Marine Corps Marathon Weekend Recap

Okay so sweet Amy's mararathon recap got me motivated to write my own, so without further ado her is teh MCM weekend recap.

The weekend began on Friday when I caught my flight to DC, the flight was smooth as silk, on time with no problems whatsoever.  I arrived at Reagan National Airport where my friend Katie picked me up. I had never met Katie in person before, we met many years ago on a message board so this was our first in-real-life meeting.  It was delightful to share her company as we took in Old Town Alexandria and had lunch. As a bonus I got to cuddle her 9 month old, perfect for my pre marathon nerves.

Then it was back to the hotel to check in and wait for Dana to arrive.  After Dana got there we headed off to the expo to pick up the all important bibs, shirts and bags. I bought myself a shirt and a pendant to commerate Marathon #4! We then headed back to the hotel, had a snack and headed to bed. Sometime in the late night/early morning hours the other two members of the roomates arrived Colleen and Makeya!

Saturday- Twas the Day before the Marathon:

First off it was COLD in DC on Saturday, rainy, sleety, snowy, downright dreary.  I was hoping and praying with all fingers and toes crossed that the weather would clear as predicted for the next day.  Now I like to be cool when I run, but wet for 5+ hours no thank you.

We met up with Stacy and the rest of the gang at the expo, and got the wonderful suprise that Sherry's husband David had a shirt with all our names on it to cheer us on the next day. What a great guy!

The rest of the day was spent at the Smithsonian and then we went out to dinner with the rest of team run/walk, including Hannah who had flown in just to cheer us on! She's amazing!  I had a minor/major freakout regarding my choice of clothing for the following day, but with Hannah's help made the decesion to run in  long sleeves and capri pants. Lucky for me I had packed them.

Sunday- MARATHON DAY!!!

Here it was the day we had been training for, planning for and thinking about for the past four months was upon us. With 4 girls in our room when our alarms all started chripping at 4:45 am! (In case you were wondering that is EARLY).  We had made the decesion the night before to get into the first shuttle lines at 5:30 am.  We dressed in the pre-dawn, put on throw away clothes over our running clothes, and met up with everyone else in our hotel lobby. Last minute pictures, hugs and good wishes from our cheerleaders and we were off to the shuttles.  We got right on a shuttle no problem and rode it to the start line area. We huddled together in the tent (renamed the incubator by Sherry) ate our pre-run breakfasts, and went to the bathroom.  Then we began the walk to the start line.

We lined up in the corral where we thought our finish time would be 5:30 ish, and wonder of wonders we ran into 3 other MITers Jolin, Laura and Linda.  My goal for this marathon was to stay with Dana the whole time no matter what, so as the National Anthem played and we got a flyover from Marine One I started to get a little nervous, I had never "paced" someone before in a marathon but here we GO!!

Miles 1-8 Arlington VA- Having Fun Now!

The first miles were in Arlington VA, and we stuck to our Galloway 4:1 method perfectly.  Stacy as always was the pace master and she kept us right on track.  Dana was wearing the pace band so at each mile marker we would check in with her as to where we were in terms of our 5:30 goal time.  So far so good.  There were some hills in Arlington but we handled those pretty well and what goes up must come down!!

Miles 9-12, Some fans, Georgetown, still keeping the pace

As we approached mile 10 we knew that Hannah would there, but before that we ran through Georgetown, saw the back of the University and many cute little shops.  and actually saw David in line for cupcakes at Georgetown Cupcakes from TLC's show DC Cupcakes, he shouted out that he would save some for us! At mile 10 when we saw Hannah we ditched some of our clothes and I got rid of my hat, which was bugging me along with Stacy's jacket. Thanks Hannah for schlepping all of our extra gear around DC you rock!!

Soon after that I turned to Dana and Stacy and asked how are you doing? Fine, fine- Good let's go!

Right before the half marathon mark we decided to take a bathroom break, something I had never done in any race before, and it took us 10 minutes. Yep the line was that long.  I think it messed with us mentally a bit, but what was done was done and on we went.

 Miles 13-16- More Fans and the Memorial Miles

As we contiuned on I was feeling good, but Dana started to struggle, saying she couldn't catch her breath during our running intervals, eeep! We still have 10 more miles to go and the marathon doesn't really begin until mile 20.  I was a little nervous, but tried to be calm and reassuring, and asked her what she wanted to do, longer walk breaks, slower running? She decided she would like to try a 3:2 interval fine with me.  As we approached mile 16 I kept saying just a little further and we'll see Hannah and everyone else, just a little further.  And we DID! Hannah, Colleen, Jacqueline, David, Lance and Shawna! Big Cheers, hugs and how are you doing, you look great etc.  Then we ran around some more monuements and I was trying to point out the sights to take the girls mind off of things. 

Miles 17-20- Beat that DARN Bridge.

 You see at MCM if you do not keep a certain pace by mile 20 and the bridge, they pull you off the course and ship you back no medal, no finish time.  I kept checking with Stacy regarding our pace to ensure we were going to make that.  I had never seen a more beautiful sight in my life than that bridge at mile 20! - 10 K to go we got this! But that was until I got on the bridge- longest mile ever. Along a freeway with nothing to look at. At this point we were 2:1 intervals, and my hamstrings hurt more if I was walking so I was doing a slow jog next to Dana to help with the pain.

Miles 21-26.2 Home stretch!!

These miles are pretty much a blur to me, we came across Laura and Jolin who were walking, at some point I remember asking Laura how she was doing and I got the classic response of this race " I don't think I could feel any worse if I tried." We kept run/walking which at this point was more walking than running.  At 3 miles to go my Garmin died- no good.  And at 2 miles to go I remember asking Dana for our time and me pushing her a little so we could finish in under 6 hours. At this point Stacy looked strong so I told  her to go on ahead. Actually I had told her this several times in the race, and really she could have.

And with .2 to go, Colleen appeard to push us up the final steep cruel hill to the finish. I crossed the line with Dana right beside me. I was a sobbing shaking mess, but on the plus side I got a hug from the Marine giving out the medals.

We got our pictures in front of the War Memorial, and then began the long walk to the baggage check and the family meet up area.  Seriously who puts these things so far away from the finish line.  We met up with everyone else!! All of team run/walk had finished as well as Kristy and Sherry!  We had dinner and  cupcakes later!

Overall Impression:

I LOVED IT!! It was an incredible experience, the race course was gorgeous, the weather perfect, and the company outstanding.  The was the first time I had ever run side by side with a friend for the whole 26.2 miles and it was an experience not to be missed.  I recomend MCM to anyone! I had never felt such and incredible sense of pride in my country, as we thanked the Marines at each water station they replied "Oh no Ma'am thank YOU! Seriously this is easy peasy compared to what they do for our country every single day! Thank you Service Men and Women!!

"Sometimes we need endurance to have the best kind of fun." -Kristen Armstrong

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