Pluses and Minuses: Rock 'n' Roll USA Half Marathon Recap

Yesterday I ran the Rock 'n' Roll USA Half Marathon, almost four month to the day since my last race, the JFK 50. Between then and now I spent 7 full weeks on the bench with an IT Band injury, and the rest of time building back up from one mile at a time. I was originally signed up to run the full (hence the blue marathon bib), but about 6 weeks ago I decided it would't be a good idea to rush 26.2.

On Friday Mike and I took a half day at work and drove straight down to the expo. I made it in and out pretty quickly, except for one little stop at the Newton booth. I mentioned in an earlier post how badly I wanted to try them (and how many store trips I made to do so). Well, in a matter of 8 minutes I was handing the guy my credit card and walking out the door with them. I took them on a 7 mile recovery run today as yes, they were totally worth the money and might be my favorite shoe ever.

True love at first run <3

After the expo we met up with my mom for dinner and got Pinkberry for dessert, which PS if you didn't know, is the best froyo ever. I would be easily 10 pounds heavier if they put one in Philly.

We slept pretty good and got up around 5:15 to get ready. The race day forecast looked like we would be dealing with mid-40s and rain, so I decided to bring a hat, which ended up seeming like the worst idea ever around mile 4. We were out the door by 6:15 and took the bus down to the start line on the National Mall.

I've run one Rock 'n' Roll race before, my last half marathon in Philly a year and a half ago. I remember having no issues at that race other than maybe a very long bathroom line. This race did not seem to have the same organizational wonders going for it. The bag check was ridiculous (on the way in and out), there were no where near enough bathrooms for 30,000 people, and they ended up not having enough volunteers to fill drinks later in the course, which was probably 10 times more frustrating for the thousands of people in the corrals behind me. The race started right on time. Mike was a few corrals ahead of me so I started on my own (though his speedy ass would have left me soon enough anyway).

I had both zero goals for this race and also so many goals for this race, if that makes any sense. On the one hand, this was my first post-injury race. I should't expect a lot and I shouldn't be disappointed with any performance. On the other hand I know exactly where my fitness level was only a few months ago in the fall and no matter what I have high expectations for myself. The distance of this race was never going to be the problem. It was all about pace. 

My previous half marathon PR, which was from a year and a half ago, was 1:52:31. During the Baltimore Marathon last fall I ran the first half in 1:51 and then ran another 13.1 miles and the whole thing felt pretty easy and doable. So realistically, in my head, I should be capable of far better than that. Despite the injury, the PR pressure was definitely on. 

So, the race started and off I went. Unfortunately, by mile 2 I started to realize that it was not my day and I wasn't enjoying myself. My legs and breath just weren't up to par like I'd hoped. I was also insanely thirsty and stopped at the aid station by mile 3 or 4. Not all race days are perfect though. And, it never ended up raining (70% chance my ass), so I just ended up sweltering in my hat and debated tossing it. 

At mile 6 we headed out of Rock Creek Park via a ridiculous hill. By the time I got to the top I was totally wiped and didn't know how I would keep up the pace for the second half. I hit 7 miles exactly one hour into the race (8:34 average). Luckily the second half was mostly downhill, but there were a few small sneaky climbs here and there and each one felt like death. 

The last few miles were really rough, but I did not want to let a PR slip by, no matter how much it hurt. Usually I can sprint the last 100 meters of a race. I even managed this at JFK after 49 something miles, but this time it was a no-go. I was completely zapped of energy. I crossed the finish like in 1:50:16, 2+ minute PR and a horrible 17 seconds from a sub-1:50 (damnit). 

I spent most of yesterday feeling neither super happy nor super upset at my performance. I just felt kind of blah. Yes, PR-ing is a total plus and I shouldn't be upset about that. And I even ran negative splits, running the last 6.1 miles with an 8:14 pace. Still, I could't help but dwell on my drop in fitness since the fall. Running that pace would never have felt so ridiculously hard. I went to bed feeling kind of indifferent. 

Today, however, I went out for a nice easy recovery run and it felt awesome. If yesterday running felt like death, today it felt like heaven. Yes, the race didn't turn out as good as I'd hoped, but I didn't give up either. If JFK taught me anything, its that not giving up is the greatest thing you can do for yourself. How can you possibly know what you are capable of unless you try. Every race has its pluses and minuses. Its how you take the minuses and turn them around for next time. Now I've got work to do and I can't wait to get to it!