Nike Women Half Marathon DC

I had been wanting to run a Nike race for a while because of the coveted Tiffany necklace. The race is always in San Francisco, which is a little far for me to travel. When I heard they were having their inaugural race in Washington DC, I knew I had to go. I signed up for the lottery and after waiting a week or something, I found out that I got rejected. I think I even de-friended the Run Nike Women Race Facebook page (ha). [I eventually re-friended]. I knew I wanted to run a race in April, so I then registered for the Derby Mini-Marathon in Louisville, Kentucky. My husband and I decided to even go to some horse races while we were there. I then got this magical email from Nike saying I had a second chance. It took me a couple hours to decide that I had to go. I canceled Louisville trip and started planning for DC!

I went to Niketown Friday afternoon to see what gear they had. I was really interested in the limited edition 5.0 shoe, but figured they were sold out since they went on sale Thursday. I was surprised they had my size so I tried it on. I just couldn't justify the $125. Also, I did not need the shoes. So I held them and took a picture to prove I could have had them, but chose not to buy, lol.

The Shoe.

I then went to the expo and was surprised that there weren't any vendors. But there was a lot of fun stuff to see, I especially liked the writing wall.

Packet pick up was painless and very efficient. Lots of cool samples in the bag as well. Here is what I came back to the hotel with:

My Loot!

I then met up with some friends and we did a lot of walking!! There is just a ton to see in DC. I woke up Saturday morning and my legs were already sore. And then we did a lot more walking! A full day of walking.

We saw the White House:

Being a Tourist. 

Lincoln Memorial:

Much Needed Rest. 

World War II Memorial and Holocaust Museum (a must-see!!!). Had a few drinks in Georgetown:

At a Pub!

My legs were sore. I went to bed Saturday night nervous. I was so sleepy and I knew the 4 am wake up was going to suck. Pre-race jitters never go away, no matter how many races you do. And destination races are just hard. I want to see everything and enjoy myself, not rest.

I actually woke up before my alarm went off. I slowly got dressed and didn't eat as much as I normally do before a race (which made me even more nervous). I made my way to the Metro and headed downtown. Pre-race was nothing special. I was in the 9:00-9:59 wave and I stood there for a while. It got pretty packed in there.

Awesome morning view of the Capitol.

The race started right on time, one gun, and we all took off. It was really packed. I knew I was going slower than I wanted, but I was fine with that. I just wanted to enjoy myself. My legs were surprisingly not in pain. My husband was tracking me from home and texting me my splits. My projected finish at the 5k was 2 hours 9 minutes. I was shooting for 2 hours and I knew I had to increase my pace. At the 10k, my projected finish was 2 hours 2 minutes. I thought I could really do this. But between the 15k and 20k, I got tired. The course was flat, which was nice for a change. The weather was great, it was amazing running with so many females. I loved the spectators. I didn't get a PR in the end. I finished in 2:06:17. My PR is 16 seconds faster. I really hope to get a sub-2 hour half this year, we will see. I did come home with this though, which is amazing:

My 'Medal'. :)

I really have no complaints. The event was amazing. They probably should have done timed waves to alleviate the congestion in the beginning. I am interested in what was in the finisher's tent, but I was not going to wait in the huge line. Maybe if I stayed off my feet a bit more before the race I could have done better, but I'll take it. I had a great weekend.

Place: 688/2635 Female 30-34

3820/14627 Overall