The Adventures of DJ: NWM Half - Washington, DC

*Picture Heavy and I'm not great at adding tons of pictures!*

Man - 5AM comes early on race day! Kristen always showers before the race - so I meander out of bed sometime while she's doing that pre-race ritual. After what I think is a sufficient covering of body glide and sunscreen, I don my bib, and continue the debate of checking a bag at the start/finish line. I've never checked a bag before so this concerns me. But I grab it and plan on 'maybe I will/maybe I won't.'

Metro Ride

There was a minor issue with the hotel assuring me before reservations that the front desk clerk would brew us starbucks espresso at 5AM - then to find out the day of - she would not. We would have to wait until 7AM to get starbucks. But her comment was "you're welcome to make your in room coffee." Needless to say, this did not go over well with me. Luckily they had brewed some coffee and had it in the lobby. I grabbed 2 cups of it, with my peanut butter bagel in pocket, and the group headed towards the Metro.

Getting in the zone

Finally on the Metro we all zoned into our spaces. After realizing we would miss the pre-race festivities, and possibly be late starters, I got nervous. Then I decided not to waste that negative energy and start focusing on finding the port-o-johns! Brandie was excellent at navigating us to the start line - we popped out of the Metro and had port-o-johns to one side and the start/finish to the other! Thanks Brandie!

We all hit the port-o-johns quickly and then tried to enter our corral. I've never seen 15,000+ people so unorganized. (hey Nike, ever heard of a wave start!?)

Here we go ladies

After the national anthem played we were off. Sick or not, prepared or not, it was run time! WE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE EXCITED! THAT BLUE BOX WAS ONLY 13.1 MILES AHEAD!

The three of us hadn't really decided to run together. We'd decided it would be a last minute decision, we all had our phones, we could find each other and Brandie (#1 cheerleader - yay)! But Kris said she wanted to go out fast for her first mile. While Kristen and I ended up doing our normal routine of keeping each other in sight. We did a lot of "dancing" around people, onto the sidewalks, and sling shoting each other. But for the most part we ran together the entire race!

We are doing it

Running Right Along

Almost there

Run Kris Run

There we go

The course was great! The spectators could not have been better! (Except for our husbands to be there!) At this point all the logistics of packet pick-up couldn't have made a difference! I was happy!

My Garmin and Nike+ were off anywhere from 0-20 seconds a mile. But here are my nike+ splits:

Mile 1 - 9.47

Mile 2 - 9.50

Mile 3 - 10.07

Mile 4 - 9.40

Mile 5 - 10.12

Mile 6 - 10.49

Mile 7 - 11.21

Mile 8 - 10.16

Mile 9 - 13.03

Mile 10 - 10.08

Mile 11 - 11.07

Mile 12 - 10.14

Mile 13 - 10.48

For a finish line time of 2.22!

As you can see we walked quite a bit! Practically every other water station we walked through it. Then at mile 9 we had a bit of wall come in front of us and we walked a longer bit. But who cares - we enjoyed every minute of it! I will say miles 11 and 12 were LONG! We were passing other runners that were headed to the finish line and it was so flat you could see the finish line. Luckily somewhere in that mess Kristen saw Brandie! We saw her! It was a great boost to get that last 1.5 miles done!

After we circled in front of the capitol building and could see the finish line Kristen said to me "Don't push yet Jennie, don't do it" - she knows me too well. She knew I'd try to utilize my speed work and sprint it out. Thankfully she said that! I held back and realized that it was farther than it looked! I finally said "I don't know that there is any push left in me - strong and steady - we're about to finish!" And that we did!

Awesome

We finished together - with smiles! We got those little blue Tiffany boxes!

LITTLE BLUE BOX

We did it

Gathering our group

We did it ladies

After finding the rest of our group we headed towards the metro and to the hotel. Showers and necklace gawking. Then decided to head back into town for the day and food! Brandie guided us to five guys where we divulged ourselves in beef, fries, and soda! Then we opted to do a little touristy stuff and hit some museums.

The American History Museum was first on the docket. We headed in - crushed some pennies and meandered around. I found a Girl Scout exhibit which was awesome. Then we continued to wander around. We ended up in a corner room with some pottery, old native american items, and some Wizard of Oz items. After reading a description of a large ceramic jug made by a former slave we noticed a group of individuals making a racket, but they had a tour guide with them so we thought - why not listen in? After sticking our heads in, realizing we just didn't care and moving on. Brandie and Kristen yelled back at me: "THAT'S GERARD BUTLER!"

Oh my. We were just standing over Gerard Butler's shoulder! (well around his arm I guess) :::que 32 year old girls acting like 13 year olds::: We were a mess!

We started watching them. Trying to snap pictures. And giggling uncontrollably. After realizing we should behave better we decided to grow up and go to another room. We went to another floor and found the exhibit of first lady dresses - perfect. We should see these. So I shit you not, we are in line looking at them and turn around and Gerard Butler is there again. About 5 people behind us. Really man?! But wait - Kristen said "is that Katy Perry?!" Holy Hell - Katy Perry was in his group too! No shit.

So after another instance of 13 year old girls giggling we decided AGAIN to grow up. It was time for a new museum. Let's just get out of here.

Off to the museum with the hope diamond. (IDK what it was called - it was one of the Smithsonians I believe) We saw the hope diamond and were walking around the jewels and it happened again. In waltzes Katy Perry. Dude, she was stalking us! Ha, ha! I guess they had had the same plan as us! So again, we stand around trying to get pictures, like idiots, and then move on.

We found a little bar and got some spinach dip and adult beverages before heading off to our night time trolly tour!

Then it was off to Grand Central Station where we boarded our Old Time Trolley! What a fun tour! I recommend this to anyone! We saw the monuments all lit up at night! And got some great history from our guide! Granted I may have fallen asleep towards the end, it was still awesome!

Then it was bedtime. Good night moon!