You must be swift as the coursing river (as long as it's the Lazy River) - comments welcome

[flav]

Congratulations

 

[The Expert]

I said to myself, "Let's f---ing go."

And by "said to myself" I really mean "screamed as loud as possible, for motivation." I was kind of thinking this might also motivate the people around me, but I'm pretty sure they actually just thought I was crazy. Oh well. I felt motivated.

In that moment, "Go the Distance" came up on my playlist and I almost cried. I'm pretty sure I'm now 3/3 on hearing this song at this point in the marathon, and really, what more could you ask for?

I LOVE THIS! Amazing race report and congratulations.

 

[nancipants]

See, if you yelled that during a Disney race, there's a non-zero chance you might have some Deadpools or Wolverines around you to join in.

 

[superchime]

Way to go!!

 

[avondale]

What an amazing race! Congratulations! That was a huge negative split. I'm so glad that all your hard training paid off so well.

@nancipants might think you look like you're dying in the photo before the finish, but I think you look remarkably cheerful!

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Here is your Osprey photo, second pass when they had the rotors down for speed (picture from last year).



Other comments:

• Kudos! And great race report
• I was pleasantly surprised at the open "corals" and how most people were honest in where they placed themselves, at least further back in the Team Slow(er) corals....
• Yeah, those rolling hills, especially in the first half of the race. Would be interesting to see your time on a flat course, all else being equal.
• The Blue Mile was/is sobering
• I loved the Mall part of the course
• By mile 17 last year I was really questioning being there and other life decisions...
• Storming the hill to the Iwo Jima memorial is so symbolic, but yes a total PITA at the finish.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Marine Corps Marathon: Post-race reflections
In which I somehow still have more to say

Ha, you thought I was done. I was not. The recap was just really long already, and "next time, BQ" seemed like a good place to end it. But wait, there's more! In no particular order, some post-race thoughts:

I was so, so sore the rest of Sunday and most of Monday. My dad texted me on Monday to ask how I was feeling, and I just responded with that Nike commercial from after Chicago because it was a 100% accurate representation.

My neck was also sore from trying to keep my head from falling off in the last few miles, and I really did have a bruise on my waist from my water bottle. (I may need to look into other hydration options for my next marathon.) However, while I can't say for sure that I'll keep all my toenails, surprisingly I don't think any of them are in danger of falling off currently.

Three days later, I feel mostly recovered (at least in terms of soreness). My calves are still a bit sore (thanks, hills) and so is my neck. I ended up doing quite a lot of walking Monday and Tuesday, which probably helped (though the three hours of standing Tuesday evening probably didn't). I'm already kind of looking forward to running again - but don't worry, I'll wait until at least next week.


Dog transition! Someone was hovering while I was stretching, so I got this great photo of his chin wrinkles

It's funny how different marathons can feel. Last time, I attributed most of the differences to not having actually raced the first one. I figured it just seemed harder because I was working a lot harder, even relatively speaking. But now that I have raced two marathons (and run a third), I can say that different marathons are actually really different experiences.

For example, after Space Coast, I had a huge headache and felt terrible. The headache made me nauseous, and then I couldn't eat, which probably made the headache worse, and it was a whole cycle of crap. I spent most of the two days after the race asleep or at least laying down.

This time I didn't have a headache, which was a relief. (I'm guessing the headache came from insufficient salt intake, which wasn't as much of a problem at MCM because it was a lot cooler and less humid.) However, my legs felt way more sore.

For some reason I've also been sleeping kind of terribly. Especially on Sunday night - I expected to sleep like the dead, but I couldn't fall asleep for the longest time, and then I kept waking up in the middle of the night. I think I've gotten about six hours of sleep for the last three nights, which is unusual even when I haven't just run a marathon. On the other hand, I slept a ton after Space Coast. It's weird.

The race itself felt different too. I don't remember my legs hurting that much during Space Coast, but at MCM it started less than 10 miles in. Granted, I managed to run the rest of the marathon like that, but it was unexpected after my last experience. (I wonder if I should try a more aggressive taper - I barely ran at all in the two weeks leading up to Space Coast because of my Achilles, but I did a normal taper for MCM )


The MCM medal opens up: On the left it says, "Molly Marine serves as a symbol of pride for the women, past and present, who have earned the Eagle, Globe, & Anchor" and on the right it has a picture of a woman in a Marine dress uniform and "Celebrating Women in Service | Run with Purpose, Finish with Pride" around the outside.

I'll probably do another MCM - maybe even next year - and there are a few things I would do a little differently next time. First, I would try to arrive maybe 15-20 minutes earlier. I didn't quite have enough time before the race this year. I would also wait to use the port-a-potties until after security, like I said in the recap. And I wouldn't worry much about getting to the starting line more than a few minutes before the race, because it turns out you can just sneak in where you're supposed to be.

As far as the actual race goes, I don't know that there was too much I would change. Not having to pee would be ideal, of course, but I only have so much control over that. I would keep my gloves if it's cool, because I definitely wanted them again. I would also not wait so long to switch to music if I feel like crap - it made a huge difference.


My dog waiting impatiently for his banana. You can see the drool streaming from his jowls

I don't understand how this works at all, but my body is actually quite good at pacing races. This skill does not extend to workouts - running like 6:20 pace for a minute is extremely hit or miss (mostly miss). But for running X distance as fast as possible, I can just let my body do its thing and not think about it too much. (Thinking about it too much is actually where I mess things up, as in my last 5K.) It is pretty cool. If you normally race while staring at your watch and adjusting based on what it tells you, maybe let your instincts give it a try sometime.

To be clear, I do absolutely look at my watch during a race. It's a good check to make sure I'm not doing something totally crazy. But as long as what my watch tells me is within a pretty wide range of reasonableness, I just let my body do what it wants. And somehow that works.


My friend caught a picture of me mid-chew as I was refueling after picking up my gear bag

According to the official race time, I ran 26.2 miles in 3:32:25, or 8:07 pace on average. According to Strava, I ran 26.64 miles in 3:32:30, or an average 7:59 per mile. So if I'm trying to run a marathon in less than 3:30, that's technically 8:00 pace, but I guess I actually want to be able to run like 7:52 pace. Of course, if I'm running by feel, that's less of a factor in the race itself, but it's relevant for training purposes.

It's too bad you can't count unofficial times, though. Because of the extra running, Strava has my marathon (26.2) PR at 3:28:47. Apple somehow came up with 3:23:31, and I have no idea how it got there . But that would almost definitely get me into Boston!

 

[avondale]

For some reason I've also been sleeping kind of terribly. Especially on Sunday night - I expected to sleep like the dead, but I couldn't fall asleep for the longest time, and then I kept waking up in the middle of the night.

I this problem, too, sometimes even after long training runs. No idea why, but it's frustrating. Sometimes my legs are twitchy, and then calf sleeves help, but that's not always it.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Marine Corps Marathon: Post-race reflections
In which I somehow still have more to say

Ha, you thought I was done. I was not. The recap was just really long already, and "next time, BQ" seemed like a good place to end it. But wait, there's more! In no particular order, some post-race thoughts:

I was so, so sore the rest of Sunday and most of Monday. My dad texted me on Monday to ask how I was feeling, and I just responded with that Nike commercial from after Chicago because it was a 100% accurate representation.

See. What those people don't know in the video, is that the trick is to walk down the stairs backwards.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

See. What those people don't know in the video, is that the trick is to walk down the stairs backwards.

I feel like this would just add a broken neck to my list of maladies, though...

 

[Herding_Cats]

I feel like this would just add a broken neck to my list of maladies, though...

Yes. It feels extremely uncoordinated, but was sooo much kinder to my legs when I tried it.