From the start, this race felt almost surreal to me. Training hard for those long months and it was finally time to GO! Started out running with Giovanna and her sister, Ana. Our first mile was really slow, which I expected with all the congestion at the start. By mile three, we were still at a slower pace than I hoped to be at but I figured we had plenty of miles left to go. I sat back and just enjoyed the scenery and the company I was with. We crossed the Key Bridge and headed out along the out and back on the Potomac. Couldn't have been a better morning to run. I was feeling fine, almost like a puppy being held back on a leash. Kept checking with the girls to see how they were feeling. They didn't want to pick up the pace any. No problem - I just kept it on cruise control. Missed my support crew at mile 11 and mile 14. Yikes. I was starting to worry. Nutrition and timing have been a big issues for me with managing my diabetes for this long a distance. I had packed enough GU's to get me to mile 14. Mile 14 and no support team = no more GU's. I didn't panic and resolved to pick up whatever the Marines were handing out at the next food stop. Picked up a couple of Clif Shots, ate one and tucked the other away in my H20 bottle holder. Good, I was set for a while. Heading into Hains Point, I was still feeling awesome. My friends were not doing as well. One was in quite a bit of pain and the other was hanging in there but not feeling good. At this point, I was torn with the decision of staying with them or pushing ahead. We finished Hains point, met up with my dad and Gene and finally dropped off clothing and got my GU!! Off we headed for THE BRIDGE... I was charging up that bridge only to look around and find my partners way behind me. They whole heartedly encouraged me to push on, so I did feeling guilty about leaving them, but excited at the same time. Hit a tough spot nearing Crystal City when my blood sugar bottomed out. Dizzy and rubber legged, I chugged down the rest of the sport beans and GU's that I had and just tried to put one foot ahead of the other. I felt much better after about 10 - 15 minutes. This was the hardest part of the race for me. Low blood sugars are no fun and those last 3 miles were the longest 3 miles I've ever run. I thought about how this race was symbolic for a lot of things in life. It gets really hard sometimes to keep going, but you keep working at it and you come out on the other side a much stronger person. There was no way I was going to stop running when there are people out there facing much larger obstacles in life than I was facing in this race. They don't have an option to quit. Stopping was not an option for me either! It was about this time that I started to hit the crowds lining the street toward the finish line. OMG! Then it really hit me - I was going to finish a marathon. Yes, ME FINISHING A MARATHON. Hearing the crowds and the announcer talking people into the finish line was incredibly uplifting. Wow, what a feeling. Saw my husband just as I started the climb up to the finish. It was AWESOME! I picked up my pace up that hill and crossed that finish line feeling like a million bucks. SWEET!

Nothing. (Except stop earlier to fix my sock, so my little toe wouldn't blister. :) ) I wouldn't do anything differently. Ran this race just like I did my training runs, even a little more cautiously. It was awesome. Very, very pleased with my first marathon effort.

I got my finisher's medal and blanket from a very cute Marine and made my way through the snacks. I just wanted to hug every Marine I saw. (I was a little euphoric) Saw Gene on the other side of the fence and told him I'd see him at the end of the fence. He wasn't there when I got there, so I wandered around looking for him. Then I saw my dad standing lookout watching for me to come around the bend. He had the biggest smile on his face when he saw me and gave me the biggest hug. Yep, I'm still a daddy's girl at heart. We walked around for about 10 minutes and finally found Gene. Slowly made our way through the finisher's festival down to the Metro.


I made a decision early on to stay with Gio and Ana for most, if not all of the race. Gio and I did all of our long training runs together and I wanted to be there for support for her. I could've finished with a faster time. But it wouldn't have been the same. Next marathon I can worry about times and performing better. This time it was about having fun and accomplishing a goal. I did both beautifully.


Excellent organization all the way around. From sign-up to the finisher's festival, everything was top notch. The Marines know how to do it right!