Today was the Orioles Advocates 5K race, which started and ended in beautiful Camden Yards near the Baltimore inner harbor. It was my first 5K race of the year and the conditions were perfect. It was cloudy and probably around 50ยบ. I ran in shorts and a short-sleeve t-shirt, but I did have to wear gloves since my hands always seem to be freezing first thing in the morning these days.
The race was really fun except for the stretch on cobblestone and running through the fumes and smell of the underbelly of Oriole Park. The course was mostly pretty flat but had a couple small hills and inclines, the worst being the Hamburg St. bridge leading up to the front of M&T Bank stadium at about 2.5 miles.
I finished with a chip time of 23:09 (gun time 23:11). That's 10 seconds off my personal record for a 5K race, but since it was my first 5K race of the year I'm not too disappointed. I was also 19th out of 96 in my age group and I was pretty pleased with that.
After crossing the finish line you were herded up to the post-race party where there was a nice spread. I didn't stick around for the award ceremony or door prizes or anything though because I still needed to run another 10K for the day.
I grabbed a half bagel (which was delicious) and a water, along with some other junk I stuffed in my pockets for later, and got right into my car and headed to the NCR Trail in Cockeysville. There I ran exactly 10K in about 54 minutes, which is a pretty ok time for me, especially considering I had already run 5K at about a 7:30 pace, cooled down and then started back up again.
Thankfully, tomorrow is a non-running day. I'll be in the gym doing some extra stretching and weight lifting.
Three weeks to my next half marathon. I'm still not sure how psyched I am for it. 13.1 miles is far.
Way cool blog. You make running interesting to read about and it makes me wish I could write as well! Also, new runners will benefit from the links and knowlege that you've already gained.
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