Marine Corps Marathon and a Week in DC

There is so much to say about DC that I can't possibly cover it all. We had an absolutely wonderful time, sharing the whole adventure with Steve and Lorri.

Traveling on the red-eye worked out okay, though I was worried on Saturday night. I was exhausted, my legs and feet hurt from walking through airports, to and from Metro stops and through the expo. We fell into bed about 8:00 DC time and slept straight through. Miracle of miracles, I felt great when the alarm went off! Our hotel was just a couple blocks from the finish, and with in a mile of the start, so we walked down.

Although it poured rain on Saturday, Sunday bloomed cold and sunny. Lorri, Eric, Steve and I huddled together trying to stay warm before the start. About a half hour before the race, I handed Lorri my coat and headed off to the my start corral, way down the street, near the back of the pack. I met a new Maniac there and chatted with him while we waited, through the start and till my first walk break.

I really had a great race - I kept my pace fairly even, hydrated and ate well, enjoyed the masses of spectators, the spectacular views of DC, even the crowds of runners. I thought it was fun to hear snatches of conversations as I moved through the crowds, particularly when other runners complained about the hills. I wanted to tell them that these inclines barely qualified as hills, though I will say that the uphill finish was hard! I hate to wait in potty lines during a race, but about mile 12 finally realized that with 30,000 people on the course I was going to have to wait in line. It took about 10 minutes to get in and out, which was a bummer, but a nice rest at the same time.

The highlight of my race was an older runner, former Marine, at about mile 23. He was singing cadence songs out loud. I could hear him coming and found myself singing along quietly. As he went by, he said that "someone has to join in", so I did. I was right behind him, echoing his lines, and then another runner joined us. It was great! He pulled me along for two full songs before he stopped singing. When I told him to keep singing, he said "this old Marine is tired, I've got to take a break." I think he would have pulled me in five minutes sooner if he had kept it up! As it was, he came along just when I was starting to tire, and pumped me up enough to finish strong. I crossed the line at 5:44:08 - and - with NO BLISTERS! Not a single one!

The rest of the trip was filled with museums and memorials, escalators and subways, wine and bread and cheese and chocolate. I loved everything about the city - we saw almost all the sights. To my great disappointment, the US History Museum was closed for renovation and it was the one that I was most looking forward to. That just means another trip is in our future. I was awed by the architecture of the Memorials, the Library of Congress, the National Art Museum. I found Arlington National Cemetery very moving, including the Kennedy memorial and the changing of the guard and a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I loved reading the quotes engraved in the walls of every memorial we visited - I find words very powerful, and felt awed by all I read. We also got to see Amy and her family - a Y Run Club member that was transferred to DC a while back.

It was a wonderful, relaxing and busy week, shared with great friends. We laughed a lot, had some long and serious discussions, rode Metro and walked everywhere. Steve, Eric and I went out for one run along the Potomac, otherwise we just got up and got going each day. Even though we didn't run, the amount of walking we did made up for it - by the time we returned to the hotel each night my legs and feet felt like I'd run another marathon!

That was our last big trip for the year - we were lucky to do three this year - traveling to Big Sur, the Canadian Death Race and DC. I don't know what next year has in store for us, we haven't planned much beyond December 31. Only time will tell!

PS. MCM was my 24th marathon, 30th race of marathon & ultras combined. I feel incredibly blessed to have had the chance to run all these races in the last two years and one month. Many thanks to all my running friends who have supported me along the way, running long with me, running races with me, reading my posts and sending encouragement my way. Special thanks, as always, to Eric for supporting me, encouraging me and having confidence in me. Life is good.