Check!

That's right, I did it! I can officially check "Marathon" off the list of things to do before I die, or for something not so morbid, before I turn 30 (thanks Sarynna!). I realize I haven't posted in a couple of weeks and my training finished up well. It was definitely interesting cutting down on the mileage over the last two weeks and at times I felt I should still be doing long runs, but REST is extremely important. One thing of importance is that the weekend before the marathon, I ran a 5K at American University. Unfortunately I don't know my official time (no Champion Chip) but I think the guy called out 24:58 (that's less than 8 minutes/mile) as I crossed over the finish line. I find this a little hard to believe so I think the course may have been a bit short of 3.2 miles but who knows. It's a small race for charity.

Ok, on to the big race! On Friday, I went to pick up my packet at the expo. Fortunately it wasn't very crowded so I shopped around all the booths and collected free goodies. I bought a little towel thing with the following quote: "The greatest pleasure in life, is doing the things people say we cannot do.-- Walter Bagehot" I thought that quote fit my personality to a T. All you have to do is tell me that I can't do something and I am on it like white on rice.

My mom arrived on Friday afternoon to cheer me on. We ended up doing some shopping on both Friday and Saturday which was probably not the best idea. I highly recommend you stay off your feet the day before the marathon except for maybe a 1 or 2 mile jog. On Saturday morning, I woke up around 8 am and went for a 2 mile jog on my usual route. It felt so good since I hadn't run in two days. Saturday afternoon, my mom and I drove parts of the course. I was mainly interested in seeing the first 2 miles of the course because it was uphill and the last 0.2 miles (uphill again). The first 2 miles of hill was a bit daunting but I knew I could do it since I would be fresh. I was concerned about the last hill and in hindsight should have taken the time to park the car, get out and run it or walk it once to get the feel of it. It's all a learning process. At 4 on Saturday I met my friends at Pulcinella's to load up on carbs before the race. I had whole wheat pasta with marinara and bay scallops. This is one of my fave dishes at Pulcinella's. We had a great time (there was about 9 of us) and my mom really enjoyed meeting my friends. Saturday night we rented a movie but when we got home my power was out. EEK! We decided to go to Target while the VA Power crews did their thing. Trapsing around Target the night before a marathon was probably not the best idea. We actually ended up going to 2 Targets that night because the first one didn't have the ottoman I was looking for. Anyways, we came home, I got my stuff together for the race and ironed my name on a cut-out of an old T-shirt to pin to my race shirt. When running a marathon, I highly recommend putting your name on the front of your shirt and making sure it is readable, large and bold. I didn't get to bed until midnight maybe? Thankfully we set the clocks back so there was an extra hour of sleep.

Race morning I woke up at 5:30 AM, got dressed and had coffee and breakfast (my usual pre-race oatmeal and banana). My friends that are running (Chris and Alex) arrived around 6:30 and we left for the metro at 6:45. The metro took a while but we met up with Lisa and her family at Rosslyn and then rode over to the Arlington Cemetary station. Lisa's dad and boyfriend took our bags to drop-off for us, which was very thoughtful and convenient for us. That put us right out at the starting line where we proceeded to the porta-potties and then waited for our wave to start. We were lucky that we started towards the beginning of our wave. I was ready to run! I kept saying "Let's get this party started!". Thanks, Alex for not smacking me! Unfortunately a man had a heartattack at the beginning and it pushed our start time back to between 9 and 9:10 AM. I think he is ok.

We took it slow at first and were together for the first mile. Alex and I then broke away a little and once we got on Spout Run (now going downhill), I didn't see Lisa and Chris anymore. The downhill was great. I tried not to speed up but I definitely lengthened my stride. I find this helpful on the downhills. This was a beautiful part of the run due to the trees... and at this point I thanked God for the beautiful day. we then merged onto GW Parkway and continued the trek to Key Bridge where we cross over from VA to DC and into Georgetown. My mom and Heather were going to be on the bridge to cheer us on. This was also my hand off point. I started the race in a long sleeve shirt with my long sleeve over-shirt over it. I wore compression shorts (my longer ones) with running shorts and had my gas tank (fuel belt) and my MP3 player on my arm. I never listened to my music, but it was security, I guess, which is odd because I didn't do any of my long runs with music. I also had my headband (which I never needed), hat and my gloves. The gloves were helpful but once I started running, I didn't need them. I spotted Mom and Heather on the bridge since Heather had balloons. They were on the opposite side of the runners so I ran over to them to drop off my overshirt, gloves and headband. We then ran through G'town where there were plenty of spectators. They were shouting "Go, Audrey!". It was great! Alex told me at this point that she was goint to slow some which was really wise. I had established my pace, though, and kept on with it. I hit the 5 mile mark at 53:40 (10:44). Uhmm, yeah, that's not the 12 minutes/mile I had planned on but I knew that would be too slow so I decided to shoot for 11 minute/mile pace. We then made our way down to K street and around to Rock Creek Parkway. This was another scenic part of the run and really beautiful due to the leaf colors. The crowd thinned out some, but there was plenty of things to keep my mind engaged.

At this time I picked a guy out of the crowd to pace with. He had on an orange shirt and black shorts. I never saw his face but stuck with him for several miles (he was keeping a great pace) but finally went on after the Lincoln Memorial. It's weird how sometimes it comes to a point where it is too much effort to always find someone in a crowd. Once we made our way back towards the Kennedy center, the crowd was back and really motivating. I probably sped up without even realizing it. That's when I lost orange shirt guy. I also saw a sign that made me realize what I should've wrote on the back of my shirt: "I just robbed a bank...and I'm single". I was almost to the Memorials and Consitution Ave.! Before getting onto Const. Ave, I happened to see Charles (Chris's husband) and Lisa's family thanks to Chris' brother-in-law's TN hat. I yelled and they seemed so happy to see me. It was great. They knew Chris wasn't far behind. Somewhere around here I hit the 10 mile mark at 1:44:59. My pace had improved to 10:29 min/mile. It also sunk in that maybe I could do this thing in 4:45 instead of 5 hours. By looking at my mile splits race band, I was ahead of schedule by a few minutes. Although I hadn't explicitly stated it, the three goals in my head were (4:45 - ideal, 5 - totally feasible, and 5:15 - worst case). There wasn't much of a crowd down Constitution until we made a right turn to run in front of the Smithsonian museums, then there was a large crowd, once again, calling my name...urging me on. As I passed the White House, the winner of the marathon was crossing the finish line.

I was pumped about getting to the Capital because I knew Maureen and Emily would be in that area. I started looking for them as I made the first turn in front of the Capital. By the second turn, I had not seen them and was starting to get concerned. Then up ahead, I saw Maureen (in green, of course!) jumping up and down. I couldn't believe it!! It was so great to see her and Emily and hear the excitement in their voices.
Now...onto the halfway point. I knew mom and Heather would be somewhere up ahead and this would be the last time I saw them until mile 20. It would be rough but I knew I could handle the almost 7 miles between those two points. We ran past the American Indian Museum and Air and Space Museum and the crowd started becoming thicker and thicker as we reached the halfway point. Once again, people were calling my name. It's funny what a difference hearing your name can make. It truly helped me and the sheer amount of supporters made me realize that no one does this just on their own. It takes a support network to realize and achieve the full experience of a marathon. Kinda like life, huh? Here I was running this marathon and suddenly had a network of thousands of supporters....I was loving it.

Somewhere around the Smithsonian, was the half mile point. This was probably the area with the most supporters (excluding the finish line). It was crowded but a memorable part of the run. I hit the water station (walking while drinking) and started looking for Mom and Heather. I saw my mom and started yelling "Mom". That didn't work to grab her attention. They finally saw me and told me they would be on the right side of the bridge. By the way, I reached the halfway point at 2:16:43 (10:25 min/mile). I had beat my time in the Country Music Half Marathon by two minutes and was pleased. Now the challenge....to keep pace and energy levels up for the duration of Hain's Point...it was looming out there. I still had to continue down Independence Ave. and make my way back up around the FDR Memorial to start my way out to the Point. Hains Point is rough because it is a long loop around the edges of the peninsula. It can be windy, there are no spectators and it is a long way out and a long way back....maybe around 4 miles...I don't know, it seemed like 4 miles. On the way, I saw a young girl laying down and getting medical attention. I guess our bodies have a way of telling us when we have pushed it too far. I finally made it to the Awakening (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Awakening_(Johnson_sculpture) - a favorite sculpture of mine. I knew I still had a ways to go before the bridge but at least I had made it to the point. I don't remember much through here except noticing the other runners. You may be wondering my fuel and hydration strategy. Well, after the first couple of water stations, I started getting water at every station. I would run through until the water tables (they are at the end, after powerade) and then walk while sipping the water. I would drink about half a cup in the early stages. At one point my stomach cramped, so I thought I was taking in too much water. It finally subsided and by this point I was drinking the entire cup of water at the water stations. I was back running by the time the tables ended. It was great, the Marines handing out the water would say "You are doing a great job, Audrey" or "Keep it up, Audrey, looking strong". They made a special effort to say something to every runner and call us by our name or "Ma'am" or "Sir". Someday I want to volunteer or be a spectator at a marathon... what a great experience. Also, I was taking a gel every 45 to 50 minutes. I was still getting hungry, though.

I finally made it off the point and circled around to the ramp to get on the 14th st. bridge. I knew my "support" group would be somewhere on this bridge to the right. At this point, I just focused on making it to them. I was looking forward to seeing everyone and then running with Heather. She agreed to run several miles with me. I picked my mom out of the crowd and just ran their way. Kate was there holding up a huge sign that made me smile. I started telling Heather to just talk to me, just talk to me, just talk to me. I knew I need to keep my mind engaged. That is the absolute longest bridge I have been across. When I ran it during my training run, we cut off at the Mt. Vernon trail which is just over the river. The actual road bridge continues on into Arlington for a long way! I remember asking Heather when the hell it was going to end.

We finally reached the off ramp and made our way through Crystal City. Fortunately in this area, the spectators were back and that kept me going. At one point, I heard someone calling my name and it was Charles (Chris's husband). I remember just patting my chest and mouthing to him that I was starting to struggle. After a while I saw a big red blow-up tunnel so I thought for sure that was the turn around point. No, it wasn't....there was more. I think the red tunnel was an ad for Target. I was cursing Target at that point. Mind you now that Heather is talking to me the whole time. She's a champ, she ran beside me and talked the whole way. After the turn around point in Crystal City we saw Alex and then Chris and Lisa on the other side (they were heading towards the turn around point). I was glad to see them and know they were doing well. At some point, Heather started a game where for every letter of the alphabet, she named someone she knew. At the time, I thought I might kill her for suggesting this but it was so effective in engaging me. I just focused on that and it definitely helped keep me going. I remember when she got to T, she said she didn't know any "T"s but had met a guy named Tom earlier. I perked up and said I knew a Tom. Good thing we had that covered so we could go on to U.

Somewhere in here...it's a bit sketchy, I had to walk some. I honestly cannot remember details which is a bit scary. That tells me the tremendous effect that running over twenty miles has on my brain. I was mentally fatigued which is probably similar to being drunk. We finally reached the Pentagon and Heather asked me if I wanted her to keep going with me or stop. She had planned to stop at the Pentagon and wait for Alex. I told her I needed her but she should wait on Alex. She stayed with me which I really appreciate. Three miles, 5K, have never seemed so long. Usually that is a breeze for me, just the weekend before I had ran a 5k in around 25 minutes. However, my time really slowed at this point and I think it took me over 40 minutes to do that last 5k. Finally though, I made it to the finish area and Heather quit running with me. I made it to the last hill at Iwo Jima and was so exhausted that I started walking briefly. I knew that if I wanted to finish strong, I need to walk for about 15 to 30 seconds. During this time, Maureen saw me. I didn't even know she was the finish line and never saw her and she was right in front of me! I started running again and made the turn for the final stretch to the finish.
The crowd was great and cheering hard. They had set up bleachers to accomodate lots of people. I came jogging across the finish line and was glad to be done.

I followed the crowd into the chutes and made my way to the marine that would put my medal around my neck. He must have read me from my face because after he put my medal on, he gave me a huge hug. I needed that!! I was feeling weak, a little nauseous after the finish. I wasn't going to get the finisher's picture in front of the memorial taken, but changed my mind. I am glad I did. I continued drinking water and found a place away from the crowd to call my dad and tell him that I finished. I was a little emotional but got over it soon. I called my brother as well. They had tracked me online so they knew I was done. It finally started settling in...I did it. All the training, all the early Saturdays, all the long midweek runs, all of it....it paid off. I walked around for a while in my post-run daze and then people started calling to find me. I met up with my mom and group on the bridge. We made pics, sat for a while and then found our way out of there.

We went to J. Gilbert's in McLean to celebrate. It was a great time. I had steak and a crab cake for dinner....delicious! I probably should have had more carbs but oh well. Remarkably I felt good. My legs and feet hurt but I was able to walk and get around fine. That night my mom and I hung out at my apartment and watched a movie. The following couple of days I was sore but able to walk fine. The most painful thing was going downstairs. Everyone was so supportive and proud of me. I realized that my support network, family, friends, colleagues, etc were just as much a part of my success as I was. It was one of the best things I have ever done and I thoroughly enjoyed it...except for the last three miles. :)

Next time (if there is a next time), I will start drinking energy drinks at every other aid station after the half-way point or sooner. I will also try to stay on my eating schedule. I think after Heather started running with me, I quit eating my gels and that really hurt me. I didn't remember to eat one until it was too late. If you even start to feel hungry, pop a gel. I don't know that there is anyway to mentally prepare for the last few miles of your first marathon. Just do your best and know that all that matters is that you finish.