CTC and CMP

Or, in other words; Caitlin, Traci, and Chrissy take on Baltimore (and the chocolate marshmallow peanut dessert at the Woodberry Kitchen)

(Thanks to my friend Brad for utilizing superior photography skills to highlight the dessert and eliminate secret double chins.)

Our weekend in Baltimore can be characterized by a few things:


This song
Good food
A rainy run
LOTS of walking
A messy hotel room
This guy
Underpasses
A surprise rainbow
And of course, great friends (though one was missing *sniff*)

Traci and I spent our first moments in Baltimore getting to know the city as it poured on us for nine miles. Loved it. Seriously.

By the time Chrissy arrived, it had cleared up enough for us to walk to Canton Square for dinner and on the way, we got to see this beauty. (The rainbow, that is, not the girl with the 1970s umbrella.)

After a fun weekend, the race itself went well-- though we had a minor set-back with the three (!) GPSes, we got to the race in plenty of time. It was simple, but well organized-- mile markers were huge and as it was a fundraiser for Mt. Sinai they included pictures of children from the hospital with signs encouraging runners and reminding us what we were running for. There were plenty of water stops and more food at the end of the race than I've ever seen before. (Really, if you want to do a race for the food at the end, this is the one to pick-- BIG breakfast buffet.) The course went through tree-lined neighborhoods and was out and back, which I'm not usually a fan of, but as the course had a slight uprise for most of the first half, I was happy knowing it would be slightly downhill most of the way back (with the exception of a short, steeper climb near the very end).

I wasn't sure how I was going to do since 10Ks are a tricky distance (don't want to push it too fast and burn out, and don't want to hold back too much either) but I ended up the 10th woman out of 139 and while I did not place in my age group, I did get a new PR (47:48) which I was pretty excited about. I also ended up with a bloody foot, but that is another story, and while I like telling it, Traci tells me its gross, so maybe I shouldn't be so willing to talk of my minor injuries that look way more hard core than they are.

In short (too late) I love Baltimore and could see living there -- like Pittsburgh, it seems a very under-rated city and it's got the same great building blocks: a waterfront, walkable neighborhoods, and a lot of character.

Okay, now go donate to Kiva and stay tuned for my second shot at West Virginia!