First I must vent! I’ve NEVER been to a
prerace event that was so awful!! Not only was packet pick up in Georgetown (which
is just a pain in the ass to get to) but the lines were insane!! We waited an
HOUR outside in the sun for packet pick up.
Then the “expo” was just silly (in my opinion). I do give Nike credit for going “outside the
box” for this, but for me, it was an epic fail.
It was a relatively small tent, just PACKED with people. There were a few charity booths (literally
like 2), Nike showcase (you couldn’t buy anything there), BareEssentials doing
make up, Paul Mitchell doing hair, Luna giving a few samples & Nuun giving
a few samples. That was essentially
it. There was a small tent outside that
was selling race day essentials but if you weren’t looking for it, you would
have missed it. All the race gear, was
available for purchase at the Nike Georgetown store about 2 blocks away. Finishers gear would be available in a tent
(with another massive hour+ long line) after the race was finished.
Ok now to the real race report……..
Pre-race: Woke up at 5am. I made my oatmeal
with the coffee maker. There was no
microwave in the hotel room, so I had to improvise. It was a little raw, but really not bad. Started a bottle of water (first mistake) and
headed out to the start around 6:15. We
were so close, we decided to walk back to the hotel for another potty break
& to keep warm. Headed back to the
race start around 6:45, one more potty break……should have seen something coming
here.
We headed to the corrals. It was
absolutely PACKED!!! Thought I had to #1
again, but figured it was just jitters.
One amazing thing….the start line looked straight down Pennsylvania to
the Capitol building, AMAZING view!!!
And we’re off…HOLY HELL it was crowded. Literally couldn’t move my arms to run for at
least the first mile. We headed into a
tunnel…….not my favorite. I have a weird
fear of being in something underground or under water with only one way
in/out. But they had drums set up in 2
spots & it was deafening. Between
screaming women & drums you couldn’t think of anything other than, keep
moving so your head doesn’t explode!!!
Through 5K: Awesome run down toward the Capitol building and out to the
Monument. Guess what…….I seriously had
to go #1!! It wasn’t nerves, I drank too much damn water pre-race!! We’re running around the mall……there’s NOWHERE
to stop & go & certainly no spot a pots. At one point, it was so bad, I saw a bush
& thought, “can I get in there?!” & then thought, “what if someone
takes my picture & posts it to facebook with the caption, “runner take’s a “break”
at the base of the Washington Monument”?! Damn, I had to keep moving. About mile 2.5 I see girls running to the
other side of a building! “SCORE! Bathrooms” I think, negative. It was a triangle piece of grass behind a
building blocked from view. No shame
here & a running skirt helps! I felt
much better. Now back to the race and
getting on pace. The first few miles
were sooooo crowded I couldn’t get a rhythm at all. Plus, now I understand why people say “don’t
run with headphones”. I have always run
with one in & one out in races, so I can be aware of people around me. This was my first half with no music at all,
it was fine!! These ladies were
oblivious!! Both ear buds in, so loud I
could sing along with their music & not paying a bit of attention. A girl running in front of me suddenly
stopped (not on the side, just right in the road) I ran into her, a girl ran
into me. She barely turned around. GGGRRR!!! Take the anger & fuel the run.
After mile 6 we started to get a little bit
of breathing room. Guess a negative
split was going to be a reality, not on purpose however! There were absolutely amazing drum lines all along
the race. I love good music here &
there, but in my opinion there’s nothing more motivating that a strong, loud,
energetic drum line going all out. There
was a group of all women near the JFK monument.
THEY WERE AMAZING!!! I hope Nike posts who they were, so I can tell them
how much they rocked.
Second stop of the race…….vaseline! L I forgot my bodyglide at home and none of the
girls I was with had any. Thank goodness
for lots of med tents on the way.
Slathered a ton of Vaseline on my awesome triathlon legs (yes, I’m being
sarcastic because I never had this problem until I started training for
tris!). Love my quads, but damnit!
Chafing is NOT cool! Probably lost
another 45 seconds there.
At about 15K I started to struggle. Pace was fine, just mentally I was
bored. Maybe a little tired, but mostly
just bored. I was ready to be done. I kept thinking, just get to 10, then it’s a
short 5K, no big deal. A million
thoughts were going through my head at this point here are a few:
“Tim said get comfortable with the pain. It
doesn’t hurt yet, so just suck it up & keep moving”
“This is NOTHING compared to running after a
56mile bike ride, so you better get your ass in gear!”
“If you break 2 today, you won’t have to run
a half for awhile. If you don’t, you know you’re going to have to try again.
Chop chop!”
“Pass that dude up there and smile.”
“DO NOT let the boys in furry costumes beat
you!!!”
I’m sure there were many more, but those are
the ones I remember. I also remember
seeing a sign by Nike that said, “Redefine Impossible”. I thought it was perfect because I was
dangerously close to doing something I honestly thought was impossible a few
years ago.
The incline (I won’t even call it a hill) to
an overpass around mile 10 was a killer.
EVERYONE around me walked (except for me & the guy with the camo
camelback). I looked at his back, said, “he
looks bad ass I’m going to stay with him”.
He started to slow & I passed him.
We both made it up the ramp. Back
into the tunnel with the drums. Keep
your feet moving to the drum beat & you’ll be fine.
The final 2 miles of this race was mental
torture. You came out of the tunnel
& made a right. Straight down
Pennsylvania towards the Capitol building, AWAY from the finish line. You could see everyone ahead of you running
back & also around the big ass circle in front of the Capitol
building. It looked like the longest 2
miles EVER!!! And it felt that way.
Again my mantras. I know I was
literally seconds from a 2hr finish time.
I couldn’t give it up in the last 2 miles, no way!! My final mile was actually 8:28. I’ve never run a 5K in that pace before! J The last long straight was about
.5miles. You could see the finish, but
it just never got closer. Block after
block & it was still far away. I
looked at my watch & knew I had about 2mins to get to the finish. Whatever push I had left went into that last
half mile, it wasn’t much but it was a little faster.
Thank goodness they didn’t actually have race
photography at the finish. I would have
looked like the meanest, nastiest grump in the world. Clock time said 2:02, watch said 2:00. I knew I started around 1:30 after the gun,
so I figured I had missed it by just a few seconds. I was MAD! This was the first time I ever
wanted to cry after finishing a race, and NOT for a good reason! We waited around to check official results, I
had to know. 2:00:16 SIXTEEN stupid seconds!!! But it’s ok really. I wasn’t tapering, I’m in the middle of
triathlon training for my “big” race & I had to pee. Those are the things I keep telling myself so
I’m not completely frustrated.
Lessons learned:
Keep hydrated the day before the race, do NOT
drink that much the morning of. Get your water on the course.
NEVER leave home without bodyglide.
Try not to punch any other runners for
running into you, stopping, or just plain being idiots (I didn’t do this, but I
considered it a few times!).
Enjoy the new PR for what it is. Your best time ever and one step closer to
sub2!
Hope this wasn’t too long for you! Now on to
Kinetic in less than 2 weeks!!!!!!
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