Marine Corps Marathon Recap

Absolutely incredible.

If I had to sum it up, there it is.

For those that dislike long, drawn out recaps (because this is what this is 🙂 ), I finished in 4:57:58. Not a PR unfortunately.

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And for those who don’t mind details….

THE EXPO

We arrived in D.C. Friday afternoon, and we immediately went to our hotel, dropped off our stuff, and got on the metro to the expo.

I walked up to it slowly as I knew that my marathon weekend was just about to begin! To say I was excited is an understatement!

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Eeep!

Once inside, we were met with tons of vendors. We decided to get my bib first and then look around.

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Cheesin’ real hard!

Bib in hand, we made our way to the Brooks gear. There were so many super cute t-shirts, jackets, hats, socks, shorts, you name it! I wanted EVERYTHING. My husband decided I had to have this jacket

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Oh just me and my jacket in front of the White House…nbd.

and then I also got a few things for my family–and of course a shirt for my ex-Marine dad

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Port-a-Potty VIP: All this means is that I spent too much money at the Expo.

We walked around a bit more just kinda relishing it all in. I did see the big poster challenging runners to “beat Oprah!” Lol! In 1994, Oprah finished MCM in 4:29! I’ve been coveting a 4:30 marathon since running my first–(I’m gonnna get you Oprah. Someday. But I’m gunnin’ for you.)

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and got our rest on. The next day, Saturday, would be spent touring D.C. I knew I should save my legs and not walk too much but I was in our nation’s capitol! There is so much to see! I ended up walking about 4 miles going to different monuments and museums (more about this in another post) but managed to get back to the hotel relatively early to rest.

RACE DAY

I had been debating what to wear as it was chillier in D.C. than what I was used here in the desert. But ultimately I decided to stick with what I had trained in: shorts and a cap sleeve. I threw on some arm sleeves to help with the cold.

Except, it was freezing that morning. Like holy cold freezing temperatures freezing. Now I know you’ll probably read other recaps and people might not comment on the weather that morning, but for this Arizonan, it was freaking cold. I was a grumpy, shivering runner up until the start. I kept cursing myself for not being prepared with a warm throwaway. And it seemed like eternity for the race to near its start time.

When it finally came, I positioned myself in the 4:30-5:00 estimated finish corral and finally allowed myself to soak the atmosphere in. The National Anthem was sung and the tears began to well. Aircrafts flew overhead and the tears began to fall. Parachuters dropped with huge American flags and by then I was mess. All before the gun had even shot off.

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Where’s Helly?!? 🙂

My husband kissed me good luck and then it was go time.

I had studied the map and knew the first part was going to be hilly. I made sure to not start out fast and just maintain a steady pace. I was pleased to see the first mile tick off 10:30something. The next two miles were around the same and then there was a crazy 9:19 mile four that I think was on a downhill. I regrouped and by mile 6 I was riding a steady 10:15ish minute/mile pace.

I kept it that way through miles 7, 8, 9, all the way to mile 13.

My husband had met me a few times along the way and praised me for keeping pace and told me to keep it going, I was doing great.

And then I got to mile 16.

It was like dejavu from my first marathon. Mile 16 I started feeling a cramp in my quad the size of a golf ball. It really felt like a hard ball was in my quad. I had prepared myself for this to happen; it was like I knew that at mile 16 shit would start to hit the fan.

But I kept telling myself, “Become one with the pain. Become one with the pain.” Do you have a mantra you repeat? This is the craziness that I was telling myself at mile 16 lol!

I kept running and hoping that it would go way but it didn’t. I started to see my pace slow down. Considerably.

The goal was to get to mile 20 without stopping. If I could just get myself there and then see that I only had 6.2 miles left, maybe somehow I could convince myself I could keep going.

I made it to mile 19. I texted my husband that I had stopped as I knew he’d be waiting for me at mile 20. When I caught up to him, he reassured me that I was fine. But I was fighting tears and trying to keep myself together and keep going but I just couldn’t. I felt like such a failure.

I saw the 4:45 pace group run by and then I just let myself cry. Any chance of a PR was fleeing right before my eyes.

But my husband reminded me what this race was all about. Definitely not me. He told me to look around–I was in Washington freaking D.C. running the Marine Corps Marathon! He said he’d be at mile 24 and to keep going til we met again.

So I mustered up whatever energy I had and started running. I could feel the cramps, by this time they were everywhere–quads, hamstrings, calves, and each step I took was extremely painful. I decided to walk/run it the rest of the way; the last thing I wanted was to injure myself or even worse, DNF.

When I reached mile 24, I took off my water pack and handed it my husband. He said to finish strong, only 2.2 left.

Nearing the end, the crowd was getting louder. I could hear Mary J. Blige blasting from a speaker and I sang along as I ran/chugged along. The last small bit was an uphill battle, literally, but as I ran to the finish the emotions came rushing back, this time not from disappointment at lost time goals, but from pride and happiness at having been able to cross that line. A Marine put a medal over my head, saluted, and thanked me and I sobbed , “No, thank you!”

It was over.

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Looking back, even now just 3 days later, I don’t remember so much the pain or the frustration of time goals. All that I recall are things that make this race so special, the things that made me want to run this race so bad in the first place. The people being so kind; the awesomeness that is running past places like Arlington Cemetery, Lincoln Memorial, The White House; the mile stretch where you ran past pictures of fallen soldiers (I was bawling through it); the seemingly non-stop crowd support; the faces of Marines and volunteers at aid/water stations so encouraging–those are the memories that I’m choosing to keep.

The race was most definitely hard; it was the most challenging I’ve faced yet, but the Marine Corps Marathon is more than just a course– it’s 26.2 miles of transfiguration, of renewal, of gratitude to those who experience pain beyond what one may ever experience during a race.

That’s what I’ll never forget.

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Thank you guys SO much for your words of encouragement. I was truly overwhelmed by your kindness via my Instagram and Facebook page before, during, and after the race. I’m so thankful to be a part of a community that is so supportive and so positive.

There were some other major highlights of my Marine Corps Marathon weekend that I’ll be sharing with you in the next couple of days. Here’s a teaser–I got to meet a certain somebody in person! 😀

❤ helly

 

Marathon Training Recap Week 16 and some other thoughts

It seems like I’ve taken this taper thing a liiiittle too seriously lol!

Yeah, I’ve done nothing.

Well, not exactly nothing. But last week’s 20 miler had been iffy because my husband was out of town. He’s actually still out of town. I had planned on squeezing in my workouts after work and before daycare pick-up (it’s like a 2 hour window) but I ended up swamped with end of quarter grading that I never left work early to run. I know I could have put the grading aside, but I figured the more I got done then, the less I’d have to bring home to grade during Fall Break. Which I’m on now! YAY!!!

So this solo-parenting has left me absolutely exhausted. After my 20 miler last Saturday, I didn’t do anything the rest of the week 😦

My mom flew in on Thursday night and I was able to run on Saturday.

I was really looking forward to this because one of my local running groups #RunEatTweetAZ was putting on a fun run for charity, collecting old shoes and raising money/awareness for pediatric cancer.

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These 10 miles were tough. I hadn’t run all week so I’m blaming tired, rusty legs (but really, I’ve kinda felt my legs heavy throughout my entire training 😦 ) Anyway, I got it done and was very happy 🙂 Can’t you tell?? Lol!!

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That was pretty much it. This morning I went for an easy, quick 2 miler on the treadmill while my mom did some elliptical. We chatted the entire time and it was fun to have a mom/daughter workout–we hadn’t had one of those in years!!

Total mileage (Sun-Mon)=12

Soda count=I’ve been averaging about 1 a day 🙂

And the other thoughts…

Yesterday, quite a few running friends online and in real life ran the Chicago Marathon. It was so freaking inspiring reading and seeing their race pics and stories. It was seriously the boost I needed going in to Marine Corps. I must have stayed up til like 10 (that’s late for me!) on Instagram and Facebook just catching up. I read about people getting PRs, others having not so great races, and others simply happy with the experience. What I couldn’t get enough of was just the happiness that runners exhibit post race. It’s like we’re in so much pain but we’re happy?! It’s so insanely awesome!

I read about one girl who struggled with cramping but fought through to finish with an amazing time and another girl who struggled with cramping and had to reevaluate her goal. I love reading about others’ experience; I feel like I learn so much from them.

I feel like I’ve battled some motivation issues with this training–I blame the heat–and I feel like while I’m so freaking excited about running Marine Corps, I’m more excited about the experience and not so much about tackling a PR. I mean, I hope I get a PR, but really, I’m going in to this race so totally about the race itself. I’ve never been to D.C.; I’m so excited about that. My dad was a Marine; I’m so excited to run a race with meaning. And, I have a passion for American history. This race is completely about enjoying the experience.

I think having that mindset all through training is what has kept me from freaking out about paces and goal times. Sometimes that’s not what it’s all about.

I hope you guys have a great week! How’s the running going?? Who ran/raced this weekend!?

Marathon Training Recap Week 14 and Esprit de She 10k

Taper, taper, bo baper, fee fi, fo faper…taaaaaper!!!!!

I’m in good spirits and let me tell you why…

I DID MY 20 MILER THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!

Remember, I cried about how I wasn’t going to be able to and that I was worried I’d have to do it 2 weeks out? Crisis averted.

So my husband’s away on business and I’ve been solo-parenting. This was why I wasn’t going to be able to squeeze it in. But, my mother-in-law pulled through and spent the weekend with us, thus allowing me to long run on Sunday. Yay!!!

And it wasn’t just about being able to do it, I was able to do it and be happy with the results. SUPER yay!!!

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Yes, please direct your eyes to the last four miles. I finished so strong and that made me so freaking happy.

I started off with a slower pace than usual but I didn’t mind as I really wanted to last the entire way. The beginning pace was around the 10:45/mile range. That was about the first 7 miles.

Mile 10 I pulled a 10:10 from out of nowhere and then miles 13 on, my pace was steady around 10:30. Right where I wanted.

And I don’t know what the heck happened the last four miles lol! I might’ve wanted the run to be over with jajaja!!

So that was my long run 😀

The previous Thursday I ran the Esprit de She 10k. I had been looking forward to this race because it’s an all women’s race known for it’s awesome post-race festivities. But, because my husband was out of town, I wasn’t going to be able to partake in them 😦 It really did look like a lot of fun too as they had chili for post race yumminess and a bubbly bar (where you’d get a free wine cup/glass)!

Anyway, the race was a double 5k loop (boo!!!) on pavement with a brief stint on grass (boo!!!). It was also a short course with my watch stopping at 5.79 (boo!!!)

It was also a horribly run race on my part (super boo!!!)

One of the things I’ve been working on throughout this training are consistent splits and I’d been doing really good at getting them how I’d like, even sometimes negative splitting.

But holy shit, did I royally eff this one up.

First thing I did wrong? Thinking I could keep up with a girl in my run club. She’s someone who I’ve always “shadowed”, someone who is juuuust faster than me, enough that I can somewhat keep up with extra effort. (Although lately she’s been killing her training and is become almost impossible to shadow.)

Yeeeeah, so she pretty much blew me away.

The first mile beeped 7:3o-something and I was done after that. Talk about a perfect way of burning out.

My goal had been to maintain an 8:30 pace then entire way and hope to finish strong. What the hell was I thinking starting out so fast? I wasn’t thinking. Clearly.

I was able to hit 8:30 the next two miles but then the second 5k was just an inconsistent hot mess.

You live run and you learn.

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On a super cool bright note, this was my high school BRF’s first 10k and she pulled out a 4th place overall finish! Badass status!

Prior to Thursday, I had run on Tuesday and Wednesday, 5 miles respectively

 

which brought my total mileage for last week (Monday-Sunday) to: 35.8

Soda count: I lost count 😦

–Anyone else excited it’s Oc-freaking-tober??!!

–How’s your running going? Who’s got fall races?

–P.S. Salt‘s back! ❤