MCM was the last race on the calendar for 2018. That always brings a wave of emotion and feeling of restlessness. I move to live, I train to move... What now?
Marine Corps Marathon did not disappoint! The day starts off early of course. I meet Mom and C at their hotel by 6am, make my Health Warrior Banana Nut Protein Muffin (AMAZING DECISION) with half a banana and macadamia nuts on top (Oh my HEAVEN), so far the morning is perfect, nerves are at bay and I am able to eat (always a plus for me!).
We had decided to take the bus shuttle to the start line as their was one just a block from Mom's hotel. As we get to the stop, there is a line weaving through a small city garden with no real pattern or order and they are loading the buses, 1 at a time. I don't think there is any exaggeration when I say there was at least 500+ people in line to get on these buses. We lined up at 6:10AM and at 7:15AM sheer panic begins to set in.
We aren't going to make it to the start..... much less the finish....
As buses start to pull in the whole crowd is now becoming ancy and panicked, we aren't rule breakers, but at this point, it was fend for yourself and do what you have to do. As buses, pulled in we took off sprinting with dozens of others who were scared they would miss their opportunity to run. For some people, getting there late wouldn't be a big deal. They run fast enough to catch up and beat all the cut-offs, but with the injuries and history of the last couple of week's runs, me and mom didn't have that luxury. We needed all the time we could get. We stood our ground and at the will of a great volunteer, a bus was called over for our group (i'm sure she wanted to get the damn rebels out of there before they cause chaos). AS we got on the bus, the adrenaline was HIGH, Mom began to cry, "Why the f*** was that so hard?!", I say to her in rage and disgust that our bus with maybe 25 people in it took off and didn't stop to put anymore runners in it.
As we get to the start line, we have a ways to go. It is now 7:40am... The race starts at 7:55am. Our wave is set to go off at 8:19am says the graph for our pace, but no one is really following the rules here, we are all panicked and WAY behind schedule. By the time we walk half a mile and drop our bags off, the cannon fires, the race has started. We haven't even used the porta-potty yet, be we are at the start line with 25,000+ friends, I'm sure the other 5,000 are still stuck at some bus stop somewhere.
There is a port potty right beside where we are standing in line to take off with little to no line, I make the executive decision we are going to the bathroom now. Mom or C don't fight me we all take off and get back before the line even moves much. With all these happenings, I am already warmed up and have 5000+ steps on my garmin. The jacket is left before we even take off.
The pre-race morning was HECTIC, but once we started the day was absolutely amazing! If you need hope that the world is still a good place, this race was the place to be. Mom was grumpy (she was hurting) so she wasn't much fun to talk to, but I had an amazing time taking in the views, talking to runners around me, and yelling at all the Team RWB Eagles as they went by.
In a marathon, or any long race for that matter, you set up checkpoints in your mind, I am running to this point first of all, and after that we move on. Checkpoint number 1 was the Blue Mile, mile 12. The Blue Mile is a mile that is quiet and sobering; it is lined with the faces and names of those that haven fallen in their duty to our country. There were a lot of tears and as I passed the names I said them out loud as to send up a quick, comforting prayer to their families. After the signs, there was about .25 of a mile of flags in their honor, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a picture of Mom as it was a stunning sight.
After the Blue Mile, next stop was to get past the Gauntlet before a certain cutoff time. Mind you, I have no clue what our pace is, I am just running and doing whatever keeps mom happy and moving. We are running our normal interval of 1 minute run/30 second walk when a lady, a veteran, asked could she run with us. She was running out of go-go juice and was starting to fall behind, she needed a "Tyler" as I call them (long story, maybe one day you'll hear it). We are running along talking to Jocelynn and all of a sudden someone says, "We made it through the Gauntlet!" I look around at Mom and J, "That was the Gauntlet?!" Right after the Gauntlet (maybe right before also) we got some of the most beautiful scenery on the course and I basked in the moments to forget about the soles of my feet.
Next cut-off is the bridge at mile 21-22ish and right after that we will see our family! who is posted between 22 and 23. After the Gauntlet, we hear people talking about the bridge cutoff, again I have no idea how long we have been running or what time it is, I am enjoying my day and my moment in the present, but with their talking I am prompted to look at my watch, we have an hour and 15 minutes to "Beat the Bridge" and we are just 2-3 miles away... We are having a great day!
We beat the bridge with no problems at all and got to see our family. Grandma, Dani, and Adam were there with cowbells swinging ready to see us. As we all do, I was getting tired of running and grumpy, I didn't particularly want to stop, but taking any long break would have hindered the abilities to keep going so I chose not to stop and talk (stupid, who would have cared if I talked to my family, I should have, it is very seldom we have that on the course). As we got to the turn around just about a half a mile in front of us there were drunk gummy bears! My friend, if you have never had a drunk gummy bear you are missing out. The gummies perked me right up and as I went by my family again, they thought I had split personalities, as I blew kisses and told them how much I loved them.
The finish line was up the steepest hill I've ever seen (except for 2017 Cap Trail 100, I almost had to crawl) and Mom had already said she didn't know if she could run up it, but we pushed it, she pushed it, and we made it to the top to celebrate our victory! The best 26.2 of 2018 and the funnest, most enjoyable one to date!
As we got in line for our medals, the sense of accomplishment was overwhelming. Yeah, we don't run fast compared to some of the other runners out there, but dammit we show up, we give our all, and we compete with ourselves and the Brain Demon that tells us we are too damn slow to do this every time we toe the line, all for this small little feeling of gratification and gratitude that God and the Universe let the stars align so we could show up that day.
5 hours and 34 minutes of pure bliss!
We ran for 22 Too Many, a non-profit (I mentioned in my blog post before the marathon), Daniel and Michael inspired not just me and Mom, but also others around us. Suicide SUCKS, the hurt left for the families to endure SUCKS worse! This race was for their families, to being awareness to what took away their loved ones, to bring awareness to what took away our loved one. SPAZ was brought up to anyone that would listen around us, we want to spread the word, we ant to help families, we want to let them know they are not alone. We are not alone!
So... now what? The Brain Demon has been in full effect this week. I have been trying so hard to rest, I need to rest. The bursitis in my hip has been overwhelming, but my brain doesn't understand that. My brain thinks we are being a fat lazy slob. My brain thinks why are we even eating, we are going to gain weight instantly and turn into a 500lb walrus because we aren't burning any calories. Yeah, I know that none of this is true, yeah I know that I don't need to wear the biggest clothes in my closet so I can't see my stomach, but I am. Why my depression and Brain Demon manifest in my fear of gaining weight I don't know, but it is relentless.
The next 2 weeks I start to concentrate a little more on strength, yoga, and keeping my swim habit, no running, little to no cycling. I hope this brings back the passion for racing that I was losing coming up to this marathon, as the pain I was having was just overwhelming. I hope to combat the Brain Demon, as I always try to, but to also give my body a break from our normal before we start training for Shamrock Marathon which is in March, but training begins November 19th.
MCM was an amazing opportunity, I hope to go back next year, but before any of those thoughts or training can seep in.... on the schedule for 2019 so far we have:
March 16-17: Shamrock 8K and Marathon = Whale Challenge in VA Beach
April 13-14: Tarwheel Century & Flying Pirate 13.1 in Elizabeth Town and Kitty Hawk
May 12: FULL BOOTY 140.6
Keep your thought positive and your love for others flowing,
P<3