Marine Corp Historic Half Marathon

I finished in 2:05:32 (chip time) which put me in 1,588 place/42nd percentile out of 3,822 total finishers. The overall winner finished in 1:08:50. The first woman finished 19th in 1:23:58. Michael and Dave finished at 2:07:51, just a short bit behind me.

I am pretty happy with my time. That's a 9:54 pace, the fastest I've run a race in quite a while. I've dropped about 2 minutes on my pace so far since last year, and still almost two minutes to drop before I am at my goal pace of 8 minutes.

The weather was overcast which kept the heat down. Temperature was in the mid-60Fs. Humidity was up though, in the high-60Fs at the start of the race and then falling a little once the sun was up, but still very humid which made it feel like mid-70Fs. I lost a lot of water and electrolytes, and by the end of the race I was pretty dry and spent most of the rest of the day drinking water.

I wore my JFK singlet, purple shorts, sunglasses, Wright socks, and Brooks Adrenalin shoes. I had my kepi, ID, lip balm, keys, and post-run protein in my waist pack. I had SPF-50 sunscreen applied everywhere I thought I needed it - since I was wearing a singlet instead of a short-sleeve shirt, this included some of my back, neck, and shoulders in addition to face, arms, and lower legs. I had my Disney Goofy long-sleeve shirt on as a top layer, to remove and tie around my waist once I was warmed up.

My race plan was to be in the last group of people to cross the starting line (because I really enjoy passing people!), start off at about a 14 minute pace until I am warmed up (that is, begin to sweat just a little), pick up the pace to about 10 or so for another mile, run sub-nines for the rest of the race, and run a seven minute or better pace on all downhills. Gravity would help me on the downhills during the first 5 miles.

The race elevation chart showed losing 150 vertical feet gradually over the first 5 miles of the race, but then quickly regaining those 150 vertical feet between mile markers 10 to 12. Talk about hitting the wall. Well, it wouldn't be a Marine Corps Marathon without a hill at the end, now would it?

My fueling strategy was to eat breakfast late at night and then don't eat anything else for the 8 hours before the race, drink 2 liters of water and a couple swallows of Gatorade close to race start time, use water stations primarily for pouring water over my face and head, drink water after the half-way point in the race, and consume a significant amount of protein and water at the end of the race. The protein was 6 slices of turkey luncheon meat, each with 4 grams of protein. Having that in a plastic baggie unrefrigerated for what was by then 4 hours didn't concern me that much - they have loads of sodium in them (another plus at that point). I need to figure out another protein source for longer runs and warmer days though, but this worked for this race. The not eating before the race was to let my stomach clean itself out and be ready to absorb water quickly without having to wait for anything to digest.

Given the temperature, humidity, elevation profile, and relatively short race distance I think these were good strategies.

After the race my muscles were very sore but were not cramping. I iced my knees down soon after the race and they both felt and continue to feel normal. I stretched my legs well, and got a free 10-minute massage after the finish line. My muscles are a little tight today, as expected.

I ended up with a pretty good sunburn on the top of my head! I had planned to put on my hat after the mid-way point when the sun would be higher, but things were going so well that I chose not to. Putting on a hat makes my head warmer and reduces my heat transfer which then makes me sweat more. So much for last-minute changes to a well-thought out plan. My hair is thinning too much to just run without any protection. Next time, I need to just put on the hat, or else cover my scalp with sunblock. It hurts!!

A quick comment about the expo and packet pickup. The expo was pretty anemic. Not many vendors, and some had already closed up shop for the day. The packet pickup was the smoothest I could imagine in my dreams. I showed up Saturday at 7:00pm when the expo closed at 8pm, there was almost no one else there. I waited for nothing. Every expo should be this easy, quick, and wait-free.