And still another MCM report...sorta longish (Read 448 times)

I'm finally getting around to my race report. I spent a few extra days in DC to do some sightseeing. I think the walking did me good. Although, seriously, why so many freaking stairs at the Lincoln Memorial? This was my first marathon. So, I joined a training group and quickly had to HTFU: they ran at 6:30 AM on Saturdays. I’m not a morning person. I followed my coolrunning training schedule religiously. I was briefly derailed by a hip injury in late August, but took a week off (torture!) and recovered. Fast forward to race day. I woke at 5:20 and ate my traditional three-quarters of a luna bar. I wrote my name on my shirt because I would need the crowd support…good move. At 6:00, I went down to the hotel lobby where other runners were congregating. We walked in the cold and dark for about a mile to the start. Slowly, the sun came up and it warmed to about 49 degrees. It’s amazing that race day weather was perfect given that the days before and after were cold, rainy and windy. It was in the 60s and sunny by the finish. My primary goal was to finish without medical assistance, but my secondary goal was to BQ. At my age, that’s four hours. Based on my half marathons, it was a conceivable but stretch goal. I lined up with the 4-hour pace group. Good move. I don’t have a garmin, but here are my overall splits from the MCM site: 5 K: 0:28:16 10 K: 0:56:23 15 K: 1:24:03 20 K: 1:51:25 Half: 1:57:38 25 K: 2:18:44 30 K: 2:46:51 35 K: 3:15:43 40 K: 3:45:03 26.2: 3:58:22 (BQ! Can you call it a PR if it's your first?) I ran with the pace group for the first 9 miles or so. It was pretty crowded and I was nearly tripped a few times. I talked to some great people (including Kimmie!) along the way. The pace group leader was terrific. These early miles went pretty quickly. The hills weren’t too awful. I was lulled into believing that the rest of the course would be flat (see mile 21) until the last hill at the finish. At around mile 10, I got slightly ahead of the pace group. I had the comfort of knowing that I'd meet up with them again if I needed to slow down. I never saw them again, although they were problably only a minute behind me. For the most part, the miles continued to click by pretty quickly. I hooked up with Kimmie again and several other nice people. Then came mile 21, which I call “the bridge to nowhere.” It was a very very long bridge with quite an incline, IMHO. At this point, the crowds were scarce and a lot of people were walking. I was prepared for the hills in the early miles, but not for this bridge. I stopped whining and HTFUd. After getting off the bridge, we did a loop around Crystal City and I was feeling a little better. I did, however, have to run past my hotel TWICE. I resisted the urge to run in for a nap. In the final mile, my legs felt like I was running in cement boots through molasses with fire ants on my calves. I smiled weakly when spectators yelled my name. I came upon an obnoxiously perky runner who was incessantly spewing platitudes at her friend who was having a tough time. I wanted to hurt her and make her shut up. However, I funneled my annoyance into running away from her. At 26 miles, I see the dreaded hill that leads to the finish at the Iwo Jima Memorial. I run/scramble up the hill and on to the finish. I get my finisher medal, which weighs more than I do. My friend spots me quickly and provides moral support, dry shirt and flip flops. Overall impression of MCM: I expected the marines to be courteous, organized and efficient, and they were all that. However, I was mostly impressed with how genuinely warm they were. They made me feel like I was the most important person running...not just one of 18,000+. The expo, start and race course were incredibly well organized. My only complaint is the crowded finish area and the difficulty getting out. I planned to walk the 2 miles to the hotel but my calves vetoed that idea. We avoided the metro (huge lines) and took a shuttle to Crystal City. After resting on the shuttle, I was able to walk a mile or so to my hotel. What's next? The stars aligned for my first marathon. I'm almost afraid to run another because I can't imagine it going as well. I plan to run one (which?) next fall and then Boston in 2010. I’ve been a Boston spectator for years (tough work) and I live along the route (just past Cleveland Circle). Even though I'm not wild about training for Boston through the winter, I’ll do it because I earned it At least I have a year to procrastinate. Congrats to all who ran fall marathons and good luck to those whose races are coming up!

Great report. Congratulations.

Great job. Congrats on the BQ!

Fantastic race and report, Boston! Congratulations on the PR and BQ! Looking forward to reading more reports from you.

Wow! Well done and congrats on the BQ! The 14th St. bridge did seem to last forever.