I want to like this race. I can jog to the start line from my house and walk home from the finish line. The course passes within 3 blocks of previously mentioned home, so family can cheer without having to wake up too early or fight crowds. Two years ago, when I had a calf problem and had to drop out, I was able to walk home in 15 minutes. I know the course like the back of my hand. I do not like this race.
Yet, I sign up every year and I've already prepaid for 2016. Read on and try to understand if you can. I've given up.
First of all, it's a Rock n Roll event, so you get what you pay for, which means it's well run and you pay for almost everything. But, let's focus on the race itself.
It was a cloudy, cold and rainy morning. Pretty much miserable from the start. I worried a little about whether they would have enough volunteers, since a couple years prior the threat of poor weather resulted in too few aide station workers and people filling their own cups of water. Not a problem this year. Despite the weather, which never improved, there were plenty of folks to help.
Even the bands, which are the signature feature of the Rock n Roll series, came out, though I suspect a few of them bailed at the last minute. Amps and rain water don't mix.
I lined up in Corral #3, out of 30+ corrals. With 20,000+ runners and a lot more 1/2 marathon runners than marathoners in this race, they space folks out pretty well. I try to search out a couple fellow marathoners among the sea 13.1 milers. I'm stylin' in my $7 poncho from CVS, which is awesome and keeping me dry prior to the gun. My iphone is sealed in a baggie and my Bluetooth headphones claim to be water resistant. We shall see. The goal is to finish this race and not hate it. A good time is gravy--so much so that I leave my watch at home.
Miles 0-6. Rain. Just a steady drizzle that WILL NOT LET UP. It's maybe 47 degrees. The first mile is filler, a loop around the block, but then we head over the Memorial Bridge and almost to the gates of Arlington Cemetery. Driving over the Memorial bridge, you'd never think of it as anything but flat. Running, one notices a healthy up and down. But, it's early, so no sweat. By mile three, we're onto Rockcreek Parkway, a mostly flat, slight uphill, three mile stretch leading to this marathon's heartbreak hill--a quarter mile long exit ramp that just sucks the life out of you.
As I approached it this year, though, I saw a line of American flags being held by spectators in tribute to fallen soldiers. I figured if they could stand out in the rain for 5 hours holding flags, I could make it up a damn hill. Up and over.
Miles 6-11. My plan, as much as there was one, was to pick up the pace during this stretch and try notch a few 7:30 minute-miles. It's mostly downhill for the 16 blocks from 16th Street to North Capitol and the packs have thinned to the point where you can run unencumbered. I should note for posterity that it was still raining and I was cold and miserable. This may be why I just couldn't seem to settle into a slightly higher gear. Looking back later on my splits, I was running faster during this stretch, but it sure didn't feel like it. Coming down North Capitol Street should be one of the best/easiest parts of the race as it is a steady and straight downhill for over a mile. Mentally, I was letting the weather get to me and without the validation of a watch or GPS, I was convincing myself that I was running poorly.
Miles 11-13.1. This self doubt could not have come at a worse time. Miles 11-13 run right near my house and while on a good day that can be a major adrenaline rush with family and friends cheering, on a rainy day filled with doubt, the house becomes a black hole pulling at you to drop out and hit the couch. Instead I try and focus on H Street and the bands and the small crowds who have braved the weather knowing I'm about to run into a veritable cheering no man's land called the second half of the race.
13.1-18. I've run marathons when it was 30 degrees and I was warmer than during this race. It was the perfect combination of rain and cold enough temps that I never felt warm and, if I haven't made it clear by now, it was getting to me. And this stretch of the race includes an out and back down in SW DC that is devoid of spectators and interest (except for the notable exception of Nats park), so all there is to focus on is how quickly the 3:30 pace group is catching up to me. In fact, it's just prior to crossing the South Capitol Street Bridge that I resign myself to letting them pass and focus on just finishing.
18-22. Unlike many who race and review this track, I like this stretch. It's quiet certainly with few spectators, but it's run along the Anacostia River and every year it's a little cleaner and more scenic. A bike path is being developed and I imagine within 5-10 years this will be a great stretch of the city on both sides of the river. It's a flat stretch, so just staying in a rhythm is pretty easy. I was able to hold off the 3:30 group until mile 20.
22-26.2. This part of the race was different than previous years and a mile longer. Instead of a straight shot up Minnesota Avenue to East Capitol Street and the finish, organizers decided on a detour through Fort DuPont Park. The result was to add even more hills to the final miles. Not a fan. The quiet agony of those miles through the park are rewarded by a solid finish. It would be awesome if some day the finish could be in RFK stadium and we could all pretend to be Olympic marathoners entering the stadium for our victory lap. Still, the approach to the finish is still well done and even in the rain filled with spectators and cheering for the final push.
I shuffled across the line at just over 3:40 and was immediately shivering despite the Mylar blanket a kind soul handed me. Fortunately, marathon runners were given a jacket if they finished the race and that saved me from certain pneumonia. My time was over 15 minutes slower than the Carlsbad Marathon run only 2 months earlier. I still have not solved the mystery of the Rock n Roll DC race. I still want to like this race, but we're not there yet. Maybe next year.
Neutral
No comments:
Post a Comment