Today's Run - 3/20

A great start to spring with the National 1/2 Marathon. It was an early start to get to the starting line by 7am. I left the house by 5am and was at the DC Armory and RFK stadium by ~5:30am. I was relaxed pre-race and able to find a place to sit and wait for the call to the runners corrals. The corrals were packed and lively with runners waiting to start. The weather was absolutely perfect for a run, and we headed out just after sunrise. I started in the 8:45 to 9min pace group. I wanted to see if I could beat my previous time of 1:57 and even target going sub 1:50. I knew that this course was much flatter than much of my training course. I was concerned to start to fast and not have enough to keep a steady pace.

I locked into a 8:30min pace early in the race and felt comfortable. I wanted to see how long I could go at that pace. I found that the other runners pulled me a long and I was passing a number of runners that were falling off the pace. Mile 11.5 to 12 I found to be the most difficult to keep the pace. Once I hit mile 12 I figured I needed to gut it out. I headed to the finish line and found a burst of speed to pass a few runners before the finish. To top off a great run the announcer called my name as I finished with a total time of 1:51:40.

The race crowds were fun this morning and cheered hard for runners. I liked the DJ's playing music outside the dorms at Howard University. I was able to find Emily, Ella, my Dad and brother James at about mile 5. I found them in the crowd and surprised when I jumped out to say Hi. They were at the finish line when I finished. It was nice to see them and feel their support. I also ran into an old friend after the race that I had not seen in a few years.

The Nation's Capital is an awesome setting for a road race. I can't think of another time you can run down the middle of Constitution Ave and not have the cops chase you! The sights were awesome, I was able to grab one quick picture of the Washington Monument as I ran by. I forgot to get more pictures... I had a race to run.