Update:Yesterday was the Rock ‘n’ Roll Washington, DC Marathon. I finished with a time of 3:56:45.

Thoughts on the Race: This was my first Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon and only the second marathon I have ever completed. The first thing that struck me about the race was the small size of the group. There were around 1700 runners participating in the marathon. While not a small number; the half marathons, ten-milers, and marathon I have done previously, have all been noticeably larger. The event appeared well organized but there wasn’t as much fan support as I expected. DC is a very athletic community and there is usually good turnout from people willing to support events like this. It was a very chilly day and I suspect that kept many people away. I also heard that the half marathon version of this event is larger and so there was probably better turn out a little later when those runners started. To the people that did come out, I would like to say thank you, the support is very appreciated and makes a huge difference. Overall I would say this was a well organized and fun event. I would recommend it to serious runners, that have done marathons previously. For beginners, I think the 5hr 30min cutoff and smaller scale of the event might make it difficult.

Personal Experience: My running experience was an off and on affair throughout my 20s. I started doing races because my company at the time was involved with veterans and sponsored races that allowed us to run in support of the Tragedy Assistance Program For Survivors (TAPS). I never imagined doing a marathon until a coworker convinced me it would be fun and something we could cross off our bucket list. In the months leading up to the Marine Corps Marathon, neither of us trained and I never ran more than 8 miles. We were both about 23 at the time, I was still a smoker and was at a Halloween party the night before the event. I was doing CrossFit and still had the mindset I had come out of college with, that I was immortal and everything would work out. In other words, I was a moron. Some things that I learned that day, first, running without first preparing is horrible. Might seem obvious, but again, I am not always smart and needed to learn this lesson. Second, listening to a book on tape might seem like a smart way to kill a few hours while running but while Game of Thrones makes for great television, listening to slow-moving plots for the Iron Throne while your legs are crying makes you want to die. Needless to say, this event did not go well, I did eventually finish with a time of 5:33:01 but could not walk for a week. If you’ve ever seen that How I Met Your Mother, where Barney challenges Marshall that he can compete in the NYC Marathon without training and then finds himself unable to move, that was me. My coworker took this experience as a sign that running was not for him and has never done another race. I, however, realized I loved the event but felt a half marathon or ten-miler was more my jam. Sporadically, I would find races that interested me, whether it be a turkey trot or my hometown half-marathon. When I decided to give up CrossFit, running became my exercise of choice but over the past few years I’ve done fewer races and have been content to do some 4 mile runs with maybe 7 or 8 on the weekends. In August of this year, I grabbed drinks with a friend of mine who is a big swimmer. We were talking about different races he had done and one that came up was a race he had done in Greece. The idea of going to another country and competing was so exciting to me, I loved the idea of it but when my friend suggested I do it I laughed it off and the conversation moved on. A few weeks later, I woke up in the middle of the night and that conversation came back to me. It bothered me that I laughed it off. When I did that first marathon I hadn’t trained and didn’t really give myself a chance to succeed. I spent that night looking at marathons across the world and was amazed at all the unique races out there. That night, I realized that I’d been missing a goal and really wanted one. I closed the laptop around 4am, got out of bed and ran 7 miles. I decided to start training. From that point, I’ve been following a training program. I admit I went off that program at some points and think I might have done some overtraining. Again, I’m a person that learns through the trial and error method and I make a lot of errors. Currently, I am signed up for the Berlin Marathon in September 2019.

Back to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Washington, DC Marathon. I signed up for this race because it is about halfway between when I started training and the Berlin Marathon. I also only had one, not too good, marathon experience so thought an additional race would be beneficial. My family came to town to support me and watch the race on what I previously mentioned was a cold morning. When the race started, I was running around 7:10 splits which is great for me and better than when I’d trained. The runners around me though seemed to be great athletes and while I was running at a personal best I was discouraged that runners kept passing me. Around mile 13 my pace began to wane, the course does a loop and as you are running in the one direction, you can see that lane next to you and know you will eventually need to run back. As the pacers passed me, 3:10, 3:30 and eventually 3:50 around mile 22 I became really depressed to the point I wanted to quit. I don’t mean to sound like a whiner but in hindsight, I was whining. Mentally I really feel like I lost it in this race a bit. My fast start, probably hurt me in the end because I burned through energy and watching myself fall back just took a toll internally. I told myself while running, just don’t walk, you have worked too hard to finish this race walking. At mile 25 I caught sight of my family, and my tiredness and negative thoughts disappeared. I just wanted to finish and celebrate with them. While I’m not ecstatic about my time in this race, it was a trial and I hope to learn from my errors. Again, I am extremely thankful for the volunteers, supporters and my family for making the mental aspects of these challenges more bearable. My Mom reminded me after I told her how negative I had gotten that only 2 years ago I was still smoking and wasn’t running more than 4 miles. Sometimes we need to take small steps to make big strides and that will be my goal for this year. Hope to share some of them with you!