Off to Trumpland in Washington DC for the Rock ‘n Roll DC Marathon this Saturday. Took off early at 6am from Toronto so I could get across the border in Buffalo just over 90 minutes away before the traffic built up with the pending Public School board March break this week. Went through some flurries in around Erie PA and just to the southeast of Pittsburgh, going through the Allegheny Mountains, but made good time, arriving at my hotel in Arlington at 4:30pm. After throwing my stuff into my room, I made the 20-minute walk to the nearest Metro Station to get to the expo at DC Armory next to RFK Stadium. Fairly quick in & out, just buying a race souvenir coffee mug and fridge magnet. Took a test drive in a hybrid RAV 4 and earned myself a $10 Starbucks card.
So with race kit pickup out of the way, Friday was a tourist day, beginning with a 6:30am wake up call to get online for day of passes to the new National Museum of African American History & Culture. Took me 40 minutes of refreshing my browser before I could snag a 3:30pm timed entry. Even though I only needed one ticket, I took the three that were available to get “my money’s worth.” That way I took I a very appreciative couple in with me that initially got turned away at the gate because they did not know about the passes requirement this new Smithsonian museum has currently in place. The museum is huge with 3 sub floors below the cafeteria lower floor beginning with the roots of slavery and into the Civil Rights movement. Had a delicious lunch in the cafeteria of buttermilk chicken and a double helping of mac & cheese (carbs, ya know). Top floor is a tribute to the prominent black artists, second floor has black athletes, military personnel. Second floor was an area where members of the public could research their family tree. Other Smithsonian Museums visits prior were to the Castle, Hirschhorn and the Air & Space Museum and the ever being renovated American History Museum. The first two I haven’t been in before. Probably way too much walking for a pre-marathon day. Picked up pasta dinner on my way back to the hotel from the Metro.
Wake up call was 5pm for the 7pm race start. Had to decide was to wear on race morning as the temps would be just below freezing at the start and go up to around 50F by race end. Decided on tights instead of shorts. Probably 20% of the runners would be wearing shorts, almost exclusively all men. Long sleeved zip top, cap with an ear band completed by ensemble, along with throw away t-shirt and sweat pants. Bagel with peanut butter and Gatorade for breakfast. Tried to make a coffee in the in room coffee maker before heading out for the 15 minute drive to an underground parking spot, but I ripped the coffee bag opening up the overwrap. Fortunately, the event had a Dunkin Donuts truck giving out coffee sample and two 3 oz. cups satisfied my caffeine fix. Also got a banana courtesy of the Rock ‘n Roll people. Kind of makes my $150 entry a little more worth it. Say what you want about the RnR events, but they are well organized with plenty of porta potties at the start, many next to the Trump Hotel BTW, and on course. Three on course pee stops (damn cold weather). Lots to eat at the end, pretzels, chips, popcorn, granola bars and pizza. Chocolate milk, Gatorade, soft drinks and water to hydrate with. Separate area for the Marathoners from those pesky Half Marathoners, to which there were 13,000 as compared to 3000 marathoners, to recover, get pizza and get their gear bags.
Legs were feeling a little dead leading up and during the race, feeling I was still recovering from the Bahamas Marathon mid January. But was still hoping to beat the 4:31 wind blown, bad winter training Bahamas time. Legs never really perked up and for some reason my smaller left foot felt toe cramped through the middle of the race. Maybe I didn’t break in my new shoes enough. Saw one guy at 38K running in his socks with shoes in hand. I think I saw Marine One flying and landing near Joint Base Anacostia-Boiling at the 17-mile mark. Not in tandem, so I guess no Trump wishing all us runners good luck. Four good hills in this race, with a good ones at 22 & 23 miles which turned most runners into the walking dead. Did managed to run most of the race, with walking through water stations starting at around 18 miles. From the Sportstats splits it seems I passed a good number of people. Pace per mile apparently has a glitch. GPS had the mileage at 43.83K, even though I think I did a good job of running the tangents. A few underpasses could of messed up the satellites connection, but I was also wearing a shoe accelerometer.
So, I’m okay with my 4:19 finishing time, about what I expected. Medal was shaped like a guitar pick.
SPLIT DISTANCE TIME PACE DIST OVERALL (/3080) GENDER (/1829) M55-59 (/92)
SPLIT1 6.2 miles 00:59:36.0 9:36/mile 6.2 miles 1310 876 43
SPLIT2 13.1 miles 01:06:25.0 5:04/mile 13.1 miles 1129 764 38
SPLIT3 20 miles 01:08:15.0 3:24/mile 20 miles 1008 696 32
FINISH 04:19:56.0 9:55/mile 26.2 miles 970 642 29
