Executive Summary – A really nice 20-mile run in the Nation's Capitol.

Much Longer version

The Start

I arrive at the northern parking lot of the Pentagon at 6:00 am to find the place somewhat deserted. I’m used to running Disney events that have an obnoxiously early start time. For Disney, 6:00 am is a half an hour after the start. At the MCM, 06:00 is two hours before the start. There are people here, just not a whole lot of them.

At 7:00 am the Runner’s village is getting kinda crowded. My wife and I part company and I walk out onto Jefferson Davis Highway to find the starting blocks. Unlike runDisney, which separates runners into corrals, this massive marathon has self-seeding. Find the sign that has your anticipated finish time on it and stand with folks who self identify to have the same athletic ability as you do. This causes a bit of an internal conflict: where do I line up? The finish time I’d like or the one that is closer to reality. I decide to split the baby in half and line up at the five-hour block. I’m surprised just how far back I am. I’m taller than most people (6 ft 6 in.) and from my spot at 5:00 I can’t see the starting line. I spot the 5:00 Clif Pacer and decide that for the next five hours, she and I are going to be best friends.

At 7:20 am, the opening ceremonies start with the national anthem, some parachutists dropping down from above, and once the parachutists hit the deck, a low pass from two USMC V-22 Osprey helicopter airplane hybrid flying machines.

At 8:00 am, the gun goes off. I’m near the back of the pack. I hear the gun, because the Marines use the biggest gun they got: a howitzer.

Start to Mile 6

The first four miles start off with a loop through the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. Mile two features a hill. With the relative narrowness of the city streets, we’re packed in pretty tight. Miles three and four are downhill and parallel the Potomac River. Along this stretch, I’m treated to a view of my fellow athletes running off into the bushes.

I catch the Cliff Pacer here and learn that she is running intervals. She is walking for one minute at each mile marker. I don’t really care. I’d crawl if it means finishing this thing in five hours.

I then run over the Francis Scott Key Bridge and into the Georgetown neighborhood of the District of Columbia. As I cross the bridge, a pair of Coast Guard Dolphin Helicopters makes a low pass over the runners. In Georgetown, the crowds are pretty thick as many college students are on the sidewalk cheering.

Mile 1 – 11:04; Mile 2 – 11:16; Mile 3 – 11:03; Mile 4 – 10:38; Mile 5 – 11:23

Mile 6 – 10

The course then heads up Rock Creek and Potomac Avenue past the National Zoo and into Rock Creek Park. The course loops back on itself and heads out to the Potomac River. As I’m running this section of the race, I realize how much I detest out and back courses. As I’m running out, I see all these people running faster than I am. And even though I’m on pace to finish this thing in 4:55, (which would smash my PR) on the way back I’m treated to a view of the straggler bus and those about to board it.

Mile 6 – 10:56; Mile 7 – 12:21; Mile 8 – 11:30; Mile 9 – 11:33; Mile 10 – 10:57

Mile 11 to 15

The course now leads under the State Department building, past the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, out to Haines Point around the back. At this point, I dive into a bathroom and relieve myself. I lose the pacer, but figure that if I just don’t take the walk breaks that she is, I can catch up.  Headed north up from Haines Point, I passed through the Blue Mile. Pictures of service personnel who had sacrificed their lives for my liberty are posted along the sides of the route. It was incredibly moving. Other than the Blue Mile, there isn’t a whole lot out here on Haines Point.

Mile 11 – 11:10; Mile 12 – 10:57; Mile 13 – 11:37; Mile 14 – 11:54

Mile 15 to 20

The course now runs down to the Lincoln Memorial, and Foggy Bottom (because one just can’t get enough of the State Department), and back towards the Mall. The crowd support along this stretch of the course is fantastic. Entertainment includes the Marine Band playing Semper Fidelis over and over and over again.

The course then heads down Madison Avenue and the National Mall. I ran past the Archives, the National Gallery of Art with a view of the Capitol Building. These miles were amazing. This stretch of the race was worth the cost of admission, the plane fare to Washington and hotel bill. This leg was incredible.

As I head away from the Capitol Building on Jefferson Ave., I start chanting, “Beat the Bridge!” in my head. Runners have until 1:15 pm to get to the 14^th Street Bridge and out of DC or else they are removed from the course and do not finish. Although I have no idea what time it is and do not sense that I’m in any real danger of being removed, I start chanting “Beat the Bridge!” to keep moving. A couple of miles later, I make a left turn and head on to 14^th St. I beat the bridge!

Mile 15 – 11:39; Mile 16 – 12:01; Mile 17 – 12:28; Mile 18 – 12:47; Mile 19 – 12:09

Mile 20 to the Finish

Then the bridge beat me. After running for a while on the bridge, I ask myself, “When is this bridge going to end?” Between the wind, the cold and the fact that I’m wearing a tank top and shorts and I’d been running for twenty miles, I’d convinced myself that this bridge isn’t going to end. I began to feel dizzy. I stretch out my stride, slow to a quick march and the dizziness goes away. I walk for a bit and take running again.

But the dizziness comes back. So now I’m walking, and as I walk, the fatigue and pain descend upon me. Mere words are not adequate to describe the level of exhaustion and pain I’m in. I’ll let the picture my wife took of me at mile 23 speak on my behalf.

I don’t have a whole lot of memory of this section of the course. I recall that as I walked past the mile 24 marker, a new physiological feature is coming on my ever-slowing march-o-death: I began seeing spots before my eyes.

Staffed by Petty Officers from the Navy’s Medical Corps, (The Marines use Navy docs) through the spots, I see medical tent and contemplate pulling in. I pondered the consequences of that action. If I walked into that tent and said I’m dizzy, feeling faint, and seeing spots, the fine folks from the Navy would strap my sorry tail to a gurney for a quick ambulance ride to the closest hospital. No Birdie on a Ball & Anchor Finishers medal for me. This isn’t Disney.

I’m a runner. That means I’m stubborn. It also means that I’m willing to test the limits of the abilities of the human body. I walk on and contemplated the consequences passing on the med tent. What would happen if I waited to seek medical attention until (and assuming that) I pass out? I’d hit the highway and likely get some cuts and bruises. There aren’t many people around me, so I would not likely be trampled. Also, I noticed a yellow shirted Petty Officer, cop or Marine every 100 or so yards in the last mile. I would not likely have to wait on the pavement too long before I got the aforementioned ambulance ride. At the time, this seemed like an acceptable risk, so I made the ‘rational’ choice to walk on.

I made it to mile 26, up the hill to the Marine Corps War Memorial and across the line. I bowed before a Marine Officer who put the finisher’s medal around my neck. I then came to attention and saluted him. He returned my salute, shook my hand and sent me on my way. My wife found me, and I staggered into the Metro and back to the hotel.

Mile 20 – 12:59; Mile 21 – 12:54; Mile 22 – 14:06 – Mile 23 – 14:52; Mile 24 – 16:55 Mile 25 – 20:33; Mile 26 – 17:04; The last .2 – 8:24 (15:04 pace) Total Time 5:37:09

Usually finishing the race makes the pain go away, but not always.

The Autopsy

My experience at the Marine Corps Marathon taught me you can train and run marathons, or you can lose weight. It is exceedingly difficult to do both.

In September of 2011, through a combination restrictive caloric intake and moderate physical exercise (running and swimming) I started to lose weight. Eighteen months later, I’d shed 140 lb. of fat from my body. I’d kept the weight off over the last two years. As awesome as dumping the weight of a person in fat from my body is, I remain overweight. I’m 6’ 6” tall and weight 245 lb. I have a BMI of 26.0.

In the last year, I’d met some folks that had qualified for and run Boston. They all had one thing in common: They are skinnier than I am. Much skinner than I am. Like six pack skinny. Since I’d like to run Boston too, a few months ago I started logging calories again and started to lose the rest of the weight. And because you get what you measure, and to encourage my wife to join me in the formerly morbidly obese club, a few weeks ago, we started to attend a Weight Watchers meeting for the accountability of stepping on a scale once a week.

I’m going to get down to an athletic BMI/body fat percentage. However in my pursuit of an athletic physique, I found it very taxing to run long on short calories, so often times I didn’t. Add the stress of having my dream job (partner in a law firm) dropped into my lap, the time transitioning work took time away from time on the streets.

Rudy Novotny put the MCM in perspective for me. It’s like I’d taken off on a trip that requires 26.2 gallons of gas with 20 gallons in the tank. I anticipated my time would suffer because of my newly reborn devotion to calorie limits. I did not anticipate the dizziness and the spots before my eyes. In hindsight, finishing the MCM might not have been the wisest course of action. I need to rethink this whole marathon thing.

I’m not certain if once can both lose weight and train for a marathon. I do know this: as painful as it was, the 2014 Marine Corps Marathon has been an incredible learning experience.  I’m seeking professional assistance in the form of a dietitian or nutritionist (as opposed to a regular person with a powder, shake, or other product to sell). Here’s hoping I can apply the lessons of the MCM before I do this again in January at Walt Disney World.

"Looking good!  Looking strong!  You're almost there!"  

Congrats on finishing, Rick!  No doubt you are a stubborn runner.  I think most of us would have done the same thing and forged ahead, short of any physical problem in the legs.  Good luck with the continued weight loss and WDW training.

Great job Rick! It takes a lot of willpower to keep pushing like that, when your brain and entire body are screaming at you to stop.

I can can vouch for how hard it is to train and try to lose weight at the same time, it's a very fine line to walk.  You've done a great job, and I'm sure you'll keep going.  One word of advice, go for a dietician and not a nutritionist (degree vs. certification).  Good luck!

Like Dave said, that was a painful read.  I was stalking your progress but I did not have an idea of what was going on while you were running it.

I don't think you need to rethink this marathon thing while losing weight; you just need to adjust the weight loss so you can do both in a way.  But yes, you are right, you will not be able to shed massive amounts of weight while training for a marathon without hurting your progress.

This is one of my favorite races and I'm glad you got to run it.  Just sad that you had such a tough time.

Awesome job on finishing, that bridge sounds awful.

Lurch - congratulations on finishing, despite the inner voices yelling at you to stop. Good luck losing the rest of the weight. You've done a great job so far.

What were you doing for fueling during the race?  Insufficient calories or water or electolytes? Were you trying to restrict calories/carbs during the days prior?

I thought this was going to be a race report from the future: 2104

Good job pushing through that is awesome mental toughness I'm sorry it wasn't what you wanted it to be though Do you think you also maybe went out too fast?

Have you read the book Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald? I read it recently and am attempting to integrate some of his principles into my diet. It is about losing weight while also training as an endurance athlete.

Congrats on being stubborn, Rick, and getting to the finish line. I can relate to what you went through.  My marathon, I got a dang vertigo episode at Mile 16 and had to walk the last 10 miles in cuz every time I tried to run the damn vertigo would come back, making the world spin like crazy.  Not fun at all. That was one loooong dang 10 mile walk to get across the finish line!  Glad you beat the bridge to make it in!  Tough course for you, but you did it, way to go!  Yeah, runners...we're all nuts, lol.

Thanks for the photos too.  I grew up in Falls Church (7 miles from DC) and a couple of your photos of the buildings, Memorial Bridge signs, etc, brought back some memories.