All I Really Need to Know About My First Half Marathon I Learned in Washington DC

If you don't understand the title of this post, you definitely missed out on something GREAT in Kindergarten. You can learn more about my favorite poster here.

This weekend was my first half marathon in Washington DC. It was such a great experience and I loved every minute of it! 

Pre-Race:

Jon and I left Pittsburgh around 6pm on Friday after work. We got into DC and checked into The W Washington Hotel around 10. It was definitely "upscale" and we were very under-dressed. But I was too excited to be there to care! We dropped everything off in our room and went for a little walk around the area. Our hotel was about a block from the White House and the Washington Memorial, so we checked those out before going to bed around 11:30. I slept awful because I was so excited/nervous for the race, and whenever I know I have to get up early for something important, I can never sleep well. My alarm went off at 6am, I got dressed, did some stretching, and had a convenient breakfast that consisted of a banana, mini-wheat dry cereal, blueberry bread, and a protein bar. The hotel didn't have complimentary breakfast, so I had to make do with what we brought. It was just the right amount of food for me! Around 6:45, Jon walked with me to the tent to pick up my bib and time tracker. It was pretty cold out (mid-40s), but thankfully the rain held off! We found my corral and Jon waited with me until around 7:20 when they said the race was about to start. He went back to the hotel, and I took off!

 White House at night

 Washington Monument

 Pre-Race (Jon took my jacket because I didn't want to do gear check. I was cold at first, but after the 1st mile, my short sleeves and capris were perfect for the temperature)

Race Time:

I've done 5k and 10K races before, but this one was my first experience with it being super crowded! They had almost 20,000 people participate in the race. Once my corral crossed the start line, mile 1 and 2 consisted of me dodging and passing people. These were some of my slower miles, which frustrated me a bit because I wanted to start off strong. But I'll live and learn and next time I'll do better at estimating my finishing time so I can be in a corral closer up to the start line with people who are running at more my speed. 

Here's some thoughts that went through my head on each mile:

Mile 1 - "Move it or lose it people!" "I'm pretty cold," "Lets pray I don't trip and fall"

Mile 2 - "Why are people already using the port-a-potty's? Did you not prepare and go before", "Oh crap, do I need to pee?" "Okay good, it's just my mind psyching me out"

Mile 3 - "Why are people already walking?" "Oh, hey look, there's a kid running in a tiger suit" "Oh, hey look, there's a man doing this on rollerblades...is that legal?"

Mile 4 - "Time for a Honey Stinger energy chew...or three" "I'm feeling good! I've got this"

Mile 5 - "Don't laugh at the 'Run Like Phoebe' Sign" "Wow, these signs are great! I'm loving the crowds energy" "Whoa that guy almost hit me! Jerk"

Mile 6 - "Time for another energy chew and some water" "I'm still feeling good, I'm right at the pace I want to be" 

Mile 7 - "What the HECK!?! Would you look at that hill!" "OMG I'm dying on this hill" "I want to walk this so bad"

Mile 8 - "Wow, that was intense, I'm so glad it's mostly downhill from here" "Time for another chew and water" "5 more miles to go! I've got this" "Move outta my way people!"

Mile 9 - "Wow, there are guys running this in KISS costumes" "Awww a Great Dane Puppy!" "I wish I could join the people on the sidelines cheering us on for a green beer"

Mile 10 - "Do I need or want another chew? No, I'm good...I don't want to slow down" "Almost there!" "Woot! I just hit 200 miles this year!"

Mile 11 - "Owwwww my legs are hurting...give me more downhills!" "Okay, random lady on the side of the street passing out M&M's...I'd never take candy from a stranger"

Mile 12 - "Ahhhh I can't believe I'm STILL running and haven't walked any of it" "This is insane" "I can't wait to take a nap after this"

Mile 13 - "This is surreal...I'm about to finish my first half marathon under my goal time" "I want to do another one"

Mile 13.1 - "Don't cry!" 

So there's a brief synopsis of my mental state during my race. I'm serious when I say I can't wait to do another one! Even though I'd prefer to do another one that isn't quite as crowded, because I did spend a lot of time and extra mileage passing people. My GPS said I ran 13.65 miles vs. 13.1, which is due to me not running in a straight line, passing people on the outsides, and not always taking the sharpest turns. 

What my GPS said

My splits - You can see Mile 7 was the Hill of Doom!

Official Results

Post Race:

Once I crossed the finish line and held back the tears (don't ask me why I was getting emotional...), I grabbed as much free stuff as I could hold and went to look for Jon. He ran about 4 miles from the hotel to the finish line to meet me so that I wouldn't have to get back to the hotel by myself...such a good guy! He was a great supporter and I probably wouldn't have done this if I was alone. Once I found him, we took the subway back to our hotel. I quickly showered and laid down for a glorious 2 hour nap (Thank God for late check out)! After our nap, we grabbed some lunch and went to see a few more monuments before heading to Baltimore to visit his friend Steve and celebrate St. Patrick's Day. 

Post race - Give me that bagel and free Jamba Juice! I actually grabbed 2 Jamba Juice smoothies, because I was going to give Jon one, but it took me a while to find him so I ended up drinking both :) Sorry babe!

Post-Race bands that we didn't listen to. 

I was definitely a slow, Grandma walker the rest of the day. I'm still pretty sore from it all. We are going to the gym this evening and I plan on taking it very easy with a little walking and possible light jogging to the my joints moving again and release the lactic acid in my muscles. 

Here are few more photos from the rest of our DC visit after the race.

Yes, I'm wearing flip flops in 60 degree weather...my feet needed to be free!

3/18/2013: Miles run - 203.5 of 1000. Miles remaining - 796.5 of 1000