Well, I finished. The last 6 miles were slower than I would have liked but, considering how my hips felt, I'm pleased to have gritted it out.
Just a jog with 30,000 of my closest friends
and most of it is a lot of fun. Ice and ibuprofen deal with a the rest.
"Would anybody like to come keep me company on the mall during that time [10am-2pm, Sun, 10/30] and occasionally scream as Jen charges past in her little white running hat and big smile?" - Mac, in a recent email.
To the right is a grid with my projected times at each mile. The real time implications depend on how quickly we cross the starting line. There are 30,000 runners. 15,000 of us are scheduled to start at 8:45 am.
Landmarks |
Real Time |
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| Mile | Time | Start | 8:45 | 8:55 | 9:05 |
| 1 | 0:13 | VA | 8:58 | 9:08 | 9:18 |
| ed. note: Bunch of details no longer worth posting | |||||
| 26.2 | 5:01 | FINISH | 13:46 | 13:56 | 14:06 |
Pace is dependant on about a dozen things not the least of which is weather. If it's warm, I'll be slower. If I feel really good, I may go faster for the final 10K. If it's below 60°, I'm more likely to feel really good (gentle rain is irrelavent . . . driving rain from Wilma?? . . . ).
The Marine Corps Marathon posts tips for spectators.
In addition . . . gummy bears 
and goldfish crackers 
always make a welcome change from powerbars and gu.
It's finally raining in Washington. It took me all day to muster the resolve to go run but I really enjoyed it once I got going. There's something about running in crazy weather . . . over coming the elements and such that I find rather invigorating. So much so that I ran my normal 3.5 mile circuit 5 minutes faster than usual.
Now, if only he would stop bringing home
Nothing's injured by everything hurts.
Can you believe it? Saturday, we did our last long run before the marathon on October 30th. A mere 23 miles on the W & OD trail in Virginia.
It was a tough one for me. I was probably a little under-hydrated and started the day with tight/sore calves. That tightness gradually worked it's way up the back of my knees, my hamstrings, the inside of my hips, the outside of my hips, until, by mile 21, I was pretty desperate to see the finish line. Luckily, that was only 2 and half miles away.
And they gave us a medal. Isn't that sweet?
Because not all national disasters make the front page these days.
Approximately 40,000 people are infected with HIV every year. Because of treatment advances, HIV/AIDS patients are living longer but, there is still no cure and federal funding for research and patient care has remained flat for several years [1].
Just this summer, runners with the AIDS Marathon Training Program in DC have raised $2 million to support the Whitman-Walker Clinic, the leading service provider in the DC area for people living with HIV/AIDS.
We run the marathon in less than a month. If you've been thinking about contributing . . . now is the time.
And, a special thanks to folks who have contributed:
* Alex & Emily Brown * Alexander Short * Alicia Supernavage * Alliea Groupp * Barbara Jacoby * Charles Powers * Claude Mussard * Craig R Faulks * Craig Slack * Don Matteson * Elizabeth Guertin * Gail Padgett * Greig Stewart * Jenn Errick * Jennifer Wiggins * Katherine Mueller * Kathleen & Kurt Bennedict * Larry Meade * Malcolm & Jackie Shute * Martha Guenzler Stevens * Mary Dalrymple * Michele Smith * Mike & Janice Mueller * Paul Orum * Rosalie Kofsky * Sue Briggs * Wha & Gavin Mueller *
have brought me within $100 of my fundraising goal. Will you be the one to put me over the top?
It really isn't a training season if I don't take a really good spill. This one was during mile 3 of a 10 mile run.
I had planned to run early this morning but had some trouble with the execution of that particular plan and ended up running at mid-day.
They've finally removed the construction wall by the Senate side of the Capitol. Not really pretty yet especially since all the Capitol trees are being stored over at the National Arboretum during construction.
But on the same grounds, you find this lovely spot. Click on the fountain or window for alternate views or click here for a view of the whole structure.
Capitol Geese
View from the Lincoln
Our tax dollars at work.
Click on the sign to see a close up of the "Wet Road" sign on dry side walk.
It's too early for school field trips so the mall is mostly left to tourists with preschoolers or without kids and lunch-hour joggers . . .
. . . and the omnipresent pickup soccer game. Here with spectators.
"If you can run 18 miles, you can run a marathon" . . . is the conventional wisdom (1). We're not done training yet but 18 miles is quite a milestone!
Thanks to all my supporters. So far I've raised $1,801.20 for the Whitman-Walker Clinic - so close to my goal. If you've been thinking about it but haven't contributed yet . . . .
6:35 a.m. |
Twelve minutes into what will be more than a two and a half hour run with the sun barely over the capitol, we had to wonder . . . "what are we doing up?" There aren't even any tourists on the mall at this hour. There are no breakfast places nearby and the museums won't open for nearly 3.5 hours. |
Someone in our group thought to bring trivial pursuit cards and passed them around. Cute idea and I learned useless trivia about tennis, Boy George, and the New York Times among others.
9:10 a.m. |
What a difference 8° makes! The last three miles were a struggle as we left the shelter of the trees and dodged the tourists just starting out on the mall for the day. |
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I ran on the mall over lunch today. Oh, my was it hot and sticky. I was forced to stop at a snack stand to snag napkins to wipe the sweat out of my eyes. All that remains of the 4th of July extravaganza on the mall is the snow fencing and an empty Folk Life Festival pavilions. It's been left to your run-of-the-mill tourist and jogger. I'd missed a whole week of running due to a cold that Mac brought home. Honestly, I've been overdoing it and think I was a bit run down. I don't know if today's run was hard because of the heat or the training interruption. Either way, I took it slow. We have a 14 mile run scheduled Saturday - just past half way! |
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I survived my second full semester as a graduate student and left for Costa Rica a mere 8 hours after finishing a 4-hour macroeconomics exam (got an "A" but yuck!). I hadn't packed before the exam so got very little sleep before the trip.
We made up for it over the course of 11 days in San Jose (capital city), La Fortuna (rainforest & active volcano), Monteverde / Santa Elena (cloud forest) and Brasilito / Playa Conchal (little village & beautiful Pacific coast beach). Photos will be posted as soon as I get them back (I still use old fashioned film for non-web applications). At some point, I had dreams of developing a travel log that would capture my trips in detail, but you can see that I haven't gotten very far.
I didn't, however, do much running. I squeezed in a short (very sweaty) run at the beach on Sunday morning and did a 5 or 6 mile run last night, but I missed two long runs with the group. Even though we hiked most days in Costa Rica, I'll be counting on residual fitness to get me through my 8-mile run this weekend.
In 1967 Syracuse University student Kathy Switzer challenged the Boston Marathon's men-only rule. Officials tried to pull her from the course but with the aid of fellow runners she completed the race. Women were finally allowed to race in 1971.
This is who our AIDS Marathon Training Program pace group is named for.
This morning I completed the time-trial course in an average of a 10:15 minute mile. I was assigned to the Kathy Switzer group and we will run 11:30 minute miles as a group all summer.
That's what I predicted so I think it will be the right pace. (I got drafted as pace group leader again.)
Me: "I started another blog."
Bug Blog Personified: "What? I'm hurt. Is Bug no longer cute?'
M: "That's a silly question. She's just as cute as ever."
BBP: "Then what's the matter? Am I not good enough?"
M: "No, no, it's not that either. It's that I'm planning to run the AIDS Marathon this summer and I've created a blog for the fundraising effort. The entries are going to be more about running, marathon training, injuries, and why folks should sponsor my run. I didn't think you'd be interested."
BBP: "Now, I'm really hurt. Why wouldn't I be interested in your life?"
M: "Ok. That's fair. I still don't know if I want to post everything from the AIDS Marathon Blog here. What if I just post marathon entries that I really like?'
BBP: "I suppose I could live with that."
M: "Good."
*Editor's Note: It is entirely reasonable to question Jen's sanity at this point. Grad school can be taxing.
5:30
am - alarm goes off
6:30 am - 40°F - I board the metro to head for Rossyln where one of my AIDS Marathon Pace Group members lives across from the Iwo Jima memorial and starting line. I am wearing socks on my hands, a sweat shirt sleeve on my head and an extra T-shirt to stay warm. All will be discarded after the start. The Marines rake up all the discarded clothing and give it to a DC homeless shelter.
7:30 am - Several of us gather at Amy's apartment and wander about chattering nervously, fretting about our clothing, visiting the bathroom and looking for some missing group members.
8:15 am - We line up in the last corral.
All the runners registered with a charity group are in the back, group
K. AIDS 
Marathoners
and members of Leukemia Team in Training find friends, huddle together
to stay warm and wonder how long it will take us to get across the starting
line. We are all wearing chips on our shoes that will measure the time
between crossing the start and finish lines. There is often a delay of
30 minutes or more before the back of the pack crosses the starting line.
At mile 22.25, runners cross the 14th Street Bridge. That bridge closes
to runners at 2 pm. The AIDS Marathon staff calculated that if we cross
the starting line at 8:45, runners need to maintain at least a 14:30 min/mile
pace in order to make the bridge. The MCM has promised a revised, more
orderly start than in past years but many runners are worried that a late
start might prevent them from even finishing. Even members of my group
which run at a 12:30 min/mile pace are freaked out about the bridge.
8:30 am - After singing the National Anthem, THE STARTING GUN GOES OFF! No one in corral K moves.
8:47 am - Runners in corral K start moving forward.
8:53 am - We finally cross the starting line!
The MCM was great! The first 20 miles were darn fun!!
After that, it was more of a struggle but I still felt pretty good.
The Marines were awesome. It seemed like there were thousands
of them along the course: pouring water, sweeping up empty cups, directing
traffic and runners, passing out Vaseline, marking the route, . . . but
mostly cheering us on. Some of them would spot a struggling runner and
run a few hundred yards with them – cheering the whole way. I totally
recommend the MCM for the first time marathoner. Even the cops got into
the act and cheered runners at their assigned intersections.
I set out with plan to run the first 10 miles slower than goal pace and the last 8 faster than goal pace. I stuck to my plan pretty well and totally ran "within myself" – as Mr. Jeff Galloway puts it. Other survivors spoke of being delirious, not remembering parts of the course, seeing spots or vision blacking out – ick. I was just tired.
I was surprised that my cheek muscles were’t more
tired on Monday. I wore the same silly grin the whole way.
After mile 20, the struggle was all mental. I was tired and my brain kept saying "stop and rest." I did three things to fight my brain:
1.) I chanted. I refused to think about anything but my mantra during the running portions. I chanted "I was born to run." Over and over until the watch beeped and I could walk again.
2.) I reminded myself to "just follow the watch".
The watch beeped to mark 1 minute (walk) and 4 minute (run) intervals.
I just told myself to run for 4 more minutes and follow the instructions
of the watch.
And 3.) I didn’t let Mary loose me. Our pace group broke up gradually over the first 16 miles as people settled into their most natural pace for the day. Another AIDS marathon runner, Mary, and I discovered over the last 6 months that our natural paces are well matched. By mile 18, the two of us were on our own. After we crossed the bridge, I decided I couldn’t let her loose me. During the last couple of miles, she’d get about 20-25 feet ahead and then I would concentrate on catching up. I knew that if I were running alone, it would be much harder to keep going.
For the last couple of months, I have been sprinting the last 2 blocks of my mid-week runs to practice finishing strong. I was pleased that it paid off and I was able to pick up speed when I saw the end
Bottom line: I will do it again.
| BIB | NAME | CITY | STATE | COUNTRY | AGE | SEX | |||||||||||||||||||||
| K1759 | MUELLER, JENNIFER | WASHINGTON | DC | US | 26 | F | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Welcome to the HALL OF SHOES
THANK YOU! 
Ms Jackie K Shute * Gavin Mueller * K E Mueller * Jennifer Errick * W Michael Mueller * Melanie Undem * Amy Floyd * Alliea Group * The Stallings Group Inc * Lexi Shultz * Julia Hutchins * Becky Stanfield * Jeremiah Baumann * Althea Chen * Eric Howard * Kate Abend * Joey Fink * Paul Orum * Sharon Wolfe * Don Mattson * Alex Lerner * Craig Faulks * Jane Frankin * Alexander Short * Jill Kuhlman * Nancy Havlik * John Harris * Alison Cassady * Timothy Green * David Schneider * Rick Trilsch * Ivan Frishberg * Anna Aurilio * Beth Lowell * Rachel Heller * Tiernan Sittenfeld * Rebecca Feldman
My whole family went
up to visit my sister in Syracuse, NY. We had very dramatic weather. It
rained Saturday morning, was beautiful on Saturday afternoon and snowed
on Sunday. We went apple picking and hiking and ate wonderful food. I
ran 8 miles on Monday evening by myself.
I thought it would never end! For the long traing runs, we are instructed to run 2 miles per minute slower than our planned marathon pace. It took me 6 hours and 45 minutes and I was no where near last!
We ran on the toe path in Georgetown. Because of the threat of WTO Protests in DC, our normal running site near the mall on Saturday was cancelled. I wasn't used to the pitch of the trail and my knee hated it.
It was, however, gourgeious! We ran to Great Falls National Park in MD. EEK! There was one point where we had to scramble over boulders on the trail. Still, it was a nice choice for the 26 miler.
USGS Photo (right)
A couple AIDS marathoners and I ran Zack's Run in College Park Maryland. They put on a good race. Very family friendly (Thank heaven's we finally passed that 5 year old . . . phew). We went really easy right at marathon pace but had a good time. The folks I ran Zack's Run with were concerned about going to fast. I will run the Race for the Cure in Baltimore with my father in October. I am looking forward to actually racing it.!
I had one of those "what am I doing moments?" this morning. Well, to be honest, that's not quite right. It was about 5:45 am. The sun was up but barely and the moment was more "what am I doing up?" Oh yeah, I'm the nut whose going to bike a mile over to the Waterside Mall and run 7 miles.
This week I took the little camera:
When we arrive in the mornings, we get the news of the day from coach Matt.
And out we go . . . . 
JUST ONE MORE MILE!!!!
I'm sure that sign started out beautiful.
Here's the group! And the inside of the metro because that's how you get home when your bike tire goes flat.
I got a bit distracted and didn't keep up the journal so well. Not too much happened on the group runs in the end of May - except rain. The first run in the rain is a learning experience. The second run is comforting. The third is annoying. Oh well, by August, I'll be doing rain dances.
I acquired a little handheld camera on the 31st and took it with me to the PIRG vs. Common Cause softball game (we wupped 'um) and then on my run back. Made the run a little slow but very fun - pictures below. Click on any thumbnail to view the larger version.
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Jen Mueller is a Washington DC mom, environmental advocate, communications professional, yogi (and yoga instructor), writer, photographer, runner, and owner of a small green pacific parrotlet named Bug.
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