Well, I did it. I managed to increase my mileage to get on track for the marathon. My work schedule has become consistent enough to allow me to run on weekday mornings (base mileage) and do a long run on the weekend. I ran 15 miles this past Sunday. I followed a course, leaving from my house, and incorporating a loop with a long hill (1.5 miles) twice, all the while carrying my bottle of water/electrolyte drink. It was a challenge, but felt good. I now feel like I am where I should be in my training.

I think back to 1996, when training for my first marathon, the Marine Corps marathon in Washington, DC. My goal was to finish in less than 4 hours. I thought this was a reasonable goal (~9 ½ min/mile pace) with my distance running history. The race was on the last Sunday in October, and just happened to be the day after my NY Yankees won their first recent World Series (over the Braves in game 6). So I had many reasons to be excited that day. I decided to wear my Yankees cap during the race in celebration.

Myself and 20,000 other runners, made our way to the starting line on the unusually warm fall day (over 80 °!). We were corralled into the starting area by the Iwo Jima memorial. I saw many military personnel, a man in a full Kermit the Frog costume (he was going to suffer in the heat for sure), and thousands of average runners like myself. After the gun went off, it took me several minutes to even reach the starting line (walking) because of the crowd. As a matter of fact, for the first 8 or so miles I was barely able to break a 10 minute pace because there was no where to go. I was so frustrated, that by the time a path opened up (just over the Key Bridge into Georgetown) I found myself running a sub-8 minute pace just to make up some time. At that point I hadn’t yet stopped at any aid stations and had not begun to replenish (I didn’t feel I needed to). Needless to say, half way through the race I was spent. My muscles were cramping, I felt awful. I first stopped to walk around mile 17, just for a minute or two, and then ran for as long as I could. I repeated this cycle several more times. I managed to run the last mile and cross the finish line. As I was limping to the family meeting area, I heard over the loud speaker “Kermit the Frog has just finished the race!” I couldn’t believe it. I had trained and prepared for over 6 months, and I barely ran faster than a man in a frog suit on a hot day! My time was 4:09. Not too far off from where I wanted to be, but that did little to console me. I was in so much pain, nothing made me feel better, not walking, sitting, stretching, lying down, nothing. I finally found my boyfriend (now my husband) who told me he never saw me looking worse (Thanks!). I vowed never to run another marathon.

That night, after a few Ibuprofens and feeling a little better, I started thinking about what went wrong. I realized I wasn’t prepared for the crowd and the effect that would have on my time. I hadn’t replenished enough during the race (or on my training runs for that matter). I don’t think my long training runs were long enough. My longest was 20 miles, and for me, that last 10K was more than I was ready for. And finally, I hadn’t dressed appropriately for the weather. A cotton baseball cap doesn’t allow much heat to escape. I woke up the next morning sore, but not as bad as I had anticipated. I started to think about how I could better prepare myself for the next marathon. I wasn’t that far off my goal, and with this experience, I knew I could achieve it.

My advice to you: 1) Get your long training runs in. I personally think you need at least a 22 miler before you can jump to the 26.2 distance. 2) Get used to eating and drinking while you run. You don’t want to get to the point where you are so deficient in water and nutrients that you can’t catch up. 3) Know the race you are about to run, especially if you have a specific time you want to finish. Most big races (including the Portland Marathon) will try to organize runners at the start according to anticipated finish time. Be realistic in your expectations. 4) Pay attention to the weather forecast and dress appropriately. You will be out there a few hours and the weather can change from start to finish.

Next up…my second marathon in Atlantic City, NJ. I’ll share with you how my experience at the Marine Corps and following the above advice helped me improve.