Marine Corps Marathon - RunMarathon

I stood there waiting for the start. Then they said they were delaying it by 10 minutes. DAMN! So I took a gel to get ready and then I waited and waited...10 minutes is over and BOOM!!! We started on our way. Miraculously, I was up far enough that I actually RAN over the starting mat! It only took me about a mile to get into my pace. By Mile 2, I was pretty set in my groove. I was sweating, so I ditched the Target sweatshirt. I still had to dodge alot of people, but not nearly the amount as in Mile 1.

Mile 3, I saw a group of people with signs that said "In Memory Of..." and "Running for..." and stuff like that, all with the names of Marines who'd died in Iraq. As I passed I started to get all emotional...and right there as I was running, I was crying for all of these people that have lost a family member or a friend who was a soldier. Then I see an American Flag. Waterworks. Mile 3, I'm crying. OK, so after that I got this huge surge, and we had that downhill thing that lasted almost a mile and I clicked off a 7:32 split. Wow...I was way ahead of my splits to reach my goal. At Mile 4, I realized the one thing I forgot! Taping my foot. Recently I'd been blistering on my right foot, just behind my big toe, on the side where my arch begins. Sue (sue7013) had told me to duct tape it. I did that at Dances with Dirt and it worked great. But I'd forgotten to do it before this race!! Luckily, after it was over I only had a little blister on my big toe, and then another one on my left foot in the same place, but no monster OUCHIE where they usually form. Must be the shoes.

Rock Creek park...what a great little section. Kept my pace, noticing I was gaining even more time on my goal. At this pace I could finish in 3:40.

As the miles racked up, I felt great. Took a gel at 1 hour in. At 10 miles I was still feeling awesome and still staying in the low 8's. My half marathon split was 1:47:19...almost 20 seconds better than my standalone half marathon PR. I clicked off another 8:xx split after that. I figured, damn I just might finish in like 3:45!!!

14 miles in and things started to slow a bit. The wind was picking up...ALOT. My splits went into the 9's. But I figured it's ok, I will be running WITH the wind next time I run up the mall. But by this time I started to get a little dehydrated and I couldn't put it back fast enough. At Mile 16, I had that dreaded "Oh crap I still have 10 miles to go" thought. I decided to try some of the Shot Bloks at mile 17. Didn't feel anything. But then around Mile 19, I felt the surge...so I went with it. I decided if it took about 2 miles to sink in, I'd better eat more now. So I did. Right after Mile 19, there was a water station. I took out my little packet of salt/potassium pills and chewed 'em up at I washed 'em down with 4 cups of water. Probably still wasn't enough, but damn it felt great. On I went. I still had plenty of time to slow down if I needed to, without sacrificing my goal. I started to do math to see how slow I could go without missing my sub-4. I wasn't happy as it seemed the gap was closing as my miles started getting slower. As I ran I started having these visions of Shane being there at the finish line. They'd make me smile, although I knew it wasn't possible.

Mile 20, 21...OH CRAP...THE BRIDGE. We went up that ramp and I just wanted to walk SOOOOOOOOOOO BADLY. But I didn't. I couldn't. I'd come this far and I could not imagine walking yet. Besides, I didn't walk until Mile 23 at Gasparilla. So on I went. My "grace period" was getting smaller and smaller. I had to keep up better than 10:30's to stay on my sub-4 pace. The 3:50 pacer had just passed me and I was almost in tears. I wondered what was happening. My heart rate went up, my chest was getting tight. I was becoming dehydrated on the bridge, with no hope of water. At the end of the bridge I just wanted to die. But that's when we got into Crystal City. It was festive there so it took my mind off it. I saw a water station on the other side of the street and I decided that I should focus on getting there. That's when it hit me...I think I might bonk. OMG OMG OMG OMG. I'm bonking in this totally serious attempt at a sub-4. I ran thru a little plastic tunnel sponsored by Target, that had music just BLASTING thru it...around a little curve and there was this big truck with people tossing water bottles. I could barely raise my arm but I grabbed for that water bottle with EVERYTHING I had. I squirted it in my mouth, under my hat, down my shirt, down my back, I felt it all over my body...and then I just drank the entire rest of the bottle in about 20 seconds. I firmly believe that if that water bottle had not been handed to me, I would have not gone sub-4.

OK, so 23 miles in and I just can't wait to be done. Just plod along to mile 24, then I went down a ramp onto the road from which we started. I was like "UGH I HAVE ALREADY DONE THIS PART!!". But there was the Mile 25 marker at the bottom. It was glowing and there were cats jumping out of it, and they were singing to me (well really it wasn't like that, I was just f'ing crazy). As I ran up the road, I said to myself "wow, 4 hours ago there were 35000 people right here. At mile 25.5 I saw that I had barely 10 minutes to go if I was gonna beat 4 hours. So with EVERY little bit of energy I had left, and mind you there was mostly ZERO, I ran hard. My legs were hurting, my feet wanted to fall off, my chest felt like someone was sitting on it. But I had to go. I kept saying that...I GOTTA GO...I GOTTA GO...I GOTTA GO. I hit the Mile 26 marker at 3:56. I knew I had it. I just went nice and easy and ran up that last little hill. I noticed people walking. WALKING THE LAST .2 MILES. I was in heaven...I tried to smile...I looked around at all the people cheering me. I came around that last little bend and I saw that finish arch and ran my happy a$$ thru it with a look of bewilderment on my face I'm sure. It was probably all I could muster at that point. But I had done it!! 3:58:01.

I crossed that finish line, got into a finish chute and recieved my medal. The Marine who gave it to me said, that's damn incredible...and I said I can only do this cuz of guys like you making it possible, thank you for being who you are! And I shook his hand. And then I walked past him and cried a bit. Just cuz it was all flowing out. I felt great.

I'd definitely keep my pace down for the first 13. I'm thinking that if I had run 8:45's the whole first half, instead of low 8's and a few 7's, I would have been able to take home a 3:50. But that's just something to look forward to at Disney or Gasparilla.

OK, so after the finish chute there was this absolutely unmoving mob of finishers and family members. I got thru that, and walked around a bit. Then I went to get my finisher's picture. I had to slip thru past a gate but I was sure to ask a Marine if it was ok first. He said "by all means sir, go get that picture, great job!" I just smiled at him.

I decided to wait for Team Chippy but I had a hard time finding them. So I went and got some food and drink, and waited some more. By this time it was getting cold and I had nothing on but a BT tri suit and a mylar blanket, so I went to baggage pickup to get my shirt and stuff. When I got back Aaron was there with Shaun. Then Chippy showed up. We screamed and hugged for like a minute and then walked over to Aaron. Jean was there too. We found Max and Rick, and then decided to go back and rest. Trixie, Fit, and Chippy's brother Mike were running back to the hotel.

Final bit of warm-down was eating at the Capitol City Brewing Company later on with the gang and my friend Kristin who I hadn't seen in four years. Fun times!!


My pacing. Next time I'll do better.


I'll definitely be back. Very well organized, but there were just soooooooooo many people. It wouldn't surprise me to see a smaller field next year. But this was a great weekend of BT fun that will definitely be revisited!

Congrats to EVERYONE who came out for MCM this year, and to the one, the only CHIPPY for conquering the 26.2!!!!!