Michael & Liz are Bloggable

I am putting this post on our main blog because I feel like this isn't just normal running talk. This information is stuff people would actually want to hear about because I finished the goal I was training for.

Before I start writing, you can check out all the pictures on the picture album linked above.

Last weekend we went to Washington D.C. for the Marine Corp Marathon. We had an awesome day in downtown D.C on Friday. We tried to do as much touristy stuff as possible because we realized there probably wasn't much time anywhere else in the weekend. We didn't realize how spread out everything was. They talk about how all the monuments are together and you can walk from one to the other but boy does it wear you out, especially when your goal is to remain somewhat lazy before running a marathon. We had to have walked a good 4 or 5 miles that day which doesn't sound like a lot but it was.

That night we headed to the Brody's house (Mike and Ashley) to stay with them for the weekend. In July they just had their first child, a baby girl named Sophia. For anyone who doesn't know, Mike and I were roommates for a semester in college and they were both in Liz and my fraternity when we pledged. We have remained good friends ever since. We spent all day there on Saturday catching up on their lives and spending time with their sweet girl. She is so curious and wide-eyed all the time. She doesn't cry much but only when the time is right (hunger or exhaustion). I think staying with them put a couple very separate emotions in both Liz and I:

1. It will be amazing to have children. Having known both Mike and Ashley for 6 years now as a couple without children, it's awesome to see this little girl that they have created. I can't really grasp the feeling we'll have when we have our own child but we both agree it's something to look forward to. It also got us thinking about what we'd name our children (granted it's a while away) so that was fun too.
2. Thank goodness for the sleeplessness training Daisy and Gryffin have put us through. A dog having diarrhea for 3 or 4 days straight probably doesn't compare at all but we feel like we got a good mini-crash course in having to wake up a few hours every night during that time. I don't know how they go about their lives with almost no full night sleeps but I have a ton of respect for them. Hopefully we can be just as patient and loving.

On Sunday morning we woke up at 5AM and took the metro into D.C for the race. We were a little stupid on the planning part and arrived at 6:15 for an 8 AM race. It was 45 degrees and we were just standing in the dark and cold in one of the corral areas.

I ran the race with Brandon Embery a friend from college who is also in our fraternity. It was really nice to run with him because we were both on the same page when it came to pace and speed. A steady 4 hour marathon pace was what we started out as and we kept with that up to about the 20 mile mark.

I always do this in marathons and I don't know why. I'll start out fantastic... I'll get to about mile 15 and still feel fantastic... but very quickly after that I will decline and by around mile 20 or 22 my muscles will start spasming and completely give out. This time around that spasming didn't occur until mile 24 so I guess there is something to be said for that. I was on a great pace to beat my best time (4:20). At mile 21, my time was 3:20 so all I had to do was run 5 miles in one hour, which for me is beyond easy compared to what I normally do. So with the spasming muscles my pace slowed to 15 minutes per mile and I finished the race in 4 hours and 32 minutes. That's directly between my two other marathons. Incidently Brandon left me around mile 20 and finished the race in 4:19, he is a beast.

I am pleased with my results but am not satisfied enough. I have decided I am going to run the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati in May. I am far too determined to beat the 4 hour mark and I truly believe I can do it. Between now and then to prepare, I am going to keep up a running regimen but not quite as intense as a training program. I am also going to lift weights in my legs and arms and get as strong as possible and I am hoping to lose about 15 pounds by then. If I don't lose weight, a sub 4 hour marathon is not possible. I can do it. I know I can.

Sunday we spent most of the rest of the day watching football of course and then we made the drive back on Monday. You'll read about the drive home in the next post.