marine corps marathon

Marathon #5 in the books!

*cue House of Cards intro music*

This past Sunday, I ran the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC. This is one of the largest marathons in the world - it was 5th largest last year. My goal was to at least PR - I wasn't able to do that, but I can honestly say I really enjoyed this race, and I think it's a little evident in the pictures.

Your typical expo picture with the bib!

Really liked this old school race route map.

We match.

He finished with a 50:15 for his first 10k! I am proud!

Overall, I knew this is the fittest I have ever been (based off my recent half PR). I focused on that this past week despite having being zick last weekend. I had to skip my last long-ish run of 10 miles at marathon pace. I had actually signed up for a 15k last Saturday and couldn't do it. I had a 100-101 fever all day, couldn't stay awake for more than 20 minutes - I slept 7 hours during the day, hardly ate, and slept 12 hours that night (which luckily broke the fever). I mustered 4 miles on Sunday but stopped due to how high my heart rate was for an easy pace. Regardless - I took this as my body telling me something and was thankful it didn't happen this past (race) weekend.

Did touristy things after the Oiselle brunch on Saturday.

I woke up at 4:15a race morning after a very solid 7 hours of sleep. I had a cup of coffee, a bottle and a half of water, and 2 bananas. I ubered over to the start at 6a and security was a breeze. It was really cool walking to the start and seeing the Capitol and Washington Monument in the distance. Also weather was good- 50 degrees and cloudy until the end. It was a bit humid actually which I really felt prior to the race.

The photographer insisted this was a good angle.

The bathroom situation was plentiful and I was all bundled up until 7a, then I checked my bag and made my way over to the starting area. They had a couple people jumping out of planes so that was neat. Then they had helicopters fly over the start as well for both the wheelchair and runners start. The corrals were loosely enforced. It was interesting because we started on both sides of the highway. Ultimately my side was the hilly side in the beginning - rookie mistake.

Not seen: the Pentagon to the left, and the Washington Monument and Capitol in the distance to the right.

Unicorn spotting. I will admit a guy in a banana costume and another guy in a hot dog costume finished before me. This is probably the most disappointing thing to me right now.

The race started promptly at 7:55a with the flyover and cannon going off. I knew the first few miles were hilly but wow, they really got to me. I was sweating way too much for the pace I was going at (or what my watch was telling me at the time). It was nice to hit a beautiful downhill right after mile 3, going through a forested parkway road, under a bridge, with a view of the Georgetown. I said hi to Dorothy Beals aka Mile Posts on Instagram on the way down. Because I'm a creep like that. Then we climbed back out because that downhill was too good to be true. 

This was after that little climb out of the parkway.

We then ran through Georgetown, and around miles 6-8, we were going through a little out and back portion, which I hadn't mentally prepared for. I was ahead of the 3:30 pace group up to this point (mistake, much?), and then here is where they passed me, plus then you had other runners running by who had turned around ahead. I hate to say that this is where I kind of lost it, but my body just wasn't feeling as fresh as I thought it would, granted I'm sure the hills helped in that matter.

I am not certain if this picture was around this mile mark... just going off of my arm warmer length. P.S. That girl in red finished a few minutes before me. We took pictures of each other at the end.

I don't remember miles 9-10 honestly, but then we hit a long stretch at mile 11 and hit the Blue Mile at mile 12 where we ran by pictures of military service members who lost their lives in the line of service - they started with WWII veterans and then became more current from there. Then at the end of the mile, probably for the last half to quarter mile, we ran through a sea of American flags that volunteers were holding on both sides of us.

At some point right before the Blue Mile. 

I had eventually stopped looking at my watch for my splits. I just wasn't feeling strong and fast like how I envisioned. I noticed I hit around a 1:47 half time which was good but obviously not my goal. Granted I didn't have a goal time for the first half, so that is something I probably will set going forward. Duh..

From here, it seemed like forever to get to miles 15-16 (my next gel - I tend to break down the race by looking forward to my gel consumption points), and this is where we hit the Washington Monument and National Mall area - which was awesome!

Oh hello America!

I have no idea if this is before or after the previous picture.

I knew where mile 18 was since I knew Shane started the 10k there so that actually came up pretty quick, and before I knew it we were running right by the Capitol.

Oh I was a little ham right here.

Hamming it.

A flying ham.

So, one of the dreaded parts of the Marine Corps Marathon is this bridge from mile 20-22. I really thought it was like only a mile or so, and I didn't see a dramatic uphill on the course maps so I didn't understand what the big deal was.. well, now I can see how this could suck - especially if it was hot out!! I had a few things work in my favor for this though. First, I had to take a gel around mile 20-20.5, and they had just added a cup-free water stop to the bridge. So I saved my Gatorade cup from the mile 19 aid station and used it for the water stop to have with my gel - this help break it up a bit. Also, right at mile 20, the CEO of Oiselle, Sally and the Corporate Development Director, Sarah caught up to me, so that was legitimately really amazing. Something happened with one of their toes so they had to walk a bit - I had no idea what to do! But I kept going hoping everything was alright. Third, I knew at Mile 22 that the local Oiselle running group would be loud and proud cheering for me so that was also motivating.

The Cowbell Corner did not disappoint. I missed them when I ran Chicago but I made sure not to miss them this time. They were literally screaming as I ran down to them, and gave Courtney a high five as seen below. This was very energizing!

Here I come! This was an amazing feeling to come down to the corner!

Going in for that high five from Courtney..

Nailed it.

Courtney and another girl moved over to the other side of the street (this was like a mile later), and I had lost some energy by that point so it was great to see them again. Later Courtney would tell me, You looked so strong!! Then the second time around, you were not as happy, lol.  The sun had come out at this point so I felt like I was melting.

My smile hides my true feelings about sunshine during the last 4 miles of a marathon.

The last 4 miles or so were okay. I honestly didn't feel terrible, though I had a bathroom scare at Mile 24 where my body was like hey, I want to do something but I fought that off.  I was passing many people.

The final flat stretch. In the sun. Sigh.

Sally (Oiselle CEO) and Sarah caught back up to me at mile 25 so that was very exciting that they were not hurt, and they took off from there. The last .2 of the course is um...very steep. I also knew about this but I thought people were exaggerating. They were not.

The actual burst of photos from this moment clearly displays how your form goes to wreck after 26.1 miles of running.

Regardless, I finished in 3:45:34 on the most difficult course I have run a marathon on yet. Not a PR, but faster than Glass City earlier this year, and thankfully faster than my first marathon too. So, my second fastest marathon! I'll take it. And I didn't hate it (cough, Chicago, cough).

My fifth straight "I am smiling because I just finished a marathon but these people behind me are dying" selfie.

So it is kind of crazy to think that 1. there were 27640 people running the marathon and 2. I finished in the top 7%.

They had a basically a tunnel of Marines congratulating us as we walked after the finish, and then a Marine placed the medal around my neck which was really cool. 

Selfie with the medal!

The Marine Corps War Memorial was literally right there but I was desperate for Gatorade and water. I walked out with a fellow female finisher who felt the same about the course - really enjoyed it, but maybe not do it again. Ok, I probably would do this race again but not for a PR. As much as I hated the out and backs and how they messed with my mental game, it was so cool to look at how many people were running the marathon.

Going forward, I have to cover 26.2 miles in one stretch this upcoming weekend in order to get an entry to NYC Marathon next year - and then from there, I hope to do a Turkey Trot, another 5k (probably a random local one), and then the Christmas Story 10k.  As far as marathon training, I am so excited for my next marathon, hopefully one in Spring, and I am definitely considering getting a coach to help me out for this next one. It is so much time to spend training and to have it all come down to one day! I am ready for something different...especially during the winter months.

Bonus Pictures!

This was my first plate at the Oiselle Happy Hour after the race.

We went to a pizza place after for an actual meal. This was a vegan pizza. I consumed half in the restaurant and the last half in the AirBNB a few hours later.

Jill was one of my cabin mates at Bird Camp. I had actually already been following her on Instagram because she had a great account and blog about finishing all the World Marathon Majors. She made this awesome sign for me at the race!

Some of the Oiselle MCM Finishers! Sarah Lesko (Oiselle Corp. Dev Director), Sally Bergesen (CEO) are to my right. One of my fellow Ohio teammates Alissa is to my left!

Worst race shirt of all time?

Probably.

Had to go back to the finish the next morning to actually appreciate the Marine Corps War Memorial and of course, get a picture with our medals together :)