Notes
Raining from the time I got up to mile 25, varying from sprinkle to downpour.
Garmin more generous with miles than the race. Garmin gives me 4:27:27.32 for 26.48 miles. I will update when I have official results.
Tuesday: Got the splits, and they are actually pretty wonderful. This looks like my best executed marathon yet, if not the fastest.
Dis Time Pace
5K 31:08 10:02
10K 59:21 9:34
13.1 2:09:53 9:59
30K 3:05:32 9:58
40K 4:11:30 10:06
Nutrition: Got up at 5:30 and started right off by eating a banana. Took a shower, ate a granola bar. Drank 16 oz. water prior to the race. Carried a water bottle and a fruit cocktail cup to the start. I had my Nathan belt jammed with five gels - a Clif Shot, a couple of GUs, and a couple of Honey Stingers. My plan was to take one at 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20. I did so, except for 20, which I decided I didn't need at that point. I took one orange slice at the first food station, mile 9, and it was nice, but probably not performance enhancing. There were GUs, oranges, jelly beans, and maybe other stuff at points along the course, but I stuck to the GUs in my pouch.
Gear: Not much. I wore my black shorts, Nathan belt, as mentioned above, and my blue Lincoln Marathon shirt. I felt it was a good one for D.C. because of the drawing of Lincoln, and because it was blue, and because it refers to my hometown. Garmin, fully charged. MCM bib #7953. Hotel card, Metro card, and $20 in a plastic pouch.
Weather: Raining, from 3:24 am to 11:24 am. Peaked between 9:44 and 11:14 at 0.9 inches per hour. People were bundled in ponchos, garbage bags, grocery bags over their feet, other creative approaches. I wore a garbage bag on the walk to, and the wait at the start, but otherwise figured I would rather be wet than hot.
Pre-Race: Walked south out of the hotel, past the State Department and past the Vietnam memorial, around the backside of Lincoln memorial, and across the Arlington bridge. On the bridge, met a few people headed toward the start line. One guy shared his umbrella with me for a while. A young guy from Kentucky was making this his third, with NYC and Chicago before this one. He likes the big ones. Went through a pretty thorough security check. Had to open my Nathan belt to show the guy the gels. Then got to the start area. This was the not-so-pleasant part of the day. Standing or sitting around for an hour in rain isn't a lot of fun, and I didn't run into many chatty people to pass the time with. I didn't feel the need to go to runners' village. There were porta-potties here, and I availed myself of one around 7:30. I got into the start crowd around a quarter till, and after a while, dumped my garbage bag and my Nebraska hoodie on a guard rail. The PA system had been going with music and announcements all this time, but the speaker nearest us conked out shortly before the start, and most of us were not aware that the National Anthem had started until it was well underway. The singer was a finalist on America's Got Talent, or one of those shows. After that, the howitzer for the wheelchair folks, and another for the 50K, and then our turn. The howitzer didn't seem all that loud to me, but my fans across the river said they heard it. Shuffled toward the start for a few minutes, but it didn't take too long, only a couple of minutes. There was no Osprey flyover, nor any paratroopers, due to weather.
The Race: And I was finally running! Not fast, but running. As expected, the thousands of runners made it difficult to choose my pace, and I had expected that. I kept looking for it to thin out after a few miles, but by about mile four, I didn't have an interest in all the dodging and weaving in this rain that my goal pace would require. I gave up on the 9:00 pace, and stuck with the comfortable 10:00 pace.
The rain and clouds had me completely disoriented through much of the race. I remember the tallish buildings of Rosslyn near the start, and then we went into a fairly rural, wooded looking area - Fort Bennett park? Men were veering off the trail to the right to pee, openly, and after a while I went ahead and did that as well. Crossed the Key Bridge after mile 4. I didn't think that this, or subsequent bridges were a big deal. Not that big an incline. There's a fairly long out-and-back from Foggy Bottom to Kalorama Heights. (There's probably a better descriptive name for this section. As I said, I didn't really know where I was.) Anyway, along this part we encountered the race leaders, and many of their followers as well. Seeing runners come at us for a surprisingly long time. I just hadn't realized this is a 4+ mile stretch.
At mile 10 I thought of my plan being to be prepared to work harder between here an mile 20, but I didn't feel like I was working hard at all. Passed behind Lincoln Memorial, and my cheering squad was supposedly in the vicinity, but they told me later I wouldn't have seen them. Passed Roosevelt and Jefferson and into Potomac Park. Didn't really know what direction I was going. Came to the Blue Mile, and saw far too many photos of deceased Marines. I looked as many as I could, though, and mentally paid my respects. This was supposed to be a silent part of the race, but there was a pacer (4:30 for the 50K) who was talking to his group, and a push chair that had music going. Oh well, different people have their own needs. Came to the flag section, and there was lots of cheering there. Saw photographers at the end of the flags and tried to strike a happy pose for them. Didn't see that a pic of me showed up there. Made my second restroom stop in one of the permanent restrooms somewhere in Potomac Park. Had to veer off the course a bit to get there; it probably cost me a minute.
Mile 13 happens near the end of the park peninsula, and I assessed myself at the halfway point. I thought if I'm feeling this good, I might be able to push a bit from here on and actually run a negative split. That didn't quite happen, but I came close to an even split. I'll take it. Miles 14 - 16 had the heaviest rain. There was a short stretch where we were wading through a few inches of water. Came up onto the Mall, and there I heard DW's voice call my name! Turned to acknowledge my squad with big waves and smiles. Looped back along the mall and the familiar Smithsonian museums, and at mile 20 came to the 14th Street Bridge, the "Beat the Bridge" point. There was no question of beating the bridge at this point, I was there in plenty of time. Again, the incline was barely noticeable.
Now into the Crystal City part. There's another, shorter out-and-back here. People cheering, brick crosswalks are what I remember. There was a woman with a sign for Fireball shots, but as far as I could tell, no one was serving them. Too bad; I had planned to take one and see what kind of boost it would give me. When I came back, another person was there with a tray of shots, but unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the road to get one. There was a guy with beer, but that didn't interest me.
Mile 24 and I'm still feeling good, but aware that I was slowing. At mile 25, I was surprised and delighted to again see and hear my cheering squad. That's where SIL got the best marathon pic of me ever. Passed a group of Marines and high-fived them all. Continued past the now dismantled start area, wondering if this was the extent of the final hill they had warned about. Turned the corner and found out, no, there really is a hill. It's probably as steep as the Holmes Dam hill, and longer. While many walked, I was able to keep running, albeit with much abbreviated steps. Finally made the turn to the finish line and ran it in.
Post-race: Walked up to one of the medal lines and received my medal and a very sharp salute from a Marine. What's the protocol? Is a civilian supposed to salute back? I didn't know. Some finishers give the Marines weepy hugs at the finish, but those generally are the later finishers. Now time to rehydrate, eat, get a couple of finish photos in front of the Iwo Jima memorial, pick up the Tyvek jacket, and begin the long walk into Roslyn. I was a little confused by seeing my family at 25. Did this mean they were going to meet me at the finish? That had not been the plan, but there was no harm in wandering down to the family hookup area and waiting a bit while eating my banana and pretzels, etc. Yeah, and there was a box of watermelon chunks that tasted pretty good.
No family appears. Good, actually, that's according to plan. I find my way to the Metro and take the ride back with no issues. DW was waiting for me in the hotel room when I got there.
Conclusion: I had no leg or stomach cramping during the race. I didn't hit a wall, didn't walk, and didn't feel bad at any time. I got no blisters. The chafing sure turned up in the post-race shower, though. Some time later, I realized that I had given no thought to my tibial tendons during the race, and they weren't even complaining afterward. They had been complaining on every training run leading up to the marathon. It was like the race was therapeutic for them. Wow. Sure, I was somewhat stiff and sore for about three days, but not enough to slow down sightseeing at all. I call that a big success.