and when life gives you lemons...Marine Corps Marathon '11

Not every day nor every race will be your best, somehow someway you have to find that silver lining and make the best of a situation that you had hoped would be much better.  Yesterday I ran my eighth Marine Corps Marathon and as I vow every year, my last.

Despite a cold start in the mid thirty's weather conditions weren't horrible, in fact if I had dressed more appropriately I would have considered the weather better than adequate.  The race itself was no different than those in the past.  Marine Corps Marathon has become a huge race with nearly thirty thousand runners attempting to cross the finish line all for many different reasons.  And whether you agree with what's going on in the White House or overseas there is something special about running through our Nation's Capital.  The thousands of young marines working all the aid stations and those running for fallen friends help me to become a little more grateful.

So what went wrong?  The first few miles that wind along the streets of VA before entering DC felt tougher than they have in the past.  I felt that I was pushing at a speed that was similar to my last marathon I ran a few weeks ago but my splits were nearly forty seconds slower.  I was hoping to run across the half mark under two hours but instead I posted a time of 2:02ish.  It was at this point I realized that this race wasn't going to go down in the record books.

In all my years of running I have also become one hell of a walker.  For the rest of the race at every mile marker I would walk for one minute and then run to the next marker.  Doing this helps to not only lower your heart rate but couples as a psychological tool (at least for me). 

After crossing the finish line with a special smack on the ass I received yet another finisher's medal, and as always it was filled with meaningful importance.  I had a crappy race...for only a split second did I question was it the fish and chips and beer I had the night before, could it have been attributed to my two weeks of sickness, was it because I had pr'd four weeks ago?  But I stopped myself before the swirling onslaught of excuses and questions could fill my mind.  Yesterday was a day no different than others and today I am more than comfortable with the fact that I made the best out of a not so great performance.  Through some pain I was able to laugh and smile, I was able to see complete strangers excitedly accomplish a goal, I was able to watch families push those who couldn't run to the finish line.  So as the old saying says "when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade" yesterday I made a huge glass of the best lemonade ever.

**Thanks again Steve Barash for the ride, Nancy Cooper for the three mile post walk, and to Donahue for being you!