National Half Marathon Recap

At the beginning of this year I set up my running goals for 2011. First on the list: the DC National Half Marathon.

Completed!

This was my second half marathon (my first was in Detroit) and I loved every minute of it!

Friday Ariell and I made it to DC and went straight to the expo. After picking up our packets we hightailed it back to our respective accommodations for the night-- we'd been carrying around our luggage all day.

I spent the weekend with my BFF Ashton (another post about our weekend coming soon!) and I got to her apartment early. I went to the local frozen yogurt place and had a pre-race mix of pb and cheesecake froyo with chocolate and berry toppings. Yummy carbs :)

Later that night I fueled up with salad, guac, crab chips and yogurt. We went to bed super early in preparation for the race the next day.

Saturday I woke up at 5:30am, got dressed and munched on a half whole-wheat bagel thin with chunky pb.

After some very packed Metro rides, Ariell and I made it to the race just as it was starting. We jumped into a corral and crossed the start line. My only goal for this race was to keep a consistent pace and to beat my PR from Detroit.

The first few miles were kind of rough-- I was tired and it was cold. Running in a new city is fun but also a little confusing. I had no idea where we were for pretty much all of the race! Regardless, my first few miles were steady. As soon as I saw the Capitol I started to smile and pushed on.

Mile 1: 10:12

Mile 2: 9:31

Mile 3: 9:09

Mile 4: 9:30

Mile 5: 9:40

Mile 6: 10:22 (shotblok stop)

Mile 7: 10:14

One of the best parts about running DC were all of the monuments! I was constantly entertained and in awe of the beauty of the city in the morning sunshine. I took a shotblok at miles 5 and 9 and that gave me great energy to keep running through the race.

Mile 8: 9:35

Mile 9: 9:18

Mile 10: 9:22 (shotblok stop)

At mile 10 I realized just how close we were to the finish! I picked up my pace and clocked that mile in under 9:00! Sadly I couldn't keep that pace for the rest of the race so settled back into a solid cadence.

Mile 11: 8:53

Mile 12: 9:29

Mile 13: 9:00

Mile .26: 8:22 pace

Before I knew it, I sprinted through to the finish line and completed my second half marathon in 2:06:32, a 14 minute PR from Detroit!!! I also managed to run the whole race as a negative split. I immediately found Ashton and Ariell and we snapped some photos.

The worst part of the day was the Metro ride back! It was really packed and my feet were super sore. Ashton busied herself by photographing my medal and I inhaled the post-race bagel, banana and chocolate milk handed out at the finish.

After showers and a nap, Ashton and I headed out to see the cherry blossoms.

And later grabbed a giant post-race lunch of Potbelly. I had a delicious veggie sub, chips and a cookie. This meal didn't stand a chance.

Finally we celebrated and went out to an art show for the rest of the night. Wonderful.

I had such a great time at the National Half and was so happy to PR! I continually am amazed by how much I love racing. Improving my times has become fun and addicting!

Did you run the race this weekend?