Sham-ROCKED!

This weekend was the DC Rock & Roll Half Marathon. It was my first time in our nation's capital, and I had an awesome time. My race time wasn't bad either. 1:50:54. Important to note that my friend, Josh, also ran this race AND it was his birthday weekend. This is his first half, and what a perfect weekend to celebrate for his 2nd 29th Birthday! While he has been training on the right coast, I've been maintaining on the left coast. I thought I might have a weather advantage, but Josh kept me up to date on his training achievements with texts or emails like, "Just ran a 5k in 21 minutes," or "Just ran 10 miles in 1 hr 30 min!"

It is then that I realized. Josh was going to kick my butt.

Race day was on St. Patrick's Day! At the Expo, I spotted a green "Run Lucky" technical-t and a cute hat with a shamrock on it. I thought it might cause some chafing, but I was willing to take a risk in the name of fashion. (They warn you never to wear new clothes on race day, and I usually adhere to this rule. Just Google "marathon bloody nipples" and you'll see some disturbing chafing pics.) Unfortunately, because I refuse to carry my camera or phone, I don't have any pictures of how cute I looked. So, I refer you to the online link to my race information and photos here. I would like one of these pictures, but I don't want to pay $70 for it. If anyone is so inclined to buy it for me, I'll take the digital downloads - thanks! My birthday is in August. *wink*

Someone recently asked me, "What do you think about when you run?" During this race, I thought about what I was going to post. So, I decided to break down my thought process into miles:

Mile 1: Damn there are a lot of people here. I can't believe there are 30 corrals. Good thing Josh moved up to my corral, or he would have started 30 minutes behind. Damn there are a lot of people here.

Mile 2: OMG! We are running right into the Capitol building how cool. I should relish in this moment - running down East Capitol with my friend Josh. Now when is Josh going to ditch me.

Mile 3: I knew he was going to ditch me. Are we only at mile 3? Geez that's only 1/4 of the race. Just relax. You can do this. Oh, is that the Washington Monument? Pretty!

Mile 4: I started out pretty slow, per usual. Is it time to speed up yet? Speeding up feels nice.

Mile 5: I'd like to speed up some more, but I'll wait until mile 6 or 7.

Mile 6: Oh, there is that hill everyone was talking about. It's not San Francisco grade, but yeah, I can feel that. Wow! Now I can see there are about 3,000 people in front of me.

Mile 7: Half way there! Let's look at some motivational spectator signs:
You Run Better Than Metro
Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body
Tara, Will You Marry Me?
Chuck Norris Never Ran a Marathon
6 More Miles to Beer
There is Beer at the Finish Line!

Mile 8: Yeah, I feel AWESOME! I'm getting a little emotional. This is my life, and it is grand! I'm running, I'm in DC, I'm so rad right now!

Mile 9: Hey, there's Josh! I'm going to catch him.

Mile 10: Hey Josh! We only have a 5k left! We are almost there!

Mile 11: I can't believe Josh took off like that! Zoom! Ugh, this is the longest mile ever.

Mile 12: Well, there goes my PR time. I wonder if I can still make it in under 1:50?

Mile 13: I'll be over 1:50, but that's ok.

Mile 13.1: I don't need a metal, I need a bagel?! Where are the bagels?! I need freakin' water and a bagel!

Running is similar to writing: running also has an exposition (race t-shirt), rising action (race start), climax (mile 7-8), falling action (mile 11), resolvent (race time), and a theme (give me food).