Aftermath

So its been a long time since I put an update here. In fact, the morning of the race...

How did it all go down? For those who don't know: 3 hours 57 minutes! I made it in the goal time of under four hours! Not too shabby, although,man there are lots of fast people in the world. We also had a nice handful of donations towards the end.

Story of the race:

Well, I woke up at an ungodly hour and managed to post a little something on the blog. My alarm went off at 5am. The night before was pretty tense. My ipod stopped working a few minutes before bed. Then my parents made it clear they couldn't make it to the finish line. Tensions ran high. I got a little cranky. There was a tag on my number that you need to peel off and place on your clothes bag. The tag has your information on it, so you can retrieve your stuff after the race. I swear TO GOD there was a most ridiculous comedy sketch of me trying desperately to get that thing off intact. Despite a good 10 minutes of effort and shifting from corner to corner, trying to minimize rips and keep the tag in one piece. HA. Seriously by the end, it was in 5 pieces and all crumpled on my floor. I was SO PISSED. In fact, just rethinking the experience is making me frustrated. I dont think anyone has tried so hard and accomplished so little...

At around 10ish, my ipod starting working, I apologized to my parents, and was in the bed ready to sleep. Nerves did not overtake me and I passed out with little issue. I DID wake up very anxious at 245am. I read some and just tried to relax and managed to fall back asleep around 340am and woke up to my alarm at 5. So that made about 6 hours of sleep. Not bad, not bad. Certainly a full night.

With some bagels, I hit the road at 530 to get John. We meet up with Pete and Mike (?), Matt actually I think, at 6 and catch the metro to the starting line. On the metro are almost exclusively runners. And the density picks up and picks up. By the time we get off, hundreds around us. It's 7am and we have a good hour to get all our stuff ready for the race. Couple pees in bushes, I have some energy chews, get my warm clothes off (including my spiffy MCM fleece) and start the stretching. It is mad cold out and still pitch black after 7. We slowly work our towards our expected pace around 740 and just hang out enjoying the preshow. They have Graham Fenton from the Jersey Boys show I saw a couple days before sing the anthem. At 750 they launch the cannons in these big bursts of smoke to signal the wheelchair racers. About 5 minutes before, my ipod stops working again. Man, I got more tension and excitement outta whether that thing would work than anything else. Next thing I know we are pushing forward. Some more speeches and suddenly we are off!

Sorta. Really its 2 more minutes before we work our way up to the starting line. The anticipation made it seem a lot longer. My ipod starts up again WHEW! And I cross the sensor to start the race.

The first few miles were really packed. Keep in mind 20,000 people all on one path trying to settle into their individual paces. John and I run next to each other but it isnt long before Pete and Matt leave us behind. But we rock a pretty nice steady pace. My ipod says 8min miles, and just a little slower for the uphill. The uphill wasn't too bad and really it's just nice running along the tree lined roads of Virginia on our way to cross the Key bridge into georgtown.

Feeling pretty energized, we cross the bridge with the sun rising in the distance. At the end of the bridge is my sister and SUPER CUTE ELIO! A nice jolt of energy that really made the first section good. Then we ran along the Potomac as the sun continued to rise through the trees. It was insanely beautiful and a nice place to take another pee break(yes tmi for yall).

We loop back around and run along some suburban streets and up some hills a bit, but really just enjoying the morning. At this point its approaching somewhere along the first hour or so and I am still feeling great. We pass the Reservoir and the reflections of the sun are just so dramatic. Loop back around and pass SUPERCUTE ELIO again!

We keep going and just chug along lots of things I can't remember or mix up with other miles. But we are working our way to the monuments and where my family is waiting. The energy is still really high for me and I try to make sure not to overrun, because I literally just felt golden.

I remember running underneath the bridges of Georgetown to see Ceci one more time and make my way towards the monuments.

Running along the wide streets of DC and approaching the monuments. I remember the last time I was there... Inauguration with Brendan and Josephine and all. We work towards Smithsonian and then I see the group! I make a crazy Beeline across the course (hilariously documented by Ellaree) to wave and pose for the family. It is about mile 17 (over the halfway hump) and I am feeling great! But that was before those fateful lst 9 mile... Tobecontinued.

NEXT TIME!