A long blogging hiatus and another half marathon under my belt! With the half marathon out of the way (haven't planned my next race yet) and awesome weather on the horizon you can count on more things to come regarding our house.
But first things first, let me give you my review of the Rock and Roll (RnR) Half Marathon that I ran on Saturday in Washington, DC. This was the first time that a RnR Race has ever been done in DC. The Competitor Group (the company in charge of all the RnR Races worldwide) has a reputation for throwing well-organized races with great expos and entertainment and I think that this race was no different.
Let's start with the expo. I thought the expo was great! It had a good mix of sponsors', (free mac and cheese from Safeway, various different beverages, and even a grapefruit booth!), running gear and gadget booths. There was a large area where you could purchase additional RnR gear (hoodie or windbreaker, anyone?) if you felt so inclined. As for myself, I was satisfied with my finishers technical tee which was in a classy navy blue. The logo and graphics on the shirt were pretty understated which was kind of unusual since I'm used to receiving bright tees from races. Also, Justin got recognized (yet again!) by one of the booth attendants. She nearly ran after him just to ask, "Were you on House Hunters?" I wonder if he ever tires of hearing that? I wouldn't know since I rarely get recognized. sigh.
On to the race. Lucky for us, the starting line was only half a mile away so we of course walked to RFK Stadium as a pre-race warm up. Since Justin is much faster than my sisters and I he started in an earlier corral. Although the race started at 8:00am we didn't cross the start line until about 8:30am (good thing I went to the bathroom while I was waiting in my corral because it seems that port-o-potties weren't very plentiful along the race).
Anyway, the best thing about the race was running through all four quadrants of D.C. I always feel that races are a great way to see a city. Call it "Extreme Sightseeing" :) We started off in my neck of the woods, Capitol Hill, and ran around Lincoln Park, a place where I run quite frequently. Then we headed to downtown where we were welcomed by the sounds of an all-girl Japanese drumming troupe. According to Jill, they perform at the U Street Metro often.
Although I appreciated the diversity of music that was presented at the race (i.e.: rapping kids, steel drums, DJ booth, etc), I was expecting more rock and roll bands at the race--a Journey cover band, perhaps? It wasn't too bad because I ended up listening to the "Pop Fitness" Station on Pandora for the majority of the race anyway.
After leaving downtown we headed to Adams Morgan . From then on I felt that the crowd support was great! And boy did I need it because after the first major hill on Connecticut Ave we hit several hills in the following neighborhoods. Obviously, it isn't called Columbia Heights for nothing!
I think we went as far north as Petworth before heading back down towards Northeast. Running down H St. was pretty cool as I could see all the bars and restaurants in broad daylight. And it also meant that I was nearly done with the race!
I definitely started to lose steam toward the end, but was able to beat my Nike Women's Half Marathon time by about 15 minutes. A small accomplishment to say the least, but hopefully I'll get faster with the next one (don't I always say that?!).
Here is a pic of Justin and I in front of the Michelob Ultra Tent. Looks like we got some sun!
And Jill and her Kuya...look how tired she is, hahaha...she's faking!
I know this post is lacking pictures. I wasn't in much of a picture taking mood during the race, but here's a picture of my fully bloomed daffodils for your viewing pleasure!
And my wee crocus for extra credit!
I need a garden....
ReplyDelete