Generally I make it a habit to pick up the race packet first, but DC is one of the cities where it makes sense to first get situated and the car stowed. So the first stop after arriving in the city was to check in at The Donovan. Centrally located right by 14th and Massachusetts, it made it easy to get to all the interesting places on foot.
View from hotel room onto Thomas Circle Park
Packet Pickup
I didn’t want to bother with Uber this time, but the race packet pickup location was at the DC armory, a few miles east, which is also where the race would finish. Since it was really nice and sunny outside (temps in the high 70s), I took my camera bag and walked to the Fitness Expo. Due to the security checkpoint to get in, the line got quite long, and by the time I left, it had wrapped around the building.
The walk back to the hotel was more relaxed. It started getting dark on the way back.
Lincoln Park, with the US Capitol building in the distance
The last mile walking back to the hotel turned unpleasant. For some reason, having walked about a 10K with the heavy camera backpack got to me. I felt a dull pain in the back of my right knee, that would gradually but noticeably get worse. Indeed, the last thoughts before falling asleep at night was hoping to still be able to run in the morning.
The Race
6:30am, race day. And that pain was still there. The usual pre-run ritual of one banana, and an aspirin. As I ran down the mile on 14th towards Constitution I noticed my mouth was already dry. Great, I probably did not hydrate enough. It was much cooler, temperatures in the 50s, cloudy. Most excellent. The closer I can get to my preferred 40 degrees, the better. I was prepared for rain, but that didn’t happen, outside of a few drops towards the end of the race.
The runners were densely packed into Constitution Ave, right in front of the Smithsonian buildings. The corrals kept going until I have no idea how far — corral 25, perhaps. I ran late and made it just in time for gear check and dashed back to corral 3. Once the first wave took off, I was able to slide in.
I fired up my music and had Runkeeper and my Garmin ready at the go. My gut feeling was not awesome. Cotton mouth was distracting me from the throbbing knee pain. The corral before us was still up ahead, it certainly did not look like 90 seconds worth of lead time. Makes sense, though, right? The top of our corral meets the bottom of theirs.
We ran past the White House, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and other popular landmarks.
Washington Monument
The first half of the race was quite even. That all changed around mile 6, when it felt like mountain climbing. The official Rock’n’Roll course map page made the incline look ridiculous. I was joking beforehand how it looked like it might involve a ladder. The joking had stopped. Everything took a dive. My breathing felt like it must have been almost indistinguishable from hyper ventilation, while my steps got shorter. The girl in front of me slowed down. As I passed her, I gestured for her to keep up and uttered something like “let’s go, let’s go!” hoping for a bit of adrenaline to help us keep going. It worked for one of us — she passed me and would remain a few feet ahead of me for the next few miles.
It just kept going uphill. I focused all my thoughts on breathing. The last bit of leg power left me as I made it to the top. My thoughts were all over the place. Don’t pass out. My knee doesn’t hurt anymore. I need to do more plyometrics training. We’re only half-way to the finish. I won’t be able to keep that pace up. Don’t pass out. If I walk now, it’s over.
One of the spectators was holding up a sign that read “You’ve made it, the rest is downhill.” I was cautiously optimistic, hoping that would be the case. It sure didn’t feel like it, though.
Cadence
The three short blips on the cadence graph are gatorade and water stops. I have yet to master the art of not inhaling water, so I tend to actually stop. I dialed back the pace a bit. Just kidding, I ran out of steam, and after the uphill, that’s all I had left. The remainder of the race was me picking whoever was nearby in front of me, and just hoping to keep up, while being fully engaged in tunnel vision. I kept looking ahead, seeing where people turned, and peeked at my Garmin every 2 miles or so.
Finished
Crossing the finish line was a relief. Dehydrated, exhausted, way off my pace. I finished with a time of 1:40:30. I had the foresight to set my goal time to 1:45:00, knowing it would be hilly.
Courtney and Alexandra on the last .1 mile
Gizelle (center) on the finishing stretch
Ryan, Kelly, Andre, and David just before the finish line
After the Race
It was rather chilly. When I ran the Rock’n’Roll Virginia Beach 2015, I bought a hoodie after the race. I’d have done that again, but oddly enough I couldn’t find any booths set up. Instead, I opted to head over to the UPS trucks to pick up my checked gear bag. The finishing area got absolutely crowded.
After a walk back to the hotel, a quick shower, and the ritual of eating at Five Guys, I walked two blocks over to the White House, Washington Memorial, and toured the Smithsonian Science Museum until it started raining later.
During the drive back home in the evening my knee injury kept intensifying. Today I am still downright immobilized as I type this. Hopefully this will fade fast, in time for the St Paddy’s 8K Run in Raleigh next weekend.
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Rock’n’Roll Marathon Series DC 2016 Race Report
Arrival
Generally I make it a habit to pick up the race packet first, but DC is one of the cities where it makes sense to first get situated and the car stowed. So the first stop after arriving in the city was to check in at The Donovan. Centrally located right by 14th and Massachusetts, it made it easy to get to all the interesting places on foot.
View from hotel room onto Thomas Circle Park
Packet Pickup
I didn’t want to bother with Uber this time, but the race packet pickup location was at the DC armory, a few miles east, which is also where the race would finish. Since it was really nice and sunny outside (temps in the high 70s), I took my camera bag and walked to the Fitness Expo. Due to the security checkpoint to get in, the line got quite long, and by the time I left, it had wrapped around the building.
The walk back to the hotel was more relaxed. It started getting dark on the way back.
Lincoln Park, with the US Capitol building in the distance
The last mile walking back to the hotel turned unpleasant. For some reason, having walked about a 10K with the heavy camera backpack got to me. I felt a dull pain in the back of my right knee, that would gradually but noticeably get worse. Indeed, the last thoughts before falling asleep at night was hoping to still be able to run in the morning.
The Race
6:30am, race day. And that pain was still there. The usual pre-run ritual of one banana, and an aspirin. As I ran down the mile on 14th towards Constitution I noticed my mouth was already dry. Great, I probably did not hydrate enough. It was much cooler, temperatures in the 50s, cloudy. Most excellent. The closer I can get to my preferred 40 degrees, the better. I was prepared for rain, but that didn’t happen, outside of a few drops towards the end of the race.
The runners were densely packed into Constitution Ave, right in front of the Smithsonian buildings. The corrals kept going until I have no idea how far — corral 25, perhaps. I ran late and made it just in time for gear check and dashed back to corral 3. Once the first wave took off, I was able to slide in.
I fired up my music and had Runkeeper and my Garmin ready at the go. My gut feeling was not awesome. Cotton mouth was distracting me from the throbbing knee pain. The corral before us was still up ahead, it certainly did not look like 90 seconds worth of lead time. Makes sense, though, right? The top of our corral meets the bottom of theirs.
We ran past the White House, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and other popular landmarks.
Washington Monument
The first half of the race was quite even. That all changed around mile 6, when it felt like mountain climbing. The official Rock’n’Roll course map page made the incline look ridiculous. I was joking beforehand how it looked like it might involve a ladder. The joking had stopped. Everything took a dive. My breathing felt like it must have been almost indistinguishable from hyper ventilation, while my steps got shorter. The girl in front of me slowed down. As I passed her, I gestured for her to keep up and uttered something like “let’s go, let’s go!” hoping for a bit of adrenaline to help us keep going. It worked for one of us — she passed me and would remain a few feet ahead of me for the next few miles.
It just kept going uphill. I focused all my thoughts on breathing. The last bit of leg power left me as I made it to the top. My thoughts were all over the place. Don’t pass out. My knee doesn’t hurt anymore. I need to do more plyometrics training. We’re only half-way to the finish. I won’t be able to keep that pace up. Don’t pass out. If I walk now, it’s over.
One of the spectators was holding up a sign that read “You’ve made it, the rest is downhill.” I was cautiously optimistic, hoping that would be the case. It sure didn’t feel like it, though.
The three short blips on the cadence graph are gatorade and water stops. I have yet to master the art of not inhaling water, so I tend to actually stop. I dialed back the pace a bit. Just kidding, I ran out of steam, and after the uphill, that’s all I had left. The remainder of the race was me picking whoever was nearby in front of me, and just hoping to keep up, while being fully engaged in tunnel vision. I kept looking ahead, seeing where people turned, and peeked at my Garmin every 2 miles or so.
Finished
Crossing the finish line was a relief. Dehydrated, exhausted, way off my pace. I finished with a time of 1:40:30. I had the foresight to set my goal time to 1:45:00, knowing it would be hilly.
Courtney and Alexandra on the last .1 mile
Gizelle (center) on the finishing stretch
Ryan, Kelly, Andre, and David just before the finish line
After the Race
It was rather chilly. When I ran the Rock’n’Roll Virginia Beach 2015, I bought a hoodie after the race. I’d have done that again, but oddly enough I couldn’t find any booths set up. Instead, I opted to head over to the UPS trucks to pick up my checked gear bag. The finishing area got absolutely crowded.
This concludes step 1 of 3 in my quest to gain the Eastern Odyssey Medal.
After a walk back to the hotel, a quick shower, and the ritual of eating at Five Guys, I walked two blocks over to the White House, Washington Memorial, and toured the Smithsonian Science Museum until it started raining later.
During the drive back home in the evening my knee injury kept intensifying. Today I am still downright immobilized as I type this. Hopefully this will fade fast, in time for the St Paddy’s 8K Run in Raleigh next weekend.
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