The SignUp: I can't recall exactly what focused my attention on running DC and DE last fall but I registered for both events mid November. The National Half (and marathon) has tiers of early bird discounts; I got in somewhere in the mid level.
The SetUp: Following the Disney Marathon (Goofy Challenge), I had 10 weeks to train for these back to back events. After running 39.3 miles in a weekend, I took it easy the first couple of weeks following Goofy. On my 7th post Goofy run, I went out for a short 5-6 mile run from work during the day towards the end of January. I started the run feeling fine but noticed a tightness near my hip about 2 miles into the run. By the time I finished the run, walking was even painful. I got in to see Dr Eric the same day and was diagnosed with a TFL pull. I really thought I would be able to shake the injury off within a week. A week turned into 6 weeks. End of January injury 6 weeks later put me feeling fine heading into these races but with little to no training. My total miles run in the 10 weeks was 65 over 16 runs. That's an average of 4 miles per run. My longest run in that time period was the Rodeo Run 10k race at the end of February. I was able to run that event fairly comfortably. My TFL tightened up after the race and i wasn't able to run for a few days after. A week later, running 3 legs in the Texas Independence Relay boosted my confidence that I would be able to complete the 2 1/2's. During the TIR, I was able to remain loose between running.
The week before the race, I decided that I would try to run both races at a 9:10 pace as that would put me at the 2 hour even mark. I really had nothing to base that goal on as I had no idea what to expect with so little training. Turns out I can run a 10k without training; after that, my races fell apart. If I had started out slower, I probably would've had a better overall race experience but I was for the most part pleased with my performances both days.
The National Half:
The start time for the race was 7:00; the metro started running at 5:00 Saturday morning in order to accomodate the runners. I stayed at the host hotel; the Renaissance M Street hotel was located north of the orange/blue metro line Foggy Bottom/GWU stop. I was 11 stops from the RFK Stadium/Armory station, the start and finish for the race. Having the start and finish right near the metro station made it really convenient. After checking my bag, I lined up around an 8 minute mile pace mark. Actually that is the corral that I was assigned when I registered for the race. I should've lined up farther back beyond the 9 minute mile pace mark. My mile splits were:
1 9:18
2 8:43
3 8:24
4 8:41
5 9:02
6-7 20:09
8 9:52
9 10:34
10 9:17
11 11:14
12 11:55
13.1 10:57
I remember thinking around miles 11 and 12 that I needed to take it easy because I had to do the same thing again in about 24 hours. Total time: 2:08:06.
Caesar Rodney Half:
After checking out of my DC hotel, I caught the metro to end of the green line and caught a bus to get back to BWI airport in order for me to pickup my rental car. The drive to Wilmington was easy with no traffic problems. $9 in road tolls and I was in downtown Wilmington at the CR host hotel. Packet pickup ended around 2:00 Saturday; I didn't arrive in Wilmington until around 5:00 so I picked my packet up race morning. The start and finish for the race was about 2 blocks away from the hotel; a very easy walk. There were no minute per mile pace markers to line up for this race; I played it smart and lined up further back than I normally would have lined up. This strategy proved helpful in keeping me from going out as fast as I had the day before. My mile splits were:
1 9:14
2 9:42
3 8:52
4-5 18:31
6 9:04
7 9:26
8 10:44
9 9:56
10 9:22
11 9:26
12 9:39
13.1 10:47
Sunday's race was much more evenly paced compared to Saturday's quick start and slow finish. My total time Sunday was 2:04:38.
Hocus Focus: Can you identify the difference in the 2 US maps below? I ran 26.2 miles for this?
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