Runners Marathon of Reston - 3/30/2014 (Reson, VA)

So the day had arrived when I would run my first marathon after finding out that I had two hip labrum tears in my left hip.  This would be my 7th > marathon distance race and it would be the Runners marathon of Reston in Reston, VA  The race was held at the South Lake High School in Fairfax, VA.  The previous six were the following:

• Marine Corp Marathon (2012)
• Seashore 50k (2012)
• Blue Ridge Marathon (2013)
• North Face 50k (2013)
• Drakewell Marathon (2013)
• Oil Creek 100k (2013)

I had run one 18 mile run a few weeks back and had a bunch of 20+ weeks and a few 30+ weeks - not exactly killer mileage but I have to work with what you got.  During that time, I was dealing with Achilles, knees, and left hip acheage :)  That said, we were a go for the race.  The day before, I set out the flat daddy hoping it would be enough to keep me warm:

Got to represent my boys in Titusville, PA for the Drakewell marathon!

So we get up early for the 7:30 start time (around 4:00 am), hit the shower to warm up the achy legs, get my raison bread and nutella, water and get dressed.  Heading there, the weather was calling for 20+ mile/hour winds with rain...but the temps said something around 43.  Ok, I can deal with that.    So we get there, pee about 4 times, try to dump it up, no go...guess I was empty!  I actually struck up a conversation with Mike Wardian about the Hoka's he was wearing...didn't know it was him when I chatted him up - very cool and down to earth guy.  Ok, finally, we walk out to the start and its coming down good with the wind no where near 20 mph, it was much harder...and cold...I am thinking wow, 4+ hours in this...hmm.  Ok, we start and I head out at a 9min pace...ok, feels good but the plan of attach here was to do 10 min miles the whole way.  Its actually quite difficult to run slower than you want during a race.  Next 10 miles were no slower than 9:44 so I was ok with that and what I thought would be difficult hill were not.  Yes, it was rolling but no so much that it was that bad at all.  Granted, I was not running my PR pace but it didn't feel to bad.  This was a picture of me around miles 8 or 9:

Running with some random around miles 8 or 9.

Meanwhile on the weather front, the rain was absurd and the wind  - tropical storm worthy!!!  By the time I reached mile 15, my hands were of little use.  Grabbing a hammer gel out of my Salomon pants was a task that required the aid of the AID station workers.  I could barely even squeeze the gel out of the packets, they were so frozen...Miles 15-20, I slowed down to a 10 min mile pace which was comfortable but then the sleet and hail came as did the increased winds....By the time I reached mile 24, the hail was pretty strong....I ended up finishing the race in 4:22:27 with a 10:02 pace, not exactly speedy but it was a good training run and that was the sole purpose of the run today.  The timing was kind of messed up b/c of the weather do I don't even know if that was the exact time but who cares...finishing in those conditions was good enough.  The left hip was bothering me around miles 9-13+ and then dropped off after then but picked back up around miles 20+ until the finish.  After I finished, it bothered me a little but what is bugging me the most is my left knee.  Looks like runner's knee come me and will have to rest that until I can walk with no pain.  Given my lack of training and quad workouts during the winter (b/c of the hip labrum issue), I was not able to build up my quads the way I wanted.  Such is life and will have to ride out the left knee issue.  Overall, the Aid stations were great and even had chicken broth at mile 20 - great idea as I was so cold at that point.  The food at the end of the race was awesome and the event was well run - highly recommend.

Overall, the bathroom situation was up to par, the volunteers were great and the event was well organized.  I recommend it being a good race to do in mid to late March in the Northern VA area.

This is a pic of me after I finished:

Looked happy, more cold and happy I was done :)

and of course one with Heather and I who RAN it as well:

Happy Heather made it out of that nasty weather!

Next up (as I wait for the left knee to rejoin the rest of the body) is the Pittsburgh marathon on May 4th, about a month away.