I successfully completed my 5th marathon with the 2014 Marine Corps Marathon and I continue to be amazed by the challenge this distance provides. The Marines hosted and executed a flawless marathon weekend. The following race report provides insight into my race weekend and a short retrospective on how I can improve for my next race.
Race Day - Sunday
I was up early and ready for the race sunday morning. I quickly got through my morning routine and was out the door to the metro by 6:15. After a little bit of struggle with my Metro card, see race fails for details, I waited with other runners headed to the Pentagon on the metro platform headed. After a short metro ride, I met up with my running friends around 7am at the Pentagon Metro stop before making the long walk to the runners village. We timed our arrival to the runners village at the perfect time to drop our post race gear at the UPS trucks and head to the starting line.
On the way to the starting line I heard a voice I recognized from the RunRunLive podcast. I was happy to make an in person introduction Chris the host. I recommend the podcast to runners of all capabilities as Chris shares great information about many aspects of endurance running.
The race day weather was perfect for runners and spectators with clear skies providing temperatures in the high 30's and highs in the mid 60's. The Marines put on a great pre-race show with multiple sky-divers displaying large American flags, Osprey flyover and the howitzer firing to start the race. The nice weather brought out significant crowds to support runners.
Race Execution
I started the race slow and in line with my plan to run the first 13 miles at a 9:30-9:45/mile pace. The first 10 miles are a bit hilly as the course heads away from Rosslyn towards Arlington and then back into Georgetown. I found this part of the race the most enjoyable with the larger crowds in the city and rural scenery. After leaving Georgetown the course runs along the Potomac River which is nice and flat, but is more exposed to the elements. This section of the race is quiet and lonely with limited spectators. After hitting the 13.1 Mile mark, I was ready to get back into the city and the spectators around the Tidal Basin and National Mall. I stopped a bit to talk with my family when I saw them in the crowd around mile 17. I was hopeful that they had a Banana or something I could snack on, but no such luck. It is always nice to see family and friends during the race. It provides a lot of motivation to get to an agreed upon meeting place. I started to hit the wall around mile 18 despite eating GUs and drinking at regular intervals during the race. I found that the windy conditions quickly dried my sweat which left me warm and thirsty. I was happy to have my fuel belt and refilled each bottle at the water stops in the later miles. I found myself battling the wall as I completed the section of the National Mall and started the 14th Street Bridge. The isolation from spectators, winds and sunny conditions provided a significant challenge for the 14th Street Bridge crossing. I was happy to complete the bridge and head into Crystal City and rejoin the crowds. I worked my way through Crystal City and back to the Pentagon. Once around the Pentagon, I started to get my legs and wits back as I knew the finish was close. I put in a strong effort in the last mile and half which enabled me to pass a number of runners and finish at faster pace.
Post Race Retrospective
I finished the race in 4:48:16. I did not meet my race goals, but I am happy that my training enabled me to improve on my time from last year. Looking back at my training and race, I don't see a single issue that prevented me from achieving my goal. I did have a number of pre-race and on-course failures that I will need to address in future races. For example:
Pre Race Activities - Friday and Saturday
We traveled to the DC area Friday night and enjoyed a relaxing Saturday morning shopping and spending time with family. In the afternoon, I meet up with some running friends at the GE Health and Fitness Expo to pickup our race packets and hang out a bit. Although I heard reports of long lines to get into the expo, when we arrived we were able to get right into the DC Armory. Overall the expo experience was much improved over last year because the bib pickup and merchandise displays were co-located. The expo displays were pretty standard gear and swag. After a spending some time at the expo, I headed back to the hotel on the Metro. We stayed at the Marriott Metro center which was central to just about everything we did for the race and seeing the city.
Race Day - Sunday
I was up early and ready for the race sunday morning. I quickly got through my morning routine and was out the door to the metro by 6:15. After a little bit of struggle with my Metro card, see race fails for details, I waited with other runners headed to the Pentagon on the metro platform headed. After a short metro ride, I met up with my running friends around 7am at the Pentagon Metro stop before making the long walk to the runners village. We timed our arrival to the runners village at the perfect time to drop our post race gear at the UPS trucks and head to the starting line.
On the way to the starting line I heard a voice I recognized from the RunRunLive podcast. I was happy to make an in person introduction Chris the host. I recommend the podcast to runners of all capabilities as Chris shares great information about many aspects of endurance running.
The race day weather was perfect for runners and spectators with clear skies providing temperatures in the high 30's and highs in the mid 60's. The Marines put on a great pre-race show with multiple sky-divers displaying large American flags, Osprey flyover and the howitzer firing to start the race. The nice weather brought out significant crowds to support runners.
Race Execution
I started the race slow and in line with my plan to run the first 13 miles at a 9:30-9:45/mile pace. The first 10 miles are a bit hilly as the course heads away from Rosslyn towards Arlington and then back into Georgetown. I found this part of the race the most enjoyable with the larger crowds in the city and rural scenery. After leaving Georgetown the course runs along the Potomac River which is nice and flat, but is more exposed to the elements. This section of the race is quiet and lonely with limited spectators. After hitting the 13.1 Mile mark, I was ready to get back into the city and the spectators around the Tidal Basin and National Mall. I stopped a bit to talk with my family when I saw them in the crowd around mile 17. I was hopeful that they had a Banana or something I could snack on, but no such luck. It is always nice to see family and friends during the race. It provides a lot of motivation to get to an agreed upon meeting place. I started to hit the wall around mile 18 despite eating GUs and drinking at regular intervals during the race. I found that the windy conditions quickly dried my sweat which left me warm and thirsty. I was happy to have my fuel belt and refilled each bottle at the water stops in the later miles. I found myself battling the wall as I completed the section of the National Mall and started the 14th Street Bridge. The isolation from spectators, winds and sunny conditions provided a significant challenge for the 14th Street Bridge crossing. I was happy to complete the bridge and head into Crystal City and rejoin the crowds. I worked my way through Crystal City and back to the Pentagon. Once around the Pentagon, I started to get my legs and wits back as I knew the finish was close. I put in a strong effort in the last mile and half which enabled me to pass a number of runners and finish at faster pace.
Post Race Retrospective
I finished the race in 4:48:16. I did not meet my race goals, but I am happy that my training enabled me to improve on my time from last year. Looking back at my training and race, I don't see a single issue that prevented me from achieving my goal. I did have a number of pre-race and on-course failures that I will need to address in future races. For example:
- I walked too much on Saturday with family and expo activities. Total mileage on Saturday was over 6miles.
- I had many Metro card issues. I forgot to pack my metro cards at home and needed to purchase new ones. When headed out race day morning, my paper metro card got jammed in shorts zipper and when I was able to remove it, the metro gate ate it. :(
- I forgot to apply nipple guards pre-race. The bandaids acquired from Red Cross tent did not adhere to sweaty chest. :(
- I forget how exposed the race course is for the second half of the race. Running into the wind made the last part of the race hard. I need to find a larger group of people to run with.
- My iPhone battery died at finish line and I did not bring my battery charger pack. This left me with no way to communicate with family when trying to reunite.
From this race experience I will improve and expand my next training campaign to include:
- Do more speed work to ensure that I can run at a faster race pace.
- Find a runner partner to tackle the course and pace together. Look to utilize the pace groups.
- Have a better pre-race routine to ensure that I have all the things I need after the race.
- Pre-race and during fueling needs to be better.
This was not my best performance at the marathon distance, but I feel that my training increased my strength during the race and enabled a quick recovery. I enjoyed this race and plan to do another training campaign to continue to improve.
