#RaceRecap below! | Did it for the (amazing) free shirt, obviously #rockthemock Swipe for my Marine

#RaceRecap below! | Did it for the (amazing) free shirt, obviously #rockthemock Swipe for my Marine Corps Marathon #flatrunner - I really got a kick out of these #PeoplesMarathon shirts. #MarineCorpsMarathon First of all, let’s just say race morning was an absolute cluster - and I got to the start as the gun was going off. ( I’ll post this full section in the comments but spare anyone not interested in hearing details about the shuttle situation; just know that I essentially started 25 min late behind 20k runners - behind the 5:30 pace group!!) I was stressed but I trained to be unfkingbothered by things I cannot control, so I just trusted in the plan of the day. I tried to not weave through people but after a while I really had no choice to do a little off-roading. I was jumping up on curbs, running on slopes bankings, through damp grass (I knew I was being dumb ) all while just telling myself to relax and get to where the course opens up. Well, after 8 miles it still wasn’t opening up. But I was having FUN. I was singing along with the bands (Shipping up to Boston gave me all the feels), cheering on bad ass runners running their first marathon, pushing the disabled, service men & women running in uniform, etc, hitting every Tap Here for Power sign and little kids offering high fives that I could. It was so awesome experiencing the *fun* part of marathoning. When my times were coming up as 8:30s and the crowds still weren’t opening up, I started to panic a little. Every person who stopped short in front of my, or every mass of people I couldn’t get around, made me feel like I was expelling so much extra energy early in the race despite only running in the 8 min zone. Water stops were my salvation: when the masses parted to the left for Gatorade and to the right for water I legit felt like Moses and would zip through a sea of people, grabbing the last possible water cup and maximizing my small clear runway Finally through the half, I decided I was just going to go for it. After all, what I had wanted so badly for the first half was to be able to move, so I did exactly that. Contd in comments, bless you if you’re still reading (at Marine Corps Marathon) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpra9KjBvn6/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=3hujvbdu4juf

Even when I could finally pick up the pace, I was still on a high from the “fun part” of the race - I continued to high five spectators. I gave my sister a massive hug when I saw her (she did the 10k, crushed it, and immediately came to cheer me on! @nconnolly141 #MVP. A couple miles later, a stopped to kiss my boyfriend. I was barely looking at my watch; I just knew I felt good and that I had trained at a faster pace than my planned GMP so I let the wheels roll. Finally when I saw more pals along the course, I didn’t stop - cause I was finally entering the overthinking part of the race - calculating what it would take to still PR despite the unreal start. Somewhere after the mile 9 I had passed the 5:00 and maybe 4:30 pace group. I focused on finding and passing the 4:00 group in the coming miles. I hung on to my pace for as long as I could. Mile 20 came and reminded me I probably couldn’t PR bc your legs don’t really agree with your brain after that many miles but I had diligently fueled and hydrated the whole race. I just kept pressing. The end of the MCM course is so hard IMO. You go from exciting sights and cheers to desolate, slight inclines over bridges with nothing to look at but other runners slowly fading around you. But it fortunately goes by pretty fast. Someone along the course had bumped into me and split my watch, so I was confusing myself with being on lap 24 but really on mile 23. I was also about half a mile ahead on mile markers - I knew I’d end up coming in well over 26.2 miles. I tried to take this as a blessing: not knowing exactly what I had left so just keep rolling. My goal was to get the the 24 and see what my legs had left. I pictured myself kicking for the last 2 miles. Well, they didn’t have much left. I was hurting. My hips were locking up. But I had such a great past few miles that I didn’t want to throw it away now. Before I knew it I was finishing. Literally what my face looked like when I made it up the hill and could see the finish: The end! Not quite a PR but close enough for me. I’m so happy with how much fun I had, and thankful that the cluster of a start forced me to start slow. Details on the start: Okay what the HECK, MCM? For a race where Marines are helping organize things, the shuttle situation in Crystal City was far from efficient. I left my hotel room at 6 AM and got to the shuttles at 6:10, to find already massive lines wrapping around the park. This part is my bad: maybe I didn’t get there early enough. The start was at 7:55. However, in 2014 I took the metro to the runner’s village and had to walk 2 miles to the start. I purposely chose my hotel so that I could take the shuttles directly to the start without the worry of walking. *My complaining ends here - because all in all, everything went fine. But it’s still a race morning experience I’d like to document so I can remember for the future! After waiting over an hour in line, post-coffee and fueling, my body was STRESSED. I was cold, needed a bathroom badly, and was getting concerned about standing for so long in the cold without being able to move around to warm up for fear of losing my spot in line. I also didn’t have my phone to seek an alternate route to the start (good thing I didn’t learn until after that I was only 2.5 MILES from the freaking start!!) Another 30 min later, we were finally to the start of the shuttle line, only to be cut by people who were well behind us in line. Literally people were screaming and fighting about boarding It was aggressive and a little scary (don’ fk w runners the morning of a big race!) but I literally didn’t care about anything but getting on a bus bc HELLO BUS BATHROOMS #BLESSED. Legit, a bus bathroom could have been the only bathroom I got to use that morning, and we all know what an important part of race prep that is. We got to the runner’s village with less than 10 minutes until the gun went off. I quickly realized I wasn’t going to be lining up with my corral by the time I made it over to the start, so I spent 10-20 minutes getting ready to run, shedding my throw away clothes (the weather was perfect), and waiting for a port o potty just in case (I had nothing to lose at this point). I started at around 8:20 - and soon realized I was behind even the 5:30 pace group aka it was suuuuper crowded. The course gets narrow in a lot of places so even when I thought I was getting break free, I’d quickly be back in a place where I quite literally could not get around walkers, joggers, or even just runners who were cutting from side to side to jump in front of cameras I respect ANYONE doing a marathon at ANY pace, but holy moly was all the stopping, starting, and jolting not fun. I finally resorted to running on curbs, through rocky terrain, and even in grass bankings. Should out and sorry to the 100+ people I accidentally elbowed All in all, I’m not too mad at this start situation because it gave me the best IDGAF mentality that ultimately allowed me to roll through the second half. I recall repeating I.D.G.A.F. on repeat in my head.