Last Friday morning we took the BoltBus (approx 4½ hours) from New York to Washington DC in order to run the Army Ten Miler.
I've visited DC once before for a weekend and if you didn't know, DC itself is actually quite small in size. This means it's easy to get around using the Metro but because it's quite expensive in "the city" most ordinary people live just outside which happens to be different states, Maryland and Virginia. So we actually stayed across the Potomac River in Virginia.
On the Friday we visited.... a shopping mall. One of the main cultural landmarks of Washington, NOT.
But we went back to the same store we went to in 2009 on my very first trip with Heather and they had the same cardboard Obama they had back then when he was running for President. This time I did get a photo with him though.
Then it was on to the Armory where the race expo and packet pickup was. As well as the exhibitors inside, the Army also had a few stands outside and some equipment such as this helicopter! It made for a great photo as the sun was just setting.
Then on the way back we got off the train on a random part of the city that sounded like it was central-ish and used the iPhone to google "pizza" and found this great place a couple of blocks away that served pizza pies, with pie being the operative word.
Not sure if I like the tomato on top of everything. I like to see the toppings so I can look forward to eating them! Rather than it being a surprise when I get a bit of sausage or whatever.
We found we were actually round the corner from Fords Theatre where Lincoln was shot. Then we grabbed some self serve frozen yoghurt and endured the walk up the tallest, slowest escalator in the world at our Metro stop.
On Saturday we decided to take a look at the Capitol Bikeshare system they have here. There was a dock right across the road from the hotel and it was only $7 for a 24hr membership.
There are over 175 stations across the area and after downloading the phone app it was easy to see where they were and how many spaces/bikes were available. We started on the middle left (11) and headed across the bridge into the Georgetown area.
The trips were free for up to 30mins and then $2 up to 60mins and so on. So in true Aberdonian style we made sure we got those bikes docked within the 30min timeframe. A couple of times we walked about a bit but one time we literally docked the bike then took it straight back out again in order to make a longer journey with a fresh 30mins, ha ha.
The Georgetown area is so nice. Like a couple of the other American cities (not New York) I've visited, the streets and buildings seem so clean, the brickwork on most buildings makes it look like it was just built. Maybe I'm just used to the grey granite of Aberdeen and the other much older buildings around the UK. Although I just read that that the oldest unchanged building in DC, a stonehouse in Georgetown, was built 270 years after Aberdeen university was founded!
Look, we cycled along the canal path for a bit, just like Inverness!
It is obviously heavily university orientated as the busy Saturday shopping streets we landed in consisted of Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Jack Wills, All Saints and preppy bars called things like "Rugby".
So we quickly exited onto a side street and I got to see some of the local houses. They looked expensive and the streets looked so good in the Fall with the colour of the trees.
.JPG)
It's definitely an area I'd go back and visit. We hadn't really planned out anything in particular before coming down. What with it being the day before the race, I was worried a day of cycling and walking and all that fresh air would tire me out, what with me being a super highly tuned athlete and all that.
Then back on the bikes, down the hill onto the waterfront.
We were going to head back over the river to the hotel but once we realised the bridge was basically behind the Lincoln Monument, it really is a small city, we raced along Constitution Avenue, where we did a u-turn in order to see this really cool statue of Einstein.
After an early dinner we took the Metro back to our hotel area but upon exiting, walked the opposite way, crossing main roads in the near dark didn't feel that safe but we wanted to see the famous Iwo Jima monument. It was brightly lit up on one side and looked amazing under the darkening skies. The monument was massive too, much larger than I'd expected.
Sunday morning was race day. The race started at 8am so I was up at 6am. I was worried I wouldn't get my regular race day porridge & bagel/toast as the hotel didn't serve food until 6.30am.
Heather had been ill in the run up to the race and got a bit worse again a few days before so decided not to run. She has done the event a few times before but that didn't make her feel any better about it, probably worse. Luckily there was a Starbucks outside the hotel that opened at 6am so while I showered and prepared my good wife made a porridge run for me!
The location of the hotel was excellent, the Metro stop was a 5min walk and only two stops to the Pentagon where the race started. It was funny to go down the stairs onto the platform to see hundreds of runners lined up waiting for the train and obviously the train full of runners that arrived on the platform.
It's the third largest 10 mile race in the world and there were just under 22,000 finishers. Minus the 1-150 "elite" runners, I was in the first coral of numbers 1-4000. I desperately needed to pee but when I seen the lines for the portaloos and the fact I had to be in my coral in 10mins time I just made my way through the other corals to get to mine.
With 15mins to go, they had a high ranking Army guy reading something on the sound system about the troops and the amount of wounded warriors taking part. Nearly everyone stopped and there was near silence. I was still making my way to the start but stopped with everyone else but after a minute I noticed there were still people using the loos and the sound of the doors continually banging closed so I pressed on towards my coral, trying hard to forget how much better I'd feel if I could only pee.
Once thegun cannon went, the start was the worst part for being crowded while running, the half dozen guys who ran off into the bushes to pee didn't make it any quieter. You are kind of stuck running on whatever part/side of the road you decided to start. Once we got up onto the bridge it widened out. I was glad I was that far up though, I can't imagine how bad it is further down the field, although you would get to see more of the wounded warrior guys taking part. I only passed one on the course and it was good to see some other runners clapping them and shouting encouragement and thanks.
Heather had taken my gear and was going back on the Metro to around mile 6 where the runners loop around and come back past again, so she could see me out on course. Can you tell in these pics that I spotted her?
All this unemployment has enabled me to do some consistent training and I was aiming ideally for 7minute mile pace for a 1hour 10 finish but was prepared to accept up to 7minute 30secs in the event it was warm or I didn't feel at good at the uncommon time of 6am, etc.
In the end, I don't think I've felt as good in a race for ages. The weather was perfect, around 11 or 12 degrees and a very light cool breeze. I kind of just ran how I felt and this meant around 7.05 pace and then I picked it up for the last 4 miles. So I ran faster for the second half and did around 6mins 36secs for the last mile. I felt strong at the finish and it makes me wonder how much harder I could've pushed from further out?
Straight through the finish area, grabbed my finishers "coin"
and to the toilet for that much needed pee. Then got some water, a bagel, a muffin, a cereal bar, a cookie and, oh that's it.
The only downside was I couldn't find Heather afterwards so I just made my way back on the Metro to the hotel and we met up there. Then I gorged on a Quiznos steak sandwich and on the 10min rest stop on the bus I had a tasty greasy pizza stromboli (a first for me but I'll be on the look out for those now).
Then to finish off a good weekend, when we got home my work permit card was in the mailbox!
So apart from the last few days where I have been moving stuff around the apartment and then taking delivery and assembling an Ikea sofa I shall be getting on the job scene asap.
I've visited DC once before for a weekend and if you didn't know, DC itself is actually quite small in size. This means it's easy to get around using the Metro but because it's quite expensive in "the city" most ordinary people live just outside which happens to be different states, Maryland and Virginia. So we actually stayed across the Potomac River in Virginia.
On the Friday we visited.... a shopping mall. One of the main cultural landmarks of Washington, NOT.
But we went back to the same store we went to in 2009 on my very first trip with Heather and they had the same cardboard Obama they had back then when he was running for President. This time I did get a photo with him though.
 |
| He's much flatter in real life |
 |
| And this dick |
Then on the way back we got off the train on a random part of the city that sounded like it was central-ish and used the iPhone to google "pizza" and found this great place a couple of blocks away that served pizza pies, with pie being the operative word.
Not sure if I like the tomato on top of everything. I like to see the toppings so I can look forward to eating them! Rather than it being a surprise when I get a bit of sausage or whatever.
We found we were actually round the corner from Fords Theatre where Lincoln was shot. Then we grabbed some self serve frozen yoghurt and endured the walk up the tallest, slowest escalator in the world at our Metro stop.
On Saturday we decided to take a look at the Capitol Bikeshare system they have here. There was a dock right across the road from the hotel and it was only $7 for a 24hr membership.
There are over 175 stations across the area and after downloading the phone app it was easy to see where they were and how many spaces/bikes were available. We started on the middle left (11) and headed across the bridge into the Georgetown area.
The trips were free for up to 30mins and then $2 up to 60mins and so on. So in true Aberdonian style we made sure we got those bikes docked within the 30min timeframe. A couple of times we walked about a bit but one time we literally docked the bike then took it straight back out again in order to make a longer journey with a fresh 30mins, ha ha.
The Georgetown area is so nice. Like a couple of the other American cities (not New York) I've visited, the streets and buildings seem so clean, the brickwork on most buildings makes it look like it was just built. Maybe I'm just used to the grey granite of Aberdeen and the other much older buildings around the UK. Although I just read that that the oldest unchanged building in DC, a stonehouse in Georgetown, was built 270 years after Aberdeen university was founded!
Look, we cycled along the canal path for a bit, just like Inverness!
It is obviously heavily university orientated as the busy Saturday shopping streets we landed in consisted of Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Jack Wills, All Saints and preppy bars called things like "Rugby".
So we quickly exited onto a side street and I got to see some of the local houses. They looked expensive and the streets looked so good in the Fall with the colour of the trees.
.JPG)
It's definitely an area I'd go back and visit. We hadn't really planned out anything in particular before coming down. What with it being the day before the race, I was worried a day of cycling and walking and all that fresh air would tire me out, what with me being a super highly tuned athlete and all that.
Then back on the bikes, down the hill onto the waterfront.
We were going to head back over the river to the hotel but once we realised the bridge was basically behind the Lincoln Monument, it really is a small city, we raced along Constitution Avenue, where we did a u-turn in order to see this really cool statue of Einstein.
After an early dinner we took the Metro back to our hotel area but upon exiting, walked the opposite way, crossing main roads in the near dark didn't feel that safe but we wanted to see the famous Iwo Jima monument. It was brightly lit up on one side and looked amazing under the darkening skies. The monument was massive too, much larger than I'd expected.
Sunday morning was race day. The race started at 8am so I was up at 6am. I was worried I wouldn't get my regular race day porridge & bagel/toast as the hotel didn't serve food until 6.30am.
Heather had been ill in the run up to the race and got a bit worse again a few days before so decided not to run. She has done the event a few times before but that didn't make her feel any better about it, probably worse. Luckily there was a Starbucks outside the hotel that opened at 6am so while I showered and prepared my good wife made a porridge run for me!
The location of the hotel was excellent, the Metro stop was a 5min walk and only two stops to the Pentagon where the race started. It was funny to go down the stairs onto the platform to see hundreds of runners lined up waiting for the train and obviously the train full of runners that arrived on the platform.
It's the third largest 10 mile race in the world and there were just under 22,000 finishers. Minus the 1-150 "elite" runners, I was in the first coral of numbers 1-4000. I desperately needed to pee but when I seen the lines for the portaloos and the fact I had to be in my coral in 10mins time I just made my way through the other corals to get to mine.
 |
| this amount of loos ÷ 22,000 people = ? |
With 15mins to go, they had a high ranking Army guy reading something on the sound system about the troops and the amount of wounded warriors taking part. Nearly everyone stopped and there was near silence. I was still making my way to the start but stopped with everyone else but after a minute I noticed there were still people using the loos and the sound of the doors continually banging closed so I pressed on towards my coral, trying hard to forget how much better I'd feel if I could only pee.
Once the
Heather had taken my gear and was going back on the Metro to around mile 6 where the runners loop around and come back past again, so she could see me out on course. Can you tell in these pics that I spotted her?
All this unemployment has enabled me to do some consistent training and I was aiming ideally for 7minute mile pace for a 1hour 10 finish but was prepared to accept up to 7minute 30secs in the event it was warm or I didn't feel at good at the uncommon time of 6am, etc.
In the end, I don't think I've felt as good in a race for ages. The weather was perfect, around 11 or 12 degrees and a very light cool breeze. I kind of just ran how I felt and this meant around 7.05 pace and then I picked it up for the last 4 miles. So I ran faster for the second half and did around 6mins 36secs for the last mile. I felt strong at the finish and it makes me wonder how much harder I could've pushed from further out?
Straight through the finish area, grabbed my finishers "coin"
and to the toilet for that much needed pee. Then got some water, a bagel, a muffin, a cereal bar, a cookie and, oh that's it.
The only downside was I couldn't find Heather afterwards so I just made my way back on the Metro to the hotel and we met up there. Then I gorged on a Quiznos steak sandwich and on the 10min rest stop on the bus I had a tasty greasy pizza stromboli (a first for me but I'll be on the look out for those now).
 |
| Nice, but not at $30 |
Then to finish off a good weekend, when we got home my work permit card was in the mailbox!
So apart from the last few days where I have been moving stuff around the apartment and then taking delivery and assembling an Ikea sofa I shall be getting on the job scene asap.
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