Last Sunday I finished my fourth official Marine Corps
Marathon, having banditted one year and DNFed another (don’t ask … ). I continue to love this race and hope that I
can continue running it every year.
I was still pretty shot from running the Grindstone 100 3
weeks before, but the run went better than I had expected. My hips were really bothering me after
Grindstone to the point where I couldn’t run without pain, but the foam roller
seemed to do the trick, and they didn’t bother me during the race.
I may have gotten too relaxed about this race, and I
strolled on up to the start line after the gun went off. This played into my general strategy of
taking it super easy and not doing any damage, and I straggled through 2 miles
in 17 minutes. I started rolling along a
bit faster as the crowds eased up and in Rock Creek Park went on a mission to
catch a coworker I had planned on running with but missed due to my start line
shenanigans.
I ran low 7s to catch him, ran with him for 2.5 miles, and
then decided to keep on moving faster than I had originally planned. It’s hard not to get swept up in such a fun
race, especially on the national mall with huge crowds cheering everyone along. And ACDC's Thunderstruck was playing ... what am I supposed to do?
I had not done a speed workout (or much of anything less
than 8 minute miles) for four months, and that combined with my legs after
Grindstone made low 7:00s a bit of a shock to the system. My enthusiasm made for a difficult last 5
miles, but I suppose it was good to make it an honest effort. I was very pleased with my time of 3:15 and a
four minute negative split.
I love the Marine Corps Marathon. I love the course. I love the crowds. I love the marines. I love running with and seeing tons of
friends and coworkers along the way. It’s
a great time. Now I just need to find a
way into the race and finish it next year and then I will be guaranteed entry
for life!
Jen's good friend Dana and her sister Erika stayed with us for the weekend and ran Marine Corps. Congrats to them on a great finish!
Comments