I was at the Nation's Half Marathon. My friend Julie met me at the metro station and we rode to the Stadium Armory stop together. It was a bit chilly out, but not as bad as we expected. We stretched out inside the Armory to keep warm until a couple minutes before the start. After dropping our cover-up clothes off at the tent, we headed to the start line and found our timing corrals. That was the last I saw of Julie, because she's a lot faster than me :)
The race was great. I couldn't be happier about it. Okay, well I'd like to run faster, but it was a good first big race of the season. We ran by the US Capitol, the Washington Monument, up by Trinity College (which I'd never been to that area), and finished at the Stadium Armory again.
During the race, I had a couple revelations.
1) I still love running after all these years. That doesn't seem like a big thing, but the love ebbs and flows sometimes, and this was a good reminder.
2) Sometimes you just have to take it easy and enjoy the scenery. Running next to these amazing sites, you have to look around.
3) If my hands are warm, I'm fine. Debated about if I should wear my long-sleeve shirt, but very glad I didn't. My gloves kept me from tensing up due to the chill, and, after about 5 minutes of running, I was warmed up and good to go. Then it was easy to tuck my gloves into the back of my shorts once the sun had come out.
I finished in just under 2 hours, which was just faster than the pace I'd hoped to do. If I can have that pace for the half marathon portion of my half Ironman in the Fall, I'll be stoked about it. After the race, I found several friends, including a couple that came down from New York for the race, and we had a good time talking and catching up. Then it was home to get that ice bath going and start recovering...
2) Sometimes you just have to take it easy and enjoy the scenery. Running next to these amazing sites, you have to look around.
3) If my hands are warm, I'm fine. Debated about if I should wear my long-sleeve shirt, but very glad I didn't. My gloves kept me from tensing up due to the chill, and, after about 5 minutes of running, I was warmed up and good to go. Then it was easy to tuck my gloves into the back of my shorts once the sun had come out.
I finished in just under 2 hours, which was just faster than the pace I'd hoped to do. If I can have that pace for the half marathon portion of my half Ironman in the Fall, I'll be stoked about it. After the race, I found several friends, including a couple that came down from New York for the race, and we had a good time talking and catching up. Then it was home to get that ice bath going and start recovering...Note: Congratulations to Julie, who finished her full marathon in 3 hours 40 minutes. That's fast enough to qualify her for the Boston Marathon next year!
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