Training- I completed 42% of my training. Which is pitiful. I got in most of my long runs, but barely any weekday runs. I did 0 cross training and 0 yoga. I planned to do all of these things, but I did not. Mostly, I made excuses about how I was too busy.
Goals - My A goal was to finish in 5 hours. My first marathon was 5 hours and 4 seconds. My best marathon was 4:45. BEST case scenario, I could do a 5 hour race. My B goal was 5:30. this is what the internet predicted for me based on my most recent half marathon times. I didn't like the 5:30 number, but that'd be my backup goal. The C goal was just to finish.
Motivation - I ran my last half marathon and a half marathon last year in honor of my mom. This race, I ran for my dad. My dad was an AWESOME man who decided he would marry a woman with two girls. He ROCKED being a dad. Before he was a dad, he was many, many things - including a member of the US ARMY. My dad passed away in 2014 and I felt like this would be a great race to honor my dad and his memory. I wore Mom and Dads rings for extra motivation <3
Morning of - I got up at 5:30, fed Leo and Doughnut, got dressed, ate my PB and Honey and left for the metro. There were more people waiting for the metro than I thought there'd be, but I still got a seat. As I went to sit down, I sat on the arm rest and hoped that'd be the last injury of the day. The train got more and more crowded with every stop and it was almost entertaining that we were all on our way to run an insane number of miles. Getting off the metro felt like a game day in DC. I commented on this and the guy next to me agreed!
It was a decently long walk from the metro to the pre start area. I started talking with some ladies from Florida since we were on this long trek together. Their next plan is to run Dopey, so I told them about my experience :) We split up when we got to the porta potty area. I got in line and did my thing and wandered around for a couple of minutes. I started talking with some other ladies and then they left for the bathroom. I was waiting for them to get back, and asked a guy near me to take my picture with the pentagon in the background. After he took the pic, we talked for awhile.
His name was Jeff from Iowa and I can't remember who from Florida. We chatted for a few and then headed to the start line. On the way there, they played the national anthem and then there were a bunch of parachute jumpers coming down. Several had a huge flag. THAT was pretty awesome!
I'd been trying to get in touch with Linda and she finally texted me to say she was there! YAY! Jeff and I situated ourselves at the 4:59 pace area and met another lady. She's in the military and it's her first race. She was pretty excited and nervous. I was just excited. Right before the start, 2 Osprey made two passes overhead. THAT was also awesome! The race got a slightly late start, but it was ALSO cool when the howitzer went off. you could FEEL the excitement level in the crowd. That's my absolute FAVORITE part of the entire race!
It took us a few minutes to get to the start line, but then we were off!!
Miles 1 -4 flew by. The first mile was lined with flags and then we ran by white headstones. The air was still nice and cool. I planned to keep about an 11 min pace but a couple of times I dropped down to 10:30 and would force myself to slow down. The hills were not easy, but they went through town, so that was helpful because there were lots of people out cheering already. I'd reviewed the course so I knew the hills wouldn't last long. Coming down the other side of the hill, I fell in behind a couple that were moving at a good pace, and they were breaking up the crowd in front of us, so I'd shoot through the holes right behind them before they closed up. At some point, I looked at my watch and realized I was doing close to a 10 minute pace and backed off and told my new "friends" farewell. I'm pretty sure they didn't know I existed, but that's ok.
Before I knew it we were running through the sprout run parkway, and as predicted, MANY guys shot off to the sides to pee and a couple of adventurous women did too. The 4 mile marker was in the middle of another little hill and I was absolutely OK walking up it as prescribed in my own personal running plan (run 4 miles, walk .25). I wound up walking next to a lady and we talked about the guys peeing in the woods. I commented, "It must be nice." She told me she planned ahead and wore depends, so when she needed to, she'd just pee on a paper pad. OOOOOOK - time to start running again.
Mile 4-8: I ran across the Key bridge and kept my head down, which in hindsight was a missed opportunity b/c this was one of the most scenic parts of the course. The town at the bottom of the bridge was cute and I thought how I'd like to go back there sometime. Georgetown? No clue, but it went by super fast. Once we got onto the bridge, it felt like a LOT of downhill. Which was concerning b/c what goes down WILL come up. I had to keep holding myself back from going too fast.
We started down another parkway for an out and back. It seemed like we were going slightly downhill, which was not great b/c the way back would be slightly uphill. I tried NOT to focus on the way back and just RUN THE MILE I WAS IN (Harder than it sounds). I saw my first Furry on the course somewhere in this stretch, and maybe the hotdog guy. I was just kinda running steady and doing my thing. Every once in awhile I'd mentally kick myself and remember to LOOK UP and ENJOY THE JOURNEY! At one point I felt like a total dork. We were getting ready to go around a slight bend to the right. it LOOKED like we were going to hit the turn around, so I said, "the best thing about an out and back is the turn around!" The people around me didn't say anything (I had a lot of that for this race), but I soon realized it was NOT the turnaround. oof.
Miles 8-12: Anyway, the turn around came, and it was still downhill. I have NO idea how that happened, b/c normally it's uphill both ways. I remember thinking through this stretch that it was funny b/c out of ALLLLLL of these people, I don't know a single other runner. And then DUH! I remembered Linda was running to. Runners brain... I tell ya! So, I started looking for her coming up the other side b/c I knew she started a few minutes behind me in the crowd. I didn't see any tutu, but I did see the 5:30 pace group, so I felt good that I was still ahead of it.
OOh, also in this area there was another Stephanie SOMEWHERE near me b/c I kept hearing people cheering for Stephanie!! I know it wasn't for me, but MY NAME is Stephanie, so I accepted their cheers. I also saw a couple of signs for Steph and I said, HEY! THAT'S ME!! So they people cheered for me :)
Coming up on mile 9 I started feeling a little anxious. Matt said he'd be at mile 10 around the Lincoln Memorial. I don't know WHY I started feeling anxious... probably b/c I'd never had anyone looking for me on course before (Other than the Team Challenge ladies who surprised me at the NCR Marathon!!). Anyway, I made it through mile 10 and didn't see him, but there were eleventy million people around the memorial, which was AWESOME.
My anxiety didn't really let up, but it didn't get any worse. I made it my main goal in life to make it to mile 12 without walking. I think I missed the 11 mile marker, b/c suddenly I was half way THROUGH mile 11.
Mile 12-16: I made it to the blue mile without walking, and took my .25 here. I walked next to the signs and tried to read the names for awhile, and the ages for awhile. I was trying NOT to get emotional over the many, MANY faces looking back at me, but it was hard. On top of the previous anxiety, this wasn't doing much for my psyche. I started running again and toyed with the idea of run/walking the rest of the way. I decided I could at least make the 1/2 marathon point before I started that. Then I saw that I was pretty close to my recent 1/2 marathon time, so that motivated me to keep running. I beat my 1/2 time and almost immediately wanted to walk.
HOWEVER - who should appear? No, not Santa, but the elusive marine running in silkies! I've been joking with Matt about the Marine's in silkies, so I wanted to get a picture of him. This dude was having the race of his life around this time and it took everything for me to keep up with him, and THEN get close enough for a picture. I got a decent picture and FINALLY slowed to a walk.
There are a ton of signs in this stretch, some to particular people and some just for fun. I kept going and read the signs. I'd walk for awhile, run for awhile. Thank you to whoever put those signs out there!
Mile 16-20: Matt texted me that he was at the water stop. Oh...ok... WHICH ONE! LOL. He was at the next one. So, I started running again. I made it to the water stop (16ish) and walked through it. I never did see Matt, but I saw his parents and gave them both hugs :) And then I kept going. There was some crowd, but not much. I didn't really know where I was in terms of the course or orientation of the mall. It was kind of shady, so I enjoyed that. I ran/walked some more.
Soon, we turned onto the mall area. The part I remember the most was a line of food trucks. and one ice cream truck!!!
There wasn't anything really exciting about the mall. My feet were started to hurt and my hips and outer knees were hurting. I know I'm supposed to be in awe over the monuments and stuff, but I was getting tired and really not feeling like doing anything anymore. When I ran by the Washington monument, I looked over and thought, Yep - I ran by there on that one training run. It was kinda cool when I saw the capitol. I've been IN it before, but I don't think I've come up on the front side of it.
This is also around the time that I met Suzie. I'd seen her on the course a couple of times before and I recognized her b/c she wrote her name on her arm (SMART) and I kept hearing people cheer for her. We talked about how our races were going and I told her I was about 40 minutes ahead of where I was on my last 20, so I was impressed with myself. She said she was hot, but cold and had stopped sweating. My radar perked up and I started scanning for medics. She said she was ok, and planned to run 5 minutes/walk 5 minutes. I walked with her for a little bit, and suggested she wipe the salt off her face and lick her fingers. Gross, but it works. She tried that and I hope it helped. We started running a little bit and then she backed down to a walk and I kept going.
I knew we were getting close to the bridge, and my goal had been to take the bridge and make it look easy. All of the race reports I'd read said how terrible and long it was. I was tired and my feet hurt, but you gotta keep going, right? Shortly before the bridge I saw Matt's parents on the right, and then I saw Matt!! I heard his mom say, "Let her hug Matthew!" to Mike. I kind of fell into Matt and said, "This was a bad idea!" He said, "It was YOUR bad idea, keep going!" and then I was off and moving away instead of staying in that spot for the rest of forever.
Mile 20-24: The bridge started on a slight incline and I thought that was ok b/c it meant I got to walk (right?!). I don't think anyone else was running at this point and I didn't really care if they were. We were on the left side of the bridge and there was a concrete median going up the middle. A spectator had a line of candy on the top edge and I looked at it as I passed, but wasn't interested in anything. I'd had a couple of starburst and tootsie rolls earlier, as well as my GUs at the 4 mile points. He DID have some Aleve, so against my better Stranger Danger judgment, I took 2 of the Aleve. My hips and feet were still really hurting.
I did a walk/run/slog over the bridge. At one point I was "running" my 13 mile something pace and I looked at a spectator and said, "Am I running? Is this considered running? hahahahhaha" I was the only one laughing.... Clearly, today was not my day to be funny.
I caught up to the BURP guy. I have NO idea how what BURP stands for, but it was their running group. There were three words on the left of his shirt, and the word UGLY on the right. It took me 3/4 of a mile to figure out what his shirt meant, so we had a little conversation about that. (I have since forgotten the details)
Somehow I kept starting up running again. The bridge was seriously forever long. The traffic on the left hand bridge was backed up (shocker) and there were a few cars that were beeping their horns for us. Which was cool for a second or two, but they did it on their entire trip across the bridge, and that became SERIOUSLY annoying. Two people got carted off the bridge on the ambulance/gator mobile while I was crossing it. I only almost got run over by it once, so that's a plus. There was a marine yelling at us to pick it up, get it moving, go go go! I needed that, so I started running again.... but stopped to walk once I was far enough away.
I started talking to some guy about toenails being unnecessary. He suggested I tape my individual toes before starting a long run. Then he left me in the dust.
We're still on the bridge by the way. It was FOREVER. You know how I mentioned in the reports I read that the bridge was the worst and I thought they were being dramatic. They're not dramatic. They undersold it. It was forever. It was like running on the highway in Kansas - You really don't KNOW it's going to end.
THEN! I see a lady go by with a flower lei on her head! Which, normally would be whatever, b/c dude... I was wearing a tutu. BUT! I ran with this lady in the Freedom's Run! I caught up with her and we talked a little bit and then suddenly we were off the bridge going into Crystal City! I stopped for some water and Gatorade and she kept going. I tried to catch her, and it took me awhile. She caught up to some other friend and then they walked, so I kept going and passed them. Crystal city had a lot of people and a lot of fire hoses laid out. I was NOT excited about running wet, so I avoided the main splash of water, but I really did want to be cooled off.
I wish I hadn't been so tired going through this section. There was a lot of crowd support and positive energy. I knew we were getting closer, but I really didn't care. I DID stop and get two little cups of beer. THAT was exciting. Then I saw the other beer station and got excited... realized it was fireball and thought about how bad THAT could go (sorry, Ari) and kept going. I ran when I could run and I walked for awhile. When we got to the turn around, there was a woman with her Dalmatian doggy with a sign advertising free hugs. OF COURSE I stopped by this guy. He was giant and I didn't pet him for 2 seconds before he decided to try to eat my tutu. Apparently OUT is not a universal command.
Alas, I left the doggo and kept going. the flower lady passed me again and I let her go. We wound around Crystal City some more and finally left the hub bub. It was like going from day to night. hundreds of people to no one.
Mile 24-26: It looked like we were on an access road of some kind, or something you'd see in Baltimore. OH! Speaking of Baltimore, I have no idea when it was, but I saw a smushed Rat. Heather told me it was a game to count the dead rats in Baltimore, but I never saw any. This was my first. I started giggling when I saw it, b/c really.... who gets excited about a dead rat?
OK. anyway, We're moving along. We go around a corner and it looks familiar, like maybe part of the route we ran on the 9/11 run and I thought about the bag pipe band that was there. Then we went under a bridge and a guy was dressed as the Flash. Other people were taking pictures with him, but I didn't care. I'd steal their pictures later.
And now we're out by the pentagon again, on the same road we marched in on this morning. We're in the middle of mile 24 and it dawns on me that it's almost over. I was happy and sad at the same time. As we neared mile 25 we were getting close to the rendezvous point this morning with all the porta pottys and bag drops offs. There was still a speaker, so we could hear someone saying something and another runner thought that meant we were close to the finish (hint, we were not). I saw a speed limit sign and looked to the guy on my left and said, "Hey! hahaha, is that the next mile marker?!" he ALSO did not think I was funny. Tough crowd for sure!
OK. So we're going along this highway. 3 or 4 lanes. nothing exciting. I know it's the last mile so I'm trying to push through and keep "running". I give up and walk. I don't care. I'm a million minutes past my PR and 1/2 a million past my A goal (5 hours) and a 1/4 million past my B goal (5:30). There's an aid tent ahead for some fundraising team and a lady on a microphone yelling, "Are you gonna make it?! HELL YEA? Are you gonna finish? HELL YEA!" over and over. So the next time she says this, I join in and scream HELL YEA! with her. Again, the people around me look at me like I've lost it (maybe I did. Whatever). As we get closer to her, other people DO start to join in and I'm glad. I started running again and there it was. Mile 26. And then there it was, the uphill I'd been promised to the finish line. I actually thought it was going to be worse. I didn't exactly SPRINT up it, but I managed to move faster than I had been. I got to the halfway point of the hill and it leveled out and I picked it up some more. I passed as many people as I could and fought to get mom and dad's rings out of the backpack strap. I held them in my hand as I crossed the finish and was DONE.
As usual, the race doesn't stop there. The time does, but you're not done. I walked forward into corrals. There were marine's saluting each running and hanging the medal around our necks. I started to cry, but I think I was too tired to cry. I got my salute and medal, said thank you and stumbled forward. Someone told me to go to the right for final photo ops or left for food. I went left. I didn't want any pictures. I didn't care. My feet hurt so bad, all I wanted were my flip flops. I got a bag, a water, a Gatorade, a box of goodies and a throwaway jacket. I put it all in my bag and kept moving forward. it was like we were at the start line again. Steadily moving forward, but no place to go. I finally got around some people and crossed a bridge.
Matt said they were by the brooks tent, but I wasn't seeing a Brooks tent. I saw lots of fencing that family couldn't get through, so I just kept walking. I was finally coming to the end of the fence and I called matt. He met me and handed me a container of watermelon. It was delicious. Then he took me to where his parents were sitting. He was cute and tried to take me up a steep little hill. I laughed at him. Silly non-runner :) We went the "long way around" - 5 feet to the right. LOL. There was a short wall to climb up on, and I kept wondering how on earth I was going to get over it. I asked matt to Push, but that was going to leave me on my face. I made it up, but don't remember how. I gave Mary Pat and Mike hugs and they took some pictures of Matt and me. Matt helped me get my shoes off and oooooh.... the blisters really WERE as bad as I thought they were going to be.
We didn't stick around for too long. Mary Pat and Mike had to get back, I was tired and grumpy and over everything. I looked around for Linda and/or her family, but didn't see anyone.
Overall, I was pretty disappointed with myself for this race. Yes, I completed it, but I didn't do a great job. I should have trained more and been more dedicated. I can't change the past, but I CAN do what I can so I don't feel this way the next time.... which happens to be on Feb 18th, 2018 in Ventura, California.
