I’m so glad I picked the Rock ‘n Roll USA half-marathon as my come-back race! It was amazing. It felt so good to run a race again after coming back from a foot injury in the fall. The race was well organized, the weather was perfect, and it was just an all around fun time. Now for the details…
My husband and I headed to the expo on Thursday afternoon (as locals were encouraged to do). I picked up my packet and technical shirt. We had a choice of colors and the most difficult part of the day was choosing whether I wanted a white shirt or a navy blue one. I ended up going with the white since it will be much cooler while running this summer, plus it will match more of my shorts. We had a good time walking around the expo. There were tons of samples being handed out, so we tried everything from nuun to macaroni and cheese to Snickers brand energy bars and more. We also tried on Newton running shoes. They were interesting. They felt different, but weren’t amazing. I couldn’t see spending $175 on them, that’s for sure. I did score a pair of Brooks Adrenalines for $75 though. I also won a free t-shirt from the Brooks fair. My hubby won a bandana. Not sure he’ll get much use out of that thing. We had fun playing skeeball though.
I took the metro to the race. Of course there was a problem on the metro and we were delayed quite a bit. Not to worry though, gear check was quick and easy and I made it to my corral with time to spare. Soon enough we were off! The first mile felt slow, mostly because there were so many people that it was hard to move around them to run. It turns out I was in a much slower corral than necessary. Oh well, live and learn.
The course itself was great. There were some hills, but nothing too tough. We ran around the Supreme Court building, past the Washington monument, through Howard University and along H Street. There was a good combination of neighborhoods and DC touristy things. It was fun seeing so many people in their front yards cheering us on. Some even handed out water, beer, fruit, and free high-fives! The actual course support was great, too. There were water and Gatorade available approximately every other mile and the half-marathon course also had bananas somewhere around mile 5 or 6. The bands were a lot of fun, too. The variety was great. We heard everything from rock bands to marching bands to brass bands. Unfortunately you only actually hear the bands as you are running by them. I wish there was a way to spread out the speakers or something so runners could hear the music for more than just a minute at a time.
After crossing the finish line we were handed our very cool medals. There were plenty of bottles of cold water and Gatorade available. They also had chocolate milk, which I LOVE drinking after a long run. I’ve never had chocolate milk offered at a race before. There were also the usual bananas, apples, bagels, granola bars, fruit bites, etc. Lots of people headed over to the beer garden after leaving the finishing chute, but I decided against it. Beer just makes me thirstier. Instead I found a spot in front of the main stage and settled in for the Switchfoot concert. I was so excited to see them and they did not disappoint. I actually saw Switchfoot perform in the late 90’s at Point Loma University in San Diego, so it was fun to see them again. I run to their music all the time. They played a great combination of new songs as well as some of their old favorites.
Overall the race was awesome and I would totally recommend it to anyone. I was very pleased with my running. My goal was to finish in 2:10 and I came in at 2:03:04. Needless to say I was extremely satisfied. I shaved a full 25 minutes off of my old PR and kept my pace under 10 minute miles for the whole race. Here’s how the splits worked out:
Point Time Pace
5K 00:27:35 8:53
10K 00:56:31 9:19
10M 01:32:32 9:31
Finish 02:03:04 9:50
Average pace 9:24
Now to enjoy some corned beef and baked potatoes for dinner!
