It was racing weekend  for me. First up: the Baltimore 10-Miler.

Some of my friends have run this race before, but it was the first time for me. It has become known for it’s excellent finisher premiums, and they didn’t disappoint!

See a close-up of the logo here.

Well, back to the race. I met my friends bright and early to carpool to Baltimore. Fortunately one of them works at the Maryland Zoo (where the race began) and knew how to get there through side streets. We were able to avoid a lot of traffic, but still got caught up for a few blocks. We didn’t have that much time to spare!

We scoped out the shortest port-o-pot lines, and started watching our watches. I was two people back when they sang the national anthem. It was a chip race so I wasn’t really concerned, but I would much rather start on time!

Finally I was next in line, and I got in and out as quickly as I could. The race was about to begin! I said goodbye to my friends — we aren’t the same pace — and found myself a place between the 9- and 10-minute pace signs. With my existing 10-mile PR at a 9:30 pace and a recent 9:23/average half marathon, that seemed about right.

And we were off!  This was a hilly race, though not as bad as the Maryland Half.  But the sun was shining and it was kind of warm out. Hmm … should I really try to PR this race?

Well it certainly seems like I was going to try …

1. 9:10
2. 8:55
3. 9:21
4.9:06

Yup, I started out kind of fast. That 8:55 mile was a bit quick for a 10-miler, but I think it was downhill at that point. We weaved through the park and wound up on city streets. Sometimes we got a little shade, but we were mostly in the sun.

I noticed there weren’t a lot of spectators throughout most of the course. At one point, there was a couple with a huge banner waiting for a friend to come by. Come on, guys — cheer for everyone! That area was an out-and-back, and I saw them both times. I wonder what that banner said … they weren’t even holding it up!

We hit the half-way point while running around Lake Montebello. This would have been lovely … if there was some shade! Yes, it was definitely hot out there!

5. 9:13
6. 9:24
7. 9:44

Throughout the race I’d been taking advantage of the water stops — drinking Gatorade and dumping water on my neck and wrists (it helps!) —  but I tried not to slow down too much for the first half of the race. But eventually I needed to refill.  A water-stop volunteer had a gallon jug and I paused to have him top off my 20-ounce Amphipod during that seventh mile. I needed it!

8. 9:24
9. 9:27

Almost done. Ugh. It’s hot and uphill. Keep moving …

10: 9:18

I was able to pick pace back up (once we stopped climbing!), but there wasn’t much left to push once I saw the finish line. I knew I had  a PR, though!

Previous best: 1:35:02

Garmin: 1:33:45 — 10.09 miles — 9:17 average
Chip : 1:33:42 — 10 miles — 9:23 average
52/246 age group — 406 / 1795  female — 1080/3197  overall

Woo-hoo! This was a pretty big race. I’m really happy with my results!

I know better, but I’ve been sort of ignoring some knee pain. For at least a few months.

I’m not really sure when it started. At first it was the left knee, which has given me trouble on and off for years. At some point, though, the right knee joined it.

I ignored it because it wasn’t too bad. It didn’t bother me when running. Usually there would be a little pain at first, but it would stop pretty quickly so I’d keep going. Kneeling poses and lunges in yoga were a bit irritating, though. And stairs definitely did not feel good.

It started getting a little worse this past week, where I had a couple of uncomfortable runs. So of course I turned to Dr. Google for some self-diagnosis.

I was pretty convinced I had jumper’s knee. Touching my kneecaps caused pain. After runs I would be stiff and sore. And I fit the description of Grade 2 pretty well — pain before and after training, but eases once warmed up.

Only it didn’t really ease up during my last two runs. Uh oh. Marine Corps Marathon training starts soon!

I found a few stretches and exercises geared towards jumper’s knee  (that I can’t find again but fortunately printed out!), and a couple other hip strengthening exercises. Actually I think all of the jumper’s knee exercises were also included on that hip strengthening page, and it also stressed stretching hamstrings, quads and hips. I decided I’d start doing these two or three times a week.

Even if that wasn’t the problem, it would be good to do this stuff regularly, anyway!

In the meantime, I realized I had a free half-hour massage gift certificate that was going to expire soon. Couldn’t let that happen! I booked the last appointment late Thursday afternoon so I could fit it in before my evening run.

Since our time was limited, I asked her to massage my neck/shoulders a little bit (since I’m always tense there), but really focus on the legs. She said she’d do my back if she had time … but no, my legs would not allow that. Yup, they were that tight.

I had even done yoga earlier in the day! The massage therapist asked if I stretched before/after running… yeah, usually not as much as I should.  And sometimes I forget.

I’m going to have to change that.

Because guess what?

I had absolutely NO PAIN during my run that night.

D’oh!

I didn’t expect a quick massage would be an instant fix. I knew my legs were always pretty tight, but I had no idea it was enough to cause so much pain!

This morning I ran a 10-mile race.  My knees still felt great! (More on that soon. But it went well!).

I do have the tiniest bit of stiffness, though, so I’ll be using The Stick tonight and buying a foam roller ASAP!

Last night was a wonderful night. Not too warm, and not humid at all.  A big improvement from last week!

We had our the usual company on the track — walkers, kids on bikes, toddlers running around, etc — but it didn’t seem too bad.

I started out kind of quick, and figured I’d slow down closer to my 2:02 goal as usual. But after I kept hitting my 400s at a quicker pace, I figured I’d see how long I could keep it up!

1. 1:56
2.1:55
3. 1:55
4. 1:53
5. 1:55
6.1:57
7.1:57
8. 1:57
9. 1:57
10. 1:59

As I went around and around, it started getting more crowded. I’m pretty sure my first 2:00 lap happened when I had to weave around a couple taking up three lanes walking their dog, and a kid walking backwards. It just went downhill from there …

11. 2:00
12. 2:00
13. 2:03
14. 2:05
15. 2:07
16. 2:06
17. 2:02
18. 2:08

It was pretty hard to keep a good pace going under these conditions, though. I did what I could!

Seriously … those people were blocking two lanes at the 200m mark for probably half of my laps.  I’m sure it contributed to my slow down!

Oh, and kids were throwing bang-snaps on the ground and at each other. And at one point, a little girl parked her pink bike in lane three. Yeah, that was great.

Well, at least I finished without getting run over by a bike or colliding with a small child. It was close, though!

Next week we’re going back down to eight since our goal 10K race is coming up next weekend.  I happen to have a 10-miler the day before … I guess we’ll see if I can still reach my goal!