Well, it’s done. I completed the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday, October 30. The last time I “raced” a marathon was around my fortieth birthday, 5 years ago, finishing with a time of 3:54.32. Since then I have not run a marathon, mostly focusing on triathlons, and then COVID put a pause on any racing. Last year I challenged myself by completing a 50k trail run with some significant elevation gain, a different beast from running a road marathon.
When I got the entry to the Marine Corps Marathon, I was excited to flex my road racing muscles again. Since I am now 5 years older, I decided to employ my fellow PT and endurance coach extraordinaire, Chris Johnson. I set a goal of a finishing time 3:45, and, based on my training, that time was in my wheelhouse, but I knew I was going to have to work for it.
Race recap:
I crossed the finish line well behind my goal time, with an official time of 3:52.02. To say I’m disappointed is an understatement, and it has taken a week to be able to step back and get a better perspective on the race.
At the expo, excited to run alongside my good friend and Air Force pilot, Mike
Right from the start, I knew I would be working against an initial time deficit. The course starts with a fairly long up hill from miles 1-3, and then a steep downhill from miles 3-4. I anticipated taking it easy up the hill and then also being mindful of not killing my quads on the descent. I believed that once I got through the hill, I could dial into my race pace and slowly eat away at the initial deficit.
Big fake smiles as I passed my cheerleading family and friends at mile 19
Rolling hills are the death of consistent pace
and really, that’s the issue. This course was rarely flat. I was constantly having to readjust my pace with the slight inclines and declines throughout. I spent too much effort and energy on finding my pace.
Thank you, Marines, for all those
port-a-potties
You would think the nerves would have helped empty me out for this race. Not a chance. At mile 18 I had to make a stop. At that point I was aware that I was off my pace, but I knew if I didn’t stop, it could be a disaster. In my mind, no biggie, it’'ll set me up well for the last 10k of the race. No problem… but then, into mile 24, there was a mad dash to stop again.
MILE 24!!!
And then, to be honest, I just didn’t have anything left. I tried to get my pace back up to at least a respectable tempo, but just couldn’t keep it up.
I have always thought of myself as a tough cookie, but I have been definitely questioning my mental toughness this week.
My favorite cheerleaders
How do I move forward?
I am certainly not walking away from this without a new goal for redemption. I will be doing another marathon in 2023, and I now have information and experience from which to work.
Silver linings:
despite my disappointing result, I trust the training and my coach
I stayed injury free during the entirety of my training
I did finish with a personal best
Focus for the future:
get more race experience regardless of distance
consider the role of strength training (was this why I couldn’t push the pace in the last 2 miles?)
practice race pace
figure out the belly situation!
And the biggest lesson learned: don’t choose a race because it is in a cool city. Once you are in a pain hole, there is no way you are looking at anything except the road 20 feet ahead of you. I ran right in front the Capitol building and barely noticed it.
Another Silver Lining:
Sight seeing in our nation’s capitol with my favorite people… sore quads and all!