SunTrust National Half Marathon Race Recap

They often say the third time is the charm.

In some ways it was. In others, not so much. I’ll let you make the call.

(Warning: Long post ahead!)

Mom and I arrived in DC on Friday around noon (her from Detroit, me from Indy). We hopped a cab to our hotel, the Renaissance Marriott in Dupont Circle, dropped off our goods and hit the streets in search of grub!

First stop,, Le Pain Quotidien. So many vegan/ organic lunch options. We were I was in heaven!

Mom's chicken tahini salad

Me and my red quinoa w/ chickpea/tomato/arugula salad

After lunch and some slight confusion, we found the Metro!

And of course, I played the role of typical tourist.

Ps,, I do NOT like public transit. Give me my car, driveway, and garage anyday.

Yay! That's me!

Expo Time!

I picked up a RunDC shirt (close to RunBMC, eh??), a SpiBelt, and my race packet and we hit the road. Luckily we avoided any crazy lines by getting there around 3p. I heard there was a line down the street earlier?? Ick.

We headed back to the hotel to change and after consierge consultation, decided to do our pre-race carb loading at Grillfish just across the street from our hotel. It turned out to be SO tasty. The pasta (and Cab) made this pre-race belly happy.

Someone's in luuurve

Slurp!

Yum!

Since we ate dinner so early, we figured we would take advantage of the evening and head out and see some DC sights. It was Mom’s first trip to the city anyway! First stop, Lincoln Memorial.

Then we moseyed down the way to the WWII Memorial.

Representing!

Annnnnnd then over to the White House!

Once the mini tour concluded, we headed back to the room to rest up for race day!

Ready to run!

430a came realllllly early, but when the alarm went off, I was ready. A tad nervous, but ready. I showered, donned my gear, then headed down to the lobby where I met up with Mindy, who was staying at the Marriott too! It was nice to see a familiar face, esp that of a fellow blogger We stood around waiting impatiently for the hotel shuttle to take us down to the starting line @ RFK stadium, and finally got down there around 630a. The delay was probably a blessing in disguise since it was FRIGID outside. My toes were literally numb by time I started to run. Isn’t it supposed to be spring?

I snapped a few phone pics while I was waiting.

Ok. So here comes the lucky charm part of the weekend.

I started the run strong. Really strong. Like, strong enough where I kept looking at my Garmin thinking to myself, “B, you should really slow down a bit.” I was trucking at a 8 min/mile pace for the first couple miles, slowing down only slightly as time progressed. I pulled out the phone again when we started running towards this. Absolutely gorgeous.

And then I turned another corned and found this. Unreal.

After that, my attention turned slightly towards tunnel vision. I was focused. In the zone. I wanted 1:45 so bad. I ran 12.5 miles in 1:43 a few weeks back and thought it was def within my reach. There were quite a few hills throughout the course, which were pretty surprising, but typical. I didn’t slow too much with each one. I kept rolling.

That is, until mile 8.

I had pulled out my Sport Beans a couple miles earlier to fuel up before the hunger set in. So I kept the packet in my hand from then on, intermittently throwing a couple of them in my mouth when I felt the need. As another hill came into view, I needed more fuel. So as I was in the process of retreiving a couple beans,,,

I tripped. Over a sunken manhole. And I bit it. HARD.

Luckily (the first and prob last time I’ll say that during this post), I didn’t get trampled. A few nice men even made sure I got up okay and that I wasn’t badly hurt. I had/have some major road rash, but I brushed the dirt off (literally) and kept on up that hill. I had a PR to get and didn’t have time to waste. One of the men that helped me said something that stuck for the rest of the run,,

“Go get em.”

So I did.

And I got my PR. Not exactly the time I wanted. But a good one nonetheless.

1:52:58

Battered but not broken

After the race I had a few more bouts of bad luck (whoops there’s that word again). My good ol’ BlackBerry decided it was time to call it quits after the race, leaving me phone-less and alone in a pack of thousands. Fortunately, a nice lady allowed me to use her cell real quick so I could tell Mom to meet me at the medical tent where I would be getting my wounds tended to. After some gauze and neosporin, we were on our way back to the hotel for a change-a-roo, then down to Georgetown for shopping and lunch.

Cafe Bonaparte

THEN! In the midst of our shopping, my DSLR decided to slip off my shoulder and fall lens first onto the ground. Yeah, ouch. Luckily, only the lens filter broke. But tack that onto my day. Followed by the fact that the men at Verizon told me there was nothing they could do with my phone, so I was S.O.L. So I am now the proud impromptu owner of an HTC Thunderbolt. It’s okay. I think I love her.

The rest of the evening went well (thank goodness). We had another fantastic meal, this time @ Firefly, followed by drinks at the top of the W Hotel, where we met up with an old high school friend, Armen! So good to see you!! Hope you’re reading this!

Thanks self timer

The W

Awesome view from the roof (thru plexiglass)

Armen and I!

Despite all my bad luck, Mom and I had an absolute blast. We had amazing meals, saw lots of sights, and shared tons of laughs. I’m bummed I didn’t get the chance to meet up with all the bloggers in town this weekend, but I wasn’t about to abandon my Mama. She made the trek for me and deserved my full attention!

Running is such a metaphor for life sometimes. You fall down, you get back up and finish harder than you thought you could. With the exception of my hands/ knees/ hip, my body feels amazing after the race and I’m more confident than ever going into the Mini in May. Not to mention Chicago this fall. Bring it.

And if I haven’t mentioned it yet,, I love running. And I really love my Mom Thanks for being my partner in crime this weekend!! When’s our next trip?!

Next up: recovery!

Battle scars

xo, Bri