Wednesday, December 20, 2017

2017 Marine Corps Marathon Race Recap, Part 1: Race Prep and the Expo!

The Marine Corps Marathon is notorious for being a fantastic race, and for the most part it did not disappoint!  You can either get into the race by running the 17.75k (which sells out quickly), entering the lottery, being active military, or signing up for their Four Star registration (which includes 2 race entries, hotel, reception, smartrip cards and access to a hospitality tent before the race.)  I got in by finishing the 17.75k, which you can read about here.

Training for the race began almost immediately.  I followed Hal Higdon's Novice 2 Marathon Training Plan and was doing really well until mid-September as my high mileage runs were about to finish.  I had been doing all my runs a little extra difficult in very hilly areas to make race day easier.  I was well on track to beating my goal pace of 12:35 to be able to finish the race in 5:30:00. Then my IT Band started acting up.  This was not the first time, so when I did my 19 mile run and it started aching I knew exactly what was wrong when it started to get angry right around mile 2.  But I kept going.  And that was the dumbest mistake I could've made, because it just kept getting worse.  And my splits kept getting longer and longer.  (My average pace ended up being 14:46.)  I know exactly why my IT Band got angry too and it was a combination of no cross training (my gym closed suddenly in July and I had a hard time finding a new one) and the increase in mileage.  I should've seen it coming, because that's exactly why it flared up the first time in the opposite leg.

Either way, it definitely messed with my confidence and that day of the 19 mile training run I was ridiculously happy to be running with somebody who was willing to put up with my IT Band's shenanigans.  We ended up naming my IT Band Frank, which actually helped.  We would start to run a little bit, the IT Band would scream, and then we would yell "DAMMIT FRANK!"  It wasn't much, but it helped with my morale.  For several days afterwards I had a hard time walking normally because even just bending my knee hurt.  And this was just before the DC Ragnar.  I managed to suck it up and do the Ragnar.  (More on that another time.)

About a week after that nightmare run, Brooks released a preview of some of the merchandise.  Naturally I bought the race jacket and the dash half zip since it's one of my favorite pieces from Brooks.  (Lightweight, but provides some warmth as well.)  It arrived a couple days later, and there it sat in the tyvek envelope.


The rest of my training for the race went terribly because of outside factors too.  September was a crazy month at work, and October was also moderately crazy so with working 6 or 7 days a week it made squeezing in long runs hard if not impossible.

 Once I received my confirmation email with my race number, it got real.


 In October I ran the BAA Half Marathon, and treated it like a training run since it was my next to worst finishing time.  I knew it was inevitable since my IT Band didn't have time to heal.  Before I even came home from that trip to Boston, I started calling a sports massage therapist that a friend recommended.  I got in there for an hour long massage and cupping later that week.  I was a little skeptical about cupping since I don't believe in anything drawing out toxins other than your liver, but why not try it if it doesn't hurt? Well, it did hurt.  So good.  Afterwards my IT Band felt amazing.

And I opened that tyvek envelope.


I was not disappointed.  I tried both on since well, the race was happening whether my IT Band liked it or not.  I also scheduled one more massage for the morning before the race with some cupping and KT Tape application, because I was desperate and ready to try anything.  (The first time I tried KT Tape, it didn't work out well and peeled off before it could be of any use.)

Then before I knew it, race weekend had arrived and I got to go to the expo to pick up my packet.  I finally got to take advantage of some of the race merch that I've spent years drooling over since I had only run the 10k in past years.  It was so surreal getting my bib, race patch and shirt.  (It wasn't that long ago that I swore I'd never run a marathon!)  And I totally lucked out with the shirt--I love the color and design!  This year was actually a departure from previous years because this one was a long sleeve moisture wicking shirt rather than a long sleeve fleece lined shirt.



I didn't actually get much in the way of race merch.  The lines for the official race merchandise were next to non-existent so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a finisher's shirt ready to go right after the race and a pin with the race logo.  (Brooks said in emails and on social media that it would be available for purchase online on race morning, but nothing about it being available at the expo!)  From the other vendors I got a half buff and a race logo necklace.


Soon afterwards race day prep began.  With less than 24 hours to go, I started with getting that last minute intense IT Band massage and cupping and had it taped up.  (I'm almost positive my massage therapist used half a roll of KT Tape.)  Coming out of there I was feeling pretty confident that everything would go pretty well.

Once I got home, I filled up my two hydration packs with Tailwind--one raspberry flavored, the other plain.  My strategy was to start out with the raspberry flavored Tailwind, and switch it out to the pack containing the plain flavored Tailwind with my family around mile 17 along the National Mall.  I also put my race bib on a spibelt so I wouldn't have to worry about attaching and reattaching it to my hydration packs.  In the pockets of my hydration packs I put in a pack of Run Gum, Honey Stinger Chews or their waffle, and a Health Warrior Chia Seed bar or a Mamma Chia Chia Squeeze and each had a tube of lip balm with sunscreen from Brooks Running. (Seriously, the lip balm they give away is amazing.)  And of course a picky bar to eat before the race.  With the exception of the gum, all of it was tried in the past and I knew they were easy on my stomach.  (I had never tried the gum, and I lucked out in that it didn't bother my stomach.)  It sounds like a lot, but it really ended up being about 4 small things in each pack.

Next, I had to work on my temporary tattoo.  Since I knew I had to get to different parts of the course in certain times and had friends along the way cheering on runners, I mentally I split the race up into different parts.  So instead of "Uggggghhh 26.2 miles?!" it became "Okay first I have to reach Eileen.  Then Pam... And reach the Gauntlet by 12:33pm..."

Then of course I had to lay out everything to take with me on race morning to be absolutely sure I had everything.


I was ready as I would ever be.  Everything was then thrown into a bag and I headed down to my parents with my husband.  Once we arrived at my parents, we had dinner and my Dad and I coordinated that morning so we could both get to our races on time (he was running the 10k.)  Later that night I threw a tab of my favorite cherry limeade nuun into a water bottle and then got ready for bed.  Just to be safe, I plugged in my electronics just to be sure everything would last.  I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep well, and I actually slept better than expected.

Next up:  The race itself.

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