Half marathoning it....

This morning started early...maybe too early.  As in, before the crack of dawn early.  Ugh.  That said, Washington DC is beautiful with dawn breaking over the monuments.  And, today is the Navy-Air Force Half Marathon and Five Miler.

Okay, let's back up and start with the pick ups.  Hi, my name is Stacie and I'm today's driver.  That meant I needed to hit up the Naval Academy to pick up our two mids running the five miler at 5:15 and then grab my best running buddy, Brie, at 5:30 because the race committee said to be at the start no later than 6:45 for a 7:15 start.  Did it end up being necessary?  No, we had tons of time and with a smaller race field it was no trouble walking up to the start right before the gun went off.

The running crew....
Stacie, Lucy, Caroline and Brie

The start was at the base of the Washington Monument.  Pretty cool, especially with the sun just having risen.  The stone glowed pink.  The star bangled banner rang clearly through the crisp air, and then we were off.  The course started out snaking past the tidal basin before zooming over to Haines Point.  Normally I don't like the sections of DC races that go around Haines Point.  It's too quiet.  No crowd to cheer on the runners.  Today it wasn't so bad.  I had my running buddy next to me and a good conversation brewing.  The leg was feeling good and all was well.

After leaving Haines Point, we had a long stretch of the Rock Creek Parkway.  A really long stretch...like forever.  I did see a few folks I knew as we headed out past the Kennedy Center (Hi Margaret and Steven Cook!  Thanks for the photos!), and we looped past Jen Bornemann at one point, but it was boring.  Don't get me wrong, the scenery was beautiful.  Sort of that last vivid green before fall starts bursting around the corner.  But there are no sidewalks for spectators and the running crowd was also unexpectedly quiet.  So quiet you could hear the birds and your running shoes on the pavement.

We crossed the finish line is a little more than 2 hours.  Slower than Brie and I generally finish a half marathon by about 10 minutes, but considering her knee and my hamstring, we'll take it.  After all, how can you complain about spending the morning with a good friend, getting exercise and coming closer to my goal all in one fell swoop.  Would I run this race again?  It was kind of expensive, there was only water and gatorade on the course and there were not many spectators to keep you going.  I could get all of that and not pay the entry fee by running on the B&A trail, so I guess we'll have to see.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  13.31 (plus 2.66 to and from the race festival)
Time:   2:06:16 (average pace of 9:29 per mile)
Location:  Washington, DC - National Mall, Rock Creek Parkway, Haines Point
Feeling:  Pretty decent, could have done another 13 miles even though the hamstring is rough