Marine corps marathon

Marine Corps Marathon I did my third marathon yesterday. Holy moly that was hard. I think what made it the hardest was that I was t really properly trained. Due to the 100 mile triathlon three weeks ago, the furthest I had gone was 15 miles. My friend was doing her first marathon and when her other friend who was to do it with her backed out, she asked me to run with her. I agreed, but "with her" meant id start with her and find her at the end! She's a much faster runner than I and there was no way I could do it "with" her. The expo and packet pick up the day before went pretty smoothly except for the long lines and the crowds. We cooked some spaghetti for dinner and stopped by the Goodwill for some throw away clothes and then went to bed early. What? Never heard of throw away clothes? It was supposed to be in the 30s in the morning. We bought sweatshirts, hats and gloves to wear before the race until we got warmed up, and the you toss the clothes aside. We assume the organizers gather up the clothes and donate them back to charity. I actually found great pair of pink gloves on the side of the road and snatched them up and tossed my others aside. The race itself was I in a beautiful location through downtown DC and the local parks and monuments. As far as the running, I didn't to be fast. Miles 1-19 felt pretty good. 20-23 were very hard. I had to count steps and I did some walking and was in a lot of pain. I would run 200 steps and then walk 50. And the. Do it all over again. When I got to mile 24, I knew I could run the last two harder, so I did. But my goodness, that last half mile is a killer! Plus, my Garmin says it was actually 27 miles. So did my friend's. Sanctioned races are supposed to be spot on, so I don't know how it's off, but it was! I finished in 5:35 officially. Goal was to go under 6, so I'm pretty happy with that. When I finished, I was hurting more than I ever have at the end of anything. I laid down, and moaned and groaned and tried to make the pain go away. I stretched and moaned some more. Then I got up to go find my free beer. I got my medal from a Marine who saluted my (I saluted back), got a book of snacks, a water and a couple of bananas...moaning and limping the entire way. I made my way to the beer. My friend saw me and called my name and I said I couldn't stop. She caught up to me and told me they were out of beer. That was the last straw. I actually sat down on the curb and cried. She rubbed my shoulders for a minute or two while the tears of frustration and pain leaked out. Then I decided it was over, took a Motrin and we got up and made out way to the metro. Her husband and mom were with us and were so supportive. She finished in 4:25, which is a great time. We got home and I drank two beers. After the first one and a shower, I felt like a new woman. That night, we went out for steak and I added French onion soup and a crab cake. Plus some wine. Gotta have wine. I slept terrible last night... tossing and turning. Ended up getting about about 40 minutes early at 0410 to get ready for the airport. Made it there and onto my flight, where I am writing this, with plenty of time to spare. Next marathon will be in March. I'll do the Bataan Death March again, this time in ABUs. In April, I'll be doing the Mighty Mujer Super Sprint Triathlon (which I vowed last year to never do again because it was so poorly organized). A bunch of of the wives want to docs triathlon and that is a great beginner one. It's in a pool, so you don't even have to know how to swim. Probably do some long bike rides over the summer. If the Air Force doesn't move me next summer, I'll probably be doing my first Iron Distance race next October. I can't believe I'm even saying that after yesterday. We'll see...that's a long way away. In the. Meantime, I think I'll schedule a massage for this week.