41st Marine Corps Marathon

The second race this year was a race signed up for last year with the intention that Knapp and I would run it. In a reversal of the Chicago Marathon, I got in to this lottery system and deferred until this year. So here we are, in DC, running a marathon.

Trip down:
For whatever reason, I decided to go down to D.C. via train with Mama Tang on her birthday, passing the site of my last marathon, Philly.  Despite spending 7 hours sitting down, it was a pretty cool view of the East Coast (8 states, 1 district, 9 total this week (MA, RI, CT,NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA, DC) ) and the foliage changing.  Going to the race site days before, still recommended after the Miami time crunch.  The people, the metro, the train station, the cleanliness...why didn't I move to DC?

After finagling and getting in to our Airbnb, we hightailed it to the new expo spot complete with a ferris wheel and boat loads of Marines.  I thankfully bought GU there (even though I didn't train with it...running sin right there) and tried on my MCM shirt which apparently is deceiving; mediums always fit but this time I had to move up one size (probably from all that lifting haha).

It was definitely very cool to see all these Marines volunteering their time; they were all so young (a decade plus younger than me). All of them were super helpful and nice. After exchanging shirts, getting my MCM patch, we took the shuttle back home on the fun bus with DC's alternative radio station on.  We also got to chat with a Cubbies fan, who just ran Chicago weeks before.  Good luck, random runner.

Little sis came down to show support, too on Saturday as 3/4th of the fam were together.  I walked a bit around DC but wisely sat out most of the tourist-y spots and went home early. (Skipping the 2 mile run because of said walking). The rest of the time was spent cursing the running gods for having a random 75+ degree day on the forecast when EVERY OTHER DAY that week was picture perfect for a long run.

Pre-Race:
Per usual, woke up around 2:30 then again 3:50 the day of. I covered the nips with US band aids, had a zip lock bag with GU (chocolate mint and tri-berry) bought at the expo,scavenged-for mustard and salt packets in case of cramps, credit card and my metro card.

We were actually 2 miles out from the starting line so we Uber-ed as close as possible (sorry driver, this was your last drop-off, and it had to be heading IN to the race).  We walked the rest, around 7am, passing the Pentagon.  I remember from my high school trip out that you weren't supposed to snap pics of the Pentagon and saw signs saying so to confirm my foggy memory.  Of course, an Asian runner walks by and snaps pics...

While waiting at the portapotties, we chatted up an older female runner and I just love how freely runners can speak about their bowels.

Race:
Due to the weather and an e-mail stating to slow down and hydrate, I parked myself in a lower corral (4:30) to run conservatively. I stood there trying to soak it all in, the leaves changing, the already warm weather, Marines everywhere, choppers flying overhead, the Howitzer that I didn't hear or see.
I zoned out to Tame Impala's "Nangs", picturing Yellowstone Park and tried to calm myself.

7:55 and the race starts.

Then, the crawl.  8:10ish, that's when my race starts.

Per usual, the beginning is slow as molasses, sidewalk riding was my hobby throughout the race, and the highway splits in half in the beginning.  I followed a yellow-shirted runner to the higher half, then we both had the same thought; is this for the same race? So we jumped a divider and ran down to the lower bridge...already making rookie mistakes haha.

Most of this race was a blur and will probably slowly come back to me, like a running black out. What I do remember early on is seeing Georgetown, water steaming and a band playing by the water.  That would've been the time to snap a pic if I had my phone.  Oh and ALL the memorials you see along the way.  I tried to just look around whenever we would cross a bridge, it was really picturesque.

Around mile 9, there was a group of Marines playing music, and my family cheering me on. Definitely meant a lot to have seen them.  The ridiculousness of running a marathon, but I had at least 2 cheerleaders.

This is advertised as a great beginner's marathon.  What I had not anticipated was the amount of selfies and walls of walkers.

 For the first ten miles.

I slugged through and couldn't get out of the crowd until around mile 10 and then got stuck again in a slower group because after I was done with a portapotty (2 poops at mile 6 and 13) I had to merge in to traffic which obviously was slower than when I jumped in line to wait for a portapotty.

Half way, I had run around a quarter mile extra according to my watch.  I still felt pretty good up to that point.  Knowing today was not a PR day but a survival day, I was content riding 10 minute pace.

When we got to mile 16-17 in the National Mall, I was feeling good and told myself, okay three more 5ks to go, not bad.  There was an air of familiarity with the area since I was here last year and the crowd support was pretty great here.  I also knew a couple things; the last 10k was highway and the last .2 was a hill.

On the headphones to keep me going: Justice (reminded me of destroying a sushi buffet with Fisher), Daft Punk ("One More Time" used at the wedding the week before this race), Empire of the Sun-"Walking on a Dream" and M83 "Midnight City" on repeat.

Around mile 20, the highway showed up.

Now I had run an extra 0.4 miles, my watch would buzz then I'd have to look forward to the mile marker 0.4 miles ahead.

Running uber-conservatively, I had a lot left in the last two 5ks and saw a lot of walkers at this point.  I wasn't crushing it but just kept plugging away, covering more real estate.  The mistakes made early on magnify here and the heat was not forgiving.

I had to just keep telling myself, I have way more in my tank than I need.  At mile 19, I actually thought I was at mile 18 (the wall hits your brain, too).  From mile 24 on, when we get back to the Pentagon, the time slowed down and it took forever.  The good news? That hill at mile 26...was a speed bump since I took the other 26 miles easy. Oh and that gag reflex...why every time?

"ran" the whole thing,
4:21.  Somewhere in between Philadelphia and Miami (har har) with my times.


Post-race:
No recovery jacket :(
Medal put on me by a Marine :) so bad ass.
Walked to the family meet up spot about a mile away from the finish line and during the walk, crafted a dad joke...I was gonna make a joke about our last name being so far away and when I get there...no family to be found.  I beat my family to the meet up spot.  Eventually we found each other and walked to the Arlington Cemetery stop.

Spoke to an 8-time runner and said it was such a great organized race.  The camaraderie with complete strangers...not to get too kumbaya, but man, sometimes it's just sharing this common experience that brings us as humans together (end of runner's high).

How's the body holding up:
Upper right back tweak
The muscles around my knees are a bit sore (more the day after) but overall, my body feels pretty good. Working out overall definitely helped (file this under 'common sense') core, legs (no hamstring problems :knock on wood:).

What we learned:
100% solo training may not have been the best but I did it.
I want another crack at a PR.  I am relieved I got through this unscathed, but yeah I want a better PR.
D.C. is beautiful.
As always, these long races are just a great metaphor for life; you train for 18 weeks, get told the scenario you trained for isn't the most opportune.  You have to change your frame of mind, push through, and be grateful you got the chance to participate in another race.
Gambled on Gu (at mile 6,13,18, 23ish) and it paid off; the wall kept crawling in to my stomach slowly and the Gu held it at bay long enough.

What we saw:
Kiss n Ride sign-instead of the cell phone lot.  Kinda cool, I like the little differences in the same country.
Times at every 5k
Trump and Hillary jokes (apparently I only run marathons in election years...see you in 4 years, Mary).
Marines and pictures of fallen Marines...very emotional run for sure. This wasn't meant to be the last point but I wanted to just cement it home that no matter where you stand, be grateful these men and women are here so that we can pursue such things as a marathon.  Despite the craziness of this election, the location of this race, I never felt in danger.

Heather's Half Mary

The week before my marathon, my sis crushed it in NYC with a half marathon time of 1:49:44 (1:47:31 on the watch). You guys are all motivating me to get back in shape!

Hurricane Andrew

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I'd like to take a second, game recognize game, Andrew Knapp posting a 1:38:46 today.  Proud and now motivated to join the sub 140 club.

Aaron tries for run group #3 (or 4?) in Boston

After trying out a handful of run clubs, I went solo for 100% of my runs for the past year.  After some time off, it was time to get back with running with people who know I am running with them and not racing them on the path.

First and foremost, I just want to say how much I forgot being new, for a lack of better words, sucks.  I get it, the "group" you try to break in to doesn't know you at all.  Nonchalant me waltzes in, expecting the fact I have been running for a while to be enough.  Or the fact that during the high-five tunnel, I was pretty far up in the totem pole since I have never run the route we did tonight so I tried to stay with people's paces so I wouldn't get lost without my phone.

And as per usual, once the jitters went away, people are nice (shocking).  Now, to see if I can stick with this run group as Aaron Tang and commitments in Boston, well, there's a 3 month expiration usually.

Race for Resistance 5k?

Controversy? check.
Personal issues? check.
Concert the night before? check.
Battling hamstring issues? check.


About a week before the 2nd annual race for Northeastern U's Pharmacy program, I was told by my doppelganger/ "son" that I'd be running in his place for this 5k.  The previous 5k run in Cambridge about a month ago was not at full strength so I knew I'd be in the ballpark of mid 22:xx's.  After some aggressive leg days, I was ready to test my hamstrings out.

As we are in the city, we Uber'ed to the Northeastern campus, near the Fens (the site of the race), as I and the students that I've worked with came to and realized who I was without scrubs on and more importantly, the students sans scrubs and dressed as, well, students.

My doppelganger would definitely not run today as the cat at the place he stayed at last night had caused everyone to question if someone had possibly farted on his face at night (oh, sophomoric humor, how I miss you).   Discussing it with my doppelganger, we may have jinxed my running without throwing up streak by talking about it pre-race.  Idiot son.


Under the impression the race was to start at 1pm (gotta love the late races) I was warming up earlier than what was the actual start since the course was still being mapped out at that time.  I donned my bib and ran around to warm up as the day wasn't bad for a race (40s and sunny) save for the wind at times.

My coach of a "son" told me to sprint the whole race and to not lose to the dude vaping before the race in a man bun (because this is a college student race, of course).  I was a bit intimidated as this was a small race made up of mostly kids a decade younger.  As a small race, you can get exposed quickly and lost as well.


As we lined up, we were told right before that we were too far ahead of the starting line and that we actually had to stand in the dirt right before the path to not block any citizens walking around.  The #5 finisher and I laughed at the fact we were just told to take a 90 degree left turn to start and to run two figure 8's through the Fens and a little more for the race.  Even funnier? We were told if we wanna sprint this race, to head towards the front (which I was already there by accident).

Over a bullhorn: 5...4...3...2...1...

And we were off, jostling for position as the kids sporting cross country gear sped past me, friendly elbows aside.  The first mile was spent making sure I stuck to a group since the path was new to me.  The students that doubled as support and directions along the way were oddly great for motivation despite the peculiar pharmacy posters about antibiotics, I wasn't sure who was going to read them.

There was a group of three that I ran with then decided to make a move with #8 in all black as we would trade the lead for the better portion of mile 1 and 2.  I took a left turn right in to #8 and we exchanged sorry's and kept the pace up some more.  A majority of the race was spent viewing #5-#8 in the race as we ran in a long line.  I tried to draft off people (mostly #8) as it was quite windy.

I started the race pretty quick and hoped the people in front of me would fade what with experience on my side.

At mile 2, I edged past #8 and the water stop around that time would help as I skipped it altogether as #8 fell back and #6 in the gray shirt fell to my pace.  Without a watch, I had no real idea about pacing or distance as I just sat on #6's pace, mimicking bursts of speed and just maintaining.  As we passed a building, there was probably 100 meters left as the path veered off the main sidewalk and a bullhorn and a chute of cheering students (and my doppelganger) as I held back throwing up.  No finishing kick.

Initially, I was told I was in 5th place.  I was just happy with the even race (and came in as the first Asian/ ahead of vape bro).  Officially, 7th place at 19:55.

And gotta love the running community, #6 and #8, we all sought out each other after the race to congratulate each other and for pushing us further.  Such an underrated aspect of it all, understanding what each other had to go through.

Here's the controversy...uh 19:55? no way.  Felt short and without a GPS watch, I had to find out later it was really 2.9 miles.  If it was actually a 5k, I'm guessing I would of been right under 21:30.  Heeeee's baaaaaack.  Let's hope the running gods keep me (and my hamstrings) going until October.

Notes:

I was hesitant to buy a GPS watch as most of the end of last year was spent running with hamstring issues or at the very least, a fear of re-aggravating the injury.  I think I feel confident enough now to go ahead.

Hands down, the nerdiest running shirt I now have as it lists antibiotic no-no's on the back.

IG framed picture of my "son" and I will be posted shortly.

pacing...without a trusty GPS watch, I relied on the two runners that kept me in the crosshairs.  The pacing was great (at least as far as I can tell without splits)

Like parties, races are more fun when I'm on the verge of up chucking apparently.

#SmallRaces4life toeing the line and starting the race as soon as possible instead of waiting, so much better

Craicfest 5k

Am I back in shape or just back?

Excuses first: busy life, cut back on the 30 mile weeks the past 3 weeks.  Left hammy and neck are off aka I'm getting older.

Packet pickup for myself and Channel and Liz Saturday at my portapotty of choice, Cambridgeside Mall.  Finish Saturday with pizza and a vintage market because

Sunday: an hour thrust to the future, I gotta essentially wake up at 5 am to get ready.  Hammy still on the fritz.  2 train rides on the green later and I am back in the Mall, ready to go easy/80% on my leg.

The usual bathroom line, check.  The usual warm up of running down an empty Cambridge road, check.  No announcement of what time it was was detrimental what without my trusty GPS watch (it is on its last legs) And with a shot we were off, plodding along as I chose to not be at the front of the pack.  Dumb idea as always as the first half mile was molasses.

The route was different than the freedom run for sure as we criss crossed all near the Zakim bridge up and down hills.  I, without watch and peak form, ran as evenly as I could at around a 7:30 pace.  There was some jostling in the beginning mile with some skinny dude in a yellow rain jacket bumping in to me.  Without my legs, I couldn't just burn this dude and had to let this guy trot along ahead.

With the effort lacking the usual (as close to) 100%, I never had the involuntary gag reflex hit me until thirty minutes after the race.  At the chute, I got passed multiple times as I never hit the afterburners knowing full well I need my hamstring for the (hopeful) marathon in October.

23:13, 22:48 officially.

Chilled in the mall til the rest of the gang finished then entered the Top Notch drinking tent/ team photo/5 beers and pretzel buns/ dance party full of backpack moves.

Without a doubt, best swag ever: a Top Notch glass, Craicfest glass, Craicfest shirt which, correctly pointed out by Channel, has about everything that I love: Wu-Tang Clan, iPod, basketball, shoes, skateboarding, graffiti, and drinking.  I would've bought this shirt outside of the race.

On the ride back from the race, it hit me that the B versus the C line was a generational gap in 3D.  I rode the C line, as the youngest and most inebriated (at noon) as most had bought groceries and had probably grandchildren.  If I was on the B line, I would be the oldest and least drunk. It was like VIP status at festivals all over again.

beat last year's 4 beer max; 5 beers, thanks Top Notch.

Friendly Rivalry

The original rivalry that started it all has re-commenced.  The start of my born-again running life began when a foot race to the old elementary school and back left me gassed and last to my sister.  So it begins again.  As baby sister gets ready to run a marathon, I too need to get back in to marathon shape. Let's see what 30-year old Tang can do.