The Lower Potomac River Marathon appealed to me for a few reasons. First, it takes place on a very scenic course through Piney Point and St. George's Island in southern MD, right along the Potomac River and very close to St. Mary's College. Second, the course is very flat, which would be a nice welcomed change from the hilly training routes of Howard County and other previous marathons. And finally, with a limit of only 200 participants, the race is very low-key and crowd-free, offering a lot more personalized attention and a nice sit-down hot lunch for a very reasonable price of $50.
With DST annoyingly taking place the night before the marathon and a very early race start of 7:15 AM, Chris and I opted to drive down the day before to avoid being too sleep-deprived before the race. The drive down to southern MD brought back many memories of my college days and we even dropped by St. Mary's College for a quick visit. We also got to drive the whole course the day before and know exactly what to expect for the race. We stayed at the race's host hotel, St. George's Inn & Suites, which was only a few miles from the race start and offered a very beautiful view of the sunset over the Potomac River.
I had a very conservative goal of 3:50:00 +/- 10 minutes for the marathon, confident that I could finish under 4 hours and very hopeful about breaking 3:40. With the thoughts of BQing still tearing at my heart, I knew I was only kidding myself with that goal, but I seriously wanted to convince myself that I'd be happy with a 3:50 given the circumstances of winter training. Putting in only one 20 miler, I knew I wasn't much better trained for this marathon than National last year and I definitely burned out at the end of that. I was very afraid that I would burn out by starting out at an 8:20 pace, but I also feared the opposite happening. What if I started too conservatively, felt good, and picked it up, but wasn't able to make up the time I lost by running too slowly at the beginning? Therefore, I refused to commit to attempting 3:40 and resolved to just run based on feel.
Race morning consisted of a 5:30 AM wake-up (which was really 4:30 if it hadn't been for DST). I had my usual breakfast of a Panera cinnamon crunch bagel, but also had a free shortbread cookie from getting the MyPanera rewards card. I was beginning to regret the buttery goodness of the cookie as well as my dinner choice the night before of a turkey burger and fries, but I was able to clear myself of all gastrointestinal issues before the race and didn't suffer at all during.
The race started promptly at 7:15 AM and we were off onto the small, scenic roads of Piney Point. I ran comfortably for the first mile, refusing to look at my watch until I got to the mile marker. It beeped for the first mile with a time of 8:28 and I thought to myself, "Ok, 8:28 was comfortable. I can definitely do 8:20's." Still fearing the prospect of starting out too conservatively, I wasted no time in picking it up to 8:20, especially since I was feeling good.
The first 12 miles of the course took place on 3 out and back portions. Although making U-turns was slightly annoying, it was cool to be able to see how far ahead the leaders were, especially Michael Wardian, who was wearing a Spiderman costume and trying to set the world record for fastest marathon dressed as a superhero (he looked pretty ridiculous out there, actually). The third turnaround was at the Piney Point lighthouse, which was so short and stubby that I disappointingly couldn't find it, even though I was looking out for it after driving to it yesterday and missing it.
The last portion of the course was an out and back on the shoulders of Rt. 249. I got to the halfway point with a time of 1:49 and felt good about giving myself a 1:51 window of time to break 3:40. But then the heat started kicking in, which was only exacerbated by the fact that there was hardly any shade on this portion and the morning breeze had died down. Bad memories of the end of National last year were flooding my mind and I wanted to give up and slow down so badly. I had to mentally slap myself in the face and say, "Self, you did not just endure 13.1 miles at an 8:20 pace to just give up like that! Get it together!" It didn't help that miles 15 to 18 involved a very gentle incline up. Compared to the hills that I climb on normal training runs, this was barely even a speedbump, but I definitely felt it on my overheating, fatigued body. I kept feeling like I was slowing down, only to look down at my watch and see 8:17 and below staring back at me. I might have still been running at the same pace as before, but it was definitely taking a lot more effort now. I took a Gu Roctane at mile 18 and that gave me a good jolt of energy and I stayed motivated by thinking about getting to the turnaround point and being able to run back towards the finish line.
I didn't feel much better once I turned around between miles 18 and 19, as the sun was now staring right at me and just completely draining me at that point. I was taking extra cups of water at each aid station to try to keep the dehydration at bay. At this point, I was seriously starting to notice the slantedness of the shoulder lanes and how it was messing up my gait, especially since there was a wrinkle in one of my socks and I could feel the bottom of my foot blistering from it. I contemplated stopping and fixing the wrinkle, but ultimately decided that (1) if I took my shoe off at this point, I wouldn't be able to get it back on and (2) there really was no sense in trying to fix the wrinkle when the blister was already formed. The only thing that kept me motivated to run at a fast pace now was knowing that if I put time in the bank now, I would take a lot of pressure off myself for the final miles and give myself a comfortable window of time to slow my pace down and still get a BQ. I also distracted myself with looking for Chris coming up the other side of the road. I saw him shortly before hitting the 20 mile mark and heard him yell "You rock!" from across the street.
Although I felt like dying at this point, I was beginning to feel more and more confident that I'd be able to break 3:40 at this point and was still passing people. As I ran past one lady, she remarked, "Okay, you're allowed to pass me because you're younger!" Once I had only 5K left to go, I slowed my pace down for miles 24 and 25 in order to finish strong. I caught up to a woman that was way ahead of me at the beginning of the race with about 3/4 of a mile left to go and she asked me if I was trying to BQ and whether this was my first attempt. I told her "Yes" and that "I'm dying right now" and she encouraged me with a "You got it in the bag already," told me about her two already successful BQ attempts, and pushed me for a little while before running ahead. Soon after, I saw Karsten (who finished in 2nd place) out on the course taking pics, but had no ham energy to do anything silly. My watch clicked 26.2 miles at the 26 mile marker and I was severely annoyed that I still had to run an extra .2 miles before finishing (everyone else's watches seemed to measure long as well). For once in my life, I really did put everything I had out on the course and didn't even have a sprint left in me for the finish line. Either that or there was no one to really chase since the person in front of me and behind me were too far away. I clocked in an official time of 3:38:48.
All of the runners and volunteers were very friendly and supportive at this race. The one woman who had encouraged me at the end and several other runners that I had passed in the final mile congratulated me on a very strong race. After rehydrating with several cups of ice cold water, I walked back out onto the course to cheer for Chris. We were then treated to very refreshing showers and hot buffet lunches in the Paul Hall Center. They had the awards ceremony during the luncheon, where I was presented with the 2nd place award for the female 20-29 age group.
