Alright, I've finally got my blog started. This is what occurs when you go home, away from the noisy city, and have nothing to do but relax... oh, and run a marathon.
I came home to the MD on Thursday morning, halfway ready to run 26.2 miles at the National Marathon in DC. My training was decent, but definitely no where near what it should be. I began a yoga teacher training program that took over a lot of my time, and running was seeming to drag me along to a few weeks prior to the marathon. Oh well, I was running for a great cause, Back on my Feet, that helps get the homeless population back up and, well, on their feet. I'll talk more about them at a later date.
Now to the race report:
I made sure my dad and I left the house super early, not because I anticipated traffic getting into DC, but because I anticipated traffic getting into the parking lot. And well, from hearing many other's horror stories, that's just what happened. We got there with no issues, but some missed the gun and/or had to run a mile to get the start. When the gun went off, it was chilly, but not bad. The first half marathon was a beautiful course through DC, and the first 4 miles I definitely ran SUPER FAST. I looked at my Garmin at one point, and it read 7:56 average for one of the miles. But, it motivated me to just keep running!
The hills of this race were intense and much more than I expected. For others, I'm sure they were just fun little rolling hills, but for me, they were mountains! It slowed me down quite a lot throughout the whole race. (I can't imagine what my time would have been if the course was 100% flat!). During the first half, I had to dodge a lot of half marathoners who probably didn't start in the right corral, but it was never too congested. The first half ended back at the DC armory, where we split off.
The second half of the course was not as glamorous, although I didn't pay as much attention either because I was dying slightly. This is when the work started. I tried not to slow down, but it was inevitable. Eventually, the 3:45 pacer guys came up behind me and, when I saw them, I said, "SWEET!" and he told me "Don't look back, look forward and keep running!" He was hilarious! He kept cracking jokes with the people he was pacing and knew everyone in his group's name. I stuck with him from mile 17 to 22 or so, then they got a little ahead.
The rest was all guts. I had no major issues, no major pains pop up, but it was just hard. But, in the end, I finished with a net time of 3:49:38. My first goal was under 4 hours, but if I was feeling super good, my goal was under 3:50. Awesomesauce.
I'll post the official pictures as soon as they are available, but, let me warn you, they are probably not pretty.
