Marine Corps Marathon 10K!

Yesterday afternoon I didn't do any activity because I was resting up for the Marine Corps Marathon 10K today.

The Marine Corps Marathon 10K started at 7:55am today.  By the time I got through security at about 7:30am, the line for the port-a-potties was really long.  I had no choice, though - I had to go.  So I did not get to start off in the start corrals.  I crossed the start line shortly after 8:05am as they were starting to warn about closing the start.  Whew!  It had taken all the runners in the corrals about 7 minutes to pass the start line, anyway.

I tried to start off at an easy pace, and it did feel pretty good.  It was definitely cool to run around the National Mall and be cheered on by all the spectators.  The route had some gradual ups and downs, mostly on the freeway ramps, but it wasn't too bad.  I was running at a little under a 10:00-min pace for the first three miles and wanted to ramp it up for the last half.  Unfortunately I couldn't push it as much as I hoped.  The last mile was really tough.  I took a 1-minute walking break at about 5.5 mi.  The last tenth of a mile to the finish line was a nasty uphill switchback that was no fun. 

I finished in 59:27.  Given my horrible half-marathon performance last month, I had the goal of finishing in under an hour, which I did.  Also since I'd done so badly in that last race, I was more prepared to not do so well in this one, so it wasn't as much of a disappointment.

I was the 2111th finisher out of 7635 (top 27.6%), which I was surprised by.  Apparently it was a slow field.   There were 4816 women, and I finished 910th among women (top 18.9%).  In the 40-44 women's age group, I was 90th out of 571 (top 15.8%).

I did enjoy the race.  The spectators were great - I just wish they were allowed along more of the route, because they couldn't be on the highways.  Since I started from the very back of the pack, I enjoyed passing just about everyone I encountered.

I am hoping to train more wisely and get my anemia resolved for my next race, which probably won't be until next May.  I'm looking at a half-marathon then.  Maybe I'll try to do another 10K sometime before then.