Anyway, I'll try to make this short and sweet and to the point, but I can't promise anything. The whole weekend was wonderful. DC is a fun place and I had a great time. So, as you know, this year I ran in the 33rd Marine Corp Marathon held in Washington DC. I've been training for it for the past 18 weeks, and overall it went really well.
My ultimate goal was to come in under 5 hours, which I did. My official finish time was 4:49:25. I never "hit the wall" or had a moment where I thought I couldn't do it. Don't get me wrong, it was tough, but not nearly as bad as I feared it could be.
We lucked out and got PERFECT weather on Sunday for the race. We were up early, left the hotel around 6:30, and were at the start right in time for the 8am gun. My first 3 miles were pretty slow. I was so scared of going out "too fast" that I think I may have held back a little too much. But that's okay, I was able to hold a pace the entire 26.2 miles, which I hear can be tricky for some. I don't remember exact details of the course, but it was beautiful. The first 8 miles or so, as we wound our way through Georgetown, was so pretty. I really enjoyed the entire course. The only part I didn't like was around mile 20 we were on the bridge that never seemed to end! But other than that it was a good time. The crowds were great, lots of fun spectators, some even nice enough to hand out everything from bananas to beer. Mentally I did pretty good, at mile 16 I got a tad discouraged as I realized I still had 10 miles to go, but before I knew it I was at mile 18 and from then on just trucked along.
My training really helped me, I felt ready and strong throughout. By far the best part was crossing that finish line, getting my medal, and meeting up with Sam to start celebrating. I'm so glad she was there with me. It was hard not having my boys, but over the years she's come to be family. She rocked her race too by the way, so if you haven't, you should go check out her report.
So anyway, to sum up, I went, I ran, I finished...and it felt DAMN good! I know most of you who knew me way back when wouldn't ever think this would be something I would do, and really, I don't know that a year ago, I would have believed it either. I AM A MARATHONER!!!!
Here are a few pics from the day. I don't have any of the official one's yet, but when I get them, I'll post them!
4 gals ready to head out for a run!
A pretty morning in DC
I FINISHED!!! Me and Dottie (our lucky duck)
All finished - 4 marathoners!
My "good luck" flowers from my hubby!
2 comments:
Kelly--I am SO proud of you and absolutely in awe of your determination and hard work. I enjoyed hearing about your training and can't wait to hear even more about your next race. You are truly an inspiration. I love!!
Great job babe...I'm super proud of you! It was a magical weekend that went by too fast. But its one you'll remember forever!
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