Rock N Roll DC Race Report!

Pre- Race

We flew in to DC early friday morning, which left us plenty of time for sight-seeing. Kevin, S & S's boyfriend and I hit the sights one by one. Washington monument, Lincoln memorial, Korean & WW2 war memorials, the white house. We probably made 5-8 miles on foot with all the walking we did.

Cherry Blossoms in bloom at the Washington Monument!

Lincoln Memorial

White House!

After, we hit the metro to get to the Expo at the DC armory. It was a quicker ride than expected, and there was no line to get in the building as perviously told there would be. All in all, it was smooth sailing, as we headed in to pick up packets & meet up with T, who was running the marathon.

Major downside? My bag was lacking swag. Coupons only, where S had free samples in hers. Bonus? Race shirts came in women's sizing, but dark blue only in XL. Since we were in a hurry to get to a tour of the capitol, we had to rush through the expo. I grabbed some free LARABARs (YUM!), and talked quickly with the KT tape guy. Unfortunately the line was 30+ minutes, but he gave me a free sample, and told me I'd be able to figure it out with the videos on the website, especially since I'm a Physical Therapist.

Next, we headed to the Capitol Building for a tour. After a ridiculous security screening (they forced me to toss my plastic Nuun water bottle pictured above), we were in for a quick video and tour.

After our tour, we finally made it back to our room to relax before heading to dinner at Founding Farmers. I got a delicious dish of scallops and butternut squash risotto, then we headed back to the hotel to get ready and go to bed early.

I laid out my gear, filled my bottles, and got all my St Patty's Day gear together.

Time for bed!

Race Day

I woke up at 5:45am, feeling completely rested (I love those Marriott beds!). I started to get ready, then headed downstairs to the hotel's starbucks to grab 2 bananas. Back to the room to get ready. S was planning on coming to my room at 6:30 since she had the bread & I had the peanut butter, but I got a text from her at 6:20 saying she just woke up. I was already getting anxious about getting there on time. I passed the time by applying as many glitter shamrock tattoos as I could.

skirt: Lululemon, tank & arm warmers: Tough Chik

Finally S arrived. I shoved down my breakfast & we headed for the metro. I was aiming to meet up with the Tough Chiks at 7:15, so we had a half hour, which we thought would be plenty. Unfortunatley the Metro was crazy. Packed trains, broken doors, and large crowds of people slowed us up BIG TIME.

Our packed train

Trying to escape the Metro

We didn't make it to the race area until 8am. Did you know the race started at 8? I definitely missed that team photo, and practically our VIP porta potties, which we got to sneak into quick before they broke down the final one. The waves were already going off, so we stood by an opening waiting for our corral.

We finally got tired of waiting, and decided to jump in and start. I came up with a race plan to work on keeping my knee happy, and getting me to the finish without limping. I would start off without S, so I wasn't pressured to go out too fast. I would walk the hills that aggrevated my knee. I would walk through the water stops. I would have fun and go at whatever pace felt right. My goal time was anywhere between 2:30-3:00.

The first half of the race was a breeze it seemed. Not too many hills, I started thinking "This could be a PR race for next year."

mile 1 10:59

mile 2 10:42

mile 3 10:38

mile 4 11:35

mile 5 12:45

At mile 5, the hills started

mile 6 11:40

I met a couple Tough Chik Teammates Lindy & Katye. They were running the relay, so we spent a minute chatting before they headed off to finish their race. It was great to meet them, even for a quick minute.

I was expecting to see Kevin between mile 6 and 7, but he was nowhere in sight. I texted him during a walk break, and I must have passed him by. I was feeling good. Stopping to stretch as needed, walking when needed. The miles were clicking by fast for me, even though I was moving slow.

mile 7 12:57

mile 8 13:05

mile 9 12:32

mile 10 12:44

mile 11 12:51

mile 12 13:46

Right before the marathon split, I saw these girls I met on the metro. They were running the full marathon in a nude bodysuit with shamrocks sewn onto strategic spots if you know what I mean. They were still going strong!

I was starting to get tired. Which weirdly made me very happy. My knee has been hurting so much lately, that I've been limited by pain & haven't been able to get tired or sprint to a finish line.

mile 13 12:23

Uphill toward the finish, toward the end I picked it up to a fantastic sprint & finished strong, squeaking right in under 2:45.

After picking up some food, I headed to find S & Kevin, listen to a little music & enjoy the 70+ weather.

T finished the marathon in 3:31.. yikes!

The good

the scenery

frequent water stops & great volunteers

Race shirt

weather

The bad

the Metro

chaos waiting for food, very disorganized

Mile 9 waterstop... only 1 side of the street & narrow!

The medal... wish there was more of a DC feel to it!

I'll turn this the right way later

Overall Stats

Pace 12:35

5K 34:12

10K 1:13:08

10 mile 2:02:19

HALF MARATHON 2:44:54

overall 14074/16321

Division 2683/3027

Gender 8910/10725

Post race adventures to follow soon!

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Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Race Recap

                                             Pre-race

We got to DC around 10:30am on saturday, and after getting on the Metro to the hotel, we found ourselves in Macys. How the heck is there a Metro stop inside a Macys?? After finally finding our hotel, we headed to Capitol City Brewing Company for lunch. Next up was packet pick up.

We walked the few blocks away only to find a HUGE line wrapping around the entire building. We settled in at the back, then started to feel a sprinkle. Soon enough it was raining, then hailing! With no umbrella, or way to get shelter without skipping out on the line, we decided to tough it out.  Luckily a ton of people in front of us bailed, and we moved up a little more. Our total wait time? 1 hour. The most ridiculous wait time ever for race packet pick up. I'm not even sure why it was such a long wait, since when we finally got to the room for our bibs, there was barely anyone inside, and no wait at the check in tables. Completely ridiculous.

The expo wasn't too bad, I picked up a couple new sweaty bands, and a free swim cap. Scoped out the gear, then headed out to see the White House, and take a few pics. For dinner we headed to Aria, which was listed as an italian resteraunt and near our hotel. The only things "italian" about this place were the 3 pasta dishes and pizzas. The rest of the menu was salads & sandwiches, and the service was horrible. I would NOT recommend eating there to anyone.

After dinner we crashed to prep for our early wake up (actually a late one for me)! I was completely undecided on what to wear until the absolute last minute. After feedback on facebook, and checking out the Runners World "what to wear" page, I finally decided!

Pink shorts & socks won!

Race Day

Alarm went off, and I got up and started to get dressed and get my breakfast together. I put on my outfit, grabbed my throwaway longsleeve shirt, my breakfast and other gear and we headed out. We had a short walk to the race start from our hotel, and it was easy to find it since there were so many other people out walking to the start. We checked our bags, and took a few pictures by the Washington Monument.

We were in the green corral, which was 2nd to last. We crossed the start around 7:50am. My brother was running this race with me, which was our first really running together since his downfall at the Disney Half in 2010. He had just started training for his first marathon, and wanted to use this as a training run at a slower pace, so he decided to stick with me.  The weather was great, a little breezy to start, but I was able to ditch my throwaway around mile 3 or 4.

We cruised along, I was feeling pretty good.  I felt great for miles 1-5. By mile 5 I was really starting to feel it. Maybe because I was keeping a pretty steady 10:30ish pace.  I noticed that my Garmin was about .1 ahead around mile 3. The bad thing about the race course was the amount of out & backs. There were so many that you would see people running opposite you and not get to that point for quite a while later, a little discouraging! Around mile 5ish there was a water stop set up in a extremely narrow running road, which created a huge bottle neck, and slowed us down a bit. By mile 6, I was starting to slow, and I told my brother to go ahead without me.

As you can see, I faded hard. I had to take one walk break mile 6, 2 mile 7, then more throughout the rest. It must have been because I went out too fast, which sucks because I felt great, and I thought the pace was good, about 15 seconds slower than my half pace. I guess 10 miles is pretty close to a half marathon! Any advice on decreasing the fade?!

shots along the race

I was so excited to see the finish line! It was an uphill finish, and then we were done! Plus, I made my goal time (barely)!

1:50:09!

Finished!

After the race, I met up with my brother, who killed it in 1:44. We got our finishing medals and a muffin. Another bad thing? The set-up for post race food! I couldn't find it! Instead of being right off the finishers chute, it was off to the side, and I missed it until my brother pointed it out. 

Back to the hotel for a shower, then I starting searching for a lunch place. After searching for breweries online, I found one that served brunch. AMAZING. We were sold, and headed over to the District Chop House for fabulous beer & breakfast. 

Cherry Wheat beer, french toast & fruit! yummmmm

Overall, the race was fun, but not sure what the big hype is. It was really cool to run by some of the monuments, and the scenery was nice, but we won't be traveling for this race again. After the crazy packet pick up, and post race crowded confusion, I'd rather do a local race.

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Back from DC!

I'm back from DC! 

I promise to post pictures and the race recap soon. Today was a long day of travel. While traveling out of Boston got me a cheaper flight, the travel from Boston to home was longer than the flight from DC. Moral of the story is pay a little more to fly out of Bradley next time. I had a million things to do today and barely did any. I missed any chance of a workout, grocery shopping, and trip to the post office. I accomplished laundry, bed bath & beyond for a shower gift, working on my training schedule, and making dinner.

I hope everyone else had a good racing weekend, I can't wait to catch up on blog posts!

Who won the $25 Gone for a Run giftcard??

FinallyFit2011!!

email me at sgrigely at hotmail.com to claim your prize!

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DC here I come (and a raffle winner!)

I'm so tired, and my wake up call is set to be too early tomorrow. I need to leave here by 5:30 to get to my brother's place by 7:15, then off to the airport. I cannot wait for the expo (more sweatybands?), and I'm excited for the race. I decided to bring outfit #1 & #3.... we'll see what the weather is like.

This weeks raffle winner is....

Terri @ Our Big Fat Greek Marathon

hooray!! email me with your prize choice!

Have you donated yet?? Check out the page HERE to make a donation & be eligible for a prize next week!

I also have to pick a winner for my Gone for a Run giveaway.... but I am exhausted and need to wake up at 4am for my flight, so I'll do it Monday when I get home!

Wish me luck! If you'll be there and want to meet up, send me an email or a message on facebook!

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