The first half marathon [Nov 8 2009]

So the D-Day finally arrives! The GCF race was to start today at 7am. We had a sumptuous Thai dinner with Jyothi and Lata the night before and a good night's rest. It was an interrupted sleep, but, all in all, quite restful. Woke up at 5:30am and took off at 6:15 to reach downtown DC's Freedom Plaza at 6:45. Quite stressful to find parking, but we did find a good place. 
Attire: Our base layers, tees, shorts and gloves. Come to think of it, it was an overkill, but we were not 'underdressed', so to speak. Everyone else was similarly dressed. The race count estimated ~1600. That included the half marathoners and the 5K-ers.
The race began 12 minutes late. But that was okay. We decided our target times to be between 2:00 - 2:15. That seemed achievable based on our practice paces. Being first time runners, we placed ourselves almost at the end of the whole crowd. It was a beautiful day. Perfect for running. Temperatures in the 50s. We were to do 3 laps of the course spanning Pennsylvania Avenue, Independence Avenue and Washington Avenue. Splendid view!

Madhura and I were together for about 3 miles after which I took off. The course was really even and smooth. I got the gloves and head cap off within the first 2 miles. Note to self: no 'overdressing' if temperatures are any where above 50deg.
At the end of the first loop, I was making really good time. 4.5miles took me ~34mins. That was way too fast, so I slowed down a tad.
The cramps set in at ~mile 6. I took it easy at the water break station and walked for a minute. The deep breathing and stretching helped. There were 2 water stations. I made sure to pick up 2 glasses - one gatorade and one water, mixed them up and sipped at them slowly. Not many people were really taking their breaks. I don't know if that was good or not. But it certainly helped me.
About around mile 5 the leaders passed me on their second loop. The speed that they were at...amazing! I was like...WTF! Some day...sigh!
I found a partner. Don't know his name. But he was a middle aged guy. We were together for the last 4 miles or so. Our paces matched. So it was good. Madhura waved to me whenever we crossed each other on the other loop. 
After an hour, my stopwatch stopped! Bummer! So I had to rely on the race clocks. At mile 10, the second clock said 1:34! I was pissed! 3 more miles in 26 mins. Impossible! I tried to push the pace up. Mistake! When I started back up, my thighs cramped up really bad! I let out a grumble and there was this other guy who prodded me on. Now that was so motivating. It was great! Asked him the time and he checked his watch to say 1:59! And there was still half a mile to go. I could see the finish line. But the little bit of sprinting that I did didn't help. Final net time was 2:03:38 with a pace of 9:26. Well, I met my target goal of 2:00:00 to 2:15:00. 

Place Div/Tot  Num   Name                    Age Hometown         Gun Tim Net Tim Pace  
===== ======== ===== ======================= === ================ ======= ======= ===== 
  225  78/109    332 Amit Gurjar              33 Fairfax VA       2:04:36 2:03:38  9:26 

392 155/196     25 Madhura Asanare          27 Fairfax VA       2:19:06 2:18:08 10:33

My feet really buckled after crossing the finish line. A good breather and stretching took care of that. Madhura came in at 2:18:08, a pace of 10:33. She cramped a muscle near her hip and looked pretty tired too.
Malli and Chandrika were there at the finish line. They are such a wonderful couple. They had water and bananas for us. We got our medals. I will post pictures as they upload them on their website.
For full results: 
Men
Women
The winners were right besides us. Their timings:
Men:

Place Div/Tot  Num   Name                    Age Hometown         Gun Tim Net Tim Pace  
===== ======== ===== ======================= === ================ ======= ======= ===== 
    1   1/89    1832 Demesse Tefera           27 Silver Spring MD 1:05:07 1:05:07  4:59 
    2   2/89    1420 Abiyot Endale            23 Bronx NY         1:06:22 1:06:22  5:04 
    3   3/89     612 Joel Mwaura              26 Waldorf MD       1:07:50 1:07:50  5:11

Women:

Place Div/Tot  Num   Name                    Age Hometown         Gun Tim Net Tim Pace  
===== ======== ===== ======================= === ================ ======= ======= ===== 
    1   1/196   1203 Teyba Naser              20 Albuqurque NM    1:12:33 1:12:32  5:32 
    2   2/196   1201 Alemtsehay Misganaw      29 New York NY      1:13:54 1:13:54  5:39 
    3   3/196   1205 Salome Kosgei            29 Sleepy Hollow NY 1:16:41 1:16:41  5:51

Look at those paces! Gosh! I have a lot to catch up on. Thats a good thing. I now know what to improve. :-)

There was Mandy Moore and Miss USA as chief guests, who we really didn't care for. Not now. Drove back home and slept like logs till ~3. 

All in all - a very very satisfying experience! I asked Madhura to immediately register us for the next race. That shows how much I enjoyed and want to do this again. 

6 months ago, whoever imagined I would do a half marathon!? Whoever imagined I could run non-stop for 2 straight hours!? In fact, even now friends don't believe it. I did it! And for once I can say, it was by the strength of my own will. And I enjoy every minute of it.

And I still have miles more to go...