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I apologize in advance if this report sucks or if there are a ton of errors. It's late, I just got home and I'm tired. But I wanted to get it up. <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif"><br><br>
I thought I had the perfect spring marathon plan. My goal race for the Spring is the Eugene marathon. When I started to develop my training plan the date of the National Marathon seemed to fall right into place where I’d need to be doing a twenty mile long run.<br><br>
My running had been going well over the winter. Life started to get in the way though. I was/am currently enrolled in the fire academy taking a course for national certification for firefighting. The eight week class runs Monday and Wednesday nights and all day Saturday and Sundays. I knew going in this was going to seriously impact my marathon training.<br><br>
Leading up to the race I’d only done two longish runs. One 14 miler and one 18 miler. I did the 18 miler last weekend as a sort of test. If it had gone badly I planned not to run the race this weekend. It went well so all systems were go.<br><br>
Last year I ran the National Marathon’s half so I was familiar with the race. I arrived at the very small expo on Friday at the D.C. Armory, picked up my packet and was through in less than thirty minutes. After eating at my favorite D.C. mexican restaurant I took the family to my in-laws house in the D.C. suburbs where we’d be spending the weekend. MIL was nice enough to make me a big old pot of spaghetti and meatballs for dinner which I inhaled.<br><br>
I got to bed early - well I tried. At about 10 PM when I was about to close my eyes I went through my race checklist one last time. At that moment horror hit me. I sprang from bed and checked my clothes. Sure enough I’d forgotten my socks. Of course everything was closed. DW asked her father what he had and he was nice enough to lend me a pair of tennis socks. I didn’t even want to think about the blisters I’d probably end up with so I tried my best to go to sleep.<br><br>
5 AM came early and I was up and out the door (feet covered in mole skin in a fetal attempt to prevent blisters) and at the race by 5:45. The start and finish of the race was at D.C.’s RFK stadium. This must be one of the few races in the country where you’ll find 60,000 parking spaces at the starting line.<br><br>
The weather looked good. It was chilly, in the low 30s and windy but mostly sunny.<br><br>
I met up with a friend who was running his first half and we went through our pre-race routine. At 6:45 we were called to the start and I lined up in my pre-assigned corral. #4, which was designated for people running 7:45 - 8:30 pace.<br><br>
I had decided that night that a realistic goal for me, based on my level of fitness, would be anything around 4 hours. I had dreams of running 3:50 and even thought of lining up with the 3:50 pace group. This race features the Navy Marathon pace team. the 3:50 group was to be led by a couple of teenage girls. I didn’t have too much confidence in them or in my chances at even running a 3:50 so I backed away from them.<br><br>
As I waited in my corral two other Marathon Maniacs (I recently became one and was wearing my yellow singlet for the first time) approached me and introduced themselves. James from Washington State was doing a double this weekend (National and then Jersey) said he was planning on running around 4 hours and Mike from California who was just visiting friends and signed up for the race the night before (he didn’t even have his running clothes with him - he’d bought everything the day before the race) said he planned on running 4:30 or so.<br><br>
The gun was off at 7 AM and we were off. As I left the starting line I saw a homeless man holding a large sign which read “YOU’LL NEVER MAKE IT. DON’T EVEN TRY.” Simply one of the funniest things I’ve seen at a race yet. I ran the first four miles with James and Mike. It became quickly clear to me that I’d half to be stopping soon for a potty break. I needed to pee. I skipped the first bank of bathrooms and at around mile 5 I left my friends and got in line. After a minute or two I was back on the course.<br><br>
The first five miles of the course were all in the downtown D.C. area along the Mall. We saw the Capital, Supreme Court, Washington Monument and many of the other D.C. sights.<br><br>
Miles 6-7 were all up hill and I ran them mostly alone. We’d left the Mall and run up Connecticut Ave. along Dupont Circle and into Adams Morgan At mile 8 I caught my friend who was running his first half. He was cramping and had slowed down considerably. I ran with him for a half mile or so and tried to encourage him. Around mile 9 I caught another MM and we ran together for a mile or so.<br><br>
Miles 10 and 11 were spent trying to catch the two MMs I’d started with. They were my fastest miles of the day. I didn’t want to kill myself knowing I still had a long way to run but I enjoyed their company and figured they’d help get me to the line. I caught them at around mile 12 and they were shocked. One even said "I can't believe you caught us." I ran with them for another mile or so but quickly decided to pick up the pace and go at it alone.<br><br>
I reached the half (which had taken us back to the stadium) in 1:55:01.<br><br>
Miles 13-16 were run over the same course as miles 1-3, back towards the Capital building and along the Mall. I was feeling really good.<br><br>
Miles 17-19 were along the Annacostia river trail. This was a paved trail along the water. At around mile 19 I spotted the Mayor of Washington D.C. coming the other way on an out and back section of the course. I was surprised to see him ahead of me. Last year he’d run the full in over 4:30. I also spotted the 3:50 pace group (or should I say pace girls - there was no one with them) right behind him.<br><br>
We crossed a small bridge (small or not the uphill still hurt) at mile 19 and then miles 20-24 were on the other side of the river along a paved trail. This section of the course sucked. Other than the water stops every two miles there wasn’t a single spectator anywhere. I knew coming in, after reading the course map, that it would be that way but it still sucked non the less. At mile 20.5 I caught the 3:50 pace girls.<br><br>
For a brief second I had thoughts of sticking with them and running in with them but I quickly changed my mind and passed them.<br><br>
Miles 25-26 were back towards the stadium and featured some rolling hills. At this point I knew I was very close to a PR so I pushed as hard as I could. I was very surprised at how well I was handling the hills.<br><br>
As I came around the final turn I spotted my family and gave a quick wave. I looked at the clock and knew I’d PR so I’d coasted in.<br><br><img alt="" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/lgreenberg/Running/IMG_0139.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
The Mayor finished right in front of me. I patted him on the back and jokingly asked if he’d taken some special Mayor's short cut this year - he’d cut more than 45 minutes off last year’s time.<br><br><img alt="" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/lgreenberg/Running/IMG_0141.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
In any case I ended with a <b>3:44:44</b> and a 37 second surprising PR. I ran a nice negative split and finished feeling great.<br><br>
Bring on Eugene. <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif"><br><br>
1 - 9:22 (congested start.)<br>
2 - 8:29<br>
3 - 8:18<br>
4 - 8:31<br>
5 - 8:49<br>
6 - 9:29 (Pottty Break)<br>
7 - 8:37<br>
8 - 8:52<br>
9 - 8:28<br>
10 - 7:54 <br>
11 - 7:14 (catching my new friends)<br>
12 - 8:32<br>
13 - 8:10<br>
14 - 8:20<br>
15 - 8:26<br>
16 - 8;09<br>
17 - 8:17<br>
18 - 8:23<br>
19 - 8:36<br>
20 - 8:28<br>
21- 8:20<br>
22 - 8:32<br>
23 - 8:22<br>
24 - 8:45<br>
25 - 8:40<br>
26 - 8:02<br>
.20 - 2:20<br><br>
1st half - 1:55:01<br>
2nd half - 1:49:43<br><br>
Clock time - 3:46:07<br><br>
Chip time - 3:44:44<br><br>
I'm also what you'd call very consistent. In 4 marathons I've run 3:47, 3:45, 3:46 and 3:44.
I thought I had the perfect spring marathon plan. My goal race for the Spring is the Eugene marathon. When I started to develop my training plan the date of the National Marathon seemed to fall right into place where I’d need to be doing a twenty mile long run.<br><br>
My running had been going well over the winter. Life started to get in the way though. I was/am currently enrolled in the fire academy taking a course for national certification for firefighting. The eight week class runs Monday and Wednesday nights and all day Saturday and Sundays. I knew going in this was going to seriously impact my marathon training.<br><br>
Leading up to the race I’d only done two longish runs. One 14 miler and one 18 miler. I did the 18 miler last weekend as a sort of test. If it had gone badly I planned not to run the race this weekend. It went well so all systems were go.<br><br>
Last year I ran the National Marathon’s half so I was familiar with the race. I arrived at the very small expo on Friday at the D.C. Armory, picked up my packet and was through in less than thirty minutes. After eating at my favorite D.C. mexican restaurant I took the family to my in-laws house in the D.C. suburbs where we’d be spending the weekend. MIL was nice enough to make me a big old pot of spaghetti and meatballs for dinner which I inhaled.<br><br>
I got to bed early - well I tried. At about 10 PM when I was about to close my eyes I went through my race checklist one last time. At that moment horror hit me. I sprang from bed and checked my clothes. Sure enough I’d forgotten my socks. Of course everything was closed. DW asked her father what he had and he was nice enough to lend me a pair of tennis socks. I didn’t even want to think about the blisters I’d probably end up with so I tried my best to go to sleep.<br><br>
5 AM came early and I was up and out the door (feet covered in mole skin in a fetal attempt to prevent blisters) and at the race by 5:45. The start and finish of the race was at D.C.’s RFK stadium. This must be one of the few races in the country where you’ll find 60,000 parking spaces at the starting line.<br><br>
The weather looked good. It was chilly, in the low 30s and windy but mostly sunny.<br><br>
I met up with a friend who was running his first half and we went through our pre-race routine. At 6:45 we were called to the start and I lined up in my pre-assigned corral. #4, which was designated for people running 7:45 - 8:30 pace.<br><br>
I had decided that night that a realistic goal for me, based on my level of fitness, would be anything around 4 hours. I had dreams of running 3:50 and even thought of lining up with the 3:50 pace group. This race features the Navy Marathon pace team. the 3:50 group was to be led by a couple of teenage girls. I didn’t have too much confidence in them or in my chances at even running a 3:50 so I backed away from them.<br><br>
As I waited in my corral two other Marathon Maniacs (I recently became one and was wearing my yellow singlet for the first time) approached me and introduced themselves. James from Washington State was doing a double this weekend (National and then Jersey) said he was planning on running around 4 hours and Mike from California who was just visiting friends and signed up for the race the night before (he didn’t even have his running clothes with him - he’d bought everything the day before the race) said he planned on running 4:30 or so.<br><br>
The gun was off at 7 AM and we were off. As I left the starting line I saw a homeless man holding a large sign which read “YOU’LL NEVER MAKE IT. DON’T EVEN TRY.” Simply one of the funniest things I’ve seen at a race yet. I ran the first four miles with James and Mike. It became quickly clear to me that I’d half to be stopping soon for a potty break. I needed to pee. I skipped the first bank of bathrooms and at around mile 5 I left my friends and got in line. After a minute or two I was back on the course.<br><br>
The first five miles of the course were all in the downtown D.C. area along the Mall. We saw the Capital, Supreme Court, Washington Monument and many of the other D.C. sights.<br><br>
Miles 6-7 were all up hill and I ran them mostly alone. We’d left the Mall and run up Connecticut Ave. along Dupont Circle and into Adams Morgan At mile 8 I caught my friend who was running his first half. He was cramping and had slowed down considerably. I ran with him for a half mile or so and tried to encourage him. Around mile 9 I caught another MM and we ran together for a mile or so.<br><br>
Miles 10 and 11 were spent trying to catch the two MMs I’d started with. They were my fastest miles of the day. I didn’t want to kill myself knowing I still had a long way to run but I enjoyed their company and figured they’d help get me to the line. I caught them at around mile 12 and they were shocked. One even said "I can't believe you caught us." I ran with them for another mile or so but quickly decided to pick up the pace and go at it alone.<br><br>
I reached the half (which had taken us back to the stadium) in 1:55:01.<br><br>
Miles 13-16 were run over the same course as miles 1-3, back towards the Capital building and along the Mall. I was feeling really good.<br><br>
Miles 17-19 were along the Annacostia river trail. This was a paved trail along the water. At around mile 19 I spotted the Mayor of Washington D.C. coming the other way on an out and back section of the course. I was surprised to see him ahead of me. Last year he’d run the full in over 4:30. I also spotted the 3:50 pace group (or should I say pace girls - there was no one with them) right behind him.<br><br>
We crossed a small bridge (small or not the uphill still hurt) at mile 19 and then miles 20-24 were on the other side of the river along a paved trail. This section of the course sucked. Other than the water stops every two miles there wasn’t a single spectator anywhere. I knew coming in, after reading the course map, that it would be that way but it still sucked non the less. At mile 20.5 I caught the 3:50 pace girls.<br><br>
For a brief second I had thoughts of sticking with them and running in with them but I quickly changed my mind and passed them.<br><br>
Miles 25-26 were back towards the stadium and featured some rolling hills. At this point I knew I was very close to a PR so I pushed as hard as I could. I was very surprised at how well I was handling the hills.<br><br>
As I came around the final turn I spotted my family and gave a quick wave. I looked at the clock and knew I’d PR so I’d coasted in.<br><br><img alt="" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/lgreenberg/Running/IMG_0139.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
The Mayor finished right in front of me. I patted him on the back and jokingly asked if he’d taken some special Mayor's short cut this year - he’d cut more than 45 minutes off last year’s time.<br><br><img alt="" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/lgreenberg/Running/IMG_0141.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
In any case I ended with a <b>3:44:44</b> and a 37 second surprising PR. I ran a nice negative split and finished feeling great.<br><br>
Bring on Eugene. <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif"><br><br>
1 - 9:22 (congested start.)<br>
2 - 8:29<br>
3 - 8:18<br>
4 - 8:31<br>
5 - 8:49<br>
6 - 9:29 (Pottty Break)<br>
7 - 8:37<br>
8 - 8:52<br>
9 - 8:28<br>
10 - 7:54 <br>
11 - 7:14 (catching my new friends)<br>
12 - 8:32<br>
13 - 8:10<br>
14 - 8:20<br>
15 - 8:26<br>
16 - 8;09<br>
17 - 8:17<br>
18 - 8:23<br>
19 - 8:36<br>
20 - 8:28<br>
21- 8:20<br>
22 - 8:32<br>
23 - 8:22<br>
24 - 8:45<br>
25 - 8:40<br>
26 - 8:02<br>
.20 - 2:20<br><br>
1st half - 1:55:01<br>
2nd half - 1:49:43<br><br>
Clock time - 3:46:07<br><br>
Chip time - 3:44:44<br><br>
I'm also what you'd call very consistent. In 4 marathons I've run 3:47, 3:45, 3:46 and 3:44.
