Breathe in, breathe out, move on...

For the 2013 Marine Corps Marathon I had really high hopes. I had trained hard.  I had run a great 20 miler just weeks before. The weather was perfect. Although a little nervous, I was in a terrific mood after an exciting Navy win over Pitt the day before.  So race day ready to attack the course….

 

I got up early went for a quick jog at home just to get things moving and we made our way to DC. Then had an uneventful trip on the Metro to the Pentagon Station and a short walk to the corrals. Hit the port-a-john before the start and lined up just in front of the 4:00 hour corral.

As usual, exciting Hollister blast off to start and me and 30,000 of my closest friend start of our 26.2 mile journey…”Life’s a Journey not a Destination” (Ralph Waldo Emerson or Aerosmith)

 

So I am running smooth easy pace… the first seven miles in 59:12, right on schedule! Then I made the turn around in Rock Creek Park and I was hit with severe stomach cramps….

 

Ok, I’ll find a port-a- john…just past mile 8 marker …mission accomplished in an out minimal time lost and back on track…in fact despite the stop mile 9 was a 9min/mi pace…I can do this.

 

Mile 10 8:50/mi , ok settle down …nice pace you got this Kevin….then Irun behind the Lincoln Memorial between 10 and 11 miles and cramps come again…ok I’ll walk run till I get then end of Haines point…at the half way point I’m still under 2:00 I can do this…it the port-a-johns at the end of the point…eat the cliff bar and sports beans and keep going….

 

I struggle with some more cramps as I head back toward the Mall and find another pit stop near the Smithsonian at mile 19.5…now I’m completely toast…I can’t eat…I can’t seem to get enough fluids and the 4:00 pace guy goes screaming by…

 

The last 10K is just a slug fest and I get beat up pretty good…it would be easy to just quit but the thousands of other running and even more spectators keep you going….

 

Then I am reminded why I was running when one of the athletes on a hand crank bike goes by me on the 14^th street bridge…this one is not about me….this race and race season has been about people like Corey Petersen who overcome more than a stomach cramp to finish their journey.

 



 

It was when the 4:30 pacer went by at mile 25 that a song popped into my head “I bought a cheap watch from a crazy man floating down canal, it doesn't use numbers or moving hands, it always just says NOW, Now you may be thinking that I was had, but this watch is never wrong. And If I have trouble the warranty said, Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On” (Jimmy Buffett)

 

So I shuffle up Marine Hill to the finish (4:39:55), where Bobbi and the girls (thank you ladies and congrats to Bobbi and GR on a great MCM 10K) are cheering me on. The hundreds of Marines cheer me to finish as if I had just won.  The Marines lining the finishing chute heartily congratulate me and one young 2^nd LT put the medal over my head and adds a perfect salute.

 

No sub 4, no PR and another lack luster MCM performance.  However, reality hits me square in the face as we head thru the free food and stuff to the Charity Hill tent for the Team Semper Fi Fund…there parked outside the hospitality tent were a dozen hand crank wheelchairs and inside the athletes were on the massage table getting rubbed down from their long journeys…stomach cramp v. no legs…shut up Kevin…you finished.

I’ll do MCM again.  I love the atmosphere and the support you get the entire 26.2 miles and beyond.  And I will continue to run and raise funds and awareness for the Semper Fi Fund.

http://fundraising.semperfifund.org/TKORuns

 

MCM in 5 Days

MCM in 5 Days…

In five days I will compete in my 4^th Marine Corps Marathon.  Last year I thought I was on track for a great run…then I was side tracked with a hip injury and completed the race in pain but I did complete it.

This year I have worked hard to keep off the injured list and believe I am in my best shape yet.  I have over 1,043 miles of training and races so far in 2013.  Most of my focus from mid-May to September was ensuring that Bobbi was prepared to do the 70.3. Once her race season finished, I jumped back into mine.

Since, then I have put in 153 miles on the road. I also worked on my core with crunches after most of my short runs. I had a successful Navy Half Marathon, ran a really strong 20 Miler in South County, and have stayed injury free.

My goal is a sub four hour marathon or around a 9 min/mile pace.  But I wouldn’t be surprised if I was able to get closer to an 8:45/mile pace or a 3:50ish on the run.  I ran a strong 20 Miler 4 weeks ago in South County on a course much hillier than the MCM, in 8:45/mi. I felt good and had a lot left when I finished and I left a little out there not wanting push too hard.

I have figured out on the 20 miler my fluid and nutrient intake and have a plan to mentally and physically break the race into four 7 mile runs.  I think I can keep close to a 7 mile per hour pace which will allow me to take fluids and food every hour. If I follow that pattern I will be doing great.

Now as for the real reason I wanted to run the MCM…

I could say it is just to prove to myself I can do it. Stay injury free and give it my all…

But all along this year I just wanted to raise awareness for the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund… http://fundraising.semperfifund.org/TKORuns

Community Athelete Coordinator Corey Petersen

I have talked before about the amazing stuff this organization does and saw it first hand at last year’s Ripley Race 5K.  I am humbled and proud to be a Community Athlete for such an amazing organization and hope the small amount of money I have raised this year so far, goes a long way to help the Injured Marines healing process.

So for those who may have thought I would run the MCM in my kilt…Sorry, to disappoint.  I said from the start if I hit my goal of $1775 I would do it. I have run in the kilt for each $250 raised…

So in 5 days I will hit the streets of Arlington, VA and Washington, DC with 30,000 others who will be part of the few who can say the ran Marine Corps. Ooh Rah!