MCM Recap

Last year, one of my fellow Stroller Warriors decided to run the Marine Corps Marathon just a few weeks before the event. (One of our other members was planning to do it, but sadly sustained an injury leaving a free bib.) We all logged on to watch her 10k updates as they posted, constantly streaming comments on our SW Facebook page, I started to get the itch. Yes, I have done two previous marathons, but that was before I ever liked running.

So with high hopes and a stomach full of nerves, I sat down at my computer moments before the event registration opened and managed to secure one of the slots that sold out in 2 hours and 41 minutes! That brought on the mad search for the "right" training plan. I ended up with a mix of a couple plans that my dear husband helped me figure out.

I briefly wrote recaps of my training weeks, but then we packed away our computer and embarked on our third move as a married couple, my 15th since 1998! We lived with my in-laws for nearly 6 weeks and then finally moved into our rented house in Mt Vernon. Those first 6 weeks were a blessing for my training. I ran stroller-free most days and had the company of my husband who had also decided to run. Unfortunately, those weeks were plagued with PF, a sore right hamstring, and several runs that left me thinking, "What on earth have I signed up for?!"

I had not printed out my training plan and couldn't access the computer until post-marathon, so my training was scattered at best. My focus was getting the house unpacked and livable for the Weasel, and while I did manage to get a few longer runs in, I wasn't feeling super confident. I originally started out with a goal of sub-4. I quickly changed that to just finishing the race.

On Saturday morning, Grandpa came and picked up Weasel (she was spending the night with them so we wouldn't have to get a sitter on Sunday) and left us to relax. Sunday morning arrived and we woke at 4:40. That gave us enough time to eat breakfast and for Jason to down some coffee. We hopped on the Metro and rode to King Street where we met a friend. Neither of us carried anything we couldn't run with because we wanted to avoid the chaos of the bag drop at the end. (Hence the lack of photos in this post!)

After catching up with LOTS of my Stroller Warrior buddies, we made our way to the 4 hour corral and got ready for the canon to sound. We crossed the start line just 3 minutes after the bang and quickly found our stride. It was Jason, me and our friend, Pat. The first few miles were crowded with spectators cheering loudly.

Mile 1 - 9:24
Mile 2 - 9:25
Mile 3 - 9:00
Mile 4 - 8:50
Mile 5 - 9:15

There were a few hills that were challenging but not terrible and we made our way into Georgetown which offered a huge downhill! The main road was packed and there were so many people cheering! At that point, Jason said, "Hey Jen, do we know anyone up here in Georgetown?" As he said it, we saw our friend, Sean Cox (in uniform as he was working the race) and that was quite a pick me up!

Mile 6 - 8:37
Mile 7 - 9:04
Mile 8 - 8:54
Mile 9 - 8:58
Mile 10 - 8:33
Mile 11 - 9:11

We cruised just ahead of the 4 mile pacer and I was running quietly, but still feeling ok. Jason was great as he occasionally asked how I was doing and if I needed anything. Then we came to Hains Point (the dreaded part of the MCM course regardless of what year you're running). It's mostly free of spectators and often produces winds due to the fact that it's surrounded by the waters of the Potomac. The first 1/2 mile of it was lined with large pictures and names of soldiers, sailors, and Marines who have been killed since OIF and OEF started. That gave me the motivation to keep running. But I was starting to hurt.

Mile 12 - 9:01
Mile 13 - 9:05
Mile 14 - 9:49
Mile 15 - 9:52

Around mile 14, I could feel my pinkie toenail on my right foot throbbing. I had issues with the nail earlier in my training and figured it was probably working its way off my toe! I just kept running. As we left Hains Point, I started taking brief walking breaks. I stretched a couple times too. Jason would run ahead and get cups of water and Gatorade for both of us, bringing mine to me so I didn't have to alter my path. BEST HUSBAND EVER! He was looking good and could have finished well before me, but said, "We started this thing together and we will finish TOGETHER!"

Mile 16 - 10:16
Mile 17 - 10:38
Mile 18 - 10:56
Mile 19 - 10:29
Mile 20 - 11:34

As we turned into Arlington, we ran by places we used to walk to from our first apartment as a married couple. It was full of cheering people and even though I still stopped to walk a few times, I was feeling better.

Mile 21 - 10:18
Mile 22 - 11:46
Mile 23 - 11:24
Mile 24 - 11:14
Mile 25 - 11:56

You can see just how much our pace had slowed by this point. My legs felt like lead and even though I knew I was running, it felt like I was being sucked backward. I should mention that the weather was phenomenal! Those winds and rain predicted for the day had held off and it was truly spectacular running weather. We ran that last mile and then made the left turn to run up the final hill to the Iwo Jima Memorial (Marine Corps War Memorial). It felt amazing. We were 25 minutes off my original goal, but I couldn't have cared less.

Mile 26 - 11:44

We ran around people who were walking that final hill, linked hands and crossed the finish line at 4:24. Most people would look at these splits and say we went out too fast. I disagree. The first half of the race was awesome. If I had run any slower, the pain in my legs and my little toe would have just come along at an earlier mile marker. I was happy with our race.

We made it home about 2 hours after finishing the race and I finally took off my shoe. My pinkie toenail hadn't come off, but the enter toe was one big blister! I wish I had pictures to share with you from this race, but I'll always have the memories of a successful challenge completed with my best friend at my side.

As for my future in running? Who knows! I will not be signing up for any more full marathons, but I definitely see a few half marathons in my future. I'll probably stick to 5ks and 10ks for a while though:)

MCM Training: Week 2

With the first week under my belt, and lots of fellow SW posting on FB about their own accomplishments (in their plans), I was feeling confident going into week 2.

Week 2 was supposed to look like this:

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: Intervals
Thursday: 5
Friday: 3
Saturday: 12
Sunday: 4


In reality, I should know that I will almost always be running Monday, Tuesday and Friday for sure. I try to get my long runs in during the week, so we don't miss family time, but that's not always possible since we're potty training and hauling the Weasel with me is rough for 10+ miles.

Here's what Week 2 actually brought:

Monday: 5
Tuesday: 1m w/u, 2x (1200 TK (600), 800 TK (400), 400 FK (200), 1m c/d)
Wednesday: 4.01
Thursday: 4.01
Friday: 3.05
Saturday: 11
Sunday: Off


Tuesday's interval workout was a HOT one. I arrived at our SW workout about 35 minutes early, knowing I wouldn't have time to get the entire workout done. I did the warmup and first round of intervals, took a break to meet up with the SW and then continued the rest of the plan. I had to walk the rest periods between the last couple intervals, but it was nearing 9am and getting too hot. On Saturday morning, I woke up at 4:45, grabbed half of a Honey Stinger Waffle and hit the neighborhood roads until it got light out. That's tough because my neighborhood it TINY! From my house to the furthest point back is .8 miles. I managed to get 4 in the hood before grabbing my pre-staged water bottle for a quick sip and heading out on the main road. I headed out for a couple miles in one direction, turned back to grab some more water and a couple Honey Stinger Chews to finish out the 11. It was just shy of my goal, but my longest, successful run in a while and I was feeling good. I did manage to get several blisters, but they didn't affect me too badly.

On a whim, I had purchased a Chilly Pad cooling towel at Bed, Bath & Beyond earlier in the week. I decided that Saturday would be a perfect day to test it out. I ran the entire 11 miles with it and felt pretty good. I'm not sure how effective it was because I finished my run before the sun actually got high enough to see, but I think I'll be trying it again.

Me and my Chilly Pad nearing the finish. 

Week 2 was over and I was feeling great. My total mileage for week 2 was 33.57. The plan total to date is 62.4. 

MCM Training: Week 1

I just started Week 4, so to say, "I'm behind" would be an understatement! As July approached, I was still struggling to find a plan that didn't scare the living daylights out of me. With the help of my husband and my friend/running partner, Jill, I finally narrowed it down to a mix of a couple plans (Runner's World Intermediate, ING Beginner, and my own comfort).

July 9th was D-Day. My first week was supposed to go something like this:

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 4 easy
Wednesday: Intervals
Thursday: 3 easy
Friday: 3 RP
Saturday: 13
Sunday: 3 easy

My actual first week looked like this:

Monday: Intervals (1m w/u, 1x1200 HP (400), 2x800 TK (200), 4x200 FK (200), 1m c/d) 
Tuesday: 4.32
Wednesday: 9
Thursday 3.09
Friday: 4.11
Saturday: 3.03
Sunday: Off






As you can see, I didn't really "stick" to my plan overall. But I did log some miles, so overall, I was happy. The heat has been kicking my ass. Thank goodness I did the intervals with Jill and her husband, my Tuesday and Friday runs with Stroller Warriors, and my Wednesday long run with my friend, Nicole! Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have made it through any of those workouts.

The long run for the week was now well planned by me. I saw that Nicole was planning to run at the Air Station, so I tagged along. I had the Weasel in tow and her potty too, we started too fast, plus we ran the first 5 on a trail. That made for a rough first half. At the 5 mile mark, we stopped for water and a potty break for Weasel. She didn't go which was frustrating and stopping just made it harder to start again. Nevertheless, we continued along the paved roads, with me begging to stop a few more times. As we came up to the 6.5 mile mark, we had the choice to turn left and go back to the vehicles, or turn right and add on another 2.5. It was a battle in my own head, but we turned right. We got to the vehicles and I was DONE. But Nicole said, "I'm going to finish 9." So after a minute of feeling lousy about failing so miserably to get my mileage in for the week, I finished out 9 myself.

One of my awesome SW running partners, Nicole, looking amazing after what I thought was a TERRIBLE run!

So Week 1 finished with a total of 28.83 miles. And while I didn't stick to the plan exactly, I did get a good start and learned some valuable lessons. 

Lesson #1: Stop wearing cotton t-shirts and start putting those dry-fit tops to use.

Lesson #2: Run earlier in the day whenever possible.

Lesson #3: Just because you don't nail the plan, doesn't mean it was a wasted week. Move on and don't dwell on your bad runs.

Narrowing My Options

As June is rapidly approaching, I've downloaded Hal Higdon's Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide on my Kindle and am devouring it. Counting back from the MCM date of Sunday, October 30, 2012, I've arrived at 10 June as a starting point for a 16-week training program. Most plans are around that duration. But now I'm struggling with which plan to use. When I was a young buck running my first marathon in 1999, I didn't use a plan. In fact, I think the longest run I'd ever done was around 3 miles at that point. But I was only 19 and made of "bubble gum and rubber bands" as my husband likes to say, so putting that sort of strain on my body wasn't really a big deal. Now, in my 30s, I am wiser and more brittle:) 

Source

For the Quintiles Half, I was using Hal Higdon's training plan, but spent the first 5 or 6 weeks accidentally following the NOVICE one and thinking it was too easy (my fault for not reading properly!). Now I'm ready to select a plan for my upcoming marathon. That's where you guys come in. I NEED YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS! 


So far I've considered these:


Runner's World Marathon Plan


Hal Higdon's Intermediate 1 Training Plan


Rick Kimbal's Marathon Training Plan


But in searching for a plan, I've found that several plans come with a price before you can actually see what you're getting yourself into. I haven't actually gotten to the portion of Hal Higdon's book that states the plan, but I think it's included, so that would be a plus for going with his program. 


If any of you have helpful hints or advice as to which program worked for you and why you liked it, I'm all ears! Thanks in advance!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for Malinda Ann Hill of Twins Run In Our Family!! I tweeted about how much I wanted the Weasel to extend her nap so I could just register without any problems, and Malinda not only wished me luck, but she posted a link just minutes before the actual registration site opened (at least from my computer)! I was able to register on my first attempt and I'm ecstatic! I ran the MCM way back in 1999 when I HATED running and I LOVED it...can't wait to tackle it again.

Thanks Malinda!!