Rock 'n Roll USA

I had the greatest time at the Rock 'n Roll USA half-marathon yesterday!  

I spent the night with my running friend since we had to be up and on our way to the train so early in morning - 5:30 AM.  We were pleasantly surprised by how warm it was and that it wasn't raining given the expectation that it was almost certainly going to rain and we would probably have a very soggy race.  

We checked our bags, got some food and water provided (loved this!), and headed to the potty lines.  After that, we went to look for the pacers but couldn't find them.  We didn't actually want to run for time so we just decided to do our own thing and went to our assigned corral.  As the race started with corrals moving, we both wanted to use the potties one last time and finally found some that didn't have super long lines.  This is one of the things I always hate about races.  There are NEVER enough potties.

Once we crossed the starting line, we took a nice easy pace (this was more of a training run for us than a race).  I actually looked around to catch the sights and stopped at the Washington Monument for a picture.

Yes, those are socks on my arms.  I use them for almost every race.  They're effective and cheap enough to toss if I don't want to carry them.

We crossed the bridge and made the loop around to cross back over.  The best thing about this race was that it was such a great tour of D.C.  The only other race I had done in the city was the Army 10-miler but I really liked this race more.

The race started heading uphill around mile 4, but it wasn't anything terrible and I wondered if maybe the elevation map looked worse than it actually was.  Then, we hit some big ones after mile 6.  Luckily, we weren't going at a hard pace so it wasn't so bad, but my knee started feeling it a bit because of it.  Once we got to mile 7, it was flatter and downhill for a while.  We stopped so my friend could hit the bathroom and I took the opportunity to take in a gel, some pretzels and some water while I waited.  

A couple of things to note - At a lot of the water stations, you had to pour your own water.  This didn't bother me since I wasn't in a hurry but if you were running for time, this might have been a problem.  My guess is that they just didn't have enough volunteers.  What can you do?  Also, I can't say I was terribly impressed by the bands.  I liked a couple of spots on the course, like the pumpin' dance music at one of the tents (not a band) and there was a group of girl drummers that was great but that was about the only things that made an impression with me.  I didn't really care much because I had my own dance party going on with my iPod.

The spectators were a lot of fun - the most fun I've experienced to this point.  Below is my favorite race pic ever.  It really captures the fun mood!

We started heading towards a gorgeous view of the Capitol but the hills started again. I was fine, but since it was the later miles, I could feel it more.

My friend and I stopped chatting the last 3 miles.  She was feeling it and I tried to let her run her race.  As we approached the finish line there was a heck of a hill going up.  She just said, "We aren't walking this." and we didn't.  We finished together and got our medals!

Post race, we got quite a lot of food and drinks - water, Gatorade, chocolate milk, bagels, chips, Powerbars apples, bananas and a bag to put it all in.  I was really hungry so I was happy to have food.  Then, we headed to packet pick-up.  Some of the lines were insane, but luckily our lines were short and we made it through without a problem.  

Here's were the bad part comes in.  The signage wasn't great so we went the wrong way trying to leave.  We had to walk quite a way to get out.  Then we got to the Metro.  It was a mess.  There was a giant mob just trying to get into the station.  We decided that rather than wait in that, it would be better to keep moving and try to find another station or find a cab.  Cabs were scarce.  Lots of other runners were looking for them too.  So while we tried to figure out which way to go, we were joined by another woman who decided to join us for the long walk to the next Metro station.  I think we walked a couple of miles.  My hips, knees and feet were killing me.  I was dying and miserable but we finally made it and I've never been so happy to sit down.  Once we got to our stop, more walking back to my friend's house to retrieve my car for the drive home.

I have to say, I would do this race again because I felt that it was well supported and I didn't think it was as crowded as some people said, BUT I would pay for parking next time.  The Metro situation was just unacceptable.

All along, we had planned to go to Shamrock Fest afterwards, but we lost HOURS due to the Metro mess. My family wondered where I was and I wasn't even sure I wanted to go anymore.  I just wanted to go home, shower and die.  Once I got in my car (more sitting) I felt a little better and finally getting a shower and a little more food made me feel like a new woman.  We decided to head out to Shamrock.  

Shamrock was pretty much the drunk-fest I expected it to be and we got there so late that we missed some bands we'd hope to see, but we had a really great time watching CelKilt.  I'm not a beer drinker at all, but I had been saying all along that I was going to celebrate with a Guinness.  They actually ran out at one point, but my running mate came through and found some for us!

It was really cold so we went to the DJ tent to warm up for a bit.  We all wanted some food, and none of us were interested in carnival food, so we decided to head out and hit a restaurant on the way home.  After that, we were all pretty beat so we headed home.  My parents (who had been babysitting) headed out, my friend crashed on the couch and I went to bed.  I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.  All-in-all, a really great day.

I had a wonderful night's sleep that I really needed.  Today, it's all about my girls.  Taking them out to see Wreck it Ralph.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!