Planes, Trains, and Running Shoes

I had no idea what to expect going into my 13th half-marathon (14th if you count the Half I DNF because of knee pain last May). All I wanted was to finish strong, to be able to run pain-free and to be able to pick up the pace a little bit if I felt good.

My training has been great in the sense that I've put in the work and the miles, but none of my long runs left me feeling particularly strong. I had to take it too easy to allow myself to feel strong.

This weekend was totally different.

With a 7:30 start time, The Pilot, Abby and I headed to the Metro around 6:45 to make our way over. It was already raining pretty steadily by the time we got to the start and we waited in a covered bus stop before making our way to the corrals at 7:25. It was a long, cold, wet wait. By the time we crossed the starting line 45 minutes later (yes, 45 minutes), my feet were drenched and my legs were numb. It took about 3 miles for me to warm up after that.

Abby, The Pilot and I started together but The Pilot wasn't feeling too hot and dropped away pretty early on. He later picked up the pace and only finished a few minutes behind us but we never saw him on the course, which was a bummer. I would've loved for us to finish together.

I didn't know Abby was planning to run with me. It meant the world to have my training partner alongside me every step of the way. She helped me focus and kept me from siking myself out.

The first few miles, I felt so weird. My legs were numb and it was hard to pin down my gait and I just felt off. Once I started to warm up though, things got better.

The race went by quickly. I missed the mile marker for Mile 3 (and my watch was deeply buried under my layers of clothes) so when we hit Mile 4, I felt great! I had just thought that Mile 2 felt long!

My knee felt a little off around Mile 5, so I took a short walking break. I made sure I walked through all of the water stations. I wasn't out for a PR today, I was just out to finish. I thought that the Calvert St. Hill was at Mile 7 (this was my 3rd time running on this course), but it was at Mile 6, which I didn't know was called Military Mile (It must be new since I don't remember it from '12 and '13).

The hill is about 1/4 mile straight up and all along the hill were pictures of fallen soldiers and volunteers holding American flags. It was heart wrenching and the perfect place for it. How could you slow down or stop going up a hill when running alongside pictures of fallen soldiers. I teared up going the entire way up the hill but I ran that hill STRONG. It gave me such a greater appreciation for what I do at work every single day and I felt great coming off of that hill...so, so great.

The Hill brings you into Adams Morgan, which is full of drunk people singing and dancing on their front porches and is pretty amazing. I can't believe how awesome the spectator support was given how cold, miserable and wet it was. Adams Morgan was a BLAST to run through. Everyone was having so much fun and that energy was infectious.

Through Adams Morgan, my knee wasn't feeling great. It went from uncomfortable to somewhat painful. I took a few walking breaks and tried to switch up my gait and then I started to feel good again. There were a lot of up hills on this course (and not a lot of down hills) and it was great, because my knee always feels better going up hill.

Just before Mile 9, we caught up to a girl wearing a shirt that said "If you're behind me, you didn't train either." This shirt infuriated me. I trained really hard for this race, but I'm behind you because I have something else going on. I probably shouldn't have let her shirt bother me as much as I did, but I couldn't help it. Races are always so encouraging...complete strangers cheer you on and here, a fellow runner was proudly displaying a shirt that shut down every other runner behind her. Well, the competitive side of me kicked in and even though I was starting to struggle a little bit, we picked up the pace and ran past her. We didn't see her again on the course. Maybe that shirt was motivational after all?

When we got to Mile 10, I was so excited that we were at Mile 10 but my IT band started to tighten up. For two years I've been struggling with IT band issues but I've always felt them in my knee, never in my actual IT band. I pulled to the side of the road and massaged my leg, stretched out my calves and then carried on. Mile 10 was definitely a struggle but by the time we hit 11, I was feeling good...really good. I started to pick up the pace a little bit. I couldn't help it. I was 2 miles away from the finish line and I felt good. I was pleasantly sore and at this point, I knew that no matter what happened, I wasn't going to quit...I was too close and I was going to finish this thing...strong.

Mile 11 felt long, and when we got to Mile 12, I decided to walk it out just a little bit so that I could finish the rest of the race running. I only walked for a few seconds and then started to pick up the pace. At this point, all of the finishers were walking the course and it felt awesome. We were so close!

At 12.5, my knee flared up...badly...the kind of flare up that has plagued me for 2 years...and pulled me out of races But I didn't care. I couldn't care. We were so close. I stopped for a few seconds to stretch and walk it out and then I pushed. The race ends on a downhill (I seem to remember it ending uphill) and I just hauled it. Abby was alongside me and we just weaved in and out of runners (the finisher's chute was really narrow), blazing past them until we crossed.

The minute we crossed the finish line,  I stated crying. I did it. I didn't finish entirely pain free (so close) but I finished strong and I am so, so happy.

For those really curious, I finished in 2:34:21 which I'm really happy about. From this point forward, I have new PRs to set...poat-injury PRs and that's a good time to try to beat.