The race was actually in National Harbor and I took a day off work on Friday to drive down (avoid DC rush hour traffic) and pick up race packets. National Harbor looks really nice and they even have a Peep store!
When we found the expo, we picked up our packets and wandered around. They had a discount for running clothes there so I bought a pair of gloves- thank goodness I did because I needed them the next day! We also took picture and I bought a few shirts. The packet came with a jacket, which turned out to be kind of cheap, I thought. But it is one more jacket than I had before! I needed a women's XL with the way the sizing was and they didn't have any more left so I ended up getting a men's small.
Susan and I also wandered around National Harbor a little bit, taking some pictures.
The day of the race, we got up early (neither of us is a morning person but I think it was worse for Susan than me- I kept waking up thinking about the race and not wanting to be late). We took the shuttle and I forget the exact timing but they said to be there by 5:45 or something like that, for the 5K, and we were there just before that. The bus driver got lost on the way, which was surprising. I wasn't sure at first if we were really lost but the coach bus did a U turn at an intersection- that's a dead giveaway!
So we were there pretty early (wish I'd written this soon after the race because I don't remember the exact timing anymore). I think that our race was supposed to start at 7:30... and then the 15K was supposed to start an hour after that at 8:30. We needed to be out of the way because the 15K ended with the 5K loop around National Harbor.
This is when the fun started. So first we were there early... And then if you look at a map of National Harbor, there is only one way in and out. There were 15,000 runners registered for the 15K and 7,000 runners registered for the 5K, all trying to get there. It was crazy. Traffic was so bad that a lot of people were going to miss the races.
One of the good things- they had a lot of porta potties. There was never a wait. So at 7ish we checked our gear (brrr, it was around 32 degrees out) went one more time to the bathroom and lined up in our corral. We were in corral D, which was the slowest one, but it looked like most people didn't sign up for the corrals. I did it because I didn't want to get stuck in the middle of a walkers, trying to thread through that.
Because of the traffic mess, the 5K ended up being delayed 45 minutes. By the time we lined up in the corral it was 7:15, 15 minutes before race time was supposed to start. The announcer was hard to hear, blamed the traffic on accidents (not sure if there really were any or it was just congested from so many people trying to get there at the same time), and instead of saying it would be at least blah late, kept saying just 5 more minutes to let people arrive. So we stood there the entire time. In the freezing cold. Don't ask me how I managed that, I am one of the coldest people in the world. Looking back that was crazy but at the time we just did it.
So the race finally started 45 minutes late, at 8:15, and we took off. It started down the hill and went along the river/harbor. I heard later that it went the wrong direction around and that things got clogged up there because the path was pretty small for that many runners. We didn't have much of a problem and it was pretty! We wrapped around and went up our first hill. Most of the race everyone was passing me but because of running in hilly Pittsburgh, I started actually passing people on the hills! Then we did a little circle thing and had a longer hill. At that point I was getting too warm and I tried to take my jacket off. I'm learning that I can't do anything else and run, though, so I walked long enough to do that. The worst part, though, is that I had my phone on an armband on the outside of my jacket and completely forgot about it. So it fell off. Thank goodness someone behind me yelled out that I dropped something so I turned around to go get it. Stupid me! And I'm so glad I didn't lose my cell phone.
Also, because of the super cold start we were pretty tight (muscle wise) and my knee started hurting. I had Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis that I grew out of but I know what arthritis feels like and that's what it felt like. I thought maybe it was the weather but it did concern me. Susan and I had run the first mile together but at the first water stop she wanted water and I didn't, so I kept going. (Can't run and drink at the same time, either, and I was in a groove and didn't want to stop or walk.)
When my knee really started hurting, I had no idea how far we are but figured it was close to the end so I started to walk. Susan had on a bright yellowish/greenish shirt with a matching hat so I looked behind to see how far she was. I could see her, so I walked waiting for her to catch up. And we ran the rest of the way together.
It ended in a pretty decent grade hill, and it seriously felt like we were crawling up that. I think I could have walked the same speed we were running if I hadn't been so tired.
We crossed the finish line and I didn't find out my official time until later - 32:38. I wasn't completely happy with that time but it was fun, I'm glad I got to run with Susan, and it is my biggest race by far, and my first out of town race.
And afterwards we got chocolate fondue (wish there had been more stuff to dip it with) and hot chocolate. YUM. I now have a long sleeved t-shirt that says "Will Run for Chocolate" as well as a sweatshirt that says the same. And my new running gloves I'm really happy with.
Oh and see the lack of pictures? Even though I had my phone with me, I only took one the entire day. So here it is:
Friday night we met up with some friends for dinner and I'm glad we got to do that as well! I should visit DC again - it's not a bad drive and it would be nice to hang out longer next time.
Susan, Stephanie, and me - we all went to college together and majored in engineering.
They pointed out that I'm the only one still in engineering.
Maresha and me - we both got married in April 2008
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