2016 Rock n Roll DC Half Marathon
Scroll all the way down to the end of the post for the tl;dr version.
Prologue
After completing the California International Marathon (CIM) in December, I started training for the 2016 Boston Marathon a month later. The Rock ‘n’ Roll DC Half Marathon was at the end of my 12th week of preparation for that race and would be my first “tune up” race of this marathon training cycle.
Training
I’ve been following the training philosophy and plan from Brad Hudson and Matt Fitzgerald’s book, Run Faster. Before the race, I thought my training had been going pretty well. I felt as though my marathon fitness was getting stronger every week. But, there had been a few hiccups in my schedule. For instance, there was a bad snowstorm at the end of January, during Week 6 of my training, that caused me to move workouts around. It snowed again in mid-February, during Week 9 and once again I had to change things around to suit the conditions. In the week before the race, I ran 22 miles with 11 miles at “moderate” pace on Sunday, doubled up on easy runs on Monday, and then did 6 x 1 mile @ 10K pace on Tuesday. The rest of my running was easy to moderate pace with strides.
Goals
My PR at the half marathon distance is 1:32:19 (7:03 pace) at the 2014 Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon. My PR for this course is 1:33:56 (7:11 pace) from 2014. My last half marathon was 1:39:14 (7:35 pace) at the Parks Half Marathon this past September, which was a pretty significant drop-off from my best times.
For this training cycle, I’ve been using 7:31-7:42 pace as my half marathon pace based on my results from CIM and the Fairfax Four Miler plugged into the McMillan Calculator. In the week before the race, I set my goals as follows:
- Achievable Goal: 1:42:00 (7:48 pace). I’d like to time qualify for the 2017 New York City Marathon. (This is assuming, of course, that nothing changes in the standard between now and next year).
- Stretch Goal: 1:39:00 (7:34 pace). It would be nice if I could pull off a time within the pace range I’ve been using. It would also be nice to beat my time from Parks so I could see some progress from the past 6 months of training.
- Dream Goal: Sub 1:37:00 (7:25 pace). I’d be supremely happy if I could run at low 7:25 pace.
Goals aside, I decide to run the race by effort and then see how it goes from there.
The Course
The course is challenging but fair. It starts at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue near the White House and Washington Monument – an area that is completely flat. After four miles, it climbs through Rock Creek Park ending in a steep climb to Calvert Street, NW in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. The course rolls for another mile or two through Columbia Heights and part of Howard University. Then, it takes the long downhill on North Capitol Street to the NOMA (north of Massachusetts Avenue) and H Street corridor areas. After a mile or so through the north Capitol Hill, the course ends at RFK Stadium.
The Playlist
The Weather
Temperature (National Airport): 51 at 6:50am, 51 at 7:50am, 53 at 8:50am, 53 at 9:50am. It was overcast. Winds were 7-8 mph out of the northeast at the start and then from the south. There were also trace showers at the end.
Pre-Race
Friday
I got to the expo, which was at the D.C Armory, at around 12:30pm to pick up my race packet. I always feel so excited going to this expo. My mind is usually flooded with happy memories of half and full marathons from days gone by. I’ve run this race – under various ownership – every year since 2008. It was also my first full marathon.
There was a line outside the door but it moved quickly. Once I was in the building, I went downstairs to pick up my bib and then back upstairs to get my t-shirt. Before the race, I got an email that runners who had run this race for the past 5 years – the years it’s been managed by Rock ‘n’ Roll – would get a free key chain. I didn’t see any signage about but I was determined to find it.
In the expo, the first vendor was the official race apparel sponsor – Brooks. To my surprise, I ran into a friend from my Ragnar team who also works at a local running store! We chatted for a bit but I left her to explore the goods.
I’ve been wanting the new Garmin Forerunner 630 but have refrained from buying it. I don’t need another Garmin! But, I walked by the booth and after noticing I was admiring it, the salesman asked if I would like to try it on. Once it was on my wrist, I knew it would be mine. I also bought two shoe charms, a packet of Nuun, and a sports bra.
That evening, I had spaghetti for dinner and was in bed before 8:30pm. I woke up a few times during the night but overall, I had a good night’s sleep.
Race Day
I got up at 4:30am. I hadn’t planned out an itinerary and wasn’t sure how I was getting to the race and when I would need to leave the house to catch a bus to the Pentagon and then a Metro train downtown. But, I found my itinerary from last year and followed that.
The trip to the race start went well – the bus was on time and I only waited 5 minutes for a train. On the Metro ride, I saw three young women in field hockey shirts from one of the regional colleges. I thought about engaging them in conversation but decide against it. I got to the race site at around 6:45am.
As I walked to bag check, I picked up an 8 ounce water bottle they were giving out and ate an Accel Gel. I took off my sweats, put my keys and identification in my shorts pocket, and checked my bag.
From there, I did a warm up around the mall. I ran into a running friend and we chatted a little while about our training and the race. I did the rest of the warm-up on Constitution Avenue in front of the White House. I found a port-a-potty with only 3 people in line ahead of me! I ran back to the corrals with about 10 minutes to go. A woman sung the anthem and I could feel the excitement building. There was a staggered start, so about a minute after the official start, I took off with the 3rd corral.
Miles 1 to 4 (Constitution Avenue, Memorial Bridge, and the Kennedy Center)
Immediately, I felt a little “off” at the start. My feet were numb and I was already breathing hard. Thanks to experience, I remembered other times that I’ve ran this race and felt worse at the start – like two years ago was when my hamstring issues started and I panicked during the first mile. I told myself this wasn’t nearly as bad as that, so there wasn’t any reason to panic. It was also a little congested. I bumped into one runner and did some odd maneuvers to avoid running into others.
There were a few distractions to take my mind off of how bad I felt, though. At the first mile marker on E St., NW, I saw tossed shirts on the ground and thought, “Really? It’s 50 degrees people.” I was completely comfortable in a tank top and shorts. During Mile 2, I saw someone running in a Chewbacca outfit. I wondered if it was one of the hosts of the Pace the Nation podcast but then I didn’t think he was running enough for a full marathon.
The first water stop was just before the Lincoln Memorial. I pass on it. During the loop through Memorial Bridge, I started to really worry that I may have gone out too fast. At the same time, I was disappointed to see both my splits were 7:30+ pace. I thought, If I’m tired this early and only running 7:30s, it’s going to be a rough day.
The course has been mostly flat but takes a little bit of a downhill leading to the Kennedy Center. At the second water stop, I see a guy from my run club. I yell to him but he was handing out water like it was his job and he didn’t see me. Just after the Kennedy Center, I hear my name called. It was a different member of my group! Seeing him settled my nerves a bit.
Splits: 7:34, 7:36, 7:23, 7:24.
Miles 4 to 9 (Rock Creek Park, Adams Morgan, and Columbia Heights)
Although Rock Creek Park is the most difficult part of the half marathon course, it actually starts with a nice downhill. So, I let my legs runs a little. The most challenging part of the course – the hill leading up to Calvert St. – doesn’t come until about mile 6.
During the early miles, I saw two other running friends on the Rock Creek Trail and shouted out to them. Again, seeing other people who I knew were hoping I’d do well helped me relax. I tried to find an effort that I could hold for 10 more miles. The next water stop was around Mile 5. I thought about hydrating a little but it was on the other side of the road and the crowd was pretty thick still. I figured between what I had at home and before the race, I was probably good until the next stop.
Mile 6 was a “blue mile“. In addition to posters lining the road in honor of men and woman who have lost their lives, there were also people holding flags lining the hill leading up to Calvert. I charged up the hill pretty hard at the beginning but then slowed with maybe 50 yards to go. Towards the top, a man yelled to us something like, “Raise your head and get up that hill.” I shuffled up the rest of the hill. When I reach Calvert St., I actually said, “F—!” I was so relieved that hill was behind me.
The exhaustion from the hill passed as I entered the heart of Adams Morgan and I realized, I don’t feel completely terrible! I reached the next water stop and was desperate for a drink but I couldn’t tell what they had. I yelled, “Water?” and a woman handed me a cup.
Shortly after, a co-worker pulled along side me. We ran together for the next mile or so. I wasn’t running so comfortably that I wanted to talk much, though, so I only asked how his race was going. On what I thought was the last uphill in Columbia Heights, I passed one of the hosts from the Pace the Nation podcast, which was very cool.
Turning right onto 5th Street, I felt the desire to just run all out when I saw the Batala Washington band playing. I told my co-worker I wanted to run the downhill hard and he understood. I said he might see me again, though. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I was making tactical mistake by running this fast so early in the race.
After the fast downhill, the course evened out through Howard University. I got a fist-pump from a random runner. The road in this neighborhood was very bad. I remember thinking they should write their city council member and get this fixed! But, a neighbor had a table with beer, so maybe they’re a chill bunch of citizen.
Splits: 7:33, 7:36, 8:17, 7:25, 7:20.
Miles 9 to 13.1 (North Capitol Street, NOMA, H Street Corridor, Capitol Hill)
I turned the corner and was happy knowing it was mostly downhill from here. I thought I’d want water at the next stop, which was at North Capitol Street, but I passed. I moved to the far left side of the course and just let my legs and gravity pulled me down the course. It was inspiring seeing the Capitol in the distance. Around the 10 mile mark, I passed a friend of a friend and he asked if I was running the full or the half. I said something about running too fast for the full. I thought, Heck, I might be running too fast for the half!
Towards the end of the downhill, I passed two women – one in a yellow tank and the other in a heather grey top. To push myself to run harder, I told myself to catch them. And, I did. But, when the course flattened out in the NOMA neighborhood, they passed me back. I lost my concentration and almost tripped on a patched pothole. I decided to tuck behind the two ladies and a male runner for a while. The course turned left onto K St., NE and we ran under a giant inflatable rock star. I started to really feel tired and wondered if I hammered the downhill too hard. When we turned right and then left and were on H Street, I moved to the far right in order to have a clear path and ran in the street car lane.
From H St., NE, we turned right into Capitol Hill. There’s a slight uphill and it slowed me down. The women I had been following for the past two miles lost me for good.
On Constitution Avenue, the half and full marathoners split off. The course was now going downhill and I focused on just turning my legs over to take advantage of it. I knew there was another uphill at the end but I was running on instinct for the rest of the race. I hit the uphill before the finish line and instantly slowed. I concentrated on keeping a consistent rhythm. My anthem – “Chandelier” by Sia started to play. For once in a very long time, I met my pre-race goal and was going to finish before this song was over!
I got out-kicked by a women at the end and a man at the finish line but I was okay with it. I ran a good race and wasn’t concerned about going a few seconds faster. (Until I saw my official finish time…)
Splits: 7:03, 7:22, 7:37, 7:07, 0:48.
Post Race
After crossing the finish line, I got my medal from a little kid. As I walked through the finish line area, I ran into two running friends and we exchanged congratulations and talked about the race.
My thoughts immediately went to getting my bag after last year’s horrendous experience where they put all the unchecked bags from the start into one UPS van – my van! I ran the full marathon last year and it rained the whole time. It took a good 15-30 minutes for me to get my bag and I was freezing! Not this year. I didn’t have any trouble getting my bag. Within a few minutes of finishing the race, I was in warm clothes.
Next potential disaster – Metro. I rushed to the Stadium-Armory station expecting long lines but I had no problems getting to the platform and a train came in a few minutes.
Result
I finished in 1:38:01 (7:29 pace)! What didn’t I run 2 seconds faster! I’m really happy with that result. It’s very far off my PR, but it’s much better than I expected based on my races this past fall and winter. In fact, my Garmin read 13.22 or 7:25 pace, so it was well beyond what I’ve been using as half marathon pace. As for my placement, I was the 644th half marathon finisher (top 5%), 166th woman (top 2%), and 7th in my age group (top 1%). And hopefully, the time will count as a time qualifier for the 2017 New York City Marathon.
Epilogue
It was back to the grind on Sunday morning. I did a 16 mile long run with my running club and then two easy days of running. As I steel myself for the last three weeks of hard training before Boston, I’ll adjust my race paces a little since I ran better than I thought I would.
I should add that the race itself was very well run this year. I joke about how something will always go wrong with this race but that wasn’t the case today so I’ll give RnR their props. Everything went off flawlessly. And, the crowds were fantastic!
Abridged Version
I had a great time at the expo and executed a solid pre-race routine. I went in thinking I should run by effort instead of pace and that might mean anywhere from 7:35 to 8:35 pace.
During the race, I thought I started too fast because my breathing was really labored during the first few miles. I ran the hilly part of the course – Rock Creek Park and Columbia Heights – pretty well. I hammered the long downhill on North Capitol Street to make up the lost time. I worried that I might have expended too much energy with 3 more miles to go but hung on. Overall, I ran very comfortably – good form and leg turnover. And, it was wonderful seeing so many of my local running friends. They really kept me motivated and relaxed.
My time was 1:38:01 (7:29 pace)! It’s a far cry from my PRs but it’s faster than the HM pace I’ve been using in my training (7:31-7:42 pace).
I’m feeling super confident about Boston. Five weeks to go!
