This was my first marathon so I wasn't sure what to expect. In August I thought that I would be able to do a 5:30 marathon. In the past two months I have had exactly 1 long workout, the SC HIM. Before the race I told Leslie that I would try to stay with the 5:30 pace group as long as I could but I would likely finish around 6 hours.

At the beginning of the race I felt pretty good. The pacer uses a 6:1 run/walk which I was not used to but it seemed to work pretty well. We had about 40 people in the group to start. My left IT band started to bother me at mile 3. I had my brace on and I think that's why the pain didn't get to be all that bad until the bridge at about mile 19. The scenery was pretty interesting going over Key bridge but didn't really get good until we hit the Whitehurst Freeway along the Potomac river. Running on the Mall was pretty interesting but I was laboring by that time. My hip flexors really started to bother me and it was getting tough to stay with the group. For the first 10 miles or so I felt pretty comfortable with the pace but I had to work to stay with the group starting on mile 13. At the entrance to Haines Point I had my first real feeling of despair. My IT band was really hurting and I was feeling a great deal of fatigue. When we turned around at the base of Haines Point I had a little bit of a second wind. I spiked my heart rate on the ramp to the 14th street bridge. I had my second feeling of despair on Crystal Drive. My hips were acting up again and I was sure that I would have to walk the rest of the way. It seemed that every time I was about to walk the group took a walk break. It was very difficult to get started again because I would have a great deal of pain from my IT band for the first 20 steps or so. All the way up 110 my IT band was causing alot of pain but I knew that I was close to the finish. The hill up to the finish is just mean. The hill was almost as steep as the one in SC but was much longer. I think that I was able to smile for the camera at the finish though.

Try to train more. My last long run before the marathon was in late August. Otherwise I was pretty happy with my race. For the first time in a long race I think I really nailed nutrition and hydration.

Got my picture taken at the Iwo Jima memorial. Had to walk over a mile to get my bag and to meet my ride. Celebrated Leslie's great race with my buddy over barbeque.


Lack of training.


The Marine Corps Marathon has a reputation for being a well put on race for good reason. From the Expo to the race to the post-race the Marines do a great job. Every time I was really feeling down there were Marines there cheering for me. I will definitely do this race again.