Marine Corps Marathon Report 1999
by Charles Cohn
This story begins two weekends pre-marathon, when I attended a racewalking clinic presented by the well-known coach Dave McGovern. He found a major improvement possible in my racewalking technique. I had been bringing my trailing leg forward very stiffly. The leg was almost straight, my knee bent just enough for my foot to clear the ground. Dave said, "That's fitness walking, not racewalking!" He said I should instead allow my knee to bend, driving forward with it. (That does not cause illegal bent knees; Dave demonstrated with slow-motion video that my knee became straight by the time my heel hit the ground.)
I really liked this new technique. It felt loose and free, and allowed me to go considerably faster (for short distances) than I had been able to manage previously. However, it was also extremely tiring; I couldn't sustain these higher speeds for very long. Clearly, it used different muscles that had not been conditioned.
This left me with a nice dilemma: Here I was, two weeks pre-marathon, when I should be tapering, and instead I was motivated to work on conditioning the necessary muscles so I could take advantage of the new technique. I did the best I reasonably could at that, with an 8.2-mile tempo walk, a 5K race, four Yasso 800's and a couple of 3-mile walks on my hilly neighborhood course.
Maggie and I arrived in the Washington area on Thursday night, and checked into the Econo-Lodge National Airport. (We had reserved that room just before we left, luckily finding the one remaining vacancy, when it turned out that the relatives we were planning to stay with had their household in turmoil due to a sick kid and extreme work pressures.) Friday morning Maggie and I went to the expo to pick up my packet. (The expo was quite crowded even then, and I shuddered to think what it would be like on Saturday.) Packet pickup went smoothly, but it could have been much improved by having all the necessary stops together instead of scattered throughout the expo. The only shopping I did was to purchase a case of 24 GU packets for $20, the best price I have ever seen for gel packets.
I had a chance to chat with Jeff Galloway. I told him about my technique-change dilemma, and he suggested that I should alternate the new and the old technique. Great advice, which I regret not following.
After that I gave Maggie her due by going with her to artsy-fartsy things the rest of the day. We spent the afternoon at the National Gallery and then walked to the Kennedy Center by way of the Vietnam Memorial, which Maggie had never seen. At the Kennedy Center we attended a dance performance by the Martha Clarke troupe whose most interesting part (to me) was the simulation of sexual intercourse. (We were fortunate to find half-price senior-citizen tickets for this.)
On Saturday we loafed in our hotel room all day until it was time to go to the Penguin dinner. As always, it was a pleasure to greet old friends and attach faces to the names I see everyday on the list.
Sunday morning I was wakeful, so I got an early start to drive to the Pentagon parking lot. Like others, I had a problem with an unhelpful parking attendant and had to go way around to get back to the lot, but the resulting delay didn't matter because I was so early. I caught the shuttle bus and very expeditiously got to the starting area. I headed directly to the base of the carillon and enjoyed a further reunion with Penguin friends.
I had dressed quite warmly, with two undershirts and two T-shirts. As the sun came up, it became obvious that I had overdressed, so I shed one of each and stuffed the extras into my bag. Turns out I was now dressed just right for the trip. I was quite comfortable through all the temperature changes as the sun went in and out of the clouds.
Soon it was time to drop off my bag, head to the start and have a last squirt at the bushes. I ended up quite close to the start, in with the faster runners. Rather than move back to where most of the Penguins started, I stayed where I was. (My previous experience of missing the bridge closing made me cautious about incurring a significant start delay -- needlessly this time, as it turned out.)
The cannon fired right on time. Being so close to the start, it took me just two minutes to get to the start line. (Yes, everybody was passing me, but not fast enoughto be scary.) Mile 1 was downhill, so it took me just 13:04. Mile 2 did not give that advantage, so it took 13:34. In mile 3 I was slowed by the traffic jam at the first water station, so that took me14:01. I took the first of many cups of Ultima, and had none of the ill effects reported by others. In mile 4 I got back on pace, getting through it in 13:24.
In Mile 5 I took my first gel packet, a PowerGel that I had left over from my previous supply. I was reminded how difficult it is to get the contents out of a PowerGel packet. Since the spout is apparently not correctly designed, it takes a lot of squeezing, which of course slows me up. As a result, this mile took 13:58. (I found that GU packets, in contrast, deliver their contents much more easily.)
In that mile, I saw a young woman wearing a singlet which said, on the back, "Pain Is Weakness Leaving Your Body." As I passed her, I asked her whether weakness was leaving her body and she said yes, it hurt. I also asked her where she got it, and she said she made it herself, at her husband's suggestion. She said her husband is a Marine and they're always thinking up things like that.
In Mile 6 I enjoyed greeting the first of many Penguin scream teams. I gave back the downhill I enjoyed in Mile 1, lengthening that one to 13:50. Mile 7 went toward the Key Bridge; that one took 13:28. In Mile 8 I took my first GU packet and still got through it in 13:34. Mile 9, a downhill, went in a fast 13:11. Miles 10 and 11, going along the Mall, went in 13:22 and 13:29 respectively. In mile 12 I took another GU packet and still got through it in 13:47. Mile 13, past beautiful Union Station and around the back of the Capitol, went in 13:39. Mile 14, back to the Mall, went in 13:22.
All this time I hadn't stopped to pee, although my bladder was pressing on my brain more and more intensively. There were clusters of porta-potties near each aid station, but all of them had long lines, and I refused to wait. Also, I was scared to use a bush because I was afraid some cop would nail me for public urination. (As I have found out from other people's reports, that concern was misplaced.) in Mile 15 I ducked into the Smithsonian Castle, dashed to the men's room and got a load off my mind. My bladder was content for the rest of the trip. The stop lengthened that mile to 16:15.
In Mile 16 I took another Gu and had to walk slowly up a short, steep ramp covering some steps near the Lincoln Memorial. I got through it in 13:54. Mile 17 took 13:54. I don't have a split for Mile 18 because I unknowingly stopped my watch for a couple of minutes. In Mile 19 I rounded Hains Point in 13:28. My legs started feeling very tired, so I went back to my old technique. That got me going again. Even so, in mile 20 I slowed to 14:04.
Unlike others, I didn't think Hains Point was that dull. Going out, you can watch the boats on the Potomac and the planes taking off from National Airport. Coming back, you can look at the yachts in the marina.
In Mile 21 my legs were rested enough to use my new technique again, which I continued for the rest of the trip. Even so, I had gotten quite slow; with a water stop and another GU packet, that mile took 14:40. Mile 22 was only slightly better in 14:19. Just then I reached the bridge, 38 minutes ahead of the closing.
On the bridge, mile 23 took 14:02 and mile 24 took a long 15:28. That mile marker must have been misplaced, because I recorded just 12:33 for mile 25. Mile 26 took 14:04 and the last 0.2 was a slow 3:00. I finished in a total time of 6:03:59. This was slow for me, being 18 minutes over my PR and just 30 seconds faster than last year. I am hoping for faster times in the future as my muscles adapt to the new technique.
I was impressed that most of the Marines staffing the finish area were lieutenants. That must have been a plum assignment, considering all the Penguin ladies who had expressed intentions of kissing a Marine. (I guess the privates got the job of sweeping up the paper cups.) I was also impressed by the tremendous courtesy and friendliness of the crew. I can imagine a naive young fellow being so taken with this courtesy and friendliness that he would figure, "Gee, I ought to join the Marines. I bet they'd treat me real good." Yeah, sure.
My recovery went better than it ever has. From the beginning, I was able to walk and do stairs comfortably. I would get stiff if I sat for any length of time, but the stiffness would work itself out when I got moving. On the fourth post-marathon day I comfortably did about 3 miles on my hilly neighborhood course. Yesterday, the sixth post-marathon day, I entered a 5K race, a practice race put on by my walking club, and posted one of my better times at 35:53.
Phil Cousineau's delightful book "The Art of Pilgrimage" says "Religious historian Huston Smith finds four aspects to pilgrimage: singleness of purpose; freedom from distraction; ordeal or penance; and offerings." By these standards, a marathon certainly qualifies as a pilgrimage. I am happy to have again been able to reach the Holy Grail.
Charles Cohn
chasmagc@bellsouth.net
"Live forever or die trying"
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