Before the race we gear up, take pix, drop our bags off, etc.
Then we get to the start line, and jump in.
If you read my Friday's post - you know I was pretty much terrified of the race, and that I was going to have to be shuttled to the finish line. So my ONLY goal was to beat the 3hr mark and cross the finish line.
Before we reached the first mile, my right knee started to hurt. GREAT. I continued on thinking I could just ignore it. Later, my left knee started up (since I was favoring my right) and then towards the end, BOTH knees were shot, and I was in so much pain.
Anyways...back to the race.
In the first stretch, we had the capitol building right in front of us. It was cool because it was a long stretch of road in front of the building, but it dipped down a little, then back up and literally you saw NO street. It was nothing but runners, and then the capitol. I got goosebumps and even said aloud "WOW". Hello Patriotism.
So I got to water stop #1 - it was right after mile 1, so I didn't stop for it.
Then I got to the 2nd stop - Powerade. All the powerade was gone, so it was just water. So I took the water there.
3rd stop - GU. THERE WASN'T ANY LEFT! I was worried because I didn't bring any with me during the race and was afraid that if it was already gone at stop 1 I wasn't going to get ANY nourishment (aside from water) during the long race.
Around mile 6 (still running) there was a HUGE hill (Adam's Morgan area) and it was so painful. like HORRIBLY Steep and long. UGH! Even the cops and the people outside their houses were telling us it was almost over. I didn't believe them but once I finally got to the flat road I was THRILLED.
Once I got to Howard University, we turned behind it and it was a beautiful scene, we had the water to the left of us. It was gorgeous...BUT SO BORING! For the previous part of the race we had TONS of supporters lining the route, buildings to look at, DJ's playing music, etc. but here it was just us and the water. Luckily that wasn't a long strip.
Back on the streets again, we were greeted my a ton more supporters with signs and noisemakers, etc. Green Man (from It's Always Sunny) was even there giving out high 5's, and a dancing chicken!
Meanwhile I am still running, and I just keep passing mile markers...once I passed 7 miles I thought "I've never run this far!" Once I passed mile 8 I thought "I've never run THIS far!" once I passed mile 9 I thought "I REALLY MIGHT COMPLETE THIS!" and I started tearing up thinking about how AWESOME this really was.
I still hadn't passed a GU station that actually HAD GU, so my body just plain FELT empty.
Once I got close to mile 11 (WOW, MILE ELEVEN?!?!?) I FINALLY got a GU. At this point it didn't really matter, since I only had a couple miles left, but I took it anyways. And then it happened....I walked. I walked a little between mile 11 and 12 (BUT I LASTED ALL THE WAY TILL MILE ELEVEN!!!). I realized thought (looking at the pace watch Kaela let me borrow) I had an actual chance of getting UNDER 2hrs. and 30min. Once I started running again, my knees started HATING me. They hurt so much with every step I took on the route. But I kept going. I hit the part where the marathoners split from the half-marathoners and thought, I'M ABOUT TO COMPLETE THIS RACE!!! I hit the final turn, and saw the finish....and my legs saw it too. OUT OF NOWHERE they started a full on sprint (the rest of my body was just along for the ride) and I had the HUGEST smile as I felt like I floated across the finish line. I know I had the cheesiest smile on my face, and I saw when I crossed that I made it under the GUNTIME of 2 hrs and 30 min. Which meant my net time was WAY better. I seriously COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. I not only FINISHED (my only goal) I got a time that I didn't even IMAGINE I'd get close too!! My official time was 2hrs, 26min, 46secs. UNREAL! It averaged out to an 11min12sec/mile pace.
Afterwards I met up with Felipe, and I looked around for Leo and Erica but couldn't find them. So I went to the beergarden and grabbed a beer. Then I saw them across the other side of the finish line. Leo said he got really worried because he didn't see my finish and then we saw the sign flash that there were no more half-marathoners. Then he saw someone arrive on a stretcher and he was afraid it was me (I did make sure to have my health card on my just in case). Little did he know I had finished in GREAT time and was drinking a beer and relaxing in the beer garden!
Sidenote: Leo finished at 2hrs and 19min. He also has a GREAT story of the race...but you'd have to ask him about it.At the end of the race, my knees were shot, my feet were covered in blisters, and I was covered in my own sweat-salt. I was disgusting. But I had NEVER been more proud of myself. It was such an Exhilarating experience. The best part was that the whole time I was running, I never felt like I couldn't do it. I just kept trucking along, jamming out to John Mayer on my Ipod.
Best signs from fans:
"I'm fat, and lazy...you are awesome for doing this"
"Hurry up and finish so you can get back to bed"
"The bars are waiting for you"
"You have great stamina. Call me."
"Why do all the cute ones run away?"
"My wife is too awesome to fail"
There was even a group of people who set up their own water station - their signs read "Beer Gatorade"
There were lots of signs rooting for particular runners, but the ones above had me cracking up and took my mind off the race for a min. A lot of people also had general signs that said "You can do it", etc. and I just imagined they were all for me :)
Leo was worried after the race that I would be in a bad mood and have hated the race, so he was totally surprised when I was super cheery and was like that race was "AWESOME". I haven't had more fun/enjoyed myself more/been prouder of any of my other races as I was with this one.
Who would have thought, that the girl who could BARELY run a mile or 2 this time last year could complete 13.1 miles in less than 2.5 hours. I SURE WOULDN'T HAVE!!!
I would like to say thanks to everyone who has encouraged me and supported me, as I DEF couldn't done it without you guys - when my running gets tough, I think of you guys and it gives me a little boost so I don't dissapoint!
Ok, I think this post is long enough, but I just can't express how awesome this race was....it was just unbelievable. I can't wait until the pix are up (I made sure to run close past the photographers) and as soon as they are, I'll post them here and on my facebook fan page.
- a very proud, and still sore, apes -
P.S. A shout out to my first "random" follower - Susie! She's the fiance of one of my managers at the bike shop and wants to start running, so my manager showed her my blog! She was asking him if he had heard how my half-marathon went, since I hadn't posted yet. Sorry it took so long Susie - but good luck in you're running and thanks for being a reader and follower!!
In the month of April (yep - MY month) Pacers Running Store sponsors "5k Fridays" in Crystal City. It's just as it sounds - every Friday night in April there is a 5k to run. To run all 5 its $50, or to one just one its $15/race. 
Checking out my results: 2hrs. 26min. 46sec for my first try!!
I liked the shirts this race, not as cute as the 
"Kiss me! I'm a runner"
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