Kim and I arrived late Friday afternoon, it was pouring and at rush hour. We waited almost and hour for a Taxi and then it took over an hour to get to our destination, the race expo. We arrived with about 45 minutes till closing, so we raced around the expo getting in as much as we could while dragging along our luggage.
Fortunately we ran into the Plodders who guided us to the hotel, via Washington’s great subway system.
Saturday was spent following our usual pre-race prep. Easy 4k run followed by TV, hydrating and carbing up. We enjoyed a wonderful pasta dinner on a patio Saturday evening with a few other maniacs (who were back on speaking terms
)
Sunday morning was the usual Banana, Coffee and Oatmeal, etc. We did the 2k walk to start line where I hung out for the next 45 minutes, while Kim found the 10k start. I got more nervous as I waited.
Goal for this race was to be uncomfortable. My last two marathons I have gone out easy, running negative splits, but taking a conservative approach. For this I decided I was going to push from the start. Coming off my 1st 50k trail race 6 weeks ago, I was not sure how my road legs were, but I figured I’d shoot for a 3:17:xx time, so about 7:30/mile average.
We started right on time. The first 8 miles of the race consist of a 250 ft climb, followed by the same descent, a 150ft climb followed by the descent. At almost the bottom of the first descent I hear, “wheelchair right”. As I look over my right shoulder, so does the guy in front of me, the difference -> he slowed. I clipped his heel and fell, hard. Left quad and hip scratched (road rash) and bruised, right knee and elbow scratched. Saving me was my throw-away gloves that shredded but protected my hands. I picked myself up right away. With 20,000 people coming up behind you; you have to, so I kept on trucking. I was sore, and had 22 miles to go. Grabbed some water at the next water station and tried to sooth my left quad.
I hit the 8 mile mark right on my goal pace and kept pushing a little faster. Managed well until the about 16 miles where I was really starting to tire. There was a pretty stiff head wind in sections that seemed to just zap my energy. By about 20 miles I decided that 3:17 was just not going to happen and started ratcheting it back so I could finish, still running.
The last 2 miles were an exercise in mental toughness. Up hill, into the wind, tired and sore, I just kept pushing forward. The real saving grace at this point was that even though I was slowing, I was not really getting passed, and I was still passing people. Good to know everyone was hurting equally.
I crossed the finish line in 3:20:50. My time was 35 seconds slower than Ottawa, but on a tougher course, with a banged up hip and quad, I’ll take it. For me this was a confirmation of Ottawa. I really can run a Marathon in 3:20, very cool.
Final Stats – Finished 749/20674 overall, etc etc..
Splits
1&2–16:02
3-7:36
4-7:03
5&6–15:09
7-6:59
8-7:13
9-7:16
10-7:19
11-7:19
12-7:17
13-7:29
14-7:27
15-7:26
16-7:30
17-7:33
18-7:45
19-7:49
20-7:48
21-7:52
22-8:02
23-8:03
24-8:04
25-8:20
26.2-10:31
Post race rum and hot tub, food and Maniac laughs, MCM medal, coin, finisher’s shirt - it was worth it all. I am sore and bruised, but I loved this race and would go back again. The next day, we walked around Washington for 5 hours before heading to the Airport. You can’t go all the way to Washington without seeing some of the famous sights, even after a really tough marathon. Right? Washington is a beautiful city and the Marines put on a great race.
Thanks
