Marine Corps Marathon aka "The end was better than the beginning"

Well, this race definitely did not get off to a great start ...

(1) I woke up before 4am because I kept thinking I had overslept, would look at my phone and the alarm clock, realize it was too early, and try to go back to sleep. It probably didn't help that I stayed out later than usual going to a haunted "trail of terror" with some folks from the gym (which actually wasn't scary and definitely not worth the small amount of money we paid for it, but the company was great). Anyways, I usually don't sleep very well the night before a race. Then Michael’s alarm goes off at 5am, 30min before I had planned to get up.

(2) I don’t know why, but I took my time getting ready and left the house much later than planned. I’d set everything out the night before, so it’s not like I wasn’t ready to roll. I had a “goal” metro to make at 6:37am which would have put me at the Pentagon at 7:06am, and given me ample time to walk the almost two miles to the start, use the port-a-potties, check my bag, etc. My “back-up” metro left at 6:52am and would arrive at 7:21am. The howitzer blows to start the marathon at 7:55am but I usually don’t cross the start line until at least 8:05am (because, well, turtle pace, and I like to follow a little race etiquette and line up in the correct corral). When I got in my car, Waze said I’d arrive at the metro at 6:59am. Damnit. Guess I was taking the next metro at 7:07am and getting to the Pentagon at 7:36am LoL. Thirty minutes later than my planned arrival time.

(3) Since I had a few extra minutes now, I stopped at Wawa to grab a banana and grapes and cheese and a cold protein coffee for breakfast since we didn't have anything at the house I wanted to eat. Then I get to the metro, park, literally run inside, add money to my SMARTtrip card, and get on the platform with 5min to spare. Phew! I'm sitting on a bench on the platform and get all my stuff together. I had decided last minute in the car NOT to check a bag, so I was going to carry everything with me on the course (and I’d left a few things at the house for Michael to carry). As the metro pulls up, I realize that I left my headphones in my front seat of my car. MO-THER TRUCKER. And this new race belt thing I got at the race expo (because you know I like to try new things during a race), well, it’s magnetic and sticking to my magnetic bib holders on my front shirt. It can only get better from here, right?!?

NOPE.

(4) Sitting on the metro, I look down and my wear blue: run to remember temporary tattoos have already rubbed off my calf. I’ve worn these for almost every marathon and most of my MCM races. This organization is a national nonprofit running community that honors the service and sacrifice of the American military. The Blue Mile along the marathon course is emotional. You’ll see more about that later. Adding to that, my “throwaway” finisher jacket from the 2016 marathon has a giant hole in the armpit.

(5) Make it to Pentagon metro stop and start the lengthy trek to the marathon start. Folks are casually walking – I don’t think they realize how far they still have to go to get to the start. COME ON PEOPLE – MOVE A LITTLE FASTER! But I didn’t want to run because I’m about to do 26.2 miles – why add more unnecessarily. As I’m power walking to the start and beginning to sweat, I realize that I FORGOT TO PUT ON DEODORANT. Ugh. There is nothing worse than no deodorant when you’re sweating. I already feel badly for the folks around me during this race. Luckily, I did shower this morning, so at least I had that going for me.

THE START LINE

I make it to the port-a-potties and wait in a somewhat short line. There are lots of port-a-potties along the way to the start, with gigantic lines. These folks clearly didn’t know there’s a plethora much closer to the start. Nevertheless, I’m standing in line when the howitzer goes off to signal the start of the marathon. But like I said, you mosey to the start line anyways, and I usually don’t cross the start for at least 10 minutes. I’m not in a rush yet.

(7) About ¼ mile from the start line, I open my Nike running app. I’d opened it at home this morning, just to make sure I was still logged in and ready to go. I’d set my voiceover to tell me my distance and pace every ½ mile along the way. I wasn’t sure if I’d have any Motigo messages, so at least I’d have something interrupting the music to tell me how slow I was moving. NIKE HAD LOGGED ME OUT. No big deal, I know my login. But when I clicked log-in, it went to a blank white screen. Eff. I closed out the app and reopened it. Same thing. Did that twice more. Mother trucker. So I deleted the app and went to the app store to reload it. Guess if you have 30,000 people at the start line, the internet doesn’t work very well. The app wouldn’t download and I didn’t want to kill my battery. I resolved to just use the stopwatch on my phone and press “lap” every time I passed a mile marker so I’d have some sense of how fast/slow I was moving.

ANDDDDD WE’RE OFF!

I haven’t run more than 13.1 miles this past year. At least not any time in the past couple months. My workouts have been sporadic and much less than previous years. To say I was slightly concerned I might not finish this marathon is an understatement. However, I decided I was going to walk the hills or when I got tired, run when I felt like it, run a little faster when I wanted to, and take it all in. This is where the race started to turn around.

I had bought these cool new Aftershokz Trekz Titanium Air headphones for the race. They are open-ear headphones that use bone conduction so you can hear your music AND your surroundings, without having to have one ear bud out. Since I hadn’t ran with them before, nor had I run this distance, I had Michael bring my older Redfox wireless headphones. Good thing number 1: I don’t have to run an entire marathon without music! Only the first mile or so until I saw my wonderful hubs.Those arm warmers (which are now around my wrists) didn't last very long. I was already dripping in sweat.

See hubs around mile 1, grab my headphones and a kiss and head into the hills of Rosslyn. I’m always amazed when folks carry a flag the entire marathon. I can barely carry myself, let alone hold a flag for so long. I loved this one and the quote on the back of her shirt: “They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not faint.”

Right afterwards, I see someone along the route dressed up as a T-Rex. I thought of my friend Kristin R., who I taught with at Calvert High – she inspires me in more ways than she knows, and she dresses up as a T-Rex often. The support on-course during this race is one of the reasons I don’t know if I’ll ever enjoy another marathon as much. The people are seriously amazing. No wonder it’s called “The People’s Marathon”!

Three miles down. I’m actually feeling really great and running around a little under a 13min mile pace. I won’t post much about the race tee because EVERYONE was bitching about it, but you can see the back of it in this photo with the American and USMC flag on the back (girl in the blue hat). It looks pretty cool from far away and it is definitely a unique race shirt.

(8) I don’t like to carry water or wear race belts with water bottles or back packs, etc. Twenty-six miles is hard enough without adding an extra pound or two. So I used this water bottle that I could throw away whenever I got tired of carrying it for the start of the race. Notice anything about it that might be annoying?

Yup. It’s a twist off top. And since I’m carrying my iphone in one hand and the water bottle in the other, it’s hard to twist off the top to get water. And even when I did, I had to stop and walk if I didn’t want all of it spilling out over my chest. Beautiful view of the bridge I’m about to run across to get to Georgetown.

I’m not sure why I snapped this next photo – maybe to show this giant hill way far in the distance that I’m debating where I can start walking. I’m not sure. Either way, I spy Karen R. from the gym in this photo now!

Right afterwards, I’m taking this (terrible) selfie with the NBC peakcock right before heading over the bridge. Then keep running and finally see Karen and yell out her name! She’d seen me with the peacock haha. We chatted and talked probably about ½ mile or so before parting ways. I actually almost ran right past my husband on the bridge while talking to Karen – oops! Karen was doing the run-walk method where you run a specific amount of time (say 3 minutes) and then walk a specific amount of time (say 1 minute). I’m not sure what ratio she was doing, but I didn’t want to run any hills today, so I knew that method wasn’t for me.

Run along Rock Creek Parkway for some distance. At the turn around point was this pretty awesome sign:

I’m still feeling really good, and then the mental downward spiral begins. I see the “straggler bus” coming the other way. I have NO CLUE how far behind me they are. I’m guessing about 2 miles, but they could be closer. I thought my pacing was great at this point. My timer has me running pretty consistent mile times. And then I see the guys pulling up the timing mat I’d just passed earlier. What mile am I on now? What mile was that mat at? My head is spinning as I’m trying to do math. I even text Michael to look up the time cutoffs because I'm worried.

This couple dressed up like the Incredibles is about a half mile later. They come out for a lot of the DC races, passing out high fives and playing music. Super supportive of the running community – love it!

Then comes the Blue Mile. This is the one spot that I turn my music completely off and look at the faces and names of those who have given it all. Here’s the one photo I snapped after passing by all of the photos of fallen service members. This year, there was a lady in a Wear Blue shirt (I’m guessing a relative of some sorts) that was running a little ways in front of me. She stopped and walked over to one of the signs, fell to her knees and began hysterically crying. Another lady in blue joined her to comfort her. I wish I had sunglasses on at this point because I started crying and I didn’t even know them. This spot is always emotional for me, but for some reason today, it was extra hard.

I forgot to mention that today I'm also wearing a race bib on my back through #MedalsofHonor to honor a fallen hero. I'm running in honor and memory of rifleman Lance Cpl. Alec E. Catherwood, a U.S. Marine who was killed on 10/14/10 at age 19 during Operation Enduring Freedom while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He had enlisted in June 2009, with military awards and decorations including the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Ribbon, and Korean Defense Service Ribbon. He was engaged to be married the following summer.

Halfway point! Last year, I wanted to die at the halfway point. This year, I didn’t feel terrible. I mean, I didn’t feel GREAT, but I didn’t want to die. They did run out of energy gels at the last station, so I’m trying to figure out when I’ll see Michael to get some sort of calories in my stomach. I’ve been running over 2 ½ hours at this point. The sun started to come out though, and I realized I was only halfway done. Sent a snapchat video (while running) to my CrossFit girlfriends that said “halfway done – what the f*ck was I thinking?!” Jen asks me if I’d gotten any messages on my Motigo app, and at this point, I’d only gotten a few, all from my wonderful friend Cathy and the standard ones from Motigo.

I forgot to mention that I was about a mile or so in before I started my Motigo app, so I’m a little over a mile behind when it came to the cheers. I’ve only used this app for the Marine Corps Marathon, and I love it! People can go and send you “cheers”, or small recordings, at almost every mile along the course! I didn’t think much about Jen’s question until I heard my friend Tereka’s voice come over the app.

“A-MAN-DUHHHHHH! Hehehe, I bet you thought I was Megan. Nope, it’s me, Tereka, aka S.C.”

And then she keeps going with some motivation and I’m positive my smile got even bigger than it was before. I tell her THANK YOU in the Snapchat group. This message was followed immediately by one from Zach at the gym with a cool poem. Apparently that was only the beginning …

Mile 15. This is where I hit the wall. Normally you hear about people “hitting the wall” around mile 21 or 22. One of the popular marathon training programs is the Hal Higdon marathon plan. It has your longest run at 20 miles, and then “adrenaline” will carry you to the finish. Yeah, nope. Hit my wall a few miles after my longest run of 13.1 miles (and I didn’t even run that whole race …). This sucks because I still have NINE MILES TO GO. But I get a cheer from Cathy and keep pushing.

Woo hoo! I made the first check point cutoff at Mile 17 – the Gauntlet. Ready to head through the National Mall in DC, with enough time to make it to the bridge. But I’m dying on the inside, so I decided to walk the entire mile and see how long it takes me. I also get some more cheers from Cathy and Tereka. They definitely helped me walk faster. At one point, Cathy says “don’t run too fast or walk too slow.” It’s like she knew I’d be walking!

Look at the pretty birds.

Mile 18. It took me right under 16min to walk the entire mile. Okay, I CAN FINISH THIS THING. Time to run again.

It hurts. It all hurts. Right around 18.5 miles, I hear Tereka come over Motigo again.

“Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. This is a marathon, literally, not a race. Hehehe. Breathe. Keep going, keep pushing. You’re almost done. Leave it all on the table, or the ground.”

Immediately followed by Karli.

“Hey Amanda, it’s Karli. You’re kicking butt. I’m so proud of you. Keep going, you’re almost there. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.”

This is right before the 30K timing mat and I’ve been running over 4 hours at this point. I have no clue why but I completely lost it. I was ugly crying – that kind of crying where you’re smiling and laughing and so happy but you’re still crying FOR NO REAL REASON.

Then I see my husband right after mile 19. He tells me I’ve got plenty of time to BEAT THE BRIDGE. At some point, I realized I was safe on time and that straggler bus wouldn’t be picking me up today damnit. Michael has come and followed me around DC every October for this marathon. Sometimes he had company, but usually it’s just him. He will hold signs for me and my friends (if I make them), he carries my gel and gummy bears and water, even when I don’t usually eat half of what he carries around. He wears a brightly colored shirt so I can always pick him out in the crowd. One year, I’m going to buy him the “husband shirt” I see sometimes along the course that says “I don’t do marathons – I do a marathoner”, but it’s a little crass and he might not wear it.

MILE 20. Only a 10K left to go (6.2 miles). There’s even a cute dalmation puppy with free kisses! My dad was a firefighter, so dalmations always make me think about him, and I know he’s already bragging to his friends that I’m running a marathon today. Makes me think of the motivational poster and shirt from the race expo yesterday.

I didn’t take a photo of the bridge, but it’s long. And barren. And this is where it’s like the walking dead, because it’s all the people hitting the wall, walking, stretching, dying. It’s hard to be motivated to run when everyone around you is walking. Last year, my feet hurt so badly at this point, that I took my shoes off to run/walk across the bridge, and it was SO HOT. Thank goodness the weather today was absolutely PERFECT. Seriously couldn’t have asked for better weather.

AND MORE CHEERS. I wanted to walk. But I had cheers from people I didn’t even recognize at first (the app doesn’t tell you during the race who is sending the cheer – but I went back later and looked). THANK YOU to all my gym ladies for your love and support. I was so motivated by messages from Jen (and the kids) and Lynn on the bridge. Even the text messages and photos people sent throughout the race made me smile!

CRYSTAL CITY. There’s another check point in here, but I knew I’d cleared it, no problem. I even see Karen at some point in Crystal City. I’m still feeling good. I pass these people with a sign to take a fireball shot (it’s like cinnamon liquor – it burns if you’ve never had it). I take a photo because it reminds me of one of the athletes at the gym, fireball Dee. And then I turned back around and took one of those shots today! Why not? That one was for you, Dee.

Saw this hilarious sign, too. Michael didn’t get it. Maybe it’s the fireball, or I was delirious at this point, but I couldn’t stop laughing. The crowd support is seriously unreal.

Right around mile 24, there’s one more stop with energy gels. I don’t have a great photo of any of the stops, but I would seriously say there are HUNDREDS if not thousands of marines on the course. I didn’t have my contacts in (not that my vision is that terrible), so when I recognized this face that had yelled at me for almost two months two summers ago, I had to stop and say HEY to (now) Gunny Sergeant Moody. She was one of the sergeant instructors at OCS for Charlie company, first platoon when I was there in 2016.

As I run past her, renewed and still running, my favorite song comes on Spotify. ALL I DO IS WIN. I haven’t mentioned yet, but I’ve had the same marathon playlist for about 3 years. You get tired of listening to the same songs over and over and over again, so I used a playlist that someone in the MCM Facebook group had posted. I heard some new songs, I skipped some songs that were too slow, but when my jam came on, I turned up the volume and picked up the pace. Only about 2 miles to go!!!

See my husband right before mile 26. Say my final good-bye, see you at home before heading towards the finish line. There is nothing like seeing this sign right before the finish. There are people EVERYWHERE. They’re cheering. They’re yelling GO TEAM BEEF! I’m smiling from ear to ear. I even ran half of the gigantic hill at the end (seriously, it’s the biggest hill after 26 miles and I ALWAYS walk this hill). But NOT TODAY.

Today I ran my sixth Marine Corps Marathon. Twenty-six point two freaking miles.

I know I’ve completed this race before, but today I felt good. I smiled. I pretty much smiled the whole race, with only a few tears along the way, tears of joy.

Check out these photos from Marathon Photos – ALL SMILES.

Except this one … this is literally the exact moment I saw the straggler bus less than 10 miles in to the race.

And to top it off, my wonderful college buddy Ryan was working the marathon again this year. When you get messages like this during the race, you can’t help but smile:

And when you spot him on top of the roof at the end of the race and he spots you, you’ve got to laugh. At least it wasn’t through the rifle scope …

Plus one of my favorite things after the marathon - all the WATERMELON you can eat!

A post-race ice bath on Sunday and my first cryotherapy experience on Monday, this was one of my best marathons when it comes to running the race itself and the post-run recovery. Can’t wait to do it again in 2019!