MCM Race Day!

39th Marine Corps Marathon 

10/26/14

After a night of disrupted sleep (thank you, K), my alarm went off at 4am just like it has for so many long runs on Saturday mornings with Angela during our training. Today was finally Marathon Day though! I was out the door in time to get to the metro station near our hotel promptly at 5am when the station started its early service for the race. But, I had to wait 20-30 minutes for the first train to arrive since mine was the last station before the race drop-off point. One of my biggest concerns was overcrowding on the trains based on what I had heard from others who previously ran the race. But, my early bird ways alleviated that issue, and I didn't have any problems with transport to the race. The marathoners exited at Pentagon Station and then we had to make our way over to the Runners Village nearby. I quickly made my way through the metal detectors and found my way over to one of several tents to relax and wait for Angela. Things were pretty relaxed and, surprisingly, there weren't a lot of people around yet.

The temperature was in the mid 50's in the pre-dawn hours, and the strong winds made it feel slightly cooler. I opted to go ahead and wear my throwaway warm-up clothes before the race, although I probably would have been okay without them. Angela and I chatted for a bit once we met up, then I suggested that we go ahead and make our way over to the staging area for the start since it was a bit of a walk from where we were hanging out. The race started on Route 110 in Arlington, VA between the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery.

Leaving Runners Village to head over to the start

The sun started to come up, and we both made trips to the well-placed port-o-potties by the actual start area. Other than that, there wasn't much to do except wait. Angela surprised me with her calmness, especially considering this was her first marathon. So, we were pretty zen at that point about what we were about to embark upon for the next 4 hours or so. I was unhappy about the likely weather conditions, but it's not like I could do anything about it. It was what it was.

The opening ceremonies started about 30 minutes before the marathon start of 7:55am and included several skydivers arriving in the start area, including a Medal of Honor recipient carrying the American flag to the start, a flyover by two military helicopters, and a brief speech by actor Sean Astin who was also running the race.

Lined up at the race start along Route 110

We crossed the start line about 7 minutes after the gun time. As with all big races, it was crowded at the start (and, honestly, never really cleared out with more space along the route). Angela was a few steps behind me, which was stressing me out a little bit. She felt that I was going faster than she wanted to go, although I swear I was sticking to the plan of 10-minute pace for the early miles. I briefly stopped to take some water from my bottle at mile 2 and then she ended up ahead of me. I got back in front and kept turning my head to make sure she was behind me. At some point in the next mile, I lost her. I made a hard decision to just keep going at that point because I was afraid that if I stopped, then I wouldn't find her in the crowd or she'd end up passing me without me seeing it. It definitely wasn't the plan for us to separate this early, and I felt nervous at the thought of running the next 23-24 miles without her, but I knew we both had to run our own races. And, well, there was some downhill coming in the next mile that I knew I would want to let loose and take advantage of.

For better or worse, that got things turning over on a quick pace and I just rode it for the next 6 miles or so. I felt great, although I knew I was running a "stupid" race by doing so when one of my main goals for the day was to run smart. At one point while I was rolling along, a guy asked me what kind of pace I was planning to run. My reply, "Whatever feels good." Sub 9-minutes felt good, so I took it.

Another indication that things were not going smartly was that I was nowhere near done with my water bottle (which had Tailwind + water) when I was scheduled to swap bottles with K at mile 6. I saw him as I approached mile 6, but he didn't see me until I was passing him. I decided not to stop because I was cruising along at a good clip at that point and had barely drank 1/4 of my water bottle at that point (the plan was to drink 1 bottle/hour). Unbeknownst to me, he made his way to the other side of the road since I was on an out-and-back section, and he appeared again around mile 9. I wasn't expecting him until mile 12, so I was on the inside of the road not in a good place to swap bottles. Again, I chose not to stop even after seeing him because I still hadn't finished bottle 1 (at almost 1.5 hours in). I knew that this was going to come back to hurt me because I knew how warm the temperature was expected to get over the course of the run.

I started to have a weird stomach cramp around mile 10-11. I stopped briefly to try to work it out somehow. We entered the loop around the Tidal Basin during this stretch, and I was in need of a pick me up from K (and a new water bottle) at our pre-planned meeting point around mile 12. But, mile 12 came and went with no sign of K. At that point, I knew I was on my own with hydration/nutrition for the next hour or more. So, I had to stop at the aid station around the halfway point to refill my bottle with water and start drinking Gatorade.  I hit the halfway point at 2:02, even with a few walking breaks thrown in after mile 10.

I don't remember much after the halfway point other than I was already struggling with the headwinds (15-20mph) and sun with temperatures rising to the low 70's by the end of the race. I was starting to overdrink fluids and struggled with placing of the aid stations 2+ miles apart - my bottle was empty, my mouth was dry, and I was WARM. Not a good combo for me, and I started to get in a bad mental place.

But, the miles still kept clicking by, although there was definitely walking involved at several points. I *finally* saw K waiting for me at our next meeting point just before mile 19. This time he saw me coming and was ready to swap the bottles. But, I just told him that I needed him to jump in and run with me for a bit because I needed a mental boost and some encouragement. We ran together for a short ways until the 19 mile marker, despite his concern that he was going to get tossed off the course by a Marine. I made it to mile 19 at around 3 hours, then I had him walk with me for a bit while I talked with him about how I was feeling. I told him that I was probably going to implode and have a rough road ahead to the finish. But, then I took off again and tried to "rally" (as I was thinking of reading my first marathon coach's race report from Kona the day before).

From there it was a struggle though. The remainder of the course was extremely boring and the route was very exposed to the sun. I went through several bad patches, but kept trying to pull myself out of them with various mantras going through my head. Nothing really physically hurt per se, although my left hip had my attention to some extent since before the halfway point. More than anything, I was just having to mentally tough it out through the warm, windy conditions and uninspired scenery. I had been keeping an eye out for Angela on an out-and-back stretch through Crystal City after mile 21, but I never saw her.

As we approached the mile 26 mile marker, I finally got a glimpse of the finish line at the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial ABOVE me. I had heard that the finish was uphill, and it was definitely going to be a push to get there. Not a lover of hills, especially at the end of a marathon, I stopped and walked for a few steps (which K witnessed from his vantage point nearby). Then, I got it together and pushed onward to the finish, slapping hands with the Marines that lined the course at that point. I finished with a smile on my face. 4:23:34 chip time; 4:30:49 gun time (on the linked video).

Then, it was time for my favorite moment of the day - getting my medal placed around my neck by a Marine. And, yes, I may have lined up for this particular cute Marine to do the honors.

I called K, who was waiting for me just outside the finish area. Then, I hung around to try to see Angela, who unbeknownst to me at that point had crossed the finish line just a minute after me. We ended up meeting for a celebratory moment at a nearby hotel.

Then, we went our separate ways with plans to meet later for dinner. K and I had planned to take the metro back to our hotel, but we were shocked to see the lines all the way outside of the metro station on ground level. Um, no thank you. So, we hoofed it back to our hotel, about 1.5 miles from the finish through Georgetown along some of the race route that I had traversed several hours earlier. But, I had no sense of awareness that I had run through there...more on that in a minute.

About to cross the Key Bridge into Georgetown for the 2nd time of the day

We made a pit stop to pick up some goodies at Georgetown Cupcake on our way back to the hotel - YUM!

We got burgers for a late lunch then got cleaned up and took naps before heading to Bethesda, MD to meet Angela and her family for dinner.

2 happy marathon girls + George

And, with that, marathon day was a wrap.

From the MCM FB page after the race

Results

Overall, I feel okay about my race. But, I am also disappointed because I am confident that I could have had a better race under different weather conditions - temperatures in the 40's and 50's would have been preferred without the strong headwinds. I also didn't stick to my plan in terms of hydration/nutrition and pace, so I definitely wouldn't say that I met my goal of running a smart race. At the same time though, K reminded me that this was really my first true marathon back after the ankle injury. I made it through the training and ran a decent race, so hopefully I will only improve from here.

One thing about the race itself...for this race to be nicknamed the "Marathon of Monuments," I sure didn't see them. I ran those 26.2 miles with my head and visor down trying to shield the sun and my eyes forward on the ground ahead of me trying to find a clear path through the crowd to run through. Honestly, it was pretty disappointing to expect to see such a scenic course, and it didn't really turn out that way for me. K enjoyed the race from a spectator's perspective, but this is not a race that goes on my must do list.

What's next for me then? Well, I have a few half-marathons on the schedule for the upcoming months. And, the next marathon is already on the books -  The Colorado Marathon in Fort Collins, CO on May 3, 2015. Downhill, please! I already know that my training will be more disrupted over the next few months though with multiple trips planned. So, the training consistency likely won't be there until February or so, but at least I am not starting from scratch at this point with fitness. I think I will keep up with the weekly blog posts about my training for that race because I think it has helped with my accountability.

Thanks for following along on this journey!