MCM 10K!

Today was the Marine Corp Marathon & 10K!!! It. Was. Awesome!!! The day began at 3:30 am when I was WIDE AWAKE. Jet lag? Sheer excitement? Who knows...but I laid awake in bed for the next 2 hours-ish, when Amanda woke up! And I whisper-yelled: HAPPY MARATHON DAY!!! And the day began...

As Leah told me: I may not be fast and I may not be good. But I am cute!


(::sigh:: I know the picture is sideways...It isn't working right and I don't have the energy to deal with it...)

We made it to the start line early, which was nice...and cold...and we got to our corrals (I went to the far back...). At which point I hooked up with Lynn, my pre-race support!!!



She wished me luck and gave me an awesome pep talk and then let me 'get in the zone' and the gun went off!!!

After a 5 minute warm up walk, I stuck to Zak the Trainer's plan of 4 minute run/3 minute walk intervals. I was able to do it the entire way with a mini-sprint at the end! :)

My official chip time was 1:22:25! My official goal was under two hours. My secret goal was under 1 1/2 hours. I. Am. Awesome!!!

Then, I met up with my post-race support team!





Yes, ZTT! He came (late--due to his underestimating the metro crowds he claims, not me and my finish time...) to congratulate me at the finish! He says he is very impressed (as well he should be...) with my finish time! (So am I!) Also he said I get a prize on Tuesday (CANNOT WAIT!) AND he told me that I didn't have to lift tonight!!!! It's like a million prizes!!!

Once we cooled down, got out bags from the UPS bag check and said bye to some friends, we went over to cheer on the AMAZING marathoners--Amanda, Andrea and Mary-Theresa! They looked great (at about mile 18)! We then metro-ed to the finish line. It was packed. Sooooooo packed. We met our finishers as they came out and then could not get out of Rosslyn for like 2 or 3 hours!!! The metro was packed, the shuttles were packed, the taxi stand had a long line that moved soooo slow. We called a cab. They lied to us and never showed up...sigh. We ate dinner and FINALLY got back to the hotel (thanks to our hero, Ms. E!).

Amber and I got back to my house by 6:30 pm and promptly showered and got into PJs! And yes, I am still wearing my finisher medal--because of all days, TODAY is the day I can wear it without being (too) weird!!!