Marine Corps Marathon - RunMarathon

Splits per my Garmin:

1- 9:58
2- 10:31
3- 10:14
4- 10:14
5- 10:32
6- 10:07
7- 10:31
8- 10:20
9- 10:01
10- 9:43
11- 10:24
12- 9:44
13- 9:37
14- 16:25 (portapotty stop)
15- 9:53
16- 10:10
17- 11:52
18- 12:53
19- 11:32
20- 10:45
21- 11:03
22- 11:18
23- 11:23
24- 11:30
25- 11:25
26- 12:17

66- 6:21 (9:35 pace)

We lined up right near the 4:30 pace group (my initial goal time) but somehow they wound up about .25 mile ahead of us by the time we reached the starting line, once people started crushing into the corral from the sides. Oh well, we thought. The first 2 miles were a lot of dodging and weaving through the crowd, but were otherwise uneventful. As we approached the first water stop near mile 2, I asked Travis if he was going to grab water cups for both of us (since it was so crowded). He said yes and headed toward the tables and I kept going...and quickly got swept up by the river that was the crowd. For the next mile I kept waiting for him to catch up but he never did, so I pressed on. Over the course of the next few miles I tried to slow down a bit at times in the hopes that he would catch up (later I found out he wasn't sure whether I had gotten ahead of or behind him, so he slowed and stopped a couple times too). I ate my first package of Honey Stinger chews around mile 5. By this time I figured there was a good chance I wouldn't see Travis for the rest of the race, and I felt oddly lonely despite being surrounded by thousands of runners. We had decided to run together and had done all our long training runs together (as well as stuck out the Philly marathon together last year), so it just felt weird to not have him there with me. I don't mind running shorter races (including half marathons) by myself, but there's something about knowing you have someone else with you for the real long 26.2 haul that makes it more enjoyable, at least for me. Regardless, I resigned myself to running alone for the duration and settled into a comfortable pace.

I ate another package of Honey Stinger chews around mile 11. At each of the water stops I was also grabbing both Powerade and water. It was also just past mile 11 that I first felt discomfort in the popliteal tendon in my left knee (which had spelled disaster for the Philly marathon). While I wasn't entirely shocked to feel that, I was incredibly disappointed since I had felt great throughout the entire training. However, it wasn't a sharp pain, so I pressed on. I tried changing my gait a bit (something I would continue to do the rest of the race, in an effort to take pressure off the tendon), which helped a little. Picking up the pace also seemed to help at times.

Right around mile 13 I finally saw a relatively short portapotty line. I didn't want to stop and lose time, but the tendon was really starting to flare a bit anyway and I really had to pee. I decided to stop and stretch while waiting for the portapotty. I also looked for Travis at the water stop behind me. When I was next in line for the portapotty, I spotted him. I knew he wouldn't hear me if I yelled to him, so I gave up my spot in line to go catch him, then got back in line. Though I hated to lose the 7 minutes total, it was definitely worth it to be able to run the rest of the race with Travis.

The tendon felt a bit better when we started running again, so I picked up the pace a bit. Unfortunately, within a mile it was bothering me again, and so were the rest of my legs. This was not surprising...I had feared that our split long runs would leave my legs in rougher shape than usual in the second half of the race. I hit a major mental as well as physical low between miles 15 and 16; my legs just didn't want to go at all and my brain was all but ready to give up too. I ate another package of Honey Stinger chews at mile 16 and drank a little extra Powerade and water at that next water stop; I also took 2 Advil. Within a mile my spirits rose a bit and my legs also started to loosen up a bit. However, the tendon was flaring a bit more, so we started incorporating short (not more than .25 mile) walk breaks. I didn't look at my Garmin once during the entire race; Travis kept an eye on his to make sure our walk breaks were short. His plan was for us to run .5 mile and walk .25 mile, but in most cases I was actually able to keep running longer than .5 mile. And so it went for most of the rest of the race; when I felt ok to run, I ran at a decent pace for as long as the tendon would allow. When it twinged, we walked briskly for not more than .25 mile. I ate a caffeinated Hammer Espresso gel around mile 20. At mile 25 I got a sharp twinge in the tendon; this forced me to stop and stretch for a minute or so. Knowing I was that close to the finish got me going again, and I ran the entire last 1.2 mile. I was so happy to see that blasted hill up to the finish that I ignored the pain and pushed hard up the hill and around the corner to the finish line. I crossed the finish line with my arms raised and a big smile on my face.

As for the race itself, probably nothing other than not lose Travis early on and therefore not have to lose a few extra minutes waiting in the portapotty line twice! ;) As for training, I think not splitting the long runs would have made the second half of the race feel a bit easier. But given the insane climate change we underwent when moving midway through training, that was the best option. I also think the split long runs kept my legs (and the stupid tendon in my knee) healthier. So it is what it is...perhaps a bit of a catch-22. I also believe that higher mileage in training is necessary for a truly strong marathon, but again, given my injury history, the move, and trying to balance everything else going on in my life (full time school, applying for internships, and an erratic and busy work schedule)...well...this was what was manageable.

Walked a lot, actually. Walked from the finish line to the finish festival in Rosslyn, where we sat on a curb and stretched while waiting for my parents to find us. Walked to Chipotle and got a light lunch, then walked up to the Rosslyn Metro stop. That line was absurdly long, so we decided to walk all the way back past the finish line (and start line, for that matter) to the Arlington Cemetery Metro stop to get on there (something we had discovered was a VERY GOOD idea back in 2007). Sure enough, there was no line there and we got right on. The extra walk probably helped stretch the legs a bit as well.


The things mentioned above. Technically I covered the distance in 4:43, which wasn't terrible (compared to my initial goal of 4:30) given the tendon issue and my legs not holding up so well in the second half. Without those issues, I'm sure 4:30 would've been well within reach.


I've loved this race ever since we ran the 10K in 2006. Besides our personal connection to the USMC, this is just a world-class event.