It’s been a week now since the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM), and I’m finally getting to my race report. The trip to DC was awesome. It was a beautiful city and I took tons of pics! Unfortunately, I think I walked around way too much in the days leading up to the marathon, and I felt that fatigue in my legs about halfway through the race. I think this will be one of my last destination marathons where part of the trip is to see a new place. I don’t think it’s a wise idea if you’re trying for time in a race.

The race started out in Arlington cemetery. It was a beautiful morning, about 50 degrees, and I’ve never seen so many people ready to run. Adrienne was with me the entire time (in the AM), and she did an awesome job with the camera. She’s a trooper, getting up early with me for these races! FYI, Adrienne learned quite a lot spectating this event. She could have a blog post to herself with the experiences she went through. Good stuff!

My Pit Crew

The morning kicked off at 5 AM. I got up, did a 10 minute warmup on the treadmill, stretched, ate, went to the bathroom (3x – BEFORE leaving the hotel), and then headed down to the metro. Man the metro was crowded. It took nearly 25 minutes to get off the metro to the race. Luckily, we gave ourselves enough time. I was very nervous, and I thought I needed a porta potty run. The lines were packed, so I avoided it, and I didn’t have any stomach issues during the race. I realized that this pre-morning bathroom trips (usually 5+x) is pretty much a case of the nerves. Knowing that may help me in future races.

So the race started in Arlington Cemetery, and then we went around the Potomac river, which is absolutely beautiful with the fall colors, and then through Georgetown. The crowd support was awesome in this area. I’ve never heard anything as loud as the people in Georgetown. Thank you – you are awesome!

After Georgetown, we went through potomac park, which was pretty quiet, and then the mall (washington monument, congressional building, smithsonian, Lincoln memorial, etc…), then over the Potomac and through Arlington again. The end of the race was pretty gnarly, with a steep .2 mile hill, and running over the freeway at mile 21 was rough given the lack of scenery, but the rest of the race was beautiful with incredible crowd support.

Handing off the bottle to my crew

For fuel/hydration, I decided to carry a water bottle with me for the first 10 miles, hand it off to Adrienne at mile 10, then pick it up from her around mile 16. This worked perfectly. I never had an issue with hydration, and I drank at every water stop after the first two (powerade when i had water, and water/powerade when I was without the bottle). I must admit, I was COVERED with powerade at the end of the race, but I didn’t get any in my eyes/nose, which is the benefit of sipping into the side of my mouth. For fuel, I GUed at mile 7 and mile 19, and I took Clif Blocks from mile 10 to mile 18 and one more at mile 23 along with an enduralyte pill. Normally I don’t think I would need this much fuel, but I was DYING towards the end and looking for any pick me up possible to maintain pace. I do attribute this food to keeping my time under 9 minute pace for the last 10 miles.

As far as my performance, I wasn’t thrilled. I had a goal of 3:20, which I highlighted in my race strategy post, and I missed it pretty badly (3:37:24). I got off on the wrong pace, and as I tried to speed up, I just couldn’t maintain pace. My legs were tired from about mile 12 on, and after mile 15, it took all my effort to just keep moving. I wanted to stop and walk, and I could feel my legs tense up and prepare to cramp if I tried to speed up, so I had to slow down often. Each time I tried to push below that 8 minute pace, the legs just stiffened. It was a tough race, but I was really stoked that I just fought through the mental desire to bonk.

You can see in my splits above the come split 9, the pace slowed by nearly 30 seconds, and from that point forward, it was a battle to stay under 9 minutes. I did push at the end, but the steep hill at mile .2 put another dagger in the sub-8 minute pace.

The one thing I will take away as a positive in this race aside from the mental push to not quit was that my level of fitness was great. My heart rate barely got above 160 the entire time, and I realize that I can get to these times (Boston Qualifying and Sub 3 hour) if I just improve my form and work on my leg strength/flexibility to prevent the leg pain in later miles.

Since the marathon, the only run I did in the last week was a barefoot treadmill run, and I was amazed how my cadence improved by 10 (between 90-95 at goal race pace) and the muscle pain shifted from hips to calves. After watching the NYC marathon today, I know the move to forefoot striking from heel striking will be great in the long run. It will be a sore road to get there though.

As usual in my race reports, here are my key takeaways from this race:

• DC is a beautiful city
• My pit crew is the best on earth! Thanks for your help Adrienne!
• I need more time off my feet in the days prior to a marathon
• Good fueling/hydration through the race
• Work on forefoot running to reduce leg pain at later stages of the race

Here are a few more pics to help remember my third marathon!

I had to pee 3x before the race. This is one of them, beautifully captured by Adrienne.

Here are some misc race pics, along with me at the airport finishing my Aunt Aunnie’s pretzels before the flight home