Since the Boston Marathon is due to be run tomorrow, I (this is Bethany) decided to update those who hadn’t heard about my half marathon “experience.”
During Christmas, I somehow volunteered to run a half marathon with my sister-in-law Becky. I don’t think I fully thought through the logistics of training during the winter in New England. :-} Nevertheless, as race day approached, I felt pretty confident I could finish the race. (My goal was to finish without walking)
I started looking up weather forecasts about two weeks before the race, I knew that the average temperature for March 17th (the day of the race … I know! It should have been written sooner! :-) was 51 degrees. I was feeling prepared.
About a month before the race Dave was informed that he would be in Ireland and England the week before the race. No problem, I normally drive most of the way down to Mike and Becky’s anyway. We figured we would have him fly into the DC area either Friday night or Saturday morning. Wrong!! He couldn’t find anything that would get him in, in time. So it was decided that he wouldn’t be able to come.
Being prepared, I packed my car the morning I left. Rachel didn’t have school, so I picked up Ben straight from preschool, and headed down the road.
Unfortunately, there was a huge nor’easter that dumped many inches of snow all over the eastern seaboard. The flakes started falling ½ an hour before I left. But was I going to let some snow stop me from achieving my hard worked for goals? No way!! I grew up in Rochester, NY. I know how to handle snow!
I hopped on the highway at about 12:45 pm. A normal trip takes about 8 hours. It can be a little bit more or less, depending upon the traffic. When I finally rolled in at 3 am, I was feeling pretty fried. I spent 5 hours in Connecticut alone. Trust me, the state is not that big! It was a pretty hairy drive, until the last two hours. Then the roads were clear, and I could finally drive the speed limit.
Mike was kind enough to heat up some pasta for me when I came in. I don’t think the McDonald’s chicken sandwich and Pop Tarts that I ate on the way are exactly the pre-race foods experts recommend. :-) Becky had been checking on the race status throughout the night. The race was still on, so I went to bed to get a very few hours of sleep, and be on the road by 8 am.
We got out the door, picked up one of Becky’s friends who was running the race as well, and we were on the road. It was about 30 degrees outside, windy, and we could see shiny patches of ice along the way. We pulled up a bit before 9:00, with a race start time of 9:30. The parking lot was full, we could see racers everywhere, and we were excited and ready!! Right after we parked, a woman told us the race had been cancelled. Are you kidding me?! Unfortunately, it was true. Apparently when volunteers were setting up the course and mile markers, they were in a car accident. No one was seriously hurt, but the organizers didn’t feel it was safe to let the race continue. They called it off 5 minutes before we arrived. So we picked up our numbers, t-shirts, and some power bars, and headed back to Frederick, MD.
In the car, we decided that even if we weren’t going to run the Chambersburg Half Marathon, we would make our own Frederick Half Marathon! :-) So we got back to Becky’s house, pinned on our numbers, slapped on a running GPS device, and we were off. The ice was starting to melt, but the wind was strong! Becky directed the route, and took us up some brutal hills, but we persevered. After a long run, and multiple checks to see how far we had gone, we finally completed our run. I met my modest goals, but more importantly, I proved I could do it! I even think I’m willing to do it again. :-)
During Christmas, I somehow volunteered to run a half marathon with my sister-in-law Becky. I don’t think I fully thought through the logistics of training during the winter in New England. :-} Nevertheless, as race day approached, I felt pretty confident I could finish the race. (My goal was to finish without walking)
I started looking up weather forecasts about two weeks before the race, I knew that the average temperature for March 17th (the day of the race … I know! It should have been written sooner! :-) was 51 degrees. I was feeling prepared.
About a month before the race Dave was informed that he would be in Ireland and England the week before the race. No problem, I normally drive most of the way down to Mike and Becky’s anyway. We figured we would have him fly into the DC area either Friday night or Saturday morning. Wrong!! He couldn’t find anything that would get him in, in time. So it was decided that he wouldn’t be able to come.
Being prepared, I packed my car the morning I left. Rachel didn’t have school, so I picked up Ben straight from preschool, and headed down the road.
Unfortunately, there was a huge nor’easter that dumped many inches of snow all over the eastern seaboard. The flakes started falling ½ an hour before I left. But was I going to let some snow stop me from achieving my hard worked for goals? No way!! I grew up in Rochester, NY. I know how to handle snow!
I hopped on the highway at about 12:45 pm. A normal trip takes about 8 hours. It can be a little bit more or less, depending upon the traffic. When I finally rolled in at 3 am, I was feeling pretty fried. I spent 5 hours in Connecticut alone. Trust me, the state is not that big! It was a pretty hairy drive, until the last two hours. Then the roads were clear, and I could finally drive the speed limit.
Mike was kind enough to heat up some pasta for me when I came in. I don’t think the McDonald’s chicken sandwich and Pop Tarts that I ate on the way are exactly the pre-race foods experts recommend. :-) Becky had been checking on the race status throughout the night. The race was still on, so I went to bed to get a very few hours of sleep, and be on the road by 8 am.
We got out the door, picked up one of Becky’s friends who was running the race as well, and we were on the road. It was about 30 degrees outside, windy, and we could see shiny patches of ice along the way. We pulled up a bit before 9:00, with a race start time of 9:30. The parking lot was full, we could see racers everywhere, and we were excited and ready!! Right after we parked, a woman told us the race had been cancelled. Are you kidding me?! Unfortunately, it was true. Apparently when volunteers were setting up the course and mile markers, they were in a car accident. No one was seriously hurt, but the organizers didn’t feel it was safe to let the race continue. They called it off 5 minutes before we arrived. So we picked up our numbers, t-shirts, and some power bars, and headed back to Frederick, MD.
In the car, we decided that even if we weren’t going to run the Chambersburg Half Marathon, we would make our own Frederick Half Marathon! :-) So we got back to Becky’s house, pinned on our numbers, slapped on a running GPS device, and we were off. The ice was starting to melt, but the wind was strong! Becky directed the route, and took us up some brutal hills, but we persevered. After a long run, and multiple checks to see how far we had gone, we finally completed our run. I met my modest goals, but more importantly, I proved I could do it! I even think I’m willing to do it again. :-)
Ready to go ↓
The finish line! ↓
Finally done ↓ 
Absolute happiness... Beth let me buy a bike ; ) ↓ 
