Thursday, March 31, 2011



This Saturday I ran in the DC National Half Marathon. It was such a blast! I woke up at 4, ate breakfast and got dressed. My friend picked me up at 5 to drive into DC. Traffic was pretty bad and we finally arrived at 6:30. The race was starting at 7 so we quickly made our way over to the port-a-pots for one last pit stop. We hugged and went our separate ways to our pre-assigned corals. I found the pace group I wanted to run with and made sure to stay with them for the first few miles of the race. Now, I had a goal for this race. It was to finish the half in 1:45:00. It was a bit lofty for me, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it, but according to my last 5k race, it was the time predicted for me. I could see the 1:40 pace group in front of me and the 1:45 pace group behind me, so I just hung out there for the whole race.


It was a fun race, weaving through the streets of DC. When I finally finished, I was in awe of the marathoners who continued on to run 13 more miles. I did reach my goal, and crossed the finish line in 1:43:08. I cried. I always get emotional at the end of a race, but I couldn't believe that I actually set a goal and accomplished it. My training has now turned to the Marathon in November. If I train smart and work hard, I have a good chance of qualifying for the Boston Marathon, which is another secret goal I have. It's always a little scary to say your goals out loud. It means you're accountable now, but I guess that's what I need to do. So here it is out loud "I'm going to qualify for Boston some day!". My qualifying time would be 3:35. Last year it was 3:40. They just dropped it by 5 minutes across the board. It's going to be a fun goal to aim for!

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your amazing accomplishment! Now we can see why you kept beating all of us with your training/exercise points!!! Keep going! Boston is a great goal!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow Marci that is just terrific. So satisfying and emotional when you reach a goal after so much hard work. I've set a goal for the next two months, it probably would seem like a small one to you but for me it will be a challenge. I'm going to walk/run 120 miles by the end of May, I hope I'm as successful as you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MARCI! Good for you girl! I am so impressed. Boston, wow! That would be so exciting. I know you can do it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Way to go Marci! and good luck with Marathon training, you will do awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the encouragement! Queen Vee, you'll do great. I think your goal is a wonderful idea!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congrats Marci!! You did awesome AND you WILL do awesome in November! Good luck with training. I can't believe they dropped the qualifying times by 5 minutes!!! It shows how many people want to go to Boston!

    ReplyDelete
  7. YAY MARCI!! So proud of you! I know you can accomplish anything you put your mind to. When you make it to Boston, I think you should wear a Super Mom shirt. :)

    ReplyDelete