I finally got across the start line and was off. I got through mile one and felt amazing, and I mean AMAZING! I had never felt that good during a run, ever. I thought that I magically was going to be able to feel like this the whole race, biggest mistake ever! My plan to "run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute" went out the window quickly. I ran straight through mile 1 and 2 without stopping to walk at all. Mile 3 I started to slow down and realized I was not going to be able to run 10 min miles the entire race, I was correct. I walked for a minute and had a gu and some water around this time too. My 5k time I think was close to 35 minutes, which was what I was looking for. Unfortunately, I made my goal at 5k by not pacing myself at all. This would end up to be my biggest downfall in the entire race.
After Mile 3 was done I tried to get myself back into the "run 10 mins walk 1 min" pattern. My legs were hurting from going out so quickly at the beginning though. Around mile 5 I hit a hill and it HURT! I was in pain from running too fast at the beginning and on top of it I had to run up a hill? I was not feeling fantastic. I was walking and running on and off from miles 5-7 because of hills. During mile 7 I ran into a dehydration issue. For who knows what reason I didn't bring extra water with me and I was getting nervous that I needed more soon. It was hotter out than anyone had thought and I was nervous another aid station wasn't coming for another couple miles. While I was contemplating how awkward it would be to harass a random runner for water, I saw people handing out bottles! I think I broke out into almost a sprint at that point. I cannot thank those people enough for handing out the bottles of water, you honestly saved me from having a serious issue.
After I got more water in me I got myself back on track with the running. I wasn't going as fast as I wanted to, but I was running and not walking so I thought it was good. I got to mile 10 and tried to figure out just how costly my walking during the hills was going to be. I realized that based on my pace at the time, I was not going to finish with my goal of 2:45. The camera man chose to take pictures at this exact moment as well. Not cool camera man! I was starting to hurt and couldn't will myself to go faster. The only reason I was continuing to run was because anytime I stopped to walk my back would hurt. My legs hurt running, but my back hurt even more when walking, so running it was! At the start of mile 12 I hit 2 hours and 45 minutes and can honestly say that was the one moment I did not enjoy during the race.
I finished the whole thing in 2 hours and 56 mins. While I did hit my sub 3 hour goal (I know kind of sad that it was in fact a goal), I was a little disappointed that I did not hit my actual goal of 2:45. All of the above being said, this is the only race that I can say I really enjoyed. Running with a large group of people the entire time was amazing. The sites we got to see along the way were fantastic, and the groups of people lining the course along the way were appreciated by every runner. I would of obviously liked to have gone faster, paced myself better, and trained on hills, but it is what it is.
After the race I waited for Paul to finish his first marathon! I can't even begin to describe how much emotion I felt watching all the people finishing the marathon. If you ever need inspiration to get up and do something with your life, go to the finish line of a marathon.
Paul and I met up after he finished and got a couple of pictures of us with our medals!
Ignore the mans thumb in this.
We got all our things together and managed to each buy a new shirt. It says rock n roll usa half marathon finisher on the front and finisher on the back.
Love the shirt!
We got on the metro and headed back to the hotel. We grabbed lunch at chipotle and then some ice for Paul for an ice bath.
We relaxed around the hotel for most of the afternoon before going out and celebrating for dinner! We had dinner at the Cheesecake factory!! I hadn't had it in forever and it is absolutely my favorite restaurant!
We skipped the cheesecake after dinner and instead walked down the street to get cupcakes at CRUMBS! Love!
They were so delicious!
We finished up the weekend at breakfast with Beckie and Parker before driving back to NY. The weekend was so much fun! I loved DC and as crazy as it is to say this, I had a blast running 13.1 miles!
Sorry for the length of this, I even left things out (crazy I know)! I'll have more plans for whats up next for me and running later this week!
Happy Wednesday everyone!
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