Well, the race was a month ago. Oops. But I couldn’t skip the write-up!

The Marine Corps Marathon was only 15days after the Baltimore Marathon — my first time doing two marathons so close together! I’m happy with how I felt and ran on race day.

It was a very chilly morning — in the low to mid 30s in the pre-dawn hours. Since we were taking Metro to the start line and had a ways to go, we gave ourselves a lot of travel time. So of course we were in the start line area with two hours to spare.

I was glad I met up with some friends at the train, it would have been lonely passing all that time by myself! Well, at least we got there before there were lines at the port-o-potties. And in fact, I got to break in a pristine facility.  Once we were all set (for the time being), we huddled under a tent to try to stay a little warm as we waited.

Thankfully time seems to pass quickly. I ate my peanut butter sandwich. We made another trip to the port-o-pots. And then it was time to head to the start corrals!

It was my second MCM, and the second time I wound up on the wrong side of the fence while trying to seed myself. Maybe next time I’ll figure it out! We squeezed in as soon as we found a spot in a reasonable pace group. I knew I wasn’t going for last year’s speed, and lined up with my friends. We were different paces and split up within the first mile, but it was nice to start together.

I was trying to do a better job pacing myself than I did in Baltimore — where I tried to be slower in the first half, but was still probably running too hard, which made for a pretty miserable second half. I was barely looking at my pace at all during Marine Corps — I was focusing more on keeping my heart rate low. A new strategy for me, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t pushing too hard!

I was hoping I’d be able to pick it up in the last 10K rather than fall apart.

And, well, it sort of worked.

Unlike Baltimore, where my walk breaks kept getting longer and more frequent, I kept them quick — just at the water stops —  and I resumed running soon after. I also felt good later in the race. I remember hating mile 17-18 in MCM last year (and in Baltimore it started around 16!), but I was still a happy runner this time around. I did stop briefly to stretch my hip, but got back on the road feeling OK pretty quickly.

This year, though, the bridge seemed a lot more awful than last year. Yeah, I did kind of hate the bridge this time around. But I felt better as we headed into Crystal City.

I willed my legs to move faster, and occasionally I’d glance down at my watch and my current pace *was* faster. But it seems I wasn’t holding it long enough to make a difference in my mile splits. Oh well.

Once again I was thankful for my Strider friends for being out there with gummy bears (and hugs).  Helps that they were around mile 23, so it meant I was almost done!

Those last few miles weren’t too bad, and I even managed to pick it up a little bit for the last two.  My last half mile (yikes! I tracked 26.51) wasn’t the sprint I can usually manage at the end … but I guess I probably was a little tired after a second marathon.

Overall time was 3:14 slower than Baltimore … but I was 5:26 slower than Baltimore at the halfway point.  Still not the negative splits I wished I could do, but at least I didn’t fall apart as badly!

The crowd at the finish was a lot worse than last year. Maybe because I was 25 minutes slower this year? I almost couldn’t hit the second mat due to a wall of people. And then it took forever to weave through the crowd to pick up food and get to the finish area.

I still love this race. I plan to be back in 2012!

Chip Time: 4:47:19
Overall Place: 11770 / 21023
Gender Place: 3916 / 8596
Division Place : 631 / 1309

It was a beautiful, slightly-breezy morning in Baltimore on Saturday morning. I took the light rail train into the city, arriving about an hour before the start of the Baltimore Marathon.

I was surprised to find no lines at the port-o-pots. Excellent! I wandered around, chatted with runners, and made use of the facilities again (no lines at all!)  before it was time to walk over to the start. I ran into a friend and we chatted as we made our way to the start line on the other side of Camden Yards, but we were running different paces. Once we started running, I was on my own.

I know I said I was going to take it easy during this marathon. And for the most part, I did. I was quite a bit faster in the first half, but I never felt like I was pushing too hard — I just felt good! As we ran my pace matched up  with a college student running not just her first marathon, but her first race! We stuck together for a few miles and she was doing great.

Around mile four, we ran through the zoo. Zoo staff brought out animals so that was cool — I loved seeing a penguin and alligator along the course!

I know you’re never supposed to do anything new during a race … but when they had Dunkin Donuts munchkins at one of the water stops after the zoo, I had to grab a couple. Yum!

Though maybe they didn’t agree with me. I got a side-stitch during a rare downhill stretch around mile six or seven that I had to walk through. Someone asked me if I was OK even though I had only been walking a few seconds — I’m sure it was because he was wondering why anybody would ever walk DOWN a hill on this course! While I hated having to stop, it didn’t seem to hurt my pace much. I recovered and was able to resume running.

Around mile 12, there was a woman in the crowd cheering how great we were doing … and that we were almost done. Huh?  Some of the other runners and I yelled back, “No we’re not!” There was another spot on the course where a man was encouraging his toddlers to shout how we were almost done. Also not true. Just cheer us on and tell us we look awesome!

I hit the half marathon split just under 2:16. While not on pace with my PR (that I wasn’t going for, anyway),  it was definitely faster than I expected to go. Sure, my ‘A’ goal was a finish in the 4:30s … but I that would not fit with my ‘run easy’ approach.  I didn’t have to consciously slow my pace. The  was starting to get harder as we approached the halfway point.

I carried my water bottle, but was sticking to my plan to walk through the waterstops, grabbing Gatorade along the way. So by mile 15, when I noticed just a short line at the port-o-pots, I mad a pit stop.

Even before that stop, my pace was slowing down. Between the hills and the concrete streets, my body was aching. It was especially rough when the full and half marathoners merged.

The Baltimore Marathon is organized so that full and half marathoners finish together. The full marathon starts at 8am, and the half starts at 9:45. The courses are separate for the first three mile of the half marathon, and then they merge and run together to the finish from around mile 16 of the full marathon course.

For faster runners, they were being passed by half runners on fresh legs. But my pace group matched up with the the half marathon walkers. I was aching and desperately wanted to just start walking … and here were all these people walking around me. It was discouraging.

I managed to keep moving, though there was definitely a lot of energy wasted passing all of the walkers. Whenever I walk in races, I make sure I’m on the right or left side of the road so runners can get through … but it seems the straight walkers don’t practice the same etiquette.

So … I was tired and aching. My pace slowed so much during the 18-24 mile stretch that I’m sure my water-stop walk breaks got longer, and I added a few extra walks. This course is pretty challenging, and I was definitely feeling it!

I managed to pick up the pace a tiny bit for mile 25. As I was  approaching mile 26, a wave of emotion passed over me and I got a little teary. This was my fourth marathon, but its power has not worn off yet.

Mile 26 was almost back up to my earlier pace.   And for the final push (.39 on my Garmin) I was at my 5K-pace. For the last three minutes, I no longer felt any aches and pains. I was passing people left and right, and it felt amazing!

Chip Time: 4:44:05
Overall Place: 1976 / 3207
Gender Place: 657 / 1192
Division Place : 90 / 167

My ‘B’ goal was to come in under five hours. And I actually really wanted it to be at or under 4:45.

I’ll call this a success!

Wow. Where have I been?

I think it’s no coincidence that I stopped blogging after my office moved. With a longer commute, I have to leave significantly earlier in the morning. Which means I have to go to sleep earlier at night.  There goes my computer time!

I ran a bunch of races in September that I wanted to write about. How my relaxed pace at the Virginia Beach Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon was so much more comfortable and fun than my just-failed attempt to go sub-two hours last year. How my first trail half marathon was A LOT harder than I expected, and I was actually happy with my 2:50 finish.  How fun it was to race and party in Nashville at the Women’s Half Marathon.

But I probably won’t get around to that.

Instead, I wanted to write about my marathon goals. Because holy cow, I’m running a marathon tomorrow!

A few months back I wasn’t sure the Baltimore Marathon was going to happen for me. But my foot got better, and I pretty much caught up with training.  Only one 20-miler and not as many as I would like in the 15 – 18 range, but I should be fine.

I’ve got the Marine Corps Marathon in two weeks, so I’m not planning on running too hard tomorrow. If I happen to feel comfortable at a fast pace, well that would be fabulous! But I’ll be taking walk breaks — definitely through all of the water stops, and possibly up hills.

I won’t go so far as to blog or tweet during the race … that’s too distracting. But I want to have a fun race tomorrow, where I don’t stress out about my pace. I’ll wear my Garmin, but I don’t have strict time goals.

I’m not planning on chasing last year’s 4:22:22 PR that blew my mind. If I can get in the 4:30 range, that would be awesome … but really, anything under five hours would be great too.

And if not, whatever. As long as I finish smiling!