Nice races guys! Well done for early season racing! Dave, don't get yourself down about your race, I think you did all right. You fought through to the end and finished. I know its small potatoes compared to your goal, but finishing a marathon (especially a sub 4 marathon) is still something a lot of people can't do. Lou already heard it from me on Facebook, but I'll say it again: Way to go! I sandwiched a small 5k in the middle of my 18 mile long run today: 19:41. It was near my house, so I warmed up to the race, ran the race, stuck around for the awards and then did the last 12. Hopefully my body learned something about running tired, because I don't want to have to do that very often. :-)

Thanks, Jeremy. I was disappointed but I've really got no regrets. Tough way to earn experience but now I know how my body reacts at that level of effort. I PR'd in the HM and 20 mile distances.

Great attitude Dave. Really it's just a time in the log and one I'd take any day.

Oh Dave that looks like a painful finish. I think if you had been feeling better it would have made the difference, sometimes it's just now our day. It's my fault. If I had been there I would have made you run slower that first half. I couldn't have even ran sub-two hour half marathon today so good I was not there to cough all over you.

Quick report from me -- maybe more later maybe not. PR with 1:37:12, 10th in division, 355 overall (not sure how many runners in each, though so that's not useful. PDR also PR'd with 1:54:44, 12th in division. Best part: met up with Kimmie, AmoresPerres, Dave and others. Had a nice lunch. This after Dave drove back and forth between RFK and Anacostia several times

Fantastic, congrats on the PR. And for PDR also. Woot !

This is what pain looks like:

Dave - that really drives it home. Sorry you went through that but yes there is a lot to be learned in this sport. You can say a couple of things: a) you went for it, and, b) you toughed it out. And Jeremy already heard from me on facebook but wow that was blazingly fast!

From this morning. Top is from the start. Second is from about the turnaround.

Hey everyone! so, how great was today??? so bummed that it was tough for Dave, but so excited to meet RA people. I think I will write a report on this one, because every race is a learning experience. I may post it on the racing forum and then cross post here. Lou, so nice to meet you and your lovely wife. We'll have to do another local race soon. Frederick as the relay might be a possibility. all we need is 4 runners. Again, Dave, hope you're feeling ok.... plan to read your race report after I get the kiddos to bed. Shan? We've been wondering about you... hope you're OK.

I just checked facebook and didn't see it. Btw, P2r, great pictures! Ok, I decided I don't really need to write a report on this one. I ran a 1:55:19... that's slower than my first half of my marathon at Myrtle Beach and about 4 minutes slower than my PR, but 3 minutes faster than I ran on this course last year. Bottom line, because of being sick, I just wasn't really prepared to run this half. I thought Race Day Magic might show up and give me the magic ability to run a 1:45. (ha! ) But, it didn't. Yesterday, I couldn't breathe because my cold was so bad, but I was like, no way am I missing RA people- I'm running this race no matter what. What's kind of funny is that my splits are REALLY all over the place. I started out with Dave and Perry and imediately knew that I needed to dial back... can't be breathing that hard at the very beginning. but look at these splits: M1- 8:20 M2- 7:35 M3- 7:39 M4- 8:54 M5- 8:14 M6- 9:51 M7- 8:54 M8- 8:44 M9- 8:45 M10- 8:05 11-9:35 12- 10:51 13-8:09 I kept thinking I could pick it up... tried and then my body laughed at me. The other funny thing is that I said to the RA group before we started, there aren't that many hills in this race. There are hills in this race and every time I went up another one, I laughed a little. Towards the end, I knew that it had become a fun run for me. I needed to stop at the porta potty, so I did. I wasn't going to kill myself with being sick lately and all... but that last mile is not too bad. Ok, I said I wouldn't write a report, but I did. Super highlight.... getting to meet the RA people... too bad we didn't run into Shan. Dave had a great smile on his face during lunch which shows that he has a wonderful perspective on things.