It took me 4 hours, 24 minutes and 39 seconds to run the 2011 Marine Corps Marathon. That's approximately 10 minutes and 6 seconds per mile.
It's been over 9 days and I'm just completing my blog about those 26.2 miles I ran on 10/30/2011. I think the answer is obvious.
So why is it so hard for me to write this final blog entry? The answer is probably more complex than I can easily explain, but I'll give it a try nonetheless. I think it boils down to my mixed feelings about the entire experience. On the one hand I'm very happy and impressed with what I accomplished... turning my health around 180 degrees in two short years and running a full marathon at a better-than-average pace for my age group (I was at 52.2% of men aged 44-49). That's a lot to be boastful about, so writing about it should come easy. But on the other hand I had very high expectations for myself going into the final few months of training, only to watch those hopes fade away (along with my conditioning) as I suffered through my Achilles tendon injury. I've not fully gotten over the disappointment of my set-back and the impact it had on my race results. I'm starting to come to terms with the disappointment and I'm trying to let go of those feelings. Now I'm ready to blog them and, thus, hopefully, be free of them once-and-for-all.
But there's yet another aspect of writing this final blog that (I believe) has made me procrastinate. I've grown so accustomed to training for the race that I don't want it to be over. I'm addicted, if you will, to the training routine and the "having of a goal" that I don't want it to be over. Documenting the final race (my first marathon!) makes it seem more concrete and while that might be good therapeutically in some ways, it saddens me in others. This blog entry is much like a eulogy to a period of my life that is departed, a life event that will never be duplicated... and who wouldn't want to postpone that?
But I am moving on. My first marathon is behind me now, and much like first love it was both exciting and yet failed to live up to the expectations I'd built up in my mind. I'm pretty sure now that there will be more races in my future (10Ks, half marathons and probably even more full marathons). Hell... I may even return to my "first love" and try the Marine Corp Marathon again in 2012. Maybe love will be better the second time around. :-)
The Race Itself (and isn't this what you really wanted to read about)
Saturday, October 29th was a freakish day weather-wise. We had rain, snow, sleet and high winds. And it was COLD. I had planned for a short, fast run outside in the morning as part of my carb loading efforts (see my previous post about the Western Australian Method). But I couldn't run outside in the rain and snow so I went to the Herndon community center and used the treadmill. Afterwards I ate some oatmeal, some bread, and other assorted carbohydrate-rich foods all day. I didn't keep a journal of what I ate so (lucky reader) I cannot bore you with itemized lists and quantities. I stopped eating after 7:00 pm as I wanted to make sure all food was digested prior to the race. I went to bed early (9:00ish) and actually managed to sleep pretty well considering the nervous anticipation I was feeling. I set the alarm for 4:30am.
Sunday, October 30th was forecast to be sunny with a slight wind, cold in the morning warming up to the low 40s by afternoon. I'd prepared several layers of clothes for the long wait in the "Runner's Village" and starting corrals. The best purchase I made, though, wasn't clothing but rather the pocket warmer packs from Walgreen. At $0.99 they made a BIG difference in my comfort level during wait as well as the first few hours of the race itself.
At 5:10 my wife Handan, step-son Tolga and I got into the car and headed into DC where I parked at L'Enfant Plaza. En-route I had coffee and a ClifBar. Handan and Tolga were signed up for the MCM 10K which started very close to the parking garage at L'Enfant Promenade. Since they were so early they waited in the Promenade where it was heated and there were bathrooms to use. My brother Alaric (also running the 10K) met them there. I said my goodbyes and got on the Metro yellow line headed to the Pentagon station.
I arrived at the Runner's Village sometime around 6:00am... two hours before start time. I'd planned on meeting some of my on-line Facebook running friends at the UPS drop-off zone. And I did. This was a good thing; I finally get to meet these people I'd been sharing all my intimate training details with for months (stories of pooping in the woods, injuries, etc.), And as I'd guessed they were all wonderful, friendly and enthusiastic people. The time we spent waiting in the 33+ degree morning air went very quickly. I ate a banana, drank some juice and water and used the port-a-potty. Before I knew it we were migrating towards the starting corrals.
On the way to the 4:00 corral (which I knew was optimistic for me... finishing in 4 hours) we stopped at the Brooks VIP Port-a-potty. One of my new online friends, a gentlemen I hadn't even met except on the Internet, had supplied me with a pass to this oasis of heated commodes complete with running water and hand soaps. After a short wait outside for a stall and another short wait in the stall I was all ready for the starting cannons!!! I ingested one Double-Espresso GU gel and followed three of my friends (Justyn, Ryan and Lara) to the corral.
Ooops... one more trip to the treeline... nerves got my fluids flowing again...
There was an impressive fly-over of Osprey helicopters (the type with two rotors that are used for heavy-lifting) and then promptly at 8:00am the cannons fired announcing the race had started. This is when the striptease started... thousands of runners shedding their extra layers of garments. I removed a pair of sweat pants and a sweatshirt but opted to keep my warm-up jacket on for the first mile or so. Clothes were flying to the left and right of me and I realized that I had to keep my eyes open or else I'd trip over some discarded item or get blinded by something flying into my face!
A few minutes after 8:00 the crowd in our corral started to inch forward, first in a slow walk but picking up speed as we got closer to the starting gate. By the time we were near the starting line we were in a light jog which picked up to a slow run as we crossed the line. THE RACE HAD BEGUN but I was in a tight pack with little room to maneuver and no way to control my pace. Thankfully people had (for the most part) honored the corral system and those around me were running the pace I was comfortable with. I tried to stay close to Justyn, Lara and Ryan but it was tough in the crowd. I stayed with them as we headed up Rt. 110 and took the exit into Rosslyn, heading up the hill between the buildings, sidewalks crowded with people cheering us on.
My parents had a hotel nearby and we'd planned on meeting at the finish. However my father said he'd try to get to the streets of Rosslyn to see if he could find me as I started the race. So I spent much of the first mile and a half looking for my father's bright orange rain slicker in the crowds while simultaneously trying to avoid tripping over all the other runners. We were still shoulder-to-shoulder and packed pretty tightly for those first few miles, the narrowness of Rt. 29 not helping matters much. I didn't find my father in the crowds and, as I later learned, that was because he wasn't there yet. It was fun looking at the crowds as I ran by them. All the clever, funny signs, and patriotic displays, and generous offers of support and good wishes were a small but welcome taste of more to come.
As we turned from Rt. 29 (Lee Highway) onto the Spout Run Parkway the crowds of cheering fans disappeared and the pack of runners thinned out a bit. I'd already lost Justyn, Lara and Ryan as their pace was faster than mine. At this point I finally put on my earphones and fired up the iPod Shuffle with my MCM 2011 playlist on random. The first some was the Allman Brother's "Jessica" which was suitably upbeat and energizing. Spout Run Parkway was beautiful... tree-lined and all downhill! I ran a great pace for that section of the marathon and felt great. It also was the first place in the race that people started peeling off from the pack, running to the treeline (or into the woods) and "taking care of business". I had no need for any kind of "relief" yet, but it got me thinking about it... where could I go along the route and when would I need to?
Turning onto the George Washington Parkway was quite a sight. The sun was peaking over the Georgetown skyline across the Potomac River and a field of bobbing heads lay before me, steam pouring off the heads and out of the mouths of thousands of runners before me. The road was still a bit crowded but my brisk pace continued. The on-ramp to Key Bridge caused a bit of a slow-down as it was iced over!!! Thankfully that was the only part of the race where we encountered ice. I learned later from my wife that the 14th Street Bridge had also iced over that morning but was free of ice by the time we got there 20 miles later. Turning onto Key Bridge and leaving the ice behind, the first water stop also caused a bit of a slowdown as runners navigated to the sides to grab cups while others navigated to the center to avoid the water exchange area. I opted for the middle of the road as I was wearing my 4 bottle Nathans running belt. I took a few gulps of Kirkland sports drink as I turned left onto Canal Road.
There were quite a few humbling moments during my 26.2 mile run through VA and DC. On Canal Road I encountered my first. As I headed north on Canal Road I saw on the southbound side (approximately mile 8) the lead pack of runners. A pickup truck with a large digital clock was preceding a group of 5 or 6 runners heading south at a pace slightly over 5 minutes/mile. As I approached mile marker 5 along with thousands of ordinary runners like myself, I felt lucky to have witnessed the elite athletes as they passed us by.
During the next few miles the pace settled into a nice 9:10-9:15/mile range. The course started to head uphill and it was (again) humbling to pass by the wheelchair racers using all their strength and willpower to propel themselves forward. Later, as they zoomed past all of us runners on the downhill side of the hill I felt a little jealous... but just for a guilty second.
At mile 8 we were a few hundred feet away from entering Georgetown. There were still some wooded areas by the side of the road so I decided to avail myself of the opportunity for some relief (it had been hours since my pre-race coffee, juice and water). I wasn't the only one, and given what I saw later on the race* I'm glad I took this last "nature" opportunity. Afterwards I needed to take off my gloves to tie up my drawstring running pants. I discarded my heat packs which had done me a great service, tucked my gloves into my pants pockets and tied myself back up. But when I went to get my gloves out of my pockets to put them back on (it was still pretty cold at probably 36-38 degrees or so) one of them had fallen out of my pocket. Alas there was no turning back to find it, so I tossed the other one and ran the last 17+ miles with bare hands. It didn't take long for my Raynaud's hands to get painfully cold, but what could I do? I pressed on.
* what I saw (and some of my online friends sadly experienced) were 20 minute lines at the port-a-potty stations!
Of note: at one point in Georgetown the crowds got really quiet. I'm not sure why. They must have been pretty tired of yelling. But this was not acceptable so I yelled out to the crowd (as best as I could yell having run more than 8 miles already) "Why so quiet? Help us out here!!! Make some NOISE!" which brought great whoops and yelps from the crowd. That felt good.
Also of note: somewhere around mile 8 or 9 I realized that I was running too fast. I'd fallen into the first-timer's number one mistake of getting hyped up and heading out like I was going to somehow, miraculously run a sub-4:00 marathon. Once I realized my mistake I started to pull back my pace a bit and focus on enjoying the experience more.
I passed the first food stop (oranges) at mile 9 and welcomed mile 10 as it began the part of the course I was most familiar with. My training runs frequently went over the next 10 miles of the marathon... Ohio Drive to Hains Point, Independence Avenue and the Mall. I knew these grounds well and thus didn't expect any surprises. But of course I'd never run with 20,000 other people. And I'd never run surrounded by screaming race supporters and dumbfounded tourists. The miles moved by pretty quickly as I enjoyed looking at the signs in the crowds and the costumes on the runners and fans alike. There were super heroes, witches, fairies and other assorted (sometimes unidentifiable) costumes.
The highlight of my run came at mile 17 when I found my Handancim waiting for me in front of the Smithsonian Natural History museum. She'd finished her 10K race, gathered her bags from UPS and then taken the Metro to the Mall to deliver me a banana and ClifBar. I know of no more welcoming site than my wife's smile after running 17 miles and just about hitting the wall. I got a set of new legs (for a while) from this lovely moment and glided the next two miles while finishing the banana (I didn't take the ClifBar). Handan met me again on the other side of the Mall by mile 19.5 and took my water belt from me as it was nearly empty. I knew at that point I was 'bonking' and would have a big struggle for the next 7 miles, but I knew my wife loves me and was there for me, and that was enough to keep me going. I then turned left onto 14th Street and headed towards the dreaded bridge.
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| Mile 19.5, very happy to see Handan again! |
Two of my other Facebook friends (Mynor and Lisa) were on 14th Street with cookies and other goodies for us runners, but I couldn't spot them in the crowd. I think this was because of a funny sign held up on the other side of the street ("You've got stamina... Call Me" held by a cute girl). But since I'd just had a banana and I had plenty of GU left in my pocket, I wasn't lacking for energy sources. My legs were getting heavier by the minute as I ran (slowly now) up and over the bridge. About halfway across the endless span I spotted Ryan who had left me in Rosslyn to stay with Justyn and Lara. He was now walking across the bridge. I stopped to give some encouragement but didn't want to stop too long lest I lapse into walking myself.
By the time I got to the other side of the bridge and turned into Crystal City I was spent. And apparently so was my Garmin as it loudly announced with a beep that it was out of batteries and was shutting down! Dammit! I would not have a complete record of my run to post here. I was pissed off about that, tired and beginning to despair.
I decided to walk for a bit and try and get some wind back in my sails. At first walking was almost harder than the slow trotting I'd been doing. My legs were tight! After a few minutes walking my legs loosened up and then I was able to jog a bit. Crystal City seemed to go on forever, but I plowed through with my new walk/jog program. Eventually I found the turnaround point in Crystal City's canyon of concrete and my mood lightened up a bit.
And that's basically how I finished the last 4 miles of the race... fast jog followed by walking followed by more jogging.
I think I jogged (I guess I could say "ran slowly", but really it was more like a jog in my mind) the entire last mile to the finish. It's hard to say... things were hazy in those last four miles. I know I took donut holes from the last food stop sponsored by Dunkin' Donuts, and I almost took some banana slices from a nice family in the Pentagon parking lot. I remember how much it hurt too run down the entrance ramp to Rt. 110 and thinking to myself "it's not supposed to hurt to run downhill!". And I remember that I came across a gentleman running in a Coast Guard shirt whom I'd talked with briefly back in mile 7, and how impressed I was that he was still at my pace all those miles later (I think he was about 60 years old).
I didn't walk up the hill to the finish. I saw the video and I was jogging/running. I remember digging into the last reservoir of energy that I had when I saw the hill and the crowds cheering the finish line. It wasn't pretty, but I crossed the finish line with my head up and my arms waving and a look of satisfaction on my face.
I stood and waited as the crowd of runners ahead of me received their medals from the helpful Marines. But then I nearly collapsed because my legs were turning to Jello. Thankfully there was a fence for me to lean against or I certainly would have been down in the mud on my hands and knees. I held tight to that fence for a minute or two until I got my legs back. Gratefully I received my medal... thanked the Marine... received my foil blanket and again thanked the Marine... got some water and snacks and thanked the Marine... and then I got my finisher's photo taken and then I called my wife.
I found Handan outside the fenced area after about 20 minutes. We slogged through the mud to the Semper Fi Fund tent where my parents were waiting for us. The nice people at the Semper Fi Fund provided sandwiches, cookies and drinks and I ate voraciously! And after about 30 minutes of recounting the race to my parents and Handan, we got up and left.
And that was the race as best as I remember it..
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