The first 5 weeks of training were fairly easy. I did have to go to Alabama for a week but I found time to fit in my runs, yay! In August, things started to get rough. I missed a run and had to shorten a few runs from minor injuries and life got in the way a few times. September was rough as well, the heat still wouldn't go away and I had to miss some runs and shorten a couple again. October started going fairly well until I felt a pain in my right foot, I tried to push through the run and it wasn't going to happen. I iced it and initially thought it was an achilles injury, but I think it was more of a calf strain. I took an extra day off running so I could heal up. Luckily with some stretching and a warm up walk seemed to do the trick, I wasn't feeling the pain anymore.
Finally race weekend came and I had some annual leave to burn so I took a few extra days off of work. I considered flying but it would just make the trip way too costly so my fiance Colin drove us from Michigan to Virginia. The drive was around 8 hours, so not too bad. We've had to drive all the way down to Georgia a few times so this was a little quicker. We got to the expo on Friday about an hour before it was closing and there was no line to get my bib and shirt. I got a jacket from the Brooks booth and only had to wait a few minutes in line. The cashier was actually from Michigan so we chatted while he was ringing us up. Afterwards, we went to the pep rally. They said if you have done 60-70% of your training you will make it to the finish line. That did help me feel a little better about my training over the summer, but I was still a little nervous. On Saturday I did my last training run in the morning which was only 3 miles. I watched the MSU/UM game so I could rest my feet most of the day. We did head over the the Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and saw the Washington monument, I didn't want to do too much walking since I had my race the next day, but I thought it was worth seeing some things. I was born in South Korea so I always like seeing Korean War memorials and I'm very thankful for all the military that was there.
Race day: I woke up on time and got ready. The metro opened at 7am, so I took the runners only shuttle from Crystal City and it went smoothly. They dropped us off to Runner's Village and I got through security very quickly. I filled up my camelbak and the found a place to sit to eat my breakfast. I was trying to rest my legs as much as possible before the race. I did make sure to go to the bathroom a few times before I headed to the start line. I found my corral and before I knew it I was running my race, I actually started my gps watch a little after the start line, oh well. The first 4 miles went by super quick. I took it easy with my pace initially because of the hills and I didn't want to expend all my energy since I had a long way to go. Things were going great and going through the blue mile around Mile 11 was very special. They had photos of fallen soldiers and it made me appreciate running this race even more. I told myself keep going, run this for them!
Around mile 14, things started to fall apart. The pin in my foot started hurting so bad I was forced to start walking. It started to feel better so I was able to do more of a run/walk. I got through the gauntlet and I beat the bridge in the time limit. As the day progressed it kept getting hotter, I think it got up to 83 degrees and it felt like a summer run. My camelbak helped with hydration, but I felt like I hit a wall. Colin was live tracking me on the app so he would send me motivational text messages and just kept telling me just keep moving forward even if I'm just walking. I thought about quitting, but I kept walking. I knew I wouldn't make it to the finish line in the time limit, but I was going to keep trying. When I got to mile 22, Colin saw me and gave me a big hug. He told me I only have a few more miles I can do this. I kept saying I won't be able to finish in the time limit, but he told me keep going. That did seem to help get me running for a bit, until I felt like I hit a wall again. The Marines kept cheering us on so I would be able to jog at points, but still wasn't sure I would make it to the finish line. Everyone around me was walking so I knew I wasn't the only one having issues. I finally got to mile 26 and one Marine said, "Finish with pride". I think that gave me enough drive to run one last time and I made it through the last 0.2 miles. I knew I was over the 6 hours and 37 minutes but I didn't care. I texted Colin thanking him for helping me get through it and called my mom so she knew I survived. I was bummed it took me 6:58:21 to complete it. I didn't have a goal time in mind, I just wanted to make it to the finish line, I felt I failed horribly. All the Marines at the finish line were congratulating me, giving me high fives, and shaking my hands. I figured I wasn't an official finisher so I just was trying to find the family link up area to find Colin. To my surprise they were still giving out finisher medals. By the time I finished there wasn't much of a line and the Marine gave me my medal and I thanked him for his service. He even let me take a selfie with him so I could remember that moment. I think they took the weather into account and kept the course open longer. I wasn't the last runner, there were a little over 570 runners after me so I wasn't last!
Even though all the issues, I think picking the Marine Marathon as my first full was the best decision I could have made. It was so memorable with the blue mile of all the fallen soldiers, to Marines helping motivate runners to keep going, the amazing views, and little kids just excited to get a high five from a runner. The signs and spectators were great and I would get a good laugh when every part of my body was hurting. My race photos turned out pretty well too. At the end of the day I became a marathoner even though my time was terrible. I'm proud I didn't quit and just kept going even when I could only walk. I'm not sure if this will be my only full, for now I checked something off my bucket list and focusing on recovery!
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