I only signed up for the Parks Half Marathon last week when Victoria tweeted about it. I had 9 miles on my calendar and figured doing an actual road race would be good preparation for Chicago. A big part of me (the always-competitive-with-myself part) wanted to go all out and race this one. After all, I’ve been putting in the miles and speed work. But then I remembered I ran 22 miles last weekend and this is not my “A” race. I didn’t want to run it long-run-slow, so I decided to go for around my goal marathon pace and see how it felt.
I also thought this race would be a good lesson in mental toughness. Headphones were not allowed and there were very few spectators.
Spoiler alert: it went great.
The morning started out like any other race day morning. A way too early wake-up. Coffee and a waffle with peanut butter and banana. Driving to the race and thinking the entire time that I didn’t leave early enough (It was fine, I made it to the start line with about ten minutes to spare).
Even though they did wave starts, it was a crowded race at the beginning. The first two miles were on a major road (one lane closed for runners) and then we hit the trails. I can’t say enough how much I loved the scenery on this race. It was mostly on paved trails through the woods. There was some mud from the week of rain, but they had cleared out all debris. Even though it was humid out, I was comfortable because practically the entire course was shaded.
Although there were very few spectators, there were two girls I kept seeing throughout the race because they were bicycling to different spots. I told them they were the best cheerleaders and they really were. Instead of listening to music, I kept myself occupied by focusing on my breathing and fantasizing about Chicago.
At around mile 7 I took a Gu. My stomach cramped for a little (probably because I was an idiot and took it without water), and I had a vom-burp so this is a lesson for me to make sure I have a variety of fuel types at Chicago.
Close to the finish line, volunteers were handing out American flags in remembrance of 9-11. When I was heading into the final stretch, holding the flag, I thought of that day and people who are no longer here and don’t have the opportunity to do things like this. That definitely gave me a boost of motivation.
Funny enough, when I started sprinting at the end I gave another girl (who I was about to pass) an extra boost of motivation and she left me in her dust! I made sure to tell her “great finish” when it was all over.
I lost my satellite signal a few times but I think my actual time is 1:52:09 (the elapsed time on my Garmin stats). The official results are not posted yet.
The finish line festival was pretty much the bomb.com for such a small race. They had TONS of food – pizza, subs, watermelon and bagels. I was lame and just got a watermelon slice since my stomach had been on edge earlier. They had a band playing rock music. No finisher’s medals, but a nice winter hat that will come in handy in a few months.
I would highly recommend this race to all you locals out there. The only cons were the no headphones rule and little crowd support, but like I said I was able to get by. There were many more pros: beautiful course, net downhill route, lots of water and porta-potty stations along the route, a great finish line festival, complimentary metro cards to get back to the start and a really nice race shirt.
A LOT of people wore this shirt to the race today and I can only imagine they were sweating their asses off.
Afterwards, I metro-ed back to the start line, hopped in my car and brunched with my friends who also ran the half. My friend Colleen raced with her fiancé Roger and it was the cutest thing ever to see them cross the finish line together. Actually, the cutest thing ever is their new puppy, Colt, who I got to meet after brunch. Doesn’t he look like Leela’s cousin?
Awesome last 1+ mile! Congrats!
I didn’t know there was a MOCO half marathon. Awesome job. Did people really follow the no headphones rule? I don’t know if I could do it.
Wow! Talk about finishing strong! Great job Liz
Way to go! Awesome race! I should put this race in my radar for next year!
Great race! One of my life pet peeves is when people race in their race shirts (for the current race). I don’t know why it bugs me, but it does. Don’t they have other shirts? Personally, I don’t feel like I’ve “earned” the shirt until I cross that finish line.
I completely agree! I feel like you are jinxing yourself to DNF or something.
Congratulations! Sounds like a fantastic race. Idk if I could do the no headphones!
Yayyyyy this is totally awesome, i am soo happy for you. You are going to surpass your goals on race day. I don’t know how you did it sans headphones.
They are posted but you have to go through the mcrr website! Yes I stalked my time
I love the course but hate the rolling hills…. Aka last two miles up hill
Those hills were killer!
You’ve totally convinced me to go run this next year…it sounds awesome!!! Two questions: if you check a bag at the start line, do you have to go back to Rockville to get it or do they bring the bags down to the finish line? And, how easy is it to get to the start from the Metro station if you don’t have a car?? Congrats on a great race!!
They did bring the bags down to Bethesda. I was running late so I ended up not checking my bag but saw them at the finish. The start is close to the metro, but they said the metro wouldn’t be open early enough to get there on time so they recommended driving
Lame! I don’t own a car!! You totally had me convinced to do this race next year…maybe I’ll have to get zip car for the morning.
Or find another blogger to come run with you and pick you up!
Great job on the race!!! You nailed it.
I did this race yesterday too! Beautiful day (i.e. NO rain!) and the post-race was one of the best I’ve seen! I devoured the watermelon afterwards, totally hit the spot! Congrats on your time!
way to go girl, you rock! love the flags being handed out!
Wow congratulations Liz!!! Sounds like an awesome race!
niiiice. you are killing marathon training!
Congrats on a confidence-boosting race! Channel the strength and speed you showed last weekend on marathon day, and you’ll kill it!
Congrats on an awesome race!
I’m so glad that the race went well for you! It sounds like a great course, I’ll have to check it out next year
Wow, you had a great race and it sounded like it was a a good time.
Congratulations! Sounds like you had a great race. I’ve always wanted to run this one but am always out of town the weekend after Labor Day.
I have heard great things about this race, but was always afraid I’d finish dead last in such a small event. I don’t though I just might give it a go for next year. It seems like a really fun, low key event.
[...] my last marathon, I incorporated a half marathon into my training. I had an awesome race and knew I wanted to do a race during this training cycle as [...]