I did it!!!! I reached one of the biggest goals I have ever set for myself.
On Sunday October 28th in Washington, DC, I crossed the finish line running (and lots of walking) 26.2 miles (42 K) with a smile on my face and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I actually had tears in my eyes once I knew I was about to accomplish this.
As some of you may know I started the year being a smoker but quit 8 months ago.
I am very proud of myself that I reached what I thought was an unattainable goal.
It was a beautiful day in Washington and the support from the United States Marine Corp and the locals was unbelievable. It was my first time in Washington and I really liked the city. I could have spent the day just looking at the architecture of various buildings.
My marathon strategy was to do a run/walk combo up to mile 13 (half way mark) Once I hit mile 13 that would give me 5 miles to pick up my pace to see how far it was for me to reach the bridge just past mile 19. In order to finish the marathon runners had to maintain a 14 minute mile to the bridge.
By the time I hit mile 13 I was about 15 minutes behind my scheduled pace but I felt great. I picked up my pace and managed to get to the bridge with 45 minutes to spare (unfortunatley I understand about 1300 runners did not make it on time and were taken by bus back to the start line).
The closer I got to the bridge the more participants were walking - I guess knowing they will make it. My husband was at the bridge to greet me, and actually ran a few miles with me over the bridge. Once on the bridge I knew that I would finish the marathon and receive my medal it was just a question of what my time would be.
As mentioned I was really surprised at the amount of people who stopped running and decided to walk after they reached the bridge. Although I ran portions of the last six miles the majority of it I spent walking also. I made a point of stopping and chatting with people on the course. I remember at one point I said to myself I will receive the exact same medal, other runners that placed first receive so it's not that important to me what my time is..........just enjoy the day and the experience.
Just after the bridge I met up with a gentleman named Ron who was in his 70's and a retired Marine, running in his 8th marathon. We spend a solid hour chatting and running and I was impressed by the reaction of the other Marines when we went by. Every single one of them stopped what they were doing and saluted him and he saluted them back. I met up with other runners from my running club who were alumns and talked with them for a bit. I eventually met up with two newbie runners that I've run with on Saturdays and socialized with them after some of our runs. We decided that we would run the last three miles together.
Things that stood out for me during the trip were:
How organized everything was
What great shape the Marines are in
Familes that came out of their homes and offered us slices of oranges, pretzles, twizzlers and in one case someone set up a drink stand and offered the runners martini's or bloody mary's (it was 9:00am).
In the residential area where cars were parked on the road, people turned on the car stero and played music for us.
A number of people were running in memory of someone who had been killed in the line of duty. I ran past loads of different pictures on the backs of runners with the slogan "Freedom is not Free".
The amount of monuments we passed.
The guy at mile 17 that was asking us to trick or treat. He had baggies of tootsie rolls, gum, suckers, etc.
Two girls that held a sign each one saying.........Your feet are so sore because you're kicking ass and Pain is temporary but Pride is forever.
Another sign that read Days of wondering if you can do a marathon a lifetime of knowing you can
All in all it was a great experience that I will never forget.
I will spend the next few weeks recovering and decide if marathon running is my thing or just stick to smaller distances.
Reaching this goal has given me a huge boost of confidence knowing if I really want something I can accomplish it.
I am trying to attach a photo of me proudly wearing my medal after crossing the finish line but not to sure how to do it.