Rockin’ and Rollin’ in the Nation’s Capital–RnR USA Marathon

I had a short but sweet visit to DC back in March for the Rock ‘n’ Roll DC Marathon. I was running on behalf of Team Refuel once again, proudly sporting my jersey and meeting up with other team members!

I stayed with my friend Lauren and she very kindly picked up my bib and VIP wristband for me at the expo.

I was exhausted after the 4.5 hour bus ride–Saturday races are hard logistically, especially if you have to travel for them. I tried to get at least 6 hours of sleep before waking up early to take the Metro. It was a chilly morning, and I woke up at dark o’clock with the impression that it might rain and remain in the 40’s for  the race!

I got to the start with plenty of time to spare–it started near the National Mall and thousands of runners were milling about.

Soon after I got there, I bumped into none other than my dear friend Michele! She was tackling the full marathon too, and was hoping for a PR. I’m always amazed when people can find me pre-race without a cell phone in a crowd of thousands of people. It was a good sign!

Me and Michele at the Rock n Roll DC Marathon

My main focus was to be in good shape for the Virgin London Marathon on April 21, so I wanted to race with a hard effort, but continue building baseline mileage.

I also bumped into my Marathon Maniac friends Scot and Sandy at the start, as well as my buddy Catherine from my Ragnar DC relay team. It’s so nice seeing familiar faces!!

The course had a 5:30 cut-off for the full marathon, so I was aiming for a 4:45 to allow myself plenty of time. I ran with my Team Refuel zip-up around my waist for 26.2 miles, because I thought it was going to be cold but it heated up very quickly! At least it wasn’t raining!

The weather was actually perfect.  I ran with a camera and enjoyed the sights and sounds–parts of the course were familiar to me because I ran the Marine Corps Marathon and the Cherry Blossom 10-miler both in 2012, so that helped mentally.

There were a few long, steep hills, which killed my legs in the early miles but I ran up them and didn’t stop to walk. My body felt great and I felt like I could push myself.

Before I knew it, I was on pace to run 4:30! I was really surprised because I had an all-out attack strategy for Marine Corps, was on pace to run 4:05 or better, then I completely bonked and cramped so much that I ran a 4:31:32. This time was much different. I was aiming for a 4:45 and I felt strong and enjoyed the race much more.

I also knew that Lauren would be waiting for me at the finish line, so I didn’t want to make her wait too long for me, haha.

I crossed the finish in 4:31:04. Here were my official results:

Net time: 4:31:04, Pace: 10:21

Overall: 2217 out of 3540

Gender: 810 out of 1481

Division: 243 out of 416

I was proud, because I was running with an extra layer of clothes bouncing around my waist, and waved off the tiredness of travel and lack of sleep to push hard and finish strong.

Thanks Lauren and Jesus (my Team Refuel friend) for waiting for me at the finish line!

I also found my friend George at the VIP tent. We ate mushroom ravioli, salad, and refueled with chocolate milk.

I have pretty awesome teammates, and I want to thank Team Refuel and Got Chocolate Milk for the opportunity to run this race!

A few days after I returned home, I ate at my favorite ramen place, Ippudo! I got their spicy ramen:

And some other random/fun news–my friend Alejandra texted me that same week saying that she saw me in the April 2013 issue of Women’s Running magazine! They had printed a photo of me running the Big Sur marathon in 2012! I immediately ran out and bought a copy. Always smile when you’re running, because you never know who’s watching!!