The National Half Marathon [03/20/2010]

So it's D-day. Madhura made us delicious linguine pasta dinner. That along with the 'CocoCori' chicken....sslluurrpp!
We had a good night's sleep. Woke up at 4:30am. There was special metro service to take the 12,000 odd runner to the RFK stadium. It was quite a sight! All the metro stations on the Orange line were FULL of runners. Electrifying, to say the least. We stuck a conversation with the ladies behind us about my Fivefingers. Got to read "Born to Run". They were mentioning about Barefoot Ted. Have heard of him...have to read up on him. A lot of runners asked me about my Fivefingers.
So well...we reach the stadium in time to check in our bag, warm up and stretch out. The starting line probably serpentined back to maybe a quarter of a mile! We decided to stand by the 9:43 pace marker. The race started off at 7:00 on the dot. We did not hit the start line till 7:09. That probably gives you an idea how long the startup line was. :-)
It was such an enthusiastic crowd. And supporters. The placards and banners were funny too. "Where are you all going?", "Hurry up, we need to get back to bed", Washingtonians bringing out their banjos, guitars, dogs, and cheering hats on. It was quite a sight! Will search for some photos and post them here as I find them. Madhura and I started off at our usual pace and then I took off when we got to the Constitution Avenue ...mile 3. I saw her next at the finish line.
About the race...it was very very well organized. Water and powerade and GU gel shots were at every 2nd mile. And well stocked too. The only complaint I had, and I a lot of other runners say this too...was that we got the impression that this course was pretty flat. Supposedly the 'fastest looped course in the country'. Now my target time was 2:00. When I heard of the fastest looped course, etc, etc, I expected to complete in 1:50 or so. But well. It was anything but flat! And the inclines were at the end of the course! Gosh! My achilles tendons were screaming! (Fivefingers affect?)

The other mistake I made was to suck on the gel at mile 7. Madhura had told me that the right time would be ~9-10M. Well...I did suck one in the second one at mile 11 though. Not sure if that was a good idea.
Slight cramps near mile 12. (Not bad at all!). Deep breathing settled that. Good part was that I got in the 'zone' quite often this time. I didn't have the need for music. That came as a surprise. All good. I also remembered the running technique I devised last week and I think it helped.

Couldn't wait to get to the finish line though. Thank God I wasn't in the left turn for the full runners. I knew I had to get to the finish line before 9:09 and my watch said 9:07 just when I could see the finish line. That final spurt of adrenaline sure did me good. 2:00:49! Very happy. Shaved off a couple minutes from the GCF marathon.

 Picked up my medal, a banana, half a bagel and couple bottles of Powerade. Stood in line for an hour for a God-aweful massage!
Got back home and slept like a log for a couple of hours.
Overall, a very satisfying race. Especially when this winter wouldn't permit me to stick to my program.
Was checking out my last year's log and I realized that I had started the 10K walk-run program on June 15th last year. Not bad for 9 months of running, I must say. Should not get complacent though. This has helped channel my energy and bring about a lot of positive outlook.