MCM race report

[melmel48]

I have never done a race report here! On Sunday I participated in the Marine Corps Marathon. Quite possibly my last ( this was my 5th). I really don't know.  This is long! 

I had an awful training cycle between injuries, my best friends Dad passing away, stress at work and needing to be with my family. The longest training run I had done was 14 miles ( twice) and I was so nervous and scared. My friends were terrific and kept encouraging me; telling me I could do it. I was also worried about the weather. There had been a chance of rain all week, but race day weather was perfect!

I drove down from Boston On Friday with my friend and her boyfriend. 10 long hours in the car. The expo was great; I spent so much $$  . Saturday we hung around with the daughter of my friends boyfriend. Saturday night I felt calm, which is totally not normal for me, but my friend was starting to stress me out. She laughed when I told her the next day. We both laid out all of gear on Saturday night and turned in early.

Race morning!  Up at 5am. Started the walk to the start at 6am. No issues getting there or through security. We just kind of hung around, did the porta potty thing and chatted with our fellow runners. When we went to the starting corrals, the vibe was so much fun. We were dancing and just really enjoying being with everyone. The opening ceremonies made me cry; I loved the flyovers!!!  I was in the " Beat the Bridge" pace group since I am a slow turtle. There were two pacers. One was doing run 2 mins-walk 1 min intervals. I decided to hang with her. She was such a sweetheart. She quickly lost me on the hills though and I was on my own.. or as much as on my own I could be with runners everywhere! I didn't use my music or even have my phone on because my battery has been dying quickly these days. There was so much entertainment though and plenty of people around to distract me. I did find some parts of the course to be pretty boring and there wasn't much crowd support. This was when I was glad there are so many runners in this race because I was never alone. It would have been much worse to be out there with no crowd support and to be alone; this has happened to me many times. 

I kept on pace through about mile 10. That's when I knew the "Blue Mile" was coming up. I began crying just thinking about the Blue Mile and I was really missing my Papa. The Blue Mile was so emotional. I ran through the whole thing, crying so hard I was gasping to breathe I was crying so hard. I tried to put on my biggest smile for the families and high fived as many as I could. After the Blue Mile I began to feel nasty blisters. This made me so mad as I have done this before; I know what to do. I didn't wear new shoes, or socks. I used the same Sport Shield all over my body that I always do. I have NO idea why I got blisters. 

So I basically had to shuffle for the rest of the race. I walked/shuffled 12 miles with this sweet lady from Virginia. She made it so much more tolerable! The time flew by. We danced to all of the bands and all of the music, singing out loud. I downed a shot of fire ball. I quickly turned my phone on and had texts from one of my closest friends encouraging me and talking about my pace etc. He had told me he would be at a party all day and not available if I needed some mojo. He was just joking, but I took him seriously. I cried when I saw all of his encouraging texts. 

I told my new friend that I was going to run the last .2. Up the hill and straight to a Marine to get my medal! She said " okay, but wait for me! I can't run!" I shuffled as fast as I could to the finish, got my medal and turned around to cheer her in to the finish. We hugged each other and she was crying. She had just completed her first marathon! 

I painfully shuffled to find my friend and her boyfriend. I was crying telling her about the blisters and the pain I was in. Then we cheered for each other and I said " Never again!!" But who knows. I might change my mind!       

[Wines Not Whines]

Congratulations!

[sadlebred]

Congratulations!! I know you had some challenges leading up to MCM, but you slayed them all!!

[labbie]

Congratulations!!
Great race report, sorry about the darn blisters.

[cinco]

Big congrats on getting it done with all you had thrown at you before and during the race! Great job! I love how marathons bring people together!

[melmel48]

Thank you, everyone!

[melmel48]

Nov 1, 2018 6:22:51 GMT -5 cinco said:

Big congrats on getting it done with all you had thrown at you before and during the race! Great job! I love how marathons bring people together!

I would probably still be out on the course had I not met that sweet lady! She really made things so much better.     

[shauni27]

man, I loved that report! I feel so inspired.

Blisters are the WORST. I am sorry you had to deal with that, on top of a less than stellar training cycle. Congrats on a great race!

[mrshandy]

Congrats!! Beautiful race report!

It was a beautiful day for the race. I was in Crystal City handing out candy and water and it was just so inspiring to watch everyone.

[G22]

Congrats!! I'm so glad you found a friend mid-race and were able to encourage each other through the tough part! I've done that before and I know mentally I'm in a better place when I've got someone to commiserate with! Way to go!

[hurricanedrunk]

Way to push through and finish even with the tough training cycle and evil blisters! Congrats!

[melmel48]

Nov 1, 2018 10:26:02 GMT -5 mrshandy said:

Congrats!! Beautiful race report!

It was a beautiful day for the race. I was in Crystal City handing out candy and water and it was just so inspiring to watch everyone.

I had m&M's and Skittles! I asked my friend if she took candy and she said "What candy?"  She missed it all! Thanks for volunteering. Everyone was so terrific! Except for the Marine who gave me my bib. He was pretty grumpy!! 

[melmel48]

Nov 1, 2018 15:36:44 GMT -5 hurricanedrunk said:

Way to push through and finish even with the tough training cycle and evil blisters! Congrats!

I called my Mom after and first thing I said was " I have BLISTERS!" UGH! 

Thank you!

[gt7301b]

Congrats, MCM is such an awesome race. I am glad you have a great experience.

[starburst604]

Congrats!! Way to push through and make the most of it. I had no doubt you would!