Marine Corps Marathon 2009

Last Sunday I completed my first marathon. It was so much fun! For the first 18 miles, all I could think was, "This is so much fun! I am definitely gonna do this next year!" I was really surprised at how good I felt for the first 18 miles. I walked each water stop, but partially because they were so crowded that there was no other option. When I reached the half marathon mark, I was a bit slower than I wanted, almost 2 1/2 hours into the race. At that point, I became a bit concerned that I would not make my goal time of 4:30. But I really wasn't terribly upset about that. After all, I broke my leg 7 month ago and I am really proud of how hard I have worked to get where I am today. I didn't get to see my parents at the beginning of the race, but as I neared the monuments, I saw them for the first time.

Around mile 18, I started to get really tired. My inner dialog began to change to, "I have to do this again next year so I can do better because I am not going to make my goal finishing time." At this point in the race, I was almost to the castle building of the Smithsonian. I made a deal with myself that if I could just run to the castle, I could walk for a minute. Conveniently, there was a water stop right there, so I got my walk in at that point. I saw Anna & Neil at this point and that energized me a bit too. Unfortunately, I ran out of steam again around mile 21. This is probably the most desolate mile of the entire race. You are running on an overpass and suddenly there are no fans cheering you on. I was lucky to see my parents as I ran onto it, but as I looked in front of me everyone appeared to be walking. I struggled on for a while, but eventually I gave in and began to walk. I probably walked for a half mile before I was able to muster up enough mental power to force myself to start running again.

As I ran back into the crowds and off the overpass to enter the final four miles of the race, I struck a bargain with myself. For the rest of the race, I ran for 7 1/2 minutes and walked for 2 1/2 minutes. At this point, it was just a push to the end. As I entered the final shoot, I discovered the uphill run to the finish line. No matter how many people told me about it before, I guess I just blocked that little piece of information out completely. Well, it was really a tough way to finish, but I sucked it up and trucked up that hill and across the finish line for a finishing time of 4:56. Definitely not as fast as I had hoped, but that just means it will be easier to beat next year, right?