It’s dark at 4 am when you get up for a race. I had to wear my glasses to bike over to the race this morning, since it started at 7, which was about 15 minutes before the sun came up. Switched to the sunglasses even in the dark because I knew I’d want them on the course, but not for biking over.
Nice, cool morning. Bike ride over was easy, though it took me a bit to find bike parking. I was the only one on the actual rack near the finish line – most people just locked up to street signs. Changed into running stuff, ran into club folks who were volunteering, club folks who were running, and other friends and coworkers who were running as well while we waited inside. Seeded myself back according to the time I thought I’d do. Interestingly, they assigned us to “corrals” according to our speed, but then didn’t put numbers out for the corrals, just the expected times. Ooookay.
They threw the professionals out on the course and then began the slow crawl toward the starting line. Once we got going I did pretty well pacing myself at just under 10 minute miles (and the results show my 10k split was at an average page of 9:55 min miles). The last half was a bit slower as we hit hills and I tired out some, but the 2:15:03 finish time was perfectly fine by me. As the first race of the season I wasn’t looking to break any personal records, just to get out and do the distance before the tri season got started. The course itself was good, the right level of challenge for an early race, though it was a tad quiet since a good chunk went through downtown’s business district and some sleepy neighborhoods. Adams Morgan was nice and cheery, with a good crowd, and there were good pockets of cheering here and there as well through North Cap and the Hill. I had fun giving high fives to a bunch of little kids along the race course where I spotted them in time. In any case the kids cheering always brought on a good smile.
Mile 11 seemed to be the missing mile for a lot of people, as in we hit 11 and then the next thing you knew, you were hitting the marker for 12 and thinking, “where did that last mile go?” At least 2-3 other people I talked to had the same experience. The last couple miles were challenging, and I was thanking my lucky stars I was just doing the half as it was starting to warm up as we came into the finish chute. I’m nicely sore this afternoon after a short nap and some goofing off on the PS3, post-race, but not injured and feeling pretty good. A good way to start the season, and I look forward to the rest of it.
