40th Marine Corps Marathon

November 12, 2015

Like I said in my previous post about the Marine Corps Expo, this race was special to me. It was special because it is a major marathon and I registered to be a part of the lottery and I was chosen the last week of March in 2015. I was so excited to wake up that morning at 4:00 a.m. and saw the email. I was awake that early because I had to travel to Boston for work. But it was a good way to start the day with this news.  All throughout the summer I knew that I had to step up my training to prepare for this race because it falls earlier into the Fall season than the usual races I run during that time of year.  Last year I ran the Philadelphia Marathon the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

The Marine Corps Marathon took place on Sunday, October 25. So that meant the long runs needed to take place earlier in the heat of the summer months. And I have to be honest, I wasn’t up to my game with my training this year for MOST of my races. In the Spring I ran the Cheshire Half marathon with intention. I wanted to get a PR or be close to my last PR for that races so I could use it as a proof of time race for the Disney races corral placements. I also ran the Middletown Half Marathon and had a decent time with that race, considering that it was such a hilly and warm race. But after those two races, the wheels sort of fell off the wagon for me.

Well, enough whining about the training or lack thereof, or insufficient training, let’s talk about the race. The night prior to the race the Mickey Milers had a meetup for dinner at Portofino for a pasta dinner which was fun. After that I walked back to the hotel with some friends and we made our plans for when and where to meet up on Sunday morning. I set my alarm for 4 am on Sunday morning so that I could be ready to meet Chris and Caryn downstairs by 5:10. I met up with Chris, Caryn and Meghan and then we walked to the shuttle pick up area, met up with Ian and took a bus to the Start Line area.

When we arrived we had to go through metal detectors. It didn’t take us long to get through because we arrived early . After that, we wandered around the runners village a little, some dropped off their bags at the bag check and then we used the potties (with no lines at all). Then to try to find a warmer place, we went to sit in a tent to get shelter from the wind. It was chilly out. Good running weather; but chilly for standing around. While in the tent it started to rain a little. I was able to flag down my friend Anne and she sat with us in the tent for a little bit. Several of our friends like Brittany and Kimberlee were stuck on the metro. It was very crowded and they were coming from an area much farther away than we did.

Around 7:15 we left the tent to walk to the finish area (porta potty stops again) to gather for our photo with the Mickey Milers. Anne was visiting with some of her friends and Kimberlee and Brittany were stuck in the line for the metal detectors. After the photo I went back to the runners village to reunite with Anne and wait for Kim. We were starting to get nervous for her.

Just before the race starts, paratroopers dropped from the sky with American flags. That was really awesome. There was also a flyover with 2 marine Osprey helicopters. That was VERY cool. I wasn’t worried that we weren’t in our corral yet, we still had a little bit of time. The wheelchair athletes were going to take off at 7:55 and then the rest would begin at 8:00, with plans that the final person would cross the start line around 8:30. BUT, the bridge cut off time was 1:15 solid. Despite where you started, you had to be at the bridge by 1:15 or else you could not finish the race. More on that later.

We sent Kim a message to meet us at the corral. Anne and I went to the corral and stood in a place where Kim wouldn’t miss us. She found us and we were relieved that all of us were finally together! It was perfect timing because the 5:30 pace group was right about where we were standing so we continued moving forward with the crowd to the Start. Meanwhile, during all of this, it was raining. We had on our rain ponchos. That was a little bit of a bummer.

The starting line was cool. There were marines there cheering us on and the color guard was in the median. I went and gave all of them a high five. I needed all of the positive encouragement I could get. Off we went into the course. During the first mile there was a little bit of incline. We were heading to the towns on the outskirts of the city. So the race course was not going towards the monuments right away. It was heading to the town of Rosslyn. Much of the first 4 miles were up hill. And one of the hills was similar to heartbreak hill, in my opinion. All during that time it was raining, but we ditched our ponchos in the first mile because they made us warm. So during mile 4 we started to do the math in our head to determine how long we had to make it to the bridge. We did a lot of fuzzy math along the miles to determine what pace we needed to maintain to make it to the bridge.

After that area we approached a section of the race where there was an out and back. I was upset about that. There were a LOT of fast looking people going past us and the crowd coming from the other direction seemed very long. I was whining to the girls that it was bothering me to see all of those people and it seemed like we were never going to reach the turn around point. We had been playing leap frog with “Santa” on the race course. I couldn’t let Santa beat me at the race. I believe this was around mile 5 or 6 on the course. We finally approached the turn around and made our way back towards the water. When we approached the water stop that we had been to earlier, they were tearing down the table and the porta potties were being hauled away. There were also about 6 or more busses driving towards the turn around. I was afraid they were sweeper busses that were going to start following the field all the way to the bridge. Anne and Kim pointed out to me that the busses were filled with marines so they were taking them from their stations back to wherever they needed to be. That made me feel a little better.

After that we ran towards Georgetown. It was a beautiful little town. The main street was lined with quaint stores and eateries. It reminded me of Main Street in Middletown. There were bands playing on the street there for us as well. After running down a good size hill we stopped for a picture together along the river. Then we continued on. I think we were near mile 9. At this point we were supposed to be receiving orange slices but there were NONE left! All you could see were orange peels everwhere and you could smell the sweek smell of oranges. I was really looking forward to having some fresh orange on my tongue. I was again disappointed that I couldn’t have some. Was this now because we were so far back in the pack? Did we start that late??? I didn’t want to look back to see.

After that section we came across a Marine Corps Band playing in front of the Jefferson Memorial. At the time I didn’t know it was the Jefferson Memorial. THe marines were all lined up along the stairs so it was hard to see what was at the top of the stairs. We were running alongside the river. Then we came up to an area that had some commotion going on. I asked Anne what it was and she said it was the part where we will run through the park. But before that we had to run through the Blue mile. That is at mile 12 and it was just ahead.

The Blue Mile is a powerful mile. Photos of fallen soldiers line the street for the entire mile. They are the same photos on both sides. I was looking for my friend Linda’s husband’s photo and found it about half way into the Blue Mile and touched it. I haven’t been affected by the death of a soldier in my own family; but I met Linda at the 2014 marathon and know of her story and know about the extreme heart ache she endures every single day because of the loss of her precious Phil. This is a somber mile of reflection. So many, too many, all of those soldiers are someone’s loved one, a son, daughter, wife, mother, father, son, aunt, uncle, cousin, friend. They died so that we can have the freedom that we experience every day. Do we really appreciate their sacrifice? If you didn’t think you did, you will think about it during that mile. At the end of the mile the family member of those lost loved ones are holoding up American flags and cheering us runners on. I gave them high fives and used their love and encouragement to help power my run. The next time I run this race I want to be a run for blue runner and wear a blue shirt to identify that I am running for them. It’s so sad to imagine that they are out there cheering for us runner while their loved one is no longer with them. I just can’t fathom it.

So off we went past the blue mile and towards the miles at the mall, working our way to the bridge. We passed the half marathon point and I couldn’t believe it was taking me 3 hours to do the half marathon. At this point I was doing the math again, I still had to go 7 miles and it was 11:30 and we had until 1:15 to get those 7 miles done, when our average was 14 minute miles. I didn’t want to admit it but it was looking unlikely. At this point I was walking a lot more. Then my knee did something funky. So the girls told me there was a medical tent not too far up ahead. I planned to stop in there, take 2 Tylenol and have them give me a piece of foam that I would wrap tight around my IT band and thigh to hold it in place to keep it from doing anything funky. That stop couldn’t take long or else I was really in trouble. I was in and out of there in about a minute. We pushed on.

As we entered the Mall area there was a white car that came up along side us. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I had a feeling it was the pace car for the bridge. After a little while of it slowly creeping along side us I finally said to the girls that I think it is the sweeper car that is going to tell us if we don’t make it to the bridge. They didn’t think so because they figured someone would have said something. Well a little futher up, a marine started to yell out to everyone to NOT let that white car pass you or else you will not make it to the bridge. SHIT! It was a pace car. I had to pick things up and push to get through. The car was starting to get ahead a little at a time. There was a grass median between both sides of the Mall are but I didn’t have the good conscience in me to cut through the grass, plus I hadn’t discussed it with the girls. At the water stop the car was behind us. I took my Tylenol at that water stop and then we rounded the corner and made our way up the mall towards the Capitol.

Sadly, the car was creeping ahead of us. I tried to pick up some running; but we were on mile 18 of the marathon and running wasn’t coming easy for me. I had just taken that Tyelenol and I almost threw up with the water and Tylenol in my stomach. Just in front of the Capitol I told Kimberlee I was going to be sick; but keep going and I, too was going to keep pushing ahead. I walked as fast as I could, I tried to jog a little, I held down my vomit from actually coming out. Then I was at mile 18. Kim and Anne had gone ahead. They knew they had to, we didn’t want to not make it to the bridge. We all had a goal.

When I got to mile 19 the people yelled out you have 12 minutes to make it to the bridge. Keep up that pace you have and you will make it. Well about 6 steps later I almost lost my cookies. I had to stop. The car lights were fading away ahead of me. But I kept a laser focus on them and I did not look behind me. I was NOT going to stop. Even though earlier in the race I was whining that I couldn’t do it; I wanted to finish, I didn’t want to be swept at the bridge. Especially when I was this close! I rounded a corner and people were all yelling to keep pushing and the stop lights that you have to go under to make it to the bridge were just ahead. I was about 2 minutes from the bridge and the car was already parked there near the mile 20 sign. I DID NOT WANT to lose my girls! I could see them about 50 yards ahead of me. I approached the place on the bridge and thought that I made it but wasn’t quite sure. I was waiting for a bus or something to block the entrance and people to be told they were sorry. I didn’t hear that. I just heard people asking, “we are safe if we are on the bridge right?” I still kept my eyes on Anne and Kim but they didn’t turn around. I yelled out a few times but it was too noisy, the couldn’t hear me. I shuffled a little to catch up and yelled out again and they were happy to see I made it! We reunited at the end of the bridge and pushed on for the last 10K of the race.

We were so glad that we all made it and the rest was just going to happen and we were going to enjoy the medal at the end of the race. The last 6.2 miles were pretty uneventful. There were about 200 people left behind us, and a small smattering of spectators on the course. The place on the course where you receive Dunkin Donuts munchkins was being cleaned up by the marines and all you saw were the sad squished munchkins that were on the ground. I think I would have really enjoyed a piece of real food at that moment. I was tired of my pretzels and gummy bears. Even water was unappealing to me. I really wanted a chocolate milk or a Coke! We were im Crystal City and running right past my hotel for miles 23 and boy did I want to just walk off the course and take a shower and have my chocolate milk! With just 3 miles left I could get through this; but it also meant that we would be finishing around 3:00 p.m. My flight home was 6:30 and my hotel said I could keep my room until 4:30 so I could shower before my flight. It was a race against time.

We got to mile 25 and I saw the soldier that was on the Metro with me the day before with his adorable dog! Anne also saw him too and took pictures of his “dog”. I guess she didn’t believe me yesterday when I told her how good looking the marines are! We rounded the corner at the mile 26 mark and had to run up a very steep hill for the last .2 miles. Well there was no gas in this tank to run up any hill so we walked our way all the way to the finish line. It was a precious moment. The marines were there cheering for us and after we crossed the finish there were many marines lined up to hand out the medals. After you receive your medal you can take your picture at the statue of Iow Jima. That was great. I couldn’t be happier.

I saw a fellow Mickey Miler Kristie Green at the statue and she said she had a tough race and she trained really hard for it. We all had a lot to say about the race but couldn’t identify where our issues were to cause our training to fail us. I know that I failed in my training. My longest run was a 19 miler a month before and even that long training run had too much walking in it, despite what Jeff Galloway says that it is still the miles under our feet. Yes, that is true; but it also means the quality of our run will only mimic the type of training we did.

I said goodbye to everyone and had to rush to get on the bus back to my hotel. The bus got lost going back so when I arrived it was 4:30 and I had to tell the front desk that I needed just a half hour to shower and get out so they were gracious to grant that for me. I took a stinging shower thanks to the chaffing I encountered from running in the rain at the beginning of the race. I rushed to get ready and was on the metro and at the airport in time to get through security.

While there I saw my friend Danielle Nardi. She actually is the person responsible for getting me into runDisney races, which lead to the Disney marathon, which now leads to non Disney marathons as well! She has run the Marine Corps before and we were trying to hook up at the Hartford Marathon and even prior to this race, with no luck. But thankfully we had the chance to visit for a little bit after security. Then I learned that I had to take a shuttle from where I was to the gates in the next terminal. I had to walk down stairs with my bags to get on that shuttle. That was scary. I just dragged my bag down the stairs real lady like! LOL. After the one minute ride across the tar mac I had to walk UP the stairs with my bags. I let everyone else go in front of me and a wonderful airport employee offered to carry my bag up the stairs. I told him I could have kissed him! I gave him a tip and went on my way to find a seat while I waited for the plane. It was a quick flight home and I couldn’t wait to see my family.

For several days after the race I relived many moments and talked to Anne and Kim about the race. During the race I swore I didn’t want to do it again. I was hating it, I expected to see more tourist attractions and be “in” D.C. more. Kind of like when I went there with my parents when I was 16. But then last week I was reading the brochure they gave us at the race and saw a few races that interested me and also said that if you did one of them, you are guaranteed entry to the MCM marathon the following year.

As I rethink the whole experience I felt like I had to have this race as a reality check for me.  To break me down and show myself that I could push myself and build myself back up by actually getting to the bridge by giving it everything I had, and then from that point getting to the finish line.  I didn’t want to NOT make it.  I didn’t want to be swept or else I would have felt like a failure.  But I also felt that I need to respect the marathon distance.  It’s no joke.  Sure you can half-ass the training; but you will also have a half-ass race experience as well.  I didn’t finish strong, I just finished.  I don’t want to have that kind of experience with my races.  I want to be stronger, more prepared and happy (or less miserable) during the race.  The race is supposed to be the celebration from all of the training.  That wasn’t what happened for me with this race.  Changes will be made for my future.

I had been saying that I didn’t want to do another fall marathon. I wanted to register for NYC to see if I would be chosen for the lottery and the same for Chicago; but was really beginning to feel strongly that maybe next year I should just work towards Dopey. So I have some soul searching to do. Of course after watching the NYC marathon on TV recently doesn’t help! I will definitely be putting my name in the lottery for that race.

So for now, I have to review my training schedule for the Dopey challenge, get my head back in the game and put in some work.  Stay tuned!