Marine Corps Marathon Historic Half Marathon

On Sunday (5/19/13) I ran the Marine Corps Historic Half marathon. The weather forecast called for a 60% chance of rain so I was really dreading this race thinking that it was going to be a rainy 13 mile run. Luck must have been on my side that morning because the rain was very minimal. It was pretty humid & drizzly but the temps were cool.
Saturday I picked up my friend Sara & we headed down to the expo in Fredericksburg. We had a fun time & the expo certainly did not disappoint. It had a lot of vendors and we were able to snag quite a few freebies. Yay for the Marines! The cool thing was we were both interviewed by a reporter for the local paper.

http://news.fredericksburg.com/newsdesk/2013/05/18/runners-pick-up-packets-prepare-for-historic-half/



some expo fun

The pre-start plan was to meet up with some other MRTT (Moms Run This Town) ladies for a group picture at 6:45. The ride down I95 was pretty good but once I got to the exit for Fredericksburg I knew that our picture meet up wasn't going to happen because the exit line was so long. By the time I got to the race start I was already five minutes past the picture meet up time. There were so many people that I don't know if I would've been able to find anyone anyway. I hopped in the 2:30 - 2:59 hour corral and I recognized a lady who is a teacher at my sons school. We chatted for a bit while I set up my Garmin. As soon as my watch found the satellite, the cannon went off to start the race.

We ran together for just about half a mile and then we went our separate ways. I was feeling pretty good & running at a decent pace. When I got to the first water station, I decided I better get in line and use the restroom. It was then that I realized that I had not eaten anything & the only fuel I had were 2 GU gels. This was not a good sign. I continued on with no problems making sure to stop at each water station since I wasn't carrying any water. Some of the signs on the course were really funny. I tried to get pictures of them but it was quite a challenge taking pictures while running so some of my photos turned out blurry. For being so drizzly and wet, there sure was a lot of crowd support. People were out sitting in their yards with signs & cheering for us runners as we ran by. Once we got out of the neighborhood, we made our way to the historic part of Fredericksburg where there were lots of Marines in uniform and other people who lined up on either side of the street to cheer us on. At around the mile 6 water station they were handing out sport beans, so I grabbed a few bags along with a cup of Gatorade.
I continued on & caught up to an older guy running who was carrying an American flag on top of a long pole. On the back of his shirt he had a picture of Marine who was killed in action. I am not sure if it was his son, grandson or just a friend he knew, but it was pretty heartfelt seeing that. Just before mile seven I passed a lady in her wheelchair trying to pedal with her arms, we runners wished her some encouraging words as we ran by. Shortly after passing her I came upon This older guy wearing a yellow shirt that said I'm 69 and I can do this. I gave him a thumbs up & said I liked his shirt.

Miles 7,8 and nine went by with no problem but I started getting really tired. I decided to eat some of the sport beans that I picked up earlier,as well as, an Expresso GU.



Hospital Hill up ahead

I made it to mile 10 and decided to use the potty again before attempting "Hospital Hill". Hospital Hill is the dreaded hill that everyone was talking about. It's about a 2 mile uphill climb. I got about halfway up that hill and my left calf cramped up on me. It was awful I had to stop and go to the side of the road to try to stretch it out real good. Sadly the stretching helped very little. I remember having this same problem last fall during a 10 mile training run. Out of nowhere, I just suddenly got a horrible calf cramp in that same leg. I attribute it to not drinking enough water the day before. Well needless to say, I finally made it to the top of the hill. I made the decision to just suck it up run through the pain for the last 2 miles. At that point I just wanted to get to the finish line and not have to run anymore. I was about a quarter mile from the finish when I heard a lady yell "go mama & run this town". That was the push I needed to pick up the pace all the way to the finish. I was greeted by a lineup of Marines in their BDU's (Battle Dress Uniforms) on either side of the finish line waiting to put a medal around my neck. I didn't beat my last half marathon time but I surely enjoyed this race.



almost to the finish

13.1 & a beautiful medal too

Couple lessons I've learned from this race is:
1. you must follow a training plan!! A few double digit mile bike rides & a couple 3 mile weekly runs isn't gonna cut it
2. Remember to "properly" hydrate at least the day before or a couple days before race day. Three small cups of water and a couple venti iced coffee's the day before isn't going to prevent calf cramps/Charlie Horses.
3. EAT something an hour before the race. Your body will need the fuel. Of couurse I already knew these things but just took them for granted and it is now 2 days post race I still feel like I've been hit by Amtrak. Definite lesson learned for me!

Until Next Time......:D