I started out the morning feeling fresh and strong. I woke up at 5am, went through my morning
ritual, and I was ready to head to the start line around 6:30am. It was amazing to be able to literally walk
to the start and finish line from my apartment.
The atmosphere in Rosslyn was electrifying! Droves of people filled the streets, coming
from all different directions. It was
still dark out as hand cycles whizzed by, music blared, people ran by (warming
up I guess?), and DJ's tugged at the anxious strings of everyone's psyche. I made it to the 3:40-4:00 corral by around
7am and found a spot in the median of the parkway to sit and try to keep my
excitement at bay. I found comfort in
watching everyone deal with their obvious stress. Some people stretched, some paced, some
people jumped up and down. Occasionally
someone would mutter a comment and anyone within earshot would laugh with
extreme over-exaggeration, anything to make them feel like they were out for a
walk on any other morning. I made it a
point to stay off my feet and in my place until 10 minutes before the start.
Miles 1-4
The DJ announced "45 seconds to the start of the 2012
Marine Corps Marathon!" All of the
people in my corral started to surge forward.
We sped up, slowed down, stopped and continued that process until a few
minutes later when I crossed the official start. I felt claustrophobic in the sea of people as
I dodged left and right to pass the WALKERS in the 4-hour corral. We ran through Rosslyn and turned to hit the
first, and largest, hill of the course.
This was even worse than the start as many people literally went from a
~9:00/mi pace to a ~14:00/mi pace. I
spent some time running on the sidewalk and mostly stuck to the outskirts to
avoid getting trapped. By the top of the
hill the racers had begun to spread out a bit.
I was a bit slow on pace and was averaging around 9:15/mi at the 3-mile
marker. I decided to pick it up on the
downhill and clocked a 8:07 mile putting me right were I wanted to be by mile
4.
Miles 5-12
I felt good at the faster pace and wanted to ride the
momentum, but I knew I'd fall apart if I kept going that fast. With the exception of a potty stop at mile 7,
I kept all of my mile splits between
8:39 and 9:03. I was feeling strong and
my legs felt great getting to run free.
The course was absolutely amazing, and the weather, despite the
impending hurricane, was ideal for running.
It was overcast and slightly chilly, in the mid to upper 50's. One thing that I found rather relaxing was
that there were far fewer supporters and stands in this stretch of the race and
the quiet allowed me to enjoy my marathon.
I'd spent so much time training, both mentally and physically, for this
event it was nice to have some time for introspection during my run. It was almost odd to be running with so many
people around me because virtually all of my long runs were by myself on the
Mount Vernon Trail.
Miles 13-20
I hit the half way point at 1:56:51, giving me an average
pace of 8:55/mi. Unfortunately my
stomach wasn't exactly cooperating with my pace. I had to stop for a longer potty break at mile
14. I added about 5 minutes to my time
there, but felt incredibly better afterwards.
After that pit stop I was back on track logging miles in the 8:55-9:15
range. I definitely started to feel the
fatigue setting in around the 19-mile-marker.
I had slowed to a roughly 9:30/mi pace at that point, but still felt
comfortable. It was really around this
time that I started to appreciate all of the spectators. People's cheers and signs seemed to really
lift my spirits. As soon as I felt
myself really starting to fade, I'd read a sign like, "If this were easy
they'd call it your mom!" or "No more Saturday long runs means more
Friday night sex! Yeah baby!" I also decided to make a race shirt in honor
of all the 3rd Battalion 5th Marine Regiment marines who died while deployed
with me from 2002-2006. I signed all 27
of their names on the back of the shirt, and there were several times during
the race that thinking of them really motivated me. I'd be lying if I said that I was running
this marathon for anyone else but me, but wearing that shirt made me feel like
I was back in the Marine Corps where we did everything together and we relied
on one another for support. I truly miss
those guys, and I think about them often.
Miles 20-26.2
As I said, I faded a little, but I was holding strong in the
9:30-9:45/mi pace range. Other than my
potty break at mile 14 I didn't log a single mile over 10 minutes. It was around mile 22 that the miles seemed
to really creep by. I had to focus on
the task at hand and keep telling myself to put one foot in front of the other,
make it to the next mile marker, and that I'm doing exactly what I set out to
do. It was kind of a let down that, at
this point, I realized that I wasn't going to break the 4-hour mark unless I
picked up the pace. I would have to run
~9:00 miles from there on out. I sped up
for awhile, but quickly felt my calves and hamstrings tightening and I got
worried that I would cramp up like so many people around me and destroy my
chances at a decent finish. Ultimately I
held my 9:30-9:45 pace for the rest of the race. I finished strong up the hill to the Marine
Corps War Memorial and crossed the tape at 4:03:55. I was only 4 minutes shy of breaking the
4-hour mark, which was disappointing, but on the plus side I set a new PR by
over 18 minutes!
 |
| Rolling through the National Mall |
 |
| UPS and USMC making it happen. Good job! |
 |
| Feeling strong around either mile 11 or 16...not sure |
 |
| The Netherlands Carillon near the finish line |
 |
| Finisher Festival in Rosslyn |
In case you're wondering, that red spot on my shirt is blood from my nipple rubbing on my shirt while running. Maybe I'll wear some Band Aids or something for my next marathon!
Race Results
Overall: 5090 out of 23515 (22%)
Male: 3773 out of 13520 (28%)
Division: 535 out of 1673 (32%)
Happy Travels, Happy Running, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Pancho
