MCM: spectator report & weekly wrap
I woke up early (but not as early as the runners) and got everything ready for spectating! Liz's main man, Wes, picked me up and we parked in Clarendon and met Lauren to ride around and cheer everyone on our bikes. Our first stop was the Key Bridge. We rode down Wilson and got settled. Boy, was it chilly riding down the hill, and windy on the bridge!
Monday: 50 minutes lifting (legs), 15 minutes/4 miles recumbent bike, 20 minutes/1000 meter swim.
Tuesday: 1:09/20.03 miles cycling, failed run attempt, 50 minutes lifting (arms/chest/back).
Wednesday: 60 minutes lifting (legs), 45 minutes/2300 yard swim.
Thursday: 40 minutes lifting (a/c/b), 30 minutes/7 miles recumbent bike.
Friday: 60 minutes lifting (legs), 20 minutes/4.5 miles recumbent bike.
Saturday: 2 hours/33.12 miles cycling.
Sunday: 10.25 miles cycling (MCM spectating).
shot from the bridge
the fabulous (and cold) spectators!
I rubbed the warm tea all over my face instead of drinking it.
Pretty sure they drank their drinks.
We bumped into Cheryl on the bridge who was picture-taking like a champ. It was really exciting to be spectating at this point of the race - there was a party going on at the corner in Georgetown, and tons of spectators, and the runners were really pumped up as well. We saw the CAR girls come through - Liz, Beth, and Amy - and they looked great! There were a ton of runners in costume (we saw Super Mario & Luigi at least a dozen times). After that, we walked our bikes into Georgetown and got settled after the water stop to try and catch a glimpse of everyone on their way back through. We had a blast pointing out the costumes and cheering on runners. Everyone still looked happy and strong.
After seeing the girls, we walked down to the waterfront, looped around the restaurants and up towards the Memorial Bridge. We took a slight wrong turn and walked under the bridge, and when we turned around to walk back around, bumped into Joe again! He tried to steal my bike to finish the race, but we shoved him back into the masses and headed up towards the Lincoln. We got up there early enough to see the late 2:00 marathoners fly through. I got to see Sean hanging strong with the 3:10 pace group and he looked like he was eating up the miles. We saw the girls again, and I caught a glimpse of Liz as she came through. We also bumped into Liz's sister Katie, and chatted for a few minutes before deciding to head down to Crystal City. We rode over the Memorial Bridge and hopped onto the GW - a brilliant decision as the trail was almost completely empty!
When we popped out at Crystal City, we were just north of the mile 23 turn-around, and the runners had thinned out quite a bit. After watching for a few minutes, we saw the 3:30 pace group come through (quite a bit smaller than at the Lincoln). I also bumped into the lovely Kirstin & Tom, who had the same fantastic idea of riding down the MV to Crystal City.
Standing at this point in the race was a great place to see a lot of mental toughness. It's an out-and-back, which means you get to watch all the people that are a mile or so ahead of you, and you just came over the windy lonesome bridge. Also, you've just run 23 miles, so you're pretty grumpy. However, there were a ton of spectators and music was blasting. I got a chance to see my friend Kirstee (who was ridiculously right on the tail of the 3:30 pace group), the CAR girls, Brittany, Liz, and Joe over the course of an hour or so.
After they all went through, I took my ear infection home for a nap.
Monday: 50 minutes lifting (legs), 15 minutes/4 miles recumbent bike, 20 minutes/1000 meter swim.
Tuesday: 1:09/20.03 miles cycling, failed run attempt, 50 minutes lifting (arms/chest/back).
Wednesday: 60 minutes lifting (legs), 45 minutes/2300 yard swim.
Thursday: 40 minutes lifting (a/c/b), 30 minutes/7 miles recumbent bike.
Friday: 60 minutes lifting (legs), 20 minutes/4.5 miles recumbent bike.
Saturday: 2 hours/33.12 miles cycling.
Sunday: 10.25 miles cycling (MCM spectating).