I was originally going to just run my usual 5K this past weekend...you know, to keep up with the BlogHer 5K. But since I am trying to convince Sharon to let me run the Tiarathon I decided to do 10K instead. But when @momslant boasted that she "saw your 5K (on Thursday) and raised you 5K", I couldn't help raising the bar a bit and do more than 10K. So I bumped it to 6.6 miles - that's 1/4 of a full marathon! Hence, the 1st Annual #notblogher Half-Half Marathon was born.
This year's route was fantastic. Sorry about the awful picture quality.
I started in Arlington at about 6. As you know, I usually run earlier than that, but this was a one-way run and the train I was taking back didn't leave until 7:25am. First I ran to the Iwo Jima portapotties Memorial, then followed the trail down past Arlington Cemetary. That's a pretty amazing place if you haven't seen it in person. Take this picture and multiply it by a gazillionty.
After that I headed out across Memorial Bridge, and I still felt strong. It was pretty cool running toward both the Lincoln Memorial and a beautiful sunrise.
After running past the Lincoln Memorial (and some tourists who were out at 6:30?), I ran along the reflecting pool and headed past the Korean War and WWII Memorials toward the Washington Monument. I think I must have been showing off a bit (not on purpose) in front of the tourists because I noticed myself going pretty fast after I passed them.
After that, there wasn't a lot to see as I ran toward the Capitol. I've got to admit, when I passed the Washington Monument I started to run out of gas. I'd meant to eat before leaving but didn't, and combined with showing off in front of the tourists, I was really feeling tired. Then after a pretty long stop at a stop light it was REALLY tough to get my legs running again. Walking was great, running not so much, so at some point I ended up doing 1 minute run/45 second walk intervals. But I ran by my metro stop (Smithsonian) as planned and went toward the Capitol.
At 6 miles I turned around and made it back to the metro. Ahh...the sweet, sweet feeling of being done.
I ended up doing 6.6 miles in 1 hour 05 minutes (1 hour 03 minutes if you take out bathroom and picture stops). I can't believe I want to do 13.1 next year!
I forgot to mention that (a) it's Bill writing this, and (b) this was on Sunday. Oh well. :)
Posted by: Bill | 07/28/2009 at 07:30 AM
Man, and I was proud of my sort of 5K at Blogher.
ARGH!
(But great run, Bill!)
Posted by: Motherhood Uncensored | 07/28/2009 at 08:35 AM
Woooooooooo! Congrats!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Christine | 07/28/2009 at 08:49 AM
Great job. Isn't DC just the best place to run. I love my races there.
Posted by: Ann | 07/28/2009 at 08:52 AM
Ugh. I hate the whole feeling of having to show off when happening upon bystanders. It always kills me.
Posted by: Amanda | 07/28/2009 at 03:00 PM
Sounds lovely - and CONGRATS!
Posted by: KariHAMa | 07/28/2009 at 04:16 PM
awesome run! congrats!!
Posted by: kathleen | 07/28/2009 at 07:44 PM
Great job Bill.
Posted by: Secret Mom Thoughts | 07/28/2009 at 09:12 PM