WordPerv

I, like many people, have a “Life’s To Do List” that I keep adding to. One of the items on my list is to run a marathon before I’m thirty. It is actually written just like this:

~Run a marathon (before I’m 30!!)

Since finishing grad school in May, I decided I would need something to fill the hours previously dedicated to studying, so hell – no time like the present to cross something off the list. And so I chose the Marine Corps Marathon as THE RACE I would do to accomplish this task. I chose this race for several reasons – it’s in DC, which is close to where I live, and it’s supposed to be a great race with a great course. Plus I work with Marines, so why the hell not? And since I started training in the beginning of July, I would have 4 full months to prepare.

Admittedly, my training has been going well and I’ve been pleased with my progress. Aside for some minor shin splints I suffered the first week of running, I’ve been feeling strong and motivated. And yet, today’s run felt daunting as I contemplated it. For the past couple of weeks, my long run has topped out at 8 miles. I knew it was time to push past this and yet the thought of running farther was, well, frightening. Nonetheless I laced up my shoes and left Brian a note saying I was going to run “8 – 10 miles, depending on how I felt”, and I was out the door.

In my defense the weather has turned fantastically hot, nasty, and humid – classic Maryland summer weather, which until this week has remained at bay a little bit. This week temperatures pushed into the upper 90s with humidity to match. My morning weekday runs topped out at 4.5 miles, and even at 5:30am it was nasty and hot. So this morning’s run, starting around 8:30am, was sure to be disgusting.

I started running and told myself I would see how I was feeling at Mile 4 – I could always turn back and simply run 8 miles if I needed to. The first 2.5 miles whizzed by, and as I crossed my first taxiway I felt strong and fast. Oh yeah, since I prefer to run on the military base I work on, I am constantly running across taxiways and seeing signs that read “BEWARE OF JET BLAST”.

I rounded a corner at mile 3.5 and was smacked with a headwind. It felt both good and bad. It felt good to have some wind blowing to cool me off, but it also makes running harder. Nonetheless I pushed on.

I ignored the Mile 4 marker and just kept running. I knew I didn’t want to turn around and only run 8 miles, but if I paused to reflect that I could be halfway done at that point there was a possibility I would have turned back.

Somehow I missed the Mile 5 marker because soon I was at the Mile 6 marker. This is when I took my shirt off. I don’t normally run shirtless, because no matter how slim, trim, and toned a person may be, things jiggle when you run. But it was so nasty hot, and my shirt was drenched with sweat anyway, so off it came. Mile 6 takes me past the golf course and there were plenty of middle aged men in their sporty polos shirts and golf shoes out this morning. They ignored me as I ran past, concerned more with their putting game than some idiot running 10 miles.

Mile 7 brought a strange event. The base has a large population of Ospreys, which are  large predatory birds who are notoriously territorial. There is a famous example of this, which occurred on the very base I run at:

“Ospreys have also been known to team-up with their mate to attack an eagle that wanders too close to their home nest. A famous example of this occurred back on July 4, 1996, when former President Bill Clinton released a rehabilitated bald eagle named Freedom on the Patuxent River near the Chesapeake Bay.

However, what the president didn’t realize was that near the release site was an occupied osprey nest, and when the newly freed eagle flew over it, the ospreys decided to teach the young bird a lesson. The ospreys chased after the poor eagle, pecking and harassing it until it landed in the water where the Coast Guard later retrieved it to make sure it was all right. Eventually the eagle was re-released at a different location that was away from ospreys and other eagles.” (http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/osprey_cam_blog06/archives/000173.html)

So I’m at Mile 7 which takes me past some Osprey nests. I always look at them because they are magnificent creatures, and a little intimidating to be honest. Today 3 of them decided to circle overhead as I ran. I began to worry they thought I was weak enough and slow enough that they could take me, and that I would make a tasty snack for them. Needless to say I stepped up my pace a little bit.

There are several loops on base that can be run, and there are mile markers placed throughout so you know just how far you’ve run (or how far you’ve got left, depending on your frame of mind!). Between the Mile 7 and Mile 8 markers, there is a Mile 4 marker. Now I realize this must be for a different loop, but for a split second I thought OH SHIT! I’ve been sucked into a time-warp and dropped back at Mile 4!! Thankfully this neurosis passed quickly and I realized I could ignore that mile marker.

After passing Mile 8 I had to take a break and walk a little. My friend and fellow MCM runner, Josh, always reminds me to incorporate walking into my running program because inevitably, I will have to walk during the race. This is fantastic advice that I am always sure to follow. I walked at Mile 8 for several reasons: #1) I needed to (duh!), and #2) there was a small hill coming up and I needed a break before attempting it.

Hills are notoriuosly hard on my crooked back. I can feel the muscles pulling as one side does the lion’s share of the work, while the other muscles sit back and do…nothing… So after walking about 75 yards, it was time to run again and conquer the (little) hill. But the hill wasn’t the only thing I was fighting, my lovely headwind was back. Nice. So I’ve got a hill and a headwind. Why am I running again?!

Passing Mile 9 I realized I’VE ONLY GOT 1 MILE TO GO!! And yes, it was stated in all caps in my head too. The last mile was hard – I think the last one always is, although I certainly hope that when I run the MCM, the last mile is the easiest.

Finishing Mile 10 I was happy to realize I wasn’t that terribly winded or overly tired. So maybe this race won’t be as hard as I think it will be… Right?…