That's kind of how I feel right now.
But let's start at the beginning...
The night before the race, I had a grand ol' time making signs for the dreaded Haines Point, and then going to the annual pasta party where I'm pretty sure I ate wayy too much. So, of course, I woke up at midnight - wide awake - freaking out about the marathon. I tossed and turned for a few hours - think I slept from 2-5 perhaps. But then I was up at 5 and couldn't for the life of me go back to sleep. And my stomach was still doing flip-flops.
As you can probably surmise, that left me barely able to eat a banana. Surprisingly, the cup of coffee I made myself did calm my stomach down a little. But I had to have a talk with myself:
Me #1: Whit, you don't have to go.
Me #2: But, I want to go!
Me #1: Really, then why are you freaking out?
Me #2: Becaaaaaause
Me #1: This is a choice. You have a choice. If you don't want to do it, then don't. Otherwise, shut your face and get going.
(I was reminded later that if I hadn't shown up, I would have been verbally acosted by my Pacers people, so I actually did not have a choice in the matter)
I also had a fellow Pacer's bag of stuff that I was dropping off at our tent (Pacers sets up a tent for the "VIPs" to leave their stuff. Usually has food, beer, champagne, and other stuff. It's great because it's right outside the finisher's circle and you don't have to bagcheck your crap). Luckily, I timed my metro ride right and was able to hook up with my friends. Chatting with them for the ride over was calming, but I was still unable to eat more than half of my bagel.
We made our way down to the starting line, and I started to get hungry (WTF body). But we got into the line, boom went the howitzer, and off we went.
The first two miles, I was actually stuggling to not walk. But I think I just needed to warm up. There's a good song that I picked for the first mile - Brooke Frasier is always my long run kick-off songs. The song is called Cochella, and it's about when she played at the music festival after suffering from some blues for a while. Seeing the mass of humanity was so beautiful to her that it lifted her spirits and she was able to compose new music.
Anyways, there's a line in there like this "We're standing at the shore/in the smoke and the starlight/at the edge of a human sea/and the tide is in..." And it was really appropriate for the first couple of miles because there were people EVERYWHERE!
Going up the hill was a challenge (as always), but I made it to the first water stop. Since unable to bring my NorthFace backpack (although I saw people with them, bastards), I had to bring my Amphipod Water Belt. But that also meant I didn't have any NUUN, so I had to drink the gatorade on the course. In any case, I tried to drink it at every water stop.
After the hill, we looped around to Spot Run Parkway, which is all downhill. I kept it slow and steady, finding a large man carrying a flag to trail behind for the duration. I really like Spout Run Parkway, there's a pretty waterfall, you get to see the Georgetown side of the Potomac, and it's just nice. Then we were back up in Rosslyn, over the Key Bridge, and into Georgetown.
By this point, I was feeling good now. I had a good and steady pace, I was only stopping for water and gatorade. After Georgetown, we ended up going up water street and around to Rockville Pike - new addition to this course, although we had run it twice over the summer.
I really like this new course, there seemed to be a lot more folks out on the course, and it was much more shaded and scenic (not to mention less hilly). Right around mile 8, I started to feel a little fatigued, so I walked for a little bit. Starting back up was hard, but I muddled through it, all the way to the end of Rock Creek.
Between miles 8-11, I think I started to take more walk breaks. Then we got on Haines Point, which is my favorite part, simply for the signs! I made some awesome ones:
"You're running better than Healthcare.Gov"
"ERMEGERD! RERN! MERETHERN!"
"If you're sad, just imagine a T-Rex doing a push-up."
"Hey Girl, You look hot in compression shorts. - Ryan Gosling"
"Hey Girl, I love a woman that can go for 4 hours. - Ryan Gosling"
"Run like Miley is twerking behind you!"
"Run! Sharknado is coming!"
"I put up this sign at 3am - Don't disappoint me!"
And for my buddies:
"Ed & Eileen - Your retaining wall fell down..."
"Abi - Just wait at the finish, Amos is going to run another 25."
"Sonia - The spectator guide is fine. Have a great run!"
"Whit - You aren't going to die. Suck it up and deal with it. <3 Whit from 12 hours ago"
Right around mile 14 was when I think I hit a mini-wall. It was hard to concentrate, it was hard to think, and it was really hard to run. But I took another GU and muddled through. Also, I think at this point, my fuel belt started to really hurting my stomach (never again!!!).
The point after Haines (miles 15-17) is just a hard part for me mentally, I don't know why. It's a long stretch from Haines to the Lincoln back to the mall. I walked a lot more than I wanted to, and I began counting down the miles (Only 9 left, only 8 left - an hour and a half).
Last year, I coudn't remember running on the first side of the mall, so I took a mental note to remember it. The sun had started to come out, so I was able to pull off my little mini-jacket and wrap it around my waist. We strolled around the Capital and I got my picture taken on the other side (we'll see how those turn out!). Then it was down the mall to the 14th street bridge.
WHERE I SAW MY FIRST AND ONLY CHEERING SECTION!!!!!! I was so happy to have seen SOMEBODY on the course for me. Thank you Jeana, Chrissy, and Kelly! Also, I didn't realize Tanya was there too!
That happiness lasted me for like five minutes, then it was back to walking. LOL.
I had timed my music to play songs like "Single Ladies" and Sara Evans' "A little bit stronger" at the bridge, and it was good. But I took a break to check my phone and see all of the supportive messages that my friends and family had sent. I love you guys so much!!!!
At this point, since I was walking more than running, my foot started to hurt. But we muddled through, trying to run as much as we could. My stomach (not the actual stomach, but the muscles outside of it) was hurting more than the foot - I had to take my fuel belt off a few times just to relieve the pressure. It even completely cramped up towards the end.
Crystal City held my favorite stop - Annapolis Runner's Coke station! But the bastards only had diet coke, so I couldn't drink any of it. So we continued on, around 23rd street, and back to Army Navy. For some reason, I got a second wind and was able to run more than I had been. Could have been the angry music that started playing.
We came to the Pentagon and then up 27. We're now at the last two miles, folks! I caught up with a group of runners who were running with TAPS and set them as my pacers for a while. But my stomach was really cramping at this point, and I had to walk.
The last mile or so, I tried as hard as I could to run, but the pain in my stomach was too much. I did go up the hill, and all the way to the finish.
Then I just wanted my medal, my finisher's pack and to get to the Pacers tent. Where my buddies were there to great me and give me a hug!
So, all in all, I am very happy with my performance. Without my backpack, with a reduced training schedule due to foot injury, and with all the other crap that I had to deal with, I still shaved 20 minutes off of my time from last year. Which is actually pretty impressive.
What is more satisfying is that I know I can do better (Not could, Mom, can). Which is why I'm going to try to do the Pensacola Marathon next year. I'll be home, where I have a built-in cheering committee, and possibly some great running partners (Val - you gotta do at least six with me!).
Which means I get to be the most awesome spectator at next year's Marine Corps! I see balloons and a dry erase board in my future....
(I will edit this post later to update with links and garmin info :))
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