A Run Through History

This past weekend was predominately centered on a 13.1 mile run through Washington DC.  After a not so stellar half marathon in Philly last November, I quickly registered for the National Half Marathon in hopes of a better knee and ultimately, a better time.  Alex hopped on board and got my friend, Natalie, on the running train as well.  There was no turning back.

Natalie and I trained together via text.  Since hundreds of miles separate us, we held each other accountable with quick text messages.  We encouraged each other, whined together and, eventually found that pounding the pavement was the only answer.  I was plagued with kneed injuries and Natalie with unbearable shin splints.  Can you say, “Getting older?”  We pushed through the pain and were determined to this.

Race day finally came – thank goodness.  I was so done with running!!  The weather was bitter and we were fearful of rain.  Luckily, it ended up being blue skies.  Our bodies seemed to stay warm with the help of adrenaline.  Twenty minutes after the first runner crossed the start line, Natalie, Alex and I joined them – takes a long time to get 15,000 runners through a bottle neck start line.  Alex and I decided to run together while Nat did her own thing.

Run I did.  For the record, I ran faster than I ever have.  At 7 miles in I was just a tad over a 9 minute mile.  I was running all out because I knew that my knee would eventually pull me down.  We passed the Capital, the White House and Washington Monument.  It was beautiful.  I was on a high.  Of course all good things must come to an end.  By mile 8 I had to stop and stretch my knee and by mile 11 I was limp running while my knee was seething in pain.  A quarter of a mile later something snapped in my knee and I couldn’t take another step.  That would have been it for me had I been by myself.  Luckily, Alex was there and I felt with his help I could gimp the last 1.75.  It was a LONG ways.  I couldn’t go any faster than a sideways shuffle and was very frustrated that I couldn’t bring it home to the finish line.  Instead, I hobbled to the end.  Even with a sideways shuffle, we finished in two and half hours.  If you take out the time I was standing on the side of the road dealing with my knee, we had a time of 2 hours 21 minutes.  Not bad for this non-runner who was forced to walk the last two miles.

Once across the finish we waited for Natalie to cross.  I don’t know what was better.  Watching her cross or knowing that I ran under a ten minute mile – while I was actually running and not hobbling.  We left all we had on the streets of DC and are really proud of it.  It was nice to share the experience with a friend and extremely nice to run beside my husband for the first time.

We were only able to do all of this because our good friends, who live in DC, were willing to be gracious hosts and babysitters.  Not only did they watch our kids but Steve grilled up the most fantastic steaks for a post run dinner.  We had an adult dinner in the dining room while EIGHT children left us alone.  That alone is an amazing accomplishment. 

What a weekend!!

Here are a few pics from the rest of our trip - taken with my phone so not so great.


The girls with the Capital in the background

 In the Natural History Smithsonian.  Little Miss Adeline loved the giraffe and disliked the rest.  Too scary.

 The Smithsonian Castle

Here are the eight lovely children that played quietly while the adults dined and visited. Ahhh, we are finally getting there!