I got a PR today -- about 20 seconds off my time -- but I think I could have done better. The weather was gorgeous today, but I didn't expect it to warm up so quickly. I wore shorts and a long-sleeve tech shirt with a thin jacket, and I should have left the jacket behind.

I started in the blue corral this year (last year I was in the orange), and I think the faster corral probably hurt me. I went out too fast with two 9:10 miles, which isn't sustainable for me across ten miles. I got carried away running with the pace of the crowd.

I settled into my own pace (around 9:30/mile) as we passed under the Kennedy Center. Despite being a little warm, I felt pretty good for the rest of the race. The crowds started to become an issue with the water stops. I probably lost 15-20 seconds at each water stop fighting through the bunching to grab a cup. The volunteers were also pouring and passing out water at the same time, so a lot didn't have cups in their hands and you had to stop and wait, basically.

I took a gel at the mile 6 water stop and settled in for the last section of the race, the Hains Point loop. I do this loop probably at least once a week in training, so it was like a comfortable old friend. The cherry blossoms were beautiful! I think they were smart to reverse the course -- I remember it being incredibly crowded in this area last year since the road isn't very wide.

Once I hit mile 8, I picked up my pace to try to make up the time lost in the water stops -- I had been hoping to finish under 1:35. Ended up running directly in the wake of someone with terrible body odor for a mile or so, ew. The race ends with an uphill, so I powered up the hill and really started trucking. I could tell by my watch that I wasn't going to make it in under 1:35, but I was still happy about the PR.

Next year I may consider wearing my fuel belt rather than fight it out at the water stops -- according to my watch I lost over a minute getting water, but it was warm enough that I couldn't go without.

Walked through the finish corral and accepted a flyer from someone -- looked at it and saw it was for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, so doubled back to talk to the guy handing them out (I grew up near Indy). After that, I tried to find the food and wandered for a while...I got a bottle of water and then finally found the food tables and got a muffin. Called my husband so he could find me, and we watched most of the rest of the field finish while stretching and took the metro home.


Crowds, I think. I'm doing the GW Parkway Classic on the 26th, so I'm anxious to see if I can go under 1:35 -- it's a hilly course but not as congested.