My race report for the Rock n Roll DC Half-Marathon, March 10:
I had been training on a plan by
@DopeyBadger.
My official time was 2:10:17 - last year was 2:08:18. I had been hoping to beat last year's time. The weather and conditions were great, and I don't think I could've done anything different except run a little faster.
Ate a full breakfast 5:45 - 6am, which is what I usually do when I have that much time before a race.
I took my BCAAs and 200 mg caffeine at about 8:00am. Beautiful weather, in the 30s F at the start. A little wind, but nothing strong or sustained. I like to run in cold weather.
The race started on time at 8:30am, but I was placed in coral 11 of 21, so I didn't get across the start line until about 8:45am. Fortunately the start was not as crowded as I remembered. I think I probably thought last year that it was crowded, and since then, the Marine Corps Marathon set a new standard for that in my mind.
Mile 1: 9:59
Mile 2: 10:02
@DopeyBadger told me to cap the first two miles at 9:59 in order to save effort for the big hill in the middle. Clicked right into that pace for the first two miles. Since I was feeling good, I didn't want to go too much slower than the cap because I knew I'd have to make up the time later.
Mile 3: 9:44
Mile 4: 9:56
Mile 5: 9:47
My cap for the next miles, previous to the hill starting at 5.5 miles, was 9:47. Accidentally went a smidge too fast on mile 3, so pulled it back a bit for mile 4. I was still feeling pretty good. Steady breathing, but not panting. Legs still feeling good.
Mile 6: 9:59
OK, there is something weird about the hill, and maybe some of you others that ran it can help me figure it out. I know that it shows up on the elevation profile as starting at 5.574 mi. My Garmin was about 0.05 mi or so ahead of the mile markers at this point, so I was expecting when my Garmin was at about 5.6 mi or so, I'd get the big increase. Nope. It starts out much more gradually than what the elevation graph shows. In fact, I realized at about 5.75 mi or so, that it turns into an optical illusion - the incline is so gradual, and it levels off in a few places, so that you start to think that it's actually level with some downhills. (Or at least, I did!) The crazy incline didn't really start until about 5.8 mi. (This is what
@DopeyBadger had estimated from the elevation graph as a 4.5% grade.) I don't know what's going on with the elevation graph, except there is that weird glitch on the incline where it goes down to zero temporarily and then continues the incline. (Incidentally, my elevation graphs from my Garmin both last year and this year show that same glitch. Since I didn't fall off a cliff and jump back up it, I'm assuming it is a weird glitch.) At any rate, I maybe did some of this a bit too fast. The plan was for me to slow down on the hill in order to keep the effort about the same as the 9:47 pace before. This hill is so steep at the end, however, it's hard to judge this.
Mile 7: 10:39
Finishing the crazy hill. As soon as the big incline started at the end of mile 5, I did slow way down. But then you get to the top at about 6.2 - 6.3 miles. From there, it was hard to tell what my pace was, since my lap pace was weighted by the slow hill. Also, I was recovering, so it was hard to judge my pace by feel. At least I didn't walk any of the hill. (Small accomplishments!)
Mile 8: 9:33
Mile 9: 9:26
Mile 10: 9:24
It was getting hard in these miles, but I was hanging on. I knew I needed to get close to 9:20 in order to get the time I wanted, This section is rolling, but overall downhill, which helped. After the hill, the plan was for me to pick up the pace as needed until the finish.
Mile 11: 9:58
This is where I started running out of gas. Apparently my body was not totally in with the plan.
I could tell that I really needed to get the last three miles at about 9:20 or better, and I couldn't hold on to the pace. I felt like I was going faster than I was when I checked my Garmin. My legs still felt OK in terms of soreness and tiredness (sore/tired but not necessarily holding me back). But breathing/HR was becoming an issue. I didn't develop a side stitch - I rarely do - but felt a little tight on the right side with the breathing.: Hit a bit of an uphill, and I could tell I wasn't going to make 2:08. So, pulled it in a bit with the revised goal of not walking any of the race and hitting the last mile strong for a strong finish. I actually got my husband to come and see me finish the race - he's only ever done that once before - and I didn't want to finish going slow or maybe even walking.
Also, somewhere in this mile, I think, spectators living in a house along the course were passing out cups of beer. One of the major reasons I don't drink is because I hate the smell of alcohol, so smelling the beer while running was really turning my stomach. I appreciate their enthusiasm in supporting runners, but blech.
Mile 12: 10:01
More of the same. A shorter hill in this section, but trying to keep moving reasonably. Also, somewhere in the preceding miles, my Garmin went from being about 0.15 miles ahead of the mile markers to more like 0.1 miles ahead - if that was right, then the GPS was playing a few games with me and my reported pace. However, I finished with it 0.14 miles over, so go figure. I still felt like I was working a lot harder than my pace was showing.
Mile 13: 9:28
The last mile has some downhill, so I took advantage of it. I definitely couldn't have maintained that pace for much longer.
Extra 0.24 mi: 10:19
The last ~0.2 mi is on a damn uphill to the finish line. Considering it's the end of the race, it feels really steep. Managed to keep running, but not exactly the sprint to the finish.
Took forever to find the reunion area and my husband...big crowds. We are both very funny, too, since while neither of us is crowd-phobic, neither of us enjoys crowds of strangers and loud, blaring music. So we pretty much met up, he took my picture, and we left. Ha. I did appreciate him driving to the finish, since it meant I didn't have to Metro home. Also, he brought an extra coat for me. The sweatsuit I'd put in my gear-check bag was definitely not enough once I cooled off.
Some other info/thoughts.
-Carried Gatorade Endurance for the race...drank about a liter of it, sipping every mile. Didn't stop at the aid stations.
-From wunderground, it seems that my Garmin's temperature of 37 F was probably the start temperature, and looks like it got up to the mid-40s during my race. Mental note to wear shorts and t-shirt next time for these conditions. I only wore a long-sleeved shirt (no layers), but pushed up the sleeves within a mile. Felt annoyed with the full-length tights.
Official stats:
Place: 4789/10,333 (46%)
Division: 177/609 (29%)
Women: 2202/5913 (37%)
I am bummed that I didn't get the time I was hoping for, but don't really feel like there was much I could have done. Apparently it wasn't in the cards for me today. Just frustrating after the months of training, but then that's my responsibility. I don't race that much, so I would like to expect each race to be an improvement, but that isn't the case.
I did try to just enjoy the race experience. I don't usually think about making that sort of effort. Even though I'm bummed about the time, I'm in great shape and excellent health, and certainly it was a beautiful day. The RNR DC half-marathon course is awesome, because you run past a lot of monuments, and for some of the long stretches, you're running right toward the Lincoln Memorial or the Capitol. Other stretches are along the Potomac and Tidal Basin. It is in fact a very nice course. So I'm trying to think about the positives, too.
I ordered a 1/2 size up in a wide but they still felt weird, so I sent them back. I definitely need to bite the bullet and head over to my local-ish running center to try on some of those other options. Thank you again, and good luck to you as well! 
