festival half marathons exactly one week apart from one another. Below is a my
brief recap of both races:
Iron Girl Columbia:
Sunday, April 27th was another “wake up & lace up”
day, as I set forth to tackle the hills in Columbia, and be crowned an Iron
Girl. I experienced many mixed emotions about this race, because about 5 -6
weeks before it was announced that the organization was having financial limbo.
To train or not to train? Register for another race or wait it out? These were
just a few questions that ran through my head, before it was announced that
another organization stepped up to the plate, and the race would go on. Needless to say,
I kept the course and continued my training. Thanks to BGR! Baltimore and
W.E. Run! for the hill training and completing half #2 (Philadelphia Love Run)
a month before, I was overly confident about the race. Despite the delayed
start (apparent accident on course), I truly enjoyed this race, and it’s a for
sure do over! My favorite moments were: BGR! cheer groups, seeing my name in
chalked into the ground around mile 10.5 (love ya Chris), and a new PR. Yep I
shaved over 15 minutes for Philly!
Frederick Running Festival:
Fast forward a week later and it was time to do it all
over again. I arrived to Frederick and met up with my W.E. Run! crew, and they
knew I wasn’t feeling it. My mood was blah, and all I could think of was why in
the hell did I sign-up to run another 13 point 1 freaking miles. I made my way to
my corral, and chilled until it was “go time.” About 1.5-2 miles in I heard
chants & screams of my name, and was surprised to see some of my run-boos from BGR!
DC. Thankfully, that gave me the extra push I needed, bc it usually takes me 3-4 miles just to get in my groove. About mile 4, I met up with some more Black Girls RUN! ladies who were
doing 1:1 intervals, they invited me to join. We laughed, talked and shared
stories and the miles we’re just flying by. The scenic views in downtown
Frederick and the neighborhoods were just beautiful. I zoned out and loved how
involved the community was. As expected I hit my “wall” around mile 11, but
thankfully looked down at my watch and saw I was on pace for another PR. For
those last 2+ miles, I was in my zone. Dropped the intervals and just wanted it
to be over already! Before I could blink, I beasted (yeah i made that word up)
up that final hill, and took my victory lap around the track. Just as I was closing in on the finish line, I was greeted by more cheers from my
run-boos and ended the race with another PR.
