With the marathon less then a month away the most important and demanding aspect of training getting in the long runs. Believe or not I usually look forward to my long runs, they allow me to have time to enjoy being outside and alone with my thoughts. This past Friday my long run happened to be 18 miles in the drizzling rain at 6:00am on a dark, muggy morning. Not my favorite conditions for running. To top of the dreary experience I realized I had no more time left on the parking meter and couldn’t stop to refuel at my favorite bagel.

The worse part was I has a ½ marathon I signed up to race in on Sunday after my 18 mile run to get in the racing mentality before the marathon. However, after my long run I was not feeling optimistic, my times were slower than normal and I just wasn’t feeling confident.

Regardless, I woke up Sunday morning at 5:00 am had a

• GU pack
• a banana
• a slice of white bread
• and a ½ ounce of almonds

I grabbed a water and a Gatorade got in the car and drove an hour to the rolling country side of Westminster, Maryland. I think my mindset towards running in the race rose with the sun as cheesy as that sounds, I thought “it’ll be nice to run in day light for a change.” If the sun didn’t do it the atmosphere did, as the runners began jogging around, stretching, playing music, exchanging training stories, I began to get anxious and excited for the race. When the race started my adrenaline was at its max. I took off at a flying pace and never really slowed down! The competitive streak in me came out and I continually picked people in front of me I wanted to beat, I figured if I was worrying about the person in front of me there would be no time for the person behind me to catch up. Finally it all came down to mile 12, there was one woman I could see in front of me …I hung back not knowing exactly when I wanted to sprint ahead but when I finally did she was caught of guard and never caught up! The end result: I won 1^st for my age group and 2^nd for women overall! It was a great experience and definitely made up of for my dreary Friday morning…PLUS they had fresh apples waiting at the end of the race.

Check out RBA’s Facebook Page to see my results from my Garmin Connect!

My official time was 1 hour and 38 minutes!

And as always I’m including a link the fundraiser for BEDA and the Baltimore Marathon! BEDA Fundraiser

Article By Amy Bortnick of Rebecca Bitzer & Associates, the largest and most experienced nutrition practice in Maryland, specializing in nutrition counseling for all ages. Find out how we can help you change your life for the better! For more nutrition information, tips, and blog posts, visit www.rbitzer.com

Picture By Peter Mooney