Baltimore!

Two weeks until the big day!  Tomorrow I will start to taper, and this past week I did my last very long run before the race.

I made a first shot at it on Tuesday and literally got scared off the trails by a pack of deer.  Most close friends and family already know this unfortunate detail about me: I am absolutely terrified by deer.  Some people are scared of spiders or snakes or clowns.  I'm scared of deer.  When I see them while driving I usually have to stop and collect myself before I can continue, especially if they do that creepy thing where they stand there in the middle of the road staring for a few minutes before they finally decide to bounce away (and then just when you think it's safe to continue driving their friends that were lurking in the shadows bounce across your path as well.) 

You know what I'm talking about.

Anyways, I was six miles into my run on Tuesday and feeling good.  I was heading down a trail I frequent almost daily, totally in the zone, and all of a sudden I come up on a doe.  She was right in the middle of the trail staring right at me, maybe 15 to 20 yards away.  At first I couldn't breathe.  I found myself gasping for air.  The gasps turned into little whimpers and I  shrunk to the ground in kind of a squat, and started to cry.  She stood there staring at me for a minute or so before she bounced over some brush into the woods, and it wasn't until then that I realized there were 5 or 6 more deer in the brush on either side of the trail.  They all took off as soon as she jumped, and I stayed there for a few more minutes, nervous that another one would come galloping at me from out of nowhere.  Up until that point I was feeling strong, fast, and unstoppable, but when I finally got up from my pathetic crouch, I was still struggling to breathe normally, I was still crying, and I knew I was done for the day.  I walked the mile back to my house, still feeling rattled even when I got home.  According to a friend of mine, it's mating season, and I should expect to see them on the trails with some regularity.  Great.  The next day I made another attempt at the 20 miler.  I didn't see any beasts while I was out, and I did okay, but still the wheels sort of fell off at mile 19.  My legs just couldn't take any more.  I walked the last mile, not really feeling all that disappointed since I had run about 34 miles in 3 days.  Since I usually rest after my long runs, I had ended up doing an extra six miles the day I ran up on the deer.

Yesterday I decided to drive up to Baltimore for the Baltimore Running Festival. Before yesterday I had never been to a race as a spectator, and I really enjoyed the experience.  This race in particular was the first marathon I ran back in 2010, and this year my friend Laura was running in the half-marathon.  It was her first race at that distance, so I figured I'd go cheer her on and see the race from the other side of the tape.  It was exhilarating to relive the experience of finishing my first marathon, and to be there to support my friend as she finished her first half.  At the finish line I saw more than a few runners getting misty-eyed and I remembered how emotional I felt when I finished the race myself.  I had started crying as soon as I saw the tunnel at the finish line and when I finally found my dad after the race, he saw that I had been crying and got so worried.  Right away he started asking if I was hurt, what was wrong, why I was crying, and I couldn't find the words to explain.  I was overcome with so many different emotions that I hadn't really prepared myself to experience.  I was sad that it was over, proud that I had finished, thrilled to be done, and anxious to be able to go home and rest.  Plus my stomach was in knots from both the mental and physical aspects of the race.  This doesn't begin to sum up the sensational whirlwind that had consumed me that day.  At yesterday's race, I could see the bewilderment on the faces of some of the runners, especially the obvious first-timers, and it was a welcome reminder of the experience that I had two years ago.
The only disappointing from yesterday's race was that I was so in the moment that I forgot to take a single picture the entire time I was there.  Doh!  Luckily, Laura's dad was running with her and took this when I first spotted them by the lake:

Some comic relief for struggling runners.

I also had a less offensive message on the reverse side for when the kiddos were around:

Lots of runners smiled at me or proudly thanked me when I had it flipped to this side.

After I had my fill of post-race excitement I decided to head over to the Lexington Market to get a taste of what Baltimore does best.  

Tastes like Maryland.

I love love love any kind of open market atmosphere, and to put crabcakes and Natty Boh on top of that was the perfect end to a splendid trip.  Maybe next year I'll enjoy some crabcakes as a finisher, although I don't know if I could afford the amount of crabcakes it would take to fill me up after running 26 miles.