- Do pre-race routine and have my usual race breakfast--toast and peanut butter. One last roll on the leg. Remind Ben (who was a mole seeing light when I turned on the light...and with whom I was super jealous of getting to stay in the comfy bed for an extra 2 hours) where we'll meet and off I went!
- The lobby and walk was busy with runners, all buzzing with pre-race excitement!
- 6:30-Drop off bag at bag check. Wished I had bought some check sweatshirt to wear for the next 30 minutes so could toss to side before start.
- 6:40--in my wave corral, doing anything to keep the chill off. It was in the mid 40s and I was wearing shorts and tank. Brr!
- 6:50-- Get my Garmin ready to go. Pre-race chants, stretches start. One last leg stretch and pray that the IT band plays nicely!
- 7:00-- AND WE'RE OFF!
I could tell from the start I was going faster than I should've. Bad habit of mine, going out way too fast. However, I was feeling good! I just kept reminding myself, enjoy this weather and getting to enjoy some of DC!
Right after my 5k mark, my left calve started tightening up. I was hoping it would go away and that maybe I stepped weird. Unfortunately, it stayed tight THE REST OF THE RACE. UGHHHH. What I would've done to freeze the rest, let me stretch and roll it out, then unfreeze and keep running.
Just enjoy the beautiful weather and sites.
My IT band decided to make an appearance around mile 9. I went from running to taking quick walk breaks to help. I knew my pace was slowing down because of this which was a bit deflating because I was on a good pace to break 2 hours, BUT, I'd rather finish feeling good rather than walking cause of injuries. Just 4 miles to go!
Miles 9-11 were a bit blurred in my mind, but when I reached mile 12, I told myself "Just 1 mile! Let's go!" and started picking up the pace. My IT band wasn't hurting anymore but my calve was SCREAMING. I knew my form had to be a bit funky looking.
When I reached mile 12.5, I could see the finish through the buildings and that gave me a sense of boost knowing that in just a few minutes, I would be done! I took the final turn and did my best to stretch out my form and run for the finish. I was pretty relived when I finished because my left leg was throbbing. I was so pleased with my PR time, especially with feeling blah through some of the race.
My family was tracking me throughout the run (Have I mentioned how great my family is!) and my dad posted this online afterwards. You can see where I slowed down, ehhh!
After crossing the finish line, I walked through the water station...chocolate milk station (yesss)...goody bag station full of yummy snacks from Whole Foods....heat sheets (that I used more as a cape)...and then, the major reason why 15,000 ladies ran today....that pretty blue box we all know of by Tiffany's!
I found Ben in our meet up spot and was happy to hear that he was able to catch me finishing :)
Overall, and take away the calve pain, I really enjoyed this race. I could not have asked for better weather (it was in the low 60s when I finished) and getting to run in parts of DC I haven't been to or hadn't been to in years was really nice. GREAT crowd support throughout the race and water stations plus oranges throughout. Minus the disappointing Expo, everything was very organized and flowed along which was impressive since it was in the city!
Plus, this gave me a nice preview to the marathon in 180 days!
Here are some clips if you want to know what the course looked like:
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