Boy, 5:30 rolled around way too fast. Half asleep I got dressed, took my vitamins, Aleve (To help prevent inflammation and soreness while running), Imodium (to help prevent runners gut), and drank water (to help prevent migraine from stress and dehydration). We got in the car and were off.
It was dark and cold. Robbie and I thanked Theresa as she dropped us off at Arlington Cemetary. She wished us luck and we exchanged hugs.
Did I mention that it was dark and REALLY cold? We were getting our bearings when Robbie said "there's the color guard. Follow them." so we did and sure enough they lead us right where we needed to be.
We parked our belongings at Robbie's tent and she got a quick group picture. We also stopped at the port-a-potties a couple of times as with 30,000 runners and the marathon having a time limit it would be really nice to avoid having to wait in a 30 minute line to use one on the course.
A couple paratroopers started off he ceremony when they unfurled the US flag and landed near the starting line.
While in line we heard a female group with nice harmonizing sing the national anthem. Two V-22 Ospreys flew over head. There was a prayer Then Drew Carry said a few words before shooting the starting pistol. Later we heard he had run the marathon, but we didn't see him.
 |
| It was REALLY COLD!!! |
As we ran there were loads of people cheering and ringing cow bells. My name was on the front of my jersey and I kept hearing "Way to go Karla!", "Keep up the good work Karla!" and "Go Team!"
The MCM course is nice in that the bigger hills are at the beginning and then it levels out. At about mile three I started wishing I had used the port-a-potty one more time before the start. It didn't help that men kept running off wherever there was greenery to go pee. They weren't subtle at all either. It's so unfair! We did see a few women duck into the more dense bushes...well one practically went in the open, but I didn't need to go THAT bad yet.
Come mile seven I was getting uncomfortable, but again couldn't see wasting 30 minutes! We were right on pace and stopping to wait in line would set us behind nearly two miles. So both Robbie and I started looking for a place we could duck out. Jokingly I asked Robbie if she thought any of the marines on course would have a blanket they could hold up so we could duck behind and pee. She laughed.
As we continued to run we spied a construction area with privacy fencing and decided to just squat behind the fence. Fortunately, when we got on the other side of the privacy fence we saw two port-a-potties. Better yet there was no line! We quickly took advantage of that and got right back on course.
It was fun to chat while running and just take everything in. We saw the Royal Marines and a few soldiers from Denmark. They were in uniform with packs on their backs. We saw a runner dressed as Smurfette, Snow White and Wonder Woman. There were also several dressed with wings or tutus and lots wearing stars and stripes in red white and blue. Mostly what I saw was "running in memory/honor of______."
The sounds on the course were memorable too. There were interval watches chiming for those, who like Robbie and I were doing run/walk cycles. There were helicopters buzzing overhead. There were many spectators on the sidelines cheering us on. Marines were also stationed nearly every 1/4 mile and they were cheering us on too. At every mile marker there was a marine with a bullhorn yelling out the time since the start if the race.
I found the sounds at the water and food stations amusing. The marines would hand out water and Gatorade to the runners I'd hear splash ca-thunk as the runners dumped out what the didn't finish and throw the paper cup on the ground. Okay, my description is singular, now imagine 25+ runners doing that all at the same time. It sounded like it was raining paper cups. So as we made our way through the station the sound would change to 25+ runners stepping on said discarded paper cups, followed by the scuffing of hundreds paper cups.
Where they handed out orange slices instead of water the sounds were similar but instead of a kerplunk they made a cersplat sound followed by runners grumbling as we all tried not to slip on the discarded orange peels. And lastly the sticky suction sound as we got back on the cement with orange juice and pulp coating the bottom of our shoes.
We were keeping pace and doing well to beat the bridge (for more details check out this link). When we got to mile 20 I was hurting. I was still really pleased with myself because in training the farthest I'd run was 16 miles.
Miles 20-22 were tough. The start of the bridge is mile 20 we still had to maintain pace to get over the bridge before they had to reopen it to traffic. I know I wasn't the only one feeling it. Most of the runners around us looked about how I felt...they looked like the walking dead.
It was also around mile 20 that my hands swelled up. My fingers were really tight and it reminded me of Sam's first day at Children's when she was pumped full of fluid. She kept looking at her hands while opening and closing her fingers.
I saw my TNT coach at mile 22. There had been several TNT coaches who had stepped in from the sidelines and ran with us for 1/4 mile or so. It was nice to talk with them and hear what motivated them to get involved with TNT.
After mile 22 we adjusted the run/walk intervals to allow for more walking. I really needed this as my muscles were starting to poop-out.
At mile 25 I was ready to be done. My legs reluctantly obeyed when my brain said "run." we kept going. After all, at this point it just wouldn't make sense to turn around and go back.
Finishing feels good. My body was completely exhausted; in that regard it felt similar to childbirth (there is proof in these photos taken on the course by the official photographers). There were a few times where gravity seemed to pull stronger this way or that way. Thankfully there were people close by that I could grab onto briefly to keep from falling over and only once was it a total stranger.
On our way home we snacked a little and Robbie and I briefly talked about the next one we'd do. We also tried to talk Theresa into doing a marathon.
Dad texted and asked me if I was sore. My reply was this: "...If I was crossing a street and a car was coming I'd just let it hit me. I walk like I've been in a cattle drive for 20 hours. :)" This is true too; there is absolutely no way that I’d be able to pick up the pace, my body was shot!
After a shower and dinner with friends we headed out to see some monuments.
When we got back I briefly organized for the flight home in the morning and the crashed, straight to sleep.
1 comments:
Congratulations on a fabulous job. You set a very high goal and kept working at it over months of training, and you achieved it! Wonderful inspiration to the rest of us.
Post a Comment