MCM 2017: Guest Blog : Beth Solomon

Editors Note: 

Every now and then , you run across something or someone who deserves a shoutout. This week happens to be one of those times. This is a guest blog by my friend, Beth. I first met her in March in Ashville on the roads at Biltmore half. We instantly started chatting and got to know each other.As soon as she informed me she was doing this race, I was ALL IN to make sure anything she had questions about training or anything I was there to try to get her answers , or be support. This past weekend was the race... Without further ado, I will let her take over and tell the story : 

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So, I’m not going to lie, I’m excited that I get to do a featured blogpost on the 2017 Marine Corps Marathon. I’m guessing many of you don’t know me, so, I’m Beth- I’m a former downhill ski racer, and a hail from Boston, MA, and currently I live in South Carolina. I met John at the Biltmore half marathon last March in Asheville, NC. He was fidgeting with his shoes, I was beyond alone and we were both wearing the same shirt. He pulled me to a GIANT PR (like 17 minute or something like that), and we’ve been in touch since then. I’m a PhD student at Clemson University. My area of focus is Educational Leadership, and within that I look at Athletic Leadership. I work doing research, and in the Athletic Academic Services department at Clemson. So, I’m a bit busy. Despite that, I got an email last April about running the Marine Corps Marathon on a charity bib for Team Red White and Blue (RWB). I texted John, something crazy got in my head about being the 1% that will have a PhD (because I refuse to not finish), and then the small percentage of those who have marathoned. I realize that most say it is also 1%, but I’m not sure the exact number, but I figured if I was going to do one, I could do both. So, after talking with John, and my friend Kara, who ended up coaching me, I decided to throw my name in the hat.


Since then, it’s been a long training road, lots of tears, stress, and just overall things happening in my life (I won’t bore you with details), but I had this goal that I was going to finish, and I made it happen. Enough about the background though. My boyfriend, Jacob, and I flew from South Carolina to D.C. I am such a lucky gal, I have an extremely supportive group of people in my life, and I feel so lucky that not only Jacob, but my parents (who flew in from Boston) were in D.C. last weekend to watch me and cheer me on. 

We got to DC on Friday, Jacob, my mom, and I went to the expo while my dad napped. where My mother made sure she had a sign for me, and some cowbells, because my ski racing cowbells were at my apartment. We took photos (naturally), and walked around.

After the expo adventure, we met up with my dad for dinner, where we spent a lot of time laughing, and planning our Saturday. We landed on sleeping in, and then meeting up in D.C. for lunch, followed by dinner with my parents, and my dad’s fraternity brother X. Saturday we visited the White House, and the Holocaust Museum, napped, and had a great dinner. Jacob and I left early so I could get ready for bed, got everything organized, and I fell asleep while he watched football. 

Sunday morning was early. I woke up before my alarm clock, made my oatmeal with the coffee maker, and headed out to meet my pre-scheduled Uber. Got to the start, and met up with some other RWB Eagles, and just let it all sink in. I stripped off my sweats with 5 minutes to the start, and then boom, 10-minute delay so a band could finish setting up and get out of the road. I shook if off like ski race delay, and just focused on the end goal. I took off, probably faster than I needed too, and promptly slowed because of an issue on the outside of my calf. At mile 8 or 9 things finally started to feel good, and I ran into my parents, Jacob, and X. I grabbed another packet of Honey Stinger gummies from them, and proceeded on. 

Things were going, and then we got to the blue mile. This was something I knew was going to be emotional- I had submitted my friend’s name to honor him, (1LT Dimitri A. DelCastillo), and I started to sniffle as we got closer to the date he was killed in action. I had strangers hold my hands, and as I knelt to say hi to his photo, they rubbed my back, we picked up, continued, and were carried on through the cheers of those carrying the flags honoring the soldiers we have lost. In addition to honoring Del, I ran with my friend Taylor Allen Force’s name on my back, and on a bracelet on my wrist. Both are West Point graduates, and were taken from us too soon. Taylor was killed by a terrorist in Israel while on a trip with his MBA program, and Del was killed in action, while calling for more support for his soldiers. 

The rest of the race went. My stomach soured, and I did my best to keep going. When I ran into my family again, Jacob could see that I was not doing well, and he ran (well walk/jog) across the bridge with me. He was a great support, and I dropped him back off with my parents and X at mile 23 or so, which I am sure he was happy about, as he really wasn’t in running clothes, and had just eaten a fried chicken sandwich with my dad before hopping on the course with me. That’s true love. I tried to not beat myself up about the time, as honestly, I wasn’t happy with it. My feet hurt, I could feel blisters on my feet getting bigger, and my stomach was angry. I finally got to the last little bit of the race- I met up with a coach from another team, and he was walking/running with me. He finally got me to understand that I shouldn’t beat myself up. For those of you who don’t know, I’m a recovering perfectionist, and I was upset about how things were going. He finally got me to realize that I balanced everything, and just helped me get to the finish line. I don’t even know his name, but he made it in a few of my photos (wearing a winter hat at 86 degrees out), so huge shout out to him. He carried me to where my family was, (you can see me looking over to them in the photo) who then pushed me up that last hill, where I got some sweet finish line air time, being announced that I was a finisher of the Marine Corps Marathon. Everything hurt. I was so happy, I cried- you can see tears in my eyes in some finish photos, and I slowly made my way to get my stuff. It’s honestly still a blur to me. I really don’t know how I did it all, and my body held up, because honestly two days after, I came down with a nasty case of strep throat, so thank you to my body for holding up long enough for me to finish. 

       

Finishing with a work in progress behind me. Pretty much how I see myself as a runner- a work in progress. So that’s my story- I refuse to focus on my time because I met my original goal of finishing. I’m not sure what my next move is. I’m still waiting on finish photos with my family, but this will have to do for now. It was a blur, it was painful, it was emotional, and it was LONG. But I did it- and I’m just going to ride that feeling for a little bit longer. 

Thanks to John for the support along the way, and letting me post a celeb post in his blog, Kara for the training plans, Jacob and my family for the love and support, and I’m going to thank myself, for realizing that what I did was enough for this first go around. It’s a great race for those wondering, and I’ll see what my next steps are!

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Editors Closing Thoughts: 

Goodness gracious. Now if that don't inspire you , you need to go check to make sure your alive! Seriously, what a warrior this woman is ! Amazing Job!!!

Beth, I know I have said it before, and I'll say it again publicly : You are a ROCK.STAR! Anyone who can balance getting your PHD, Life, and the riggors of Marathon Training deserves all the regognition and glory ! I am so stinking proud of you! I knew the day I met you in Ashville, you were destined to join that marathon club. It's just something about people you could tell. I knew right off, this girl has the guts to do this. Thank you for letting me ride this rollercoaster with you . All those late night talks of getting out of your head worked! See what happens when you just go! You amaze yourself! I have never been prouder of you! I can't wait to see what the future holds ! One day, were gonna get to share the roads again, and I am almost willing to bet that when we do , chances are it will probably be 26.2 . 

HOORAH! And MISSION. ACCOMPLISHED!

To my readers: 

Thank you for taking time to stop by and check this out. A little out of the ordinary, but like I stated earlier, when I find someone or something that deserves a space to write , then by golly , I am gonna let them have their moment! Thank you all for your continued support. 

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Race Report & Honest Review 

(Editors Note: Normally, I do not do these type of blogs. You all are used to and VERY Supportive of my normal race reviews, which means the world to me. So thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Occasionally though, things strike me as something to avoid. At the very end of this, you will find a 100% honest race review from me. If you do not want to read it, that is no big deal. But I want to provide my honest opinion of this race this year.) 

This weekend was IT! FINALLY ! Time for my Fall "A" race. The 4 Bridges Half Marathon. I had a BLAST last year as I ran this for my last long run leading into taper for the Marine Corps Marathon. When it came time to pick a fall "A" race, this race was a no brainer for me. It would be this race. I could go spend time with my sister & her husband & really enjoy my time. 

I left Saturday Afternoon after getting some last min pt in, and got on the road. Saturday was packet pickup. I grabbed my stuff , browsed through the thrown together expo (more on this later), and got out of there. I then grabbed my shoes and stuff and did my shakeout run. I felt great. I was solid as a rock with tempo and I knew I was ready to rock & Roll. It was all hands on deck time. 

After packet pickup & shakeout, I had some time to kill before seeing a special screening of the Barkley's Marathon movie & then yes, getting to meet race Director, Gary "Laz" Cantrell. I had seen the movie before, but before a race, it was heck of an encouraging and inspiring thing to see. Even cooler after that was getting a Q&A time with Laz. That stands out as something I won't forget. But, the highlight, for me, after the film & Q&A was being able to meet Laz. As soon as I asked him for a picture, he was like HELL YEA! So, I got to take a picture with him. This guy is as cool as they come & just like myself, a Redneck. He was so fun to talk to and just hang with . 

After this was over, I then made my way over to my sisters house for some dinner & to turn in for the night after watching a little football. Tomorrow was to be the day. Finally, I was going to take my 2:30 and make it mine. 

Race Day : 

I woke up early to get dressed and get taped up, and to get there early. I am one that likes to be 90 min early AT LEAST to my features. It allows me to park, clear my head, get ready , and drop my bag , and warm up. I do better this way. So , it was an early day. Once I got breakfast eat, which for those of you who are interested in my nutrition, was a big peice of baked chicken, with salt, pepper, garlic , and onion, some rice, and some veggies, I headed over. Once over, I found my rwb people and hung out with them till the marathon left at 7 am. Then I had to get ready in earnest.

I warmed up by walking briskly. Ideally, I would have liked to have done a little jog to get the hr up, but I wanted to try to find the 2:30 pace team and get ready. I finally found them in line. They told us that we would try to keep around a 11 min mile to be able to pull it back around water stops and hills. This was to be a little faster than I wanted, but I had my watch setup for my goal in case I needed to drop. Pretty soon, it was SHOW TIME. 

The weather was muggy and sticky. It was going to take all of the stars aligning to do this, but I was so confident. By the time we climbed up the first hill, i knew we were cooking, but I didn't want to see my goal time fly by that fast. So I hung with them. The first mile was MOVING at a 10:15 pace. WAY TO FAST. I was like , its early race adreniline, in a min or so it will drop down. But, it never did. They kept this tempo , and I knew , I couldn't hang this way. So, I pulled it back and let them go up the road. They gave me an evil glare like are you not coming, but I just started running my race , and my race alone. This was 1.5 miles in. 

By mile 4 my body was beginning to fight me. This was NOT how this was supposed to work. I remained calm. By mile 6, I knew, 2:30 was gone. It hurt, and I took a few min to think over how I can make this a good day, and to keep myslef going. So, I was like, OK, just a PR would be cool. So, I adjusted my watch and started running that as best as I could. However, my body continued to fight me. I am not sure if it was heat, hydration, or just wasn't my day. But I continued on. 

By right around mile 8, I had to have a real long talk with myself. It looked like a general PR was not going to happen, and I really had to work through a dark moment. I then remembered I love to help others, and set out to find me someone to pace in. As it was supposed to be, I pulled up next to a girl and we started talking. She was just trying to hang on as I was. I was like , I am just trying to find someone to help out, so lets do this. This actually turned out to be the saving moment in this race to making it a good day out. 

We were chatting about everything. We would run walk as our bodies needed it. We made a pact that if one of us was ready, we could fly, but we would generally hang out and get through this. Come to find out, she knows a few of my best friends from the Pride of the Southland Marching band at Tennessee, so we had a awsome chat about that. 

Around mile 10 we hit UTC Campus on the greenway. That was a spirit booster because I knew where we were and this would soon be over. Might  I add, I was in pretty bad agony right now. I had cramps and all going on and was hanging on. Normally I can pace with the best of them around 3 hours, but for some reason, my body was fighting me. It was just not my day, and I was STRUGGLING. 

What should have been mile 10.5, we knew something was wrong,because we passed mile 11 sign in the bushes. It was WAY too soon. We both checked our watches and devices, and knew this isn't good. But we were determined. 

We hit the bridge, and it was like I was done. She took off , but kept turning back to encourage me. This was the first time I laid eyes on my sister and her husband. I was in a real spot of difficulty and was just hanging on . I finally caught my friend about that time, and felt ok. But every stride I took, I felt my calves pulse and knot up. This was the same thing that happens in a marathon. I had to work through it. I knew my girl was going to pr, and that had been my focus for over an hour. 

She flew down the hill, and I had nothing. not a thing. I legged it out and managed to finish. Here are some of the pictures from the closing moments of the race. You can clearly see how bad I was hurting. LOL!

Finally , it was over & done! 2:30 didn't happen. 2:40 didn't happen. A PR didn't happen. But I was fine. What I did do, after catching up with the girl once I located her after the race, was find out that was a 17 min PR I pulled her too. That was a W in my book. So a good day . The race , as I would later find out, and will discuss more in a few moments, was .6 too short. So, even if I had PR, I couldn't have counted it, because it was short course. Then, I find out the marathon is over a mile too long. Like I said, more on that later. 

I texted and spoke with coach and we would discuss through various communications over the next few hours what had happened , and what could have been done differently, and things of that nature. I would also ask a question , that would in turn, determine my goal for my next race ;) We now have a plan for that as well. 

I met up with my sister and her husband and got this lovely shot of us. In front of the rhino/bull. Well, because, honestly, it fit. LOL! The race had been full of it. LOL!

After this , I finally cooled down and got some food. It was not up to par with last year, at all. Again, more in a bit. But I ate, and it was good. Then I headed back to my sisters house to eat lunch, shower , cool down, and get home. I needed a NAP! LOL!

So yes, this didn't go as planned. At all. But this was still a good day. I was able to help someone to a MASSIVE PR, and to me, if I couldn't hit my goals, I wanted to help someone hit theirs. Period. Also, It was extremely good to get to see family. That is always a huge plus. To have them show up for my races is always motivating. Always. 

In 2 weeks, I will be re-lining up for another go at 2:30 . My focus now is recovery and proper nutrition to get my body healed back up and ready to push this again. Frankly, I can't wait. Things just didn't line up this time, and it's OK. That is part of this sport. It can humble you so quick. It just is what it is. I will leave it at that. 

So, back to work we go. Time to get going again. 

(for those of you wanting the honest race review , it will be below this conclusion. ) 

So, until I talk to you all again in probably 2 weeks time..... 

From One "Idiot" to another- 

John 

IRC #2148 

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HONEST RACE REVIEW 

Please understand, I don't do things like this. But when something needs to be brought to attention, or needs to be avoided, especially something that cost money, like this, I am going to let my readers know. 

Last year, I found this race as a shakedown before MCM. It was great. Amazing food, amazing swag, amazing post race, pre race, all of it. Beautiful run, full length. But this year was so much different. 

The Half was .6 too short & the Marathon was 1.22 miles too long. This not only hurts the athletes, it hurts their times. Some may loose a BQ over this. This is NOT the first time this has happend. This is the 2nd time in 3 years this has happened. This is not cool. 

Then the parking. After charging us a 100 bucks to run, they charged us 35 more for parking AT THE PARK that should have been FREE. Again. 

The T shirts were a fiasco. instead of a bad ass looking shirt, we get a last second tossed together plain tshirt with a logo due to vendor errors. No offer to make all this up. the ones that bought a extra shirt get the correct shirt mailed to them. This should have been the way it was with all of them. Period. No questions. I know tons of people were mad about this going in . The rest was the tipping point. 

The next thing is the medals. The Full and the 5k had enormus , Race specific medals. The Half, had a generic medal that was re-used from a 5k, with a sticker on it. Just ridiculous. They could give us a UNIQUE one like last year. 

The towels that we got from last year were not there this year. It was hot and humid. I was expecting a towel to wipe off with. Nothing. Absolutely nuts. 

Pacers: Last year I ran with them. They were amazing. Certified at their pace and really good. Actually learned a lot and found a love for it from them. Had their certs on display last year at the expo. This year , not so much. Horrible. Running 10 min miles on 11:25 goal pace is ridiculous. Instead of asking if I am ok when I drop, they glare like you can't hang? I am like really? I understand that this is a chance you take, and I learned a lesson, but at the same time, I really expected more out of the pacers. 

Then the post race food was AWFUL! Last year we got to make our own waffles This year we were served waffle sticks, and had to ask for more. Then the sausage was vegan sausage. I ate it because I was starving and was looking forward to this , but it was disapointing at best. 

The post race stretch tent was 30 deep with 10 therapist. I could get this 100% and honestly I expected that. 

What got me the most fired up was a combination of all of this for the price we  paid. We expect and pay for a full length race and expect great swag. and good food. we got shafted on the shirts, the medals, and the food. The experience of a great run was had, don't get me wrong, but when its all is put together it leaves a sour taste. 

2 out of 3 years in INEXCUSABLE for a short/long course. Period. That indicates a history. They announced it on facebook late yesterday afternoon, and at last check there were over 200 comments most of them not real happy. 

Would I recommend this race? Going into this race, yes absolutely. After all the issues this year, and knowing it happend year before last, I would probably not. 

I know I probably won't go back next year until its guaranteed that its fixed. They have said we should get an email about some kind of offer, but I am not sure I want to chance it again. I had a great time, but the race was just really not that well handled this year all told. If I do go back, it would be to see family. That would be a priority. 

If your looking for a East Tennessee fall run , I suggest checking out the Chikamagua Battlefield race. I haven't done it, but have read about it, and it sounds like a top notch race. 

Again, sorry for all the negatives here , but I just wanted to let you all know that this might be something to steer clear of. 

John 

Cross Knox 15K Shakeout

This past Sunday, I had the chance to get back on the starting line for another race this year. This was the Cross Knox 15K It was a point to point race from The Morningside Park back to Bearden Elementary school via the greenways. As fate would have it , I have seen these roads more than a few times. 

The weather was not desirable. Muggy , Rainy, humid. MOIST. All of it. But what had to be done had to be done. This was the last chance to make sure all systems were go before Next weekends A RACE. 

Started out hot. Wanted to turn a hard mile or 2. Then the heat really set in. It got so bad I took off my hat and threw it in my pocket. When the cold win blew in , it felt great. But during the heat, when it was raining, holy crap dude. It was miserable. 

By about mile 4 or 5, I was done. I managed to press on 1 more mile, and caught up with a girl I had been yo-yoing the whole way. Once i caught up with her, that was it. I was 10k into the race, and knew I would make the time cut, so I went ahead and just walked it in. 

Never have I been so glad to be in. I was hurting ALL OVER. Everything was sore, tight, and just brutal. But, the run was in the books, and that is all that it needed to be. It was feet time. 

Now, to rest, and prepare for the A RACE next weekend. I have worked so hard to get here. 230, your day with the devil is coming. Prepare to meet your maker. 

Until Next time- 

John 

IRC # 2148