ATM-check

Jess! You are such a trooper. I wasn't injured and I didn't run bc i couldn't get my schedule together (read: getting up early was NOT in the cards these past 2 weeks).

But I DID manage to get up in time to run the army ten miler! it was an amazing race for so many reasons. I was hoping to make it to 8 miles without walking, but i was exhausted by mile 6 and had to slow down a bit. It may or may not have to do with the fact that I got home from a wedding in Charlottesville after midnight the night before :-) (The wedding was SO worth it, by the way).

The course was more hill-y than I'm used to, but still not too bad seeing as I've been doing most of my training in the city and have gotten used to the landmarks and committed most uphill routes to memory. What absolutely KILLED me was the last 2 miles. The last stretch started right around the intersection of independence ave and 14th st as we started down the 14th st. bridge for the 2 mile hike back to the pentagon. since it's a bridge/highway i've never had the opportunity to run on it. but i've driven over it many times... and i've NEVER noticed that it was uphill for two miles.

throughout the course there were so many bands and motivational images, people, and signs that you almost forget you're running 10 miles. but something about this bridge and hearing the rush of cars and being away from the beautiful monuments made it ROUGH. it was just you and your 20,000 best friends truckin' it across a sea of pavement.

but in the last 500 yards the roar of the cars died down and you could hear cheering and an announcer yelling at people to continue to jog through the finish line. then i heard him yell that a 72 year old man had just finished his ump-teenth ATM. That's when i really sucked it up and decided to sprint to the finish :-) since i walked a bit, i ended up averaging 11:56/miles. I'm ok with this.

My favorite things from the 2009 ATM:
- the middle tennessee state track team wearing mohawks, afros, and dreadlocks and BOOKING it
- the crazy lady wearing a gold evening gown and a crown... and running 10 minute miles
- the army band playing usher's "yeah" at mile 8
- seeing my mom cheering for me outside of the dept of education
- seeing jonny's family with the new addition to their family on the sidelines
- the lady that i saw twice holding a sign that said "LESS THAN 10 MILES TO GO"
- all the really little kids yelling for the runners, but knowing that they were just happy to be yelling

i tried Gu at mile 6, i ate about half. it helped. i ate the rest at about 8.5 miles, also helpful. but i think it comes down to preference :-)

Dan met me at the finish and we went to brunch after i showered and got dressed. i had a (singular) bloody mary with brunch. i was drunk after brunch. we then went home and took a nap for 5 hours.

it was a GREAT day :-)