Marine Corps Recap

So proud of my one and only, M, and my friend Jill for finishing their first marathon!

Heading into race day we were scared about hurricane Sandy ruining our day, but in reality the weather was perfect to run in. No sun, nice temp, and well a little windy at some points but not bad at all.

We headed down to the race around 5:45am and I have never had so much fun hanging out before the start of a race. I was laughing so hard when I tried to crack my hard boiled egg on the parking lot and the whole egg just exploded  Hard boiled egg...hmm...I think not. It was uncooked and egg was every where. We even had the people standing around us laughing too. It totally made it feel like we were not about to run 26.2 miles.

Once we started running, Jill took off to run her own race, and I just stuck by Ms side as I had told him I would run with him the entire race at whatever pace he wanted to run. I tried pacing him, but yeah he doesn't really like me pacing him so I just went with the flow and tried to enjoy myself as much as one can when they are running a marathon for fun. Plus well wearing a Halloween costume to run in always spices things up :)

I loved running through g-town and seeing Mia at that point. I also strangely liked Haines Point. Especially all these flags they had down there.

My legs were secretly hurting around mile 17-18 but I didn't want to complain and let Jason know about it. My feet were also hurting as I hated the shoes I choose to wear and my arches were screaming at me. I kept a smile on my face though and kept on running. The funny thing about running a marathon for fun though is your body doesn't seem to care if it's trying to run a sub 4 or just run to finish. It hurts regardless. I do think this will be the last time though that I run one for fun...no offense Jas... but if I'm going to put my body through this again I want to chase after my own personal goal.

Anyhow, I tried making funny, that's what she said jokes, as we ran down the mall to the Capital. If you have looked at the course map for this race, you will know what I am talking about.

Once we made it off the mall, we made our way over the 14th street bridge. It was just as dumb as I remember it being when I ran MCM in 2004. It was also at this point that we caught back up to my friend Jill. The three of us ran the rest of the race together :)

The last 6 miles were hard, as they always are, but we all finished together! Well almost all finished together. M was a little sneak and sprinted to the finish line to beat me and Jill by 8 seconds!!! He also made his goal of  beating my first marathon time, on the same course, which was 5:04 something.

My finish time: 4:58
M's aka Jason's finish: 4:57:52

Go M on your sub 5 finish!!!

Overall it was a great race and I loved being able to run it with my love and with one of my really good friends. And once again I am so proud of both of them and hopefully they are proud of themselves.

Happy Wen All

Hello Sandy...

Two days and counting until the Marine Corps Marathon! And Guess who decided to crash this run party? That's right, our good friend Sandy.

That's ok, she can run with us, because we love hurricanes.

And strangely for the first time yesterday I have gotten excited to run this little 26.2 mile race. I am actually excited to say I ran a marathon in a hurricane, ok more like just run in rain with wind.

But on a serious note, we can't control the weather and the only thing we can control is our attitudes. So with that mindset I am really here to make the most of the day on Sunday, regardless of the weather conditions, and just have fun.

Hope everyone has a good weekend and good luck to everyone racing MCM!!! Hopefully I can spot some of you out there in the sea of people :)

Happy Friday All :)

Marathon Week

Well only one more run stands between us before MCM!

This week has been easy, as I am tapering. Although I don't think I ever really ever seriously started training for this marathon to begin with. But here's my weekly plan:

Monday - Ran 5 miles

Tues - Bike commuting for almost 9 miles around the city, and a 2100 yard swim

Wen - Ran 4.16 miles

Thurs - I'm not sure what to do yet?

Friday - Run 3 - packet pick up

Sat- Rest

Sunday - run 26.2

It's actually hard to believe the marathon is this weekend! Almost exactly 2 months ago I was running 26.2 after swimming 2.4 and biking 112. It was hard. It was hot. It was a death march. I don't even know if I can call it running. ha. But, I can only hope that this stand alone marathon feels easier. Half of me wishes I was going after my own time goal at this race, but half of me is glad I will be running with Jas. I am not overly excited about it yet and my mind set is it is just a really long training run more than a race. I am hoping I get more excited about it when I go to the expo. I'm sure I will. And don't get me wrong, I am super excited for Jas and my friend Jill.

At any rate I am a little worried about two little things during the race:

1. I want to bring my phone with me so I can take pictures - but I don't have a good place to carry it while running. I guess I will just have to figure something out.

2. I am running in a Halloween costume. I am praying it doesn't chafe me! I will have to bring a mini slide glide with me.

Happy Wen All :)