Rock 'n' Roll DC Half Marathon Recap - 3/17/2012

Well my first half marathon is in the books.  I had the prerace jitters the most at the expo.  Something about an offical countdown clock made all of the training very real (I definitely had one of those 'this is the stupidest thing you have ever committed yourself to moments').  All of that went away on the morning of the race, but a quick picture of the countdown clock.



Not sure why there were only two options "Women's" and "Unisex"? 



Got to the expo with plenty of time, but I think we all need more countdown clocks



The Official Recap

Prerace:  Hopped on a very crowded metro, but got to use the bathroom and get in corral 3 with plenty of time.  I couldn't believe there were over 25 corrals and immediately I had a big gulp of panic as the people I was lining up with looked fast (we all know people that just look extra fast).

Mile 1:  I had really decided that mile 1 should be around 8:00, so when I came in around 8:07 I wasn't too worried...I felt my plan was working and that I would run negative splits during the last half...

Mile 2-3:  I felt like I had picked it up a little too much (I was only wearing a regular watch with stopwatch on it and had my phone tucked away using mapmyrun)...at mile 2 I realized I had made up a lot of time...some slight panic, but nothing to be worried about until at mile 3 when I realized I was back to my 1:40 pace that I had set as my reach goal.  I still felt good, but was sweating pretty profusely (it was about 65 degrees at that time).

Mile 4:  I felt good (I would later find out this was a 7:20 pace mile, but it was all flat..and I knew that at this mark I was running better then 1:40 goal...but I knew the hills would probalby kill me in miles 4.5 - 7.5, so not bad to bank some seconds away).

Mile 5:  Mile 5...was probably the equivalent of how the kids at Camp Crystal Lake felt every time Jason would show up in Friday the 13th...it was uphill and I'm like "are you f^&*(ing serious?".  What didn't help matters were spectators running across to the other side in front of the runners (although 99% of the spectators were fine...oh that one percent!:))  (8:00 min pace)

Mile 6 - 7:  Lots of people cheering.  I wasn't feeling great, but the crowds got me through this uphill section.  The was a transition point for a 2 person relay (at this point in the race I wish I had someone to get me through).  A really nice guy at some point was handing out bottled water...this was the best.  I carried mine until about mile 9.5 and really needed it.  Mile 6:  7:29 Mile 7:  7:58

Mile 8-10:  "Help me Jesus! Help me Jewish God! Help me Allah! AAAAAHHH! Help me Tom Cruise! Tom Cruise, use your witchcraft on me to get the fire off me!" (Talladega Nights quote)...but yeah I felt that way.  I had a couple of good songs come on the nano that took my brain somewhere else..but I was not feeling great.  Mile 8:  7:44, Mile 9:  7:40, Mile 10:  7:48

Mile 11:  When I saw the sign for mile 11..I just kept repeating "2.1 miles just like you have done a million times before"...sense of calm came over me.  Some people were starting to give up and walk...I really wanted to encourage them to keep going as we had all come this far together, but I couldn't talk. 

Mile 12:  Oh how I wanted to walk for like 10 seconds at this point...however I told my coworker that I would not walk...it's amazing that this actually kept me running.  In hindsight if I stopped for 10 seconds I'm not sure I could have gotten back into it. 

Mile 13:  The mile marker was one of the best things I have ever seen.  It also reminded me of a ridiculous mountain biking trip I had when I was 16 and I was starving and I devoured a ham and cheese sandwich w/mayo.  I have not eaten mayo since or ham (my least favorite foods), but at that time it tasted like the best thing ever.  Mile 13 marker was the BEST THING EVER. 

Finish:  I had no extra gear left for any sort of kick or anything like that.  The picture of me near the finish shows me, an older guy and a very fit looking guy...ironically the older guy who also looked struggling beat me by a second!  And the super fit looking guy was about 20 seconds slower then me.

After the finish I kept going a bit and then got my medal...I tried to keep moving and stretch but could barely move.  A couple of minutes based and the fiance came in (at this point I was hoping she got under the 1:45,which was her goal and she did!)...she saw me and walked right past me...she needed to stretch...so I grabbed a couple of bananas and water and made my way to where she was.  I'm glad I've already signed up for other races as it would be tough knowing how I feel today to signup for additional races, but I knew I would feel this way:) 

Official Time :  1:42:52 (my mapmyrun app had that I ran 13.5 miles, so I think that messed up some of the splits by a couple of seconds, but overall I think a 7:50/pace)

Official Splits:  5k: 23:48, 10k 48:05, 10mi 1:18:13

Overall: 1050 out of 16291

Division: 185 out of 1111

Gender: 747 out of 5584