Well... I made it. All 26.2 miles. In 4 hours 37 minutes and 3 seconds. Not quite as fast as I was hoping to run but I survived!!! And here I am just two weeks out from the race and already walking around pain free. Woohoo!
I started the race on Sunday October 30th with the second wave of 15,000 runners at 8:45 a.m. It took about 2 or 3 minutes from when the gun went off until I was able to make it to the start line and then a few more minutes before I was able to really get moving. I felt pretty good right off the bat and ran the first 13.1 miles in 1 hour 50 minutes. I just didn't have 26.2 miles at that pace in me or my knee on the day of the race and pretty much wound up crawling my way home from about mile 16 or 17 on. Click on the following link to see a map of the 26.2 mile course winding around throughout the city: http://maps.mapnetwork.com/dc/marinecorpsmarathon/route.pdf
It was great to see so many people out cheering for me and the rest of the team on the day of the race, especially the cheering section at mile 26.19 who got to see me finish strong and smiling at the Iwo Jima Memorial. It was quite the amazing experience and a day in my life I will surely not soon forget!
Already thinking about what the next marathon will be. Perhaps Chicago on October 22nd of next year. And of course this year's IronMed Triathlon is rapidly approaching (April 8th, 2006) so it's time to get training again. Be sure to stay tuned to keep up with all my humorous antics, shenanigans, and occasional training experiences.
Thank you all sooo much for your love and support! I couldn't have made it all 26.2 miles without you.
Signing out for now,
D.
