On Sunday morning, my alarm rang at 4:15 a.m. I stayed in bed for a couple of minutes in the dark, letting myself wake up before reaching for the light. It was race day!
I stayed in a hotel in DC, so I was much closer to the start than if had I been at home. I still had to allow plenty of time for the Metro, though. I couldn’t get late check-out, either, so I had to pack and check my bag at the front desk before heading to the start line.
Based on the temperature in the upper 40s/low 50s, I decided on capri tights, my Rally Foundation shirt, and arm warmers. While I prefer to coordinate my outfits (dork!), I had no choice but to wear my turquoise Iron Girl visor with the red Rally shirt … it’s my favorite visor, and I didn’t bring another hat. But since I forgot sunscreen, I wanted to protect my face!
(I also applied SPF 15 Blistex to my face like a sunscreen stick. Would that even work? Not sure, but I didn’t burn!)
I headed out around 5:45 and walked the few blocks to the Metro. Turns out I could have slept a little longer — there was a bit of a wait for the train! But it was fine. At least I got to sit down!
It was a long walk from the Metro to the start area, I just followed the crowd. It was just before 7 a.m. when I got there, and I hopped into the port-o-potty line. It wasn’t too long at the time. By the time I was out the lines had grown, and I got right back in it. I learned my lesson after missing my corral start in VA Beach!
What else was I going to do? And I actually needed it again by the time I got to the front of the line.
The timing was good, as runners started walking over to the corrals shortly after.
Based on my 20-mile training runs, I was hoping I could run a 4:30 marathon, so I tried to line up in the appropriate corral. I kept walking forward, looking for my goal time, and somehow I ended up on the wrong side of a fence! I found an entrance, but it became quite crowded. I weaved my way through, and kept moving forward as I looked for signs that would let me know if I was in the right group!
When I saw a 4:15 pacer sign a ways ahead of me, I realized I was far enough up! I never saw the 4:30 pacer, but I preferred to run on my own, anyway.
And then, it was time to run!
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and it had warmed up a little bit, but it was still chilly. My toes were a bit numb for about the first two miles, but it didn’t bother me. It wasn’t long before I tossed my dollar-store gloves and pushed my arm warmers down.
The miles were flying by. I seemed to keep missing my watch beep at the mile splits, and it’s probably better that way. Had I seen some of my earlier splits, it would have probably freaked me out. Too fast!
I actually did see that 9:15 … but it was on a downhill so I wasn’t too concerned. Just banking some time!
I was well prepared for the hills in the beginning. I was warned, and it seems my training was good. They didn’t seem so bad! I was enjoying the scenery, and the spectators were great. A running store in Georgetown had a large “run like you stole your shoes” sign hanging down the side of the building. That would be a recurring theme — I saw lots of “run like you stole something” signs along the way!
It seemed to be going by so quickly, I barely noticed where I was most of the time. I just kept watching those miles tick by.
I still thought I was going too fast, but at this point I figured I’d see how long I could keep it up. I just hoped I wouldn’t completely fall apart at the end!
When we got to Hains Point, I was really enjoying myself. My feet had started hurting, a bit sooner than I would have liked, but I was doing my best to ignore them. This day was what I trained all summer for, and I was determined to keep moving!
Despite the sore feet, I just kept smiling as I ran along the water on this gorgeous day. Runners high, anyone?
Around the 15-mile point I was starting to feel like I had to pee. But I didn’t want to have to wait in a line! Fortunately, it was a false alarm. The urge went away and I kept moving.
Or rather, I tried to keep moving. I started losing a little speed. I wasn’t a fan of the re-routing of the course along 17th Street. Rather than run in the street, they moved us to the sidewalk along the mall. There’s gravel on either side, and the concrete was pebbly, kind of painful after 17 miles!
Around the 18-mile mark, I took my first real walk break and grabbed two cups of Powerade (the first was nearly empty!). I had sipped some at earlier water stops, but I moved through them more quickly. I also had been refilling my 20-oz handheld bottle with water along the way.
Yup, there’s that water stop. You can also see how much I enjoyed the bridge at mile 20! I still felt pretty good, though. I was really looking forward to getting back into Crystal City. I was warned that the 14th Street bridge was probably the toughest part of the course, so I didn’t get discouraged. It helped that I had something to look forward to — I knew my Annapolis Striders friends would be on the other side with gummy bears!
I got cheers as I grabbed a few, and just kept running.
I slowed down quite a bit for that last 10K, but I kept running as fast as my tired legs would let me. I was almost done, and I knew I was doing much better than I expected.
And look, I even had a little push left at the end to make it up the hill!
Up the hill and across the finish … I saw the clock time was still 4:29. And I knew without looking that my watch was about seven minutes faster. I still nearly cried when I stopped the timer and saw the results.
I still can’t believe I did it!
