MARINE CORPS MARATHON -- DONE!

I finally finished my first marathon, the 39th Marine Corps Marathon, on October 26, 2014!! One of the hardest things I've ever done!

There was SO MUCH that preceded this day - training, injury, fundraising, traveling... which I'd like to write about at some point, but I just want to document this day before it isn't fresh in my mind anymore...

Pre-race:
Shonna and I stayed at the Ritz (woohoo!) at Pentagon City - one metro stop away from the Pentagon. Woke up around 5am, ate a banana with maple almond butter. Tried to use the bathroom, no luck. Oh well, we had to get out of the hotel and on the metro! Loaded up our gear for the race and headed out! For this race, I used Tailwind - 2x 26oz in my Orange Mud quiver (had to refill my bottle once during the race) and Advocare gels (used 3 during the race).

Getting on and off the metro was not hard, however there was about what seemed to be a mile walk from the metro stop to the slight bottlenecking getting to security. Once we got in, we found and met up with Gail and Kim and headed to bag check, which was also surprisingly easy (no lines). Then it was bathrooms, pictures, lining up. Shonna and I parted ways since we were running different paces. I found Amy and we stuck together at the start.

Right before the start of the race, there were paratroopers coming down with American flags... such an amazing sight. Then 7:55am finally rolls around and it officially starts! Woohoo! But it took us about 15 minutes of (more) walking to actually cross the start line!

Miles 1-3:
Amy and I stuck together for these first few miles which included passing the finish at Iwo Jima (see ya in about 5.5 hours!) and the trek up the hills of Rosslyn. I tried to keep it at an easy pace, to save energy for later! We walked up most of the huge (steepest) incline and then enjoyed the downhill part! During the downhill on Spout Run to the GW parkway, there were many guys peeing on the side of the road in the tree line. Like a LOT of them.

Miles 4-5:
Amy and I split off at this point. I enjoyed having someone to chat with at the beginning! :) I started my 4:1 intervals at this point. Well, I started them after my walk up the ramp to the Key Bridge into Georgetown. My plan was to use intervals until the halfway point, and then decided on what to do after that.... Around the start of mile 5, I took my first gel.

Miles 6-9:
This was the out and back on Rock Creek Parkway. I remember seeing the 3:45 pace group go by when I approached the start of the parkway... fast people!!! I tried looking for people I knew on the other side, but I never saw anyone. This stretch was nice and shady and FLAT, with trees lining the roads. I was keeping a good running pace to my walking... 11ish minute miles on this stretch! I was feeling good!

Miles 10-15:
We passed the Lincoln Memorial and headed onto Hains Point -- this stretch seemed to be the
longest, and hardest since we had been on the same long stretch of road with no turns for what seemed to be forever! Around mile 10-11, some lady's foot ran into mine and kicked my left shoe off! I remember my feet starting to hurt at mile 11. And then reaching mile 13 with spectators cheering, "you're halfway there!" --no not technically... especially when my Garmin reading was .25 miles early than the course mile markers at that point! I stopped on the side of the road to take a gel and refill my water bottle with a new baggie of Tailwind (the wind blew some of the powder all over the place!). The best part of the long stretch to Hains Point included the "Run to Honor" section with signs of photos of fallen service members followed by a line of American flags. The 5 hour pace group started passing me at the U-turn! I wanted to make sure I was ahead of them (in feeble hopes of getting a sub-5 hour time), so I tried to speed up to distance myself. I started running opposite intervals with a girl with a Team in Training jersey on. I made her my rabbit for a while... as well as a group of 3 ladies in purple. The signs along the road after the U-turn were pretty funny... done by Pacers (a local running store in DC) - those kept me entertained for a little bit.

Miles 16-19:
This was around the time I felt something in my right foot... so I had to slow it down and walk more. My feet were still hurting, I could feel blisters forming. I told myself that I would be feeling this until the end and tried to block that out. This stretch included passing the Washington Memorial, running around the National Mall and Smithsonians up to the Capitol building and back. On the way up to the Capitol, I heard a "JACY!!!" and it was Dave!!! Then a little further up, I hear another familiar voice calling my name... It was Rene!! She ran the Marine Corps 10K (that started at the Smithsonian) that morning and found me to cheer me on! I walked and talked with her for a little bit and then went on to the Capitol! I got a surge of inspiration after seeing my 2 friends! And then to add to that surge, a high school band at the Capitol started playing the Theme to Rocky (or was it "Eye of the Tiger"?) and I got really pumped up!!!! After making the U-turn at the Capitol, I saw Rene at the sidelines again and she cheered me on again! :) I then saw the mile 19 marker and realized that once I pass it, I will have completed a new distance PR with every step I take after that!! Not too much longer!!

Mile 20:
When I saw the 20 mile marker, I knew it was almost over... this is the last 10K! As I approached "THE Bridge", I decided I wanted to try to run until the end. No more intervals. On the bridge, I took my last gel. This bridge was windy and long... a lot of people around me were walking. At the end of the bridge, there was an incline that I decided to walk up (too tired at this point to use energy to make an uphill climb). At the bottom was the start of Crystal City.

Miles 21-23:
Crystal City!! The last part of the race! Or second to last part anyway. A huge MRTT cheer squad was at the bottom of the ramp! Woohoo! A little boost! I got my water bottle filled up and decided not to use any Tailwind...my mouth had that gross aftertaste of gels, I just wanted water! Crystal CIty was packed with spectators. My godmother Michel told me she'd be out there in a 'Cat in the Hat' hat so I kept an eye out for her... I passed another MRTT cheering section before the turn around. Awesome!! :) At the turn around, there was a mist sprayer which seemed like a great idea, however, I wasn't that hot and the water just made me cold! I saw Michel just past the mist point! I stopped and took photos with her and she gave me some encouraging cheers and then I went on my way....

Mile 24-26:
The END is near!!! Mile 24 included a Dunkin Donuts fuel station... I grabbed a cup (had 2 in it), and ate only one... which was hard because I had cotton mouth! Around this point, a kid on the sidelines tried to cheer us all on by chanting "One more mile!!" Oh boy... I didn't say anything, just laughed to myself... and so did some others. One person kindly corrected the kid... After that we went under an overpass and there was a marine in the median yelling out some "motivation": "Don't start walking now, you're almost there!! Less than 2 miles!!" We were next to the Pentagon and we were running along the road where the starting corrals were... this mile seemed to be the longest... I kept going...

Mile 26 to the FINISH:
ARGH, there's a damn HILL to the finish line, WTF?! I kept running up that hill... then there was a straightaway to the finish arches!!!! "What Does the Fox Say" was playing as I crossed the finish line (my new power song, lol). I am DONE!!!! Official time: 5 hours 15 minutes 44 seconds!!! I didn't cry like I thought I would... I high-five'd a few fellow runners that crossed the line around the same time I did. Then kept walking to shake hands with a long line of Marines congratulating all the finishers... what an awesome feeling!!! Then I got in a line for my medal!!! A cute young Marine put my medal around my neck and shook my hand. He didn't salute me, like I was told they would... I didn't care, I gave him a huge hug and took a selfie with him!!! After that, I got in line for the finisher photo with the Iwo Jima memorial! My feet hurt pretty badly, but made my way through the food line and had to WALK what felt like a mile (uphill!)to get out of the finishers area. Met up with Pam for a victory pic! She Boston Qualified!! Then met up with Shonna and headed home... what a morning!

Other notes:
- It was pretty packed all along the entire course... there was a lot of weaving though and slowing down or speeding up to get around people.
- Water stops were crazy. Cups everywhere!!!
- LOTS of spectators and music (either bands or DJs) along the course. Loved it!! The only part of the race that didn't have any spectators along the sidelines was the Bridge at mile 20.
- I saw a lot of big-heads --- huge cut outs of people's heads. And signs that said "You're running better than the government".
- Volunteers/Marines were AMAZING...
- Got lots of compliments on my skirt - which is actually Katie's skirt that I borrowed. I borrowed another sparkle skirt from her for last year's big race (RnR Savannah Half 2013) and did pretty well. I figured it would give me power! :)
- I wore my grandma's ring for good luck too. :)
- NO TUMMY ISSUES!! I was so happy!!!

Afterthoughts and Take-aways:
- Surprisingly, I don't think I ever hit a wall...not even at the mile 20 bridge. I was just focused on finishing and putting most of my energy into doing so as quickly as possible. I never really thought about it during the race, I mean there were times that I needed to stop running and walk, however I never really lost much momentum since I was doing intervals throughout most of the race. It just shows (me) that the "wall" only exists if you believe it to be there.
- I have learned that it is possible to finish a race with only a 19 mile run as your longest run before the marathon. I guess it helped that the 19 miler was a SUPER HARD trail run that really helped train my brain on the mind over matter approach to get through the run when the going gets tough.
- I also learned that you can recover from injury and run a good, respectable race with the last 4 weeks of marathon training happening primarily on an elliptical machine! You just have to stay on track and get the training time in.
- I am happy that I accepted the fact that I wasn't able to run my goal time due to the injury setback. I took the advice of many to make my first marathon an enjoyable and fun one, and not to push too hard. Last year at the RnR when I hit my PR, I was pushing myself the entire time, but felt ill the entire afternoon afterwards. For this marathon, I felt great... well other than having trouble walking due to blisters and a tendonitis issue on my right foot afterwards... lol. I felt WAY better than I expected to feel, anyway!

Adding pics later.. just wanted to get this written. :)