TGIF! This time last week, I was excited and nervous to head to DC for the inaugural Nike Women’s Half in DC. I don’t think the excitement really hit me until last Friday. Training for this one was tough because of my allergies. Sure enough, my allergies unexpectedly got worse in DC. I guess it was the Cherry Blossom trees? I was stuffy, sleepless and had nose bleeds while there. I guess despite the homeopathic allergy medicine that I took with me, my body just couldn’t get used to the atmosphere quickly 🙁

Regardless, I had a wonderful time. Running with Team In Training made the race even more special for me. Seeing coaches on the sidelines cheering us on. Children with Leukemia or Lyphoma screaming, “You’re running for me, don’t quit keep going.” I literally teared up at that last 3 miles when my body was saying “hell no”. My mind refused to quit.

At the starting line! Notice my puffy eyes :(. Thankfully, when I started running everything felt great. I only felt my allergies before/after the race.

I found my name on the runners wall outside of Nike Georgetown!

The Team In Training inspiration wall with photos of people with Leukemia and Lymphoma

My Favorite things about running the Nike Women’s DC half

• DC is wonderful. The weather was not too hot and not too cold.
• I loved not driving. We took the metro or walked wherever we needed to go. I never took a taxi or got behind the wheel and I’m so grateful after dealing with Atlanta traffic on a week day basis 😉
• The Nike race apparel – this was my first time buying race apparel and I’m glad I did. The outfits were cute and Nike had lots of options in different colors and styles. I bought my outfit at one of the race day partners, Macys on G Street. Coincidentally  they had Friends and Family 25% off that weekend and a special event in store to celebrate the race with smoothies and a gift with purchase.
• The race route was scenic and peaceful
• Running with Team in Training and going to the Inspiration Dinner
• Team in Training coaches cheering us on
• The one cheerleader on the side who handed out gummy worms (thank you kind stranger, I needed those!)
• Nice, well informed volunteers
• And of course, the Tiffany finisher medal. How could I forget that?!

Other side of the Tiffany finisher necklace

My least favorite things about the race

• Lack of port-a-potties along the race route
• Water stations being unprepared and not having water to give out. This really slowed things down
• Lack of availability of the commemorative race shoes. I was really disappointed when I couldn’t find 1 pair of the Nike Frees in my size 🙁 I wanted the shoes more than any race souvenir. I wish the shoe sale opened just to finishers first then elsewhere after. Wishful thinking I guess…
• Not starting the race with corral wave times. I felt like we were all running into each other while racing. It wasn’t pleasant at all.
• My allergies! Next time I run a race in the spring I should try to keep this under control so that I can actually sleep the few nights prior to the race. Not sure how to do that with races out of state though, but maybe it’s possible.
• The expo – The expo focused only on Nike merchandise and some of their employees weren’t too nice in that tent. Compared to other expos, it was kind of boring.
• The expotique post race – the line was way too long. Over an hour wait just to look at finisher merchandise
• Nike Georgetown – the store was way too crowded for a pleasurable experience. I wish they had better crowd control in there.

So, since the race on Sunday..I’ve been thinking about my fitness and running goals. I have more races coming up and a few fitness goals that I would like to document better here! I know I haven’t done the best job of that in the past. But I’m going to work on it. Sharing will keep me motivated and pushing for greatness.

I will share more soon! In the meantime, Happy Friday.