Marine Corps Marathon - Race Recap

   Dudley and I rolled into the DC area the Wednesday prior to Sunday's race. My parents still live in the DC area, and the race gave us an excuse to have a quick family visit and to catch up with some long-time friends. Plus, was nice that we didn't have to rush around the day prior to the marathon like we did in Chicago.
   The expo was on Friday. We had plans to meet up with our friend Ron, his friend Amanda and several of her friends, who were also running the race. Amanda ran MCM last year and told us we needed to be there right when it opened to avoid the lines. I was kind of confused about this, but then remembered that the MCM has higher security than most races - even for the expo. Fortunately, the security line wasn't too bad and after a few minutes we were in.

Hello, Expo!

   We picked up our shirts and bib numbers. I was happily surprised because rather than regular shirts, we got long-sleeve fleeces! Very nice.  I'm generally happy with any shirt I get, but it's fun to get something different every once in a while.

   I'd love to give you a rundown of what was at the expo, but I really don't have any idea. Why? Because the line in the merch area was so long that it took us almost an hour to buy a shirt and a visor. It was crazy. There were a lot people, but apparently the registers went down for a while, too.  By the time we bought our swag, we only had about 10 minutes before we had to leave for the Pentagon where we were meeting people for lunch and a tour. I did a quick lap around the expo, got some free ice cream and left. I'm sure it was quite nice though. Any expo with free ice cream gets a big thumb's up from me.

   We then all headed down to the Metro and went to the Pentagon where we met up with Darrin and Shane for the aforementioned lunch and VIP tour. (Thanks, guys!)  Though I grew up in the DC area, I had never been to the Pentagon. It's a pretty amazing place. Really fascinating, especially for a history buff like I am. I'd love to show you a bunch a photos but, as you can imagine, they don't allow cameras in there. But if you're ever in the DC area, I highly recommend taking a tour. Wear some comfortable shoes though. We walked about four miles - that place is huge.

USA! USA! USA!

   Sunday morning, Dudley and I got up around 4:30am. We had plans to meet Ron at the Pentagon (where the race started and finished) at 6:00am. This was a little early, but as with the expo, there was security we had to go through and we wanted to miss the lines. I'm REALLY glad we did. While we waited about 20 minutes, other people who arrived later actually missed the start of the race because the lines were so long. This wasn't a regular bag check either. We had to go through metal detectors. That was a first for me. 

The Marines don't slack on security.

   Once through security, we had a while to hang out. It started to sprinkle a little bit, but nothing too bad. We were under a giant tent and we also all brought trash bags so we didn't get wet. 

Who can rock a trash bag?  We can rock a trash bag!  

   I want to take a minute here to talk about the organization we ran for: wear blue to remember.  This organization "is a national nonprofit running community that honors the service and sacrifice of the American Military." We learned about this group through Amanda, who I connected with a few months ago on Facebook but hadn't met until this weekend. She's the wife of an Army man, and has run with wear blue for several years. When I heard about the group, I knew I wanted to run with them during the MCM. What an amazing organization.  Founded by the spouses and friends of the 5-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, which suffered a large amount of casualties in Afghanistan, the group got together to run as a way of supporting each other. The organization then grew throughout the country and now has official wear blue events, with the MCM being one of them. 

   Prior to the race, all of the wear blue runners got together for the Circle of Remembrance, where the runners called out the names of the fallen service members they were running for that day. This was the first time I cried that day.  

   After the Circle, we headed to the start line. As with Chicago, it was crazy crowded. But unlike Chicago, the MCM didn't have corrals. They had self-seeding areas based on time, but they weren't separated by ropes or anything. We were just kind of crammed in there. But we were all so excited about the race that we didn't really care. 

   The MCM doesn't slack on the opening ceremonies. You know how some sporting events has military fly-overs? Well, so does the MCM. With V-22 Ospreys. 

Bad. Ass.

   At 7:55 am, the howitzer fired and we were off! And yes, you read that correctly. Not a starting pistol - a howitzer.  As I said, the MCM doesn't mess around.

   The first few miles were really congested. REALLY congested. With Chicago only two weeks behind me, I was OK with starting slow. In fact, I was OK with running slow the entire race. I had felt really good the two weeks in-between Chicago and MCM, but as the race went on, the fatigue set in. Setting it on cruise-control for this marathon was good with me. 

   The MCM course is fantastic. As I mentioned, it starts at the Pentagon and continues into Virginia for a bit.  This section was really pretty, as we ran down George Washington Parkway which has a lot of trees and the leaves were all turning. From there we ran into Georgetown, where I had flashbacks from when I used to go down there in high school and college. It was kind of rainy at this point, so there weren't many spectators on this part of the course, but it was so fun going down memory lane that I didn't miss them too much. We wound our way through DC, running along the Potomac River and passing landmarks like the Kennedy Center. Around the half-way mark, we hit Hains Point and the wear blue mile. And this was the second time I cried. 

   The wear blue mile honors fallen service members by posting their photos on both sides of the course with their name, date of birth and date of death. I swear, even though there were thousands of runners on the course with me, you could have heard a pin drop while we were running through this section. It was very emotional. After we passed the photos, we ran through 300 (I think) American flags held by wear blue volunteers who lined the course. Again, this was just awe-inspiring. They were cheering, clapping and thanking all of us for running. It was, by far, my favorite part of the course. 

   We then headed back into the city where we passed most of the monuments and the Capitol. I can't tell you how much I love this city. I've been fortunate to have participated in several runs through the DC and every time I do, I'm floored by how beautiful this city is. I'm so lucky to have grown up there.

   But back to the race... After we passed the Capitol, we headed down towards the 14th Street Bridge at mile 20. This bridge is infamous during for this race because it's the time check. You have to "Beat the Bridge" by a certain time (1:30 maybe?) in order to finish the race. Fortunately, we made it to the bridge with plenty of time.  It was right before the bridge that I saw a pony on the course. That's right - a pony. A Marine Corps Pony to be exact. 

Of COURSE, there's a pony on the course.  And I just noticed the expletives on the signs behind the pony.  Oops.  

   We then headed back to the Pentagon for the finish line.  Let me say for the record - two marathons in a month was tough! Fortunately, I didn't have any of the problems here that I had in Chicago, but it still hurt. Unfortunately, Dudley DID have issues and had a hard time running, but I stuck with him like he did with me in Chicago. We were both really relieved when we saw that 25 mile marker. I kept hearing about a hill at the end of the race, and we finally hit it....at mile 26.1. Are you kidding me? The LAST thing we do before crossing a finish line is climb a hill? Yep. That's exactly what we did. It was brutal. But as my husband said, "If you go deep enough into the pain cave, there is a Marine there waiting to give you a medal." Which is exactly what happened.

Boom. 

  

God Bless America.

   I loved this race so much. I can see why people run it every year. It's a beautiful, scenic course that is well-supported by both the race organizers and the crowd (who came out in force once the weather cleared up). The only thing I would have changed about it is that I would have worn something to honor my dad, who was a Marine. A lot of people did that and I wish I would have had the foresight to think of something to honor him during the race. If I run it again, I'll definitely do that. 

   I have no idea what's next. As of this moment, I don't have anything official on the calendar other than a Thanksgiving Day Fun Run. I've been recovering over the past few weeks, and it's been great. I'll start planning things soon enough though. If anyone has any suggestions for 2016, let me know!

   

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler Race Recap - Race Day!

   Washington, DC races usually start early, and with its 7:30 am start, the Cherry Blossom 10-miler was no exception. This meant a 5:00 am wake-up, so I could make it down to the Metro by 6:00.  As you know, I'm one of those "must get to the race early" people. I do NOT like to be rushed on race day. And while I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked, I was able to get up, dressed and have a good race-day breakfast (oatmeal - Thanks, Mom!) before heading out. Cherry Blossom 10-miler - here I come!

   As I mentioned previously, the Metro is a great way to get to and from a race. I got on the train right at 6:00, and I guess they were waiting for an onslaught of runners to board, because we didn't take off for about 15-minutes, which is a long time to wait. In the meanwhile, I started talking to a few other runners around me. What else did I have to do, right? I mainly spoke with one woman in particular, who had really pretty red hair and who had done a lot of the DC races on my bucket-list. Talking to her definitely made the wait go by quicker. Once the train started, the trip was about 30-minutes downtown and we were let off right at the Washington Monument. I said goodbye to my new Metro friend and headed out to try to find my friend Jenny before the race.

Hello, Washington!!  

People EVERYWHERE!

   I don't think I was prepared for how large this race was. I knew there were about 17,000 people running, but there were a TON of people wandering around the race site. I guess most runners brought a few friends and family members down to the site with them. Good news though - the race was prepared for it. They had several information tables spread out across the Mall and plenty of volunteers who were very helpful if you had a question. This race also had more porta-johns than I have ever seen before, which is something that runners really appreciate. The bag check was also large and well-organized.

Water for runners for after the race.

Gear check tent. 

   Unfortunately, my friend Jenny texted me right as I was checking my bag and said that she wasn't feeling well and was going to skip the race. Bummer. She's much faster than me, so I wouldn't have seen her much during the actual race, but it would have been nice to catch up. I was just thinking how I wouldn't have been able to find her in this crowd anyway, when I looked down to tie my shoe...and who was next to me? The red-head from the Metro! We went completely different directions when leaving the Metro and out of the thousands of people at the race, we bumped into each other again. We had a laugh about that, wished each other good luck and went our separate ways again.
   After this, I went on a quest to find an actual cherry blossom. Unfortunately, due to the crazy weather DC has been having recently (it snowed just last week), the cherry blossoms hadn't bloomed yet. While Nashville is in full-Spring mode, DC still has a lot of bare trees. The best I was able to find were some buds. While still pretty, it's just not the same.

So close...

   By now, the race organizers were asking us to get in our corrals. This race also served as the National 10-Mile Championships, so there were a lot of elite runners there. They, of course, were in the first corrals and started early. I was in the third corral for non-elites (out of five). What was interesting about the start of this race was that they didn't let the corrals advance to the start after the previous corral left.  So when they finally released my corral, about 15-minutes after the official start, we had a bit of a walk to the start line.  I was a little confused at first, because usually races do the "move up 20 feet and stop.  Now move up 50 feet and stop" route with corrals. This time we just walked causally to the start and then started running. It actually worked about quite well.

   However, what didn't work out well was my placement in the corrals. I think I was supposed to be in the 9-9:30 minute / mile corral. I know I was hoping to run close to 9:00 minute miles because the course was pretty flat. But the race was so crowded, that I couldn't get any kind of decent pace going. See the photo above of the start? That's about how crowded it was for the entire race. Wherever you went - there was someone there. Since I've run large races in DC previously, I was expecting this, but you forget how annoying it is until you are actually running in the middle of the crowd.
    The actual race went well. Like everything I observed pre-race, the Cherry Blossom had everything well-organized. The volunteers were plentiful, the water stations were well-stocked and they had an appropriate number of restrooms along the course. The crowds were amazing, too. So many spectators. It was really great.
   The race was also amazingly scenic. The route was pretty much a sight-seeing tour of DC. It would have been amazing if the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. My favorite part was running part past Jefferson Memorial. Of course, this is when crazy people started pulling out their cameras and started taking pictures WHILE THEY WERE RUNNING. Total peeve of mine. Come on, people! Have a little sense! You might think you're running in a straight line, but you're not. And with courses as packed as this one was, it's just downright dangerous to take photos while you're running.
   One funny part happened around mile 7 when I saw, again, my friend from the Metro. At this point, I was really wishing I had gotten her name, but I didn't know it, so I had to just yell "Hey Metro Girl!" as I ran by while waving. No, I'm not a total loser. Sigh. At mile 8 was probably the favorite unofficial water station of the entire race - the "Free Beer and Oreo" stop. People kind of freaked out over this stop. There was another "Free Beer" stop along the course, which got some notice, but "Free Beer AND Oreos?" People just lost their minds. I actually saw one guy climb over a park bench to get to the stop.
   And as far as my race personally, I just went along with the crowd. My legs were a little tired from the previous day's ride, but they weren't completely shot. It was good. I just used the race as a nice Zone 2 training run. (Oh yes, I talk in Zones now - but that's a topic for another post.)  Since it was so flat and I wasn't pushing the pace, the only time my legs were really taxed was in the last half-mile, which had the ONLY hill of the race. The actual finish was flat though, so you could kick it in if you really wanted to. You know who wanted to? The girl from the Metro, who BLAZED by me with about 10 yards to go. I caught up with her at the finish and finally got her name. Everyone - please meet my new best friend, Becky.

MFF!  (Metro Friends Forever!)

      Y'all - she ran with her hair down like that the entire time. I can't even imagine...  Anyway, after saying good-bye to Becky for the FOURTH time, I headed over to the medal tent. The CB 10-miler was different from most races in that the medal was optional and you had to order one when you registered for the race. I think it was about 10 bucks extra. They did the same thing with the race shirt. You were given a cotton shirt, but for a bit more, you could upgrade to a tech shirt (in first photo above). Since this was a bucket-list race for me, I upgraded the shirt and got the medal. Totally worth it. 

BOOM.

   After the race, I went to brunch with two of my favorite people in the world, Ron and Kirk, who live a few blocks from the race. I totally splurged and got Strawberry French Toast. And it was awesome. Overall, it was a banner day. I highly, highly recommend this race. Yes, it was crowded, but it was very well-organized and Washington, DC is just beautiful. Oh - and I actually found a cherry blossom. It's like they started blooming during the race. 

   If you live in the DC area, you should absolutely enter the lottery for this race. And even if you don't, it's a great weekend trip. DO IT!

Next up - Pedal for Paws Metric Century on Saturday! Should be interesting considering I haven't ridden further than 40 miles this year! 

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler Race Recap - Part 1

   Have you ever thrown your hat into something thinking that there is NO WAY this plan is going to work out, and you're kind of planning on it not working out, but then it DOES work out, so you have to go through with it? Yeah, that's what happened with me with the Cherry Blossom 10-miler.
   Being from the DC area, the Cherry Blossom 10-miler has been bucket-list race for me for a while now. It's over 40-years old and is known as one of the premier races in Washington, DC. Kicker is that it's so popular that it holds a lottery for registration slots. So way back in December, I signed up for the lottery, hoping that I might be one of the lucky ones who got into the race. But considering that I don't have the best history with lottery registrations (Nike Women's Half, anyone?), I pretty much figured I wouldn't get in. In fact, I was kind of planning on it. I mainly registered with the thought that my chances for getting in the race NEXT year would be better if I tried this year and didn't get in. Which is a long set up for stating the obvious - I got in. Which meant that I had to plan a weekend trip to DC.  WOO HOO!
   I flew into Baltimore (BWI) on Friday afternoon and picked up a rental car (Dudley didn't go since it was such a quick trip). BWI is only about 40 miles from my parent's house, but the trip can take hours is traffic is bad. Fortunately, I timed it OK and made it home in less than an hour. Good thing I called my mom on the way in because she totally forgot that I was coming in on Friday (she thought it was Saturday). She was on here way out and was like "What do you mean you're 15 miles away?" Would have been a big bummer to be locked out of my childhood home if she had left!
   Fortunately, Dad knew I was coming in on Friday and was home soon after I got in, and we immediately left to head up to Bonzai Tri shop, which is my Dad's favorite bike shop. What? Most people don't immediately go visit a bike shop first thing after arriving at their parent's house? Welcome to the Mylls household. We like bikes here.
   Apparently, my Dad had spoken to Mark, the owner of Bonzai, and mentioned that I'm training for an Ironman. As soon as we got there, Mark pulled us in his office and started asking me questions about my training and giving me some advice on getting through race day. As a five-time Ironman finisher and the owner of a very successful bike/tri shop, I figured he knew a few things, so I listened pretty closely. I was really appreciative that he took the time to talk to me. I was also very appreciative of the bag of nutrition samples he gave me. Gotta tell you - my Dad's got connections.

Free Stuff! Love it! Thanks, Mark!  

   After leaving Bonzai, we headed over to another bike shop. This one is called the Bike Club. I'm really bummed I forgot my phone because I would have loved to have taken photos. The last time I was at the Bike Club was about three years ago and it was the craziest shop I'd ever been in. I think it's more of a used bike shop / swap meet, than a retail bike store. It's located in a long, narrow room and there is crap EVERYWHERE! When I was there before, there were two levels of racks and shelving and one little pathway through everything. There were even bikes hanging from the ceiling. They also had two parrots flying around!

Bike Club Before...  (Photo courtesy of BMXmuseum.com)

   Turns out - the Fire Marshall didn't like the hundreds of bikes and the two parrots, so they closed the Bike Club down for about a month while they got rid of most of the stuff. It was kind of sad walking in there recently. Don't get me wrong - the old place was definitely a death trap - but now it looks more like a regular bike shop - just with old bikes and parts.  The parrots were even re-homed to some parrot sanctuary. You know I wanted to see the parrots. 

   Saturday morning, Mom and I headed downtown to the Cherry Blossom 10-mile Run expo and packet pickup.  Races in DC are awesome because of the Metro. Yes, we had an issue at the Rock & Roll USA Half Marathon a few years ago, but overall, it's a great way to get to and from a race. So we just hopped on at the Vienna Metro stop, and it took us directly to the expo, which was located at the National Museum Building. Possibly one of the prettiest locations for an expo that I've ever seen. In fact, both my Mom and I were commenting that we think we both have gone to cocktail parties at this building in the past.

Nice digs for an expo, huh?

   I didn't do too much damage at this expo - normally I spend way too much money on stuff that I don't need. I was planning on getting a few gels, but since I totally got hooked up by Mark the day before, I didn't even need those. The only thing I ended up getting was a fleece race jacket that my mom bought me. I don't care how old you are, to have parents who support you in your hobbies is just awesome.

   We didn't linger too long at the expo because I knew Dad was waiting for me to go on a bike ride. My Dad has quite the collection of bikes in his stable, one of which is the same model and size as my road bike. After a few adjustments to the saddle, it fit enough for me to ride, so we headed out to the W&OD Trail for a ride. The W&OD Trail is an asphalt trail that is laid over most of the old Washington & Old Dominion railroad tracks. It's a great place to ride, but unfortunately it was CRAZY windy out on Saturday - wind speeds of 20+ mph and wind gusts of 30+ mph. Honestly, I probably would have just gotten on the trainer if I had been at home - that's how bad it was. But Dad was all "What are you going to do if it's windy for your Ironman? Just not race?" Gotta love a dad who gives you crap about your training. So I put on my big-girl panties and did 30 miles in the worst headwind I've probably ever experienced. I was SO happy to turn around at the 15 mile mark so I could finally hit a tailwind - and I did...for about five miles. And then the wind changed direction and I hit that headwind again. Ugh. It was brutal. 

   One thing that was cool about my ride was that I saw this sign:

Hey! I know those people!

It was funny because I wasn't paying that much attention to those Adopt A Trail signs, but I nearly wrecked my bike when I saw this one. I've know all three of these families! We all went to school together. It was pretty cool to see this. Thanks for adopting the trail, guys!

   I also tried to get a photo from the overlook of a quarry, but there was a total creeper hanging out near the site. And considering I was alone at this point (Dad had already turned around) and about five miles from any civilization, I didn't want to risk my life by getting too close to this guy (seriously - he was CREEPY), so I just kept on riding.

   Of course, after that crazy hard ride, the question remained as to how my legs would hold up for the 10 mile run the next day. Which you'll hear about in my next post!