24MAR2019 – All-American Marathon (Fort Bragg, NC)

Airborne!! Seriously, I came down to Fort Bragg because I thought I was going to be jumping out of planes all the time. Nope, I’m just running everywhere. I didn’t plan on doing the All-American Marathon this year, but once again, under George’s influence, I registered for it last week after we finished the Tobacco Road Marathon. Last year’s race was my first official 26.2 ever, so I figured it would be interesting to see how I do this year. Plus, I appreciate it when race fees are less than $100! Our influence must have rubbed off on Tricia because she already started considering doing her second marathon.

On Friday we both went to the race expo, even though Tricia hadn’t registered yet. I bumped into Victor – the guy who ran with me last year -volunteering at the Wear Blue: Run to Remember table! I picked up my packet and bought a set of Hello Kitty Race Dots. Tricia described her nervousness with “Omg I have butterflies in my tummy! What if I DNF?” I told her she’d be fine; George and I would make sure that she finishes! Besides, I knew she WANTED this. She finally pulled the trigger (or pulled a Karen?) and signed up on the spot. Again, hooray for races with last-minute registrations!

Sunday morning we drove to downtown Fay at 0600. Parking was an issue for many because there was a train stuck on the track. We had to climb over that train to get to Festival Park! We ended up parking at a church at 0635 and had to figure out what to do with our nutrition since I failed to read the rules that said we couldn’t wear hydration systems (some people wore them anyway). Tricia carried my phone and our Clif Blok shots in a Flipbelt. I figured I’d be okay because last year I tried to be like Wim Hof and drank only water during the race.

We couldn’t find George because the starting line was crowded. The course starts in downtown Fayetteville and ends on Fort Bragg. The best part of the course was honoring the fallen and seeing FRC friends on the Blue Mile. The worst part was all the hills. I stayed with Tricia until mile 15. I tried not to feel bad leaving her and remembered she said she would be okay once we reached the point where the full and half marathoners split. I had been emotional due to conflict at home (it happens!) and had been unable to focus all morning. I needed to break away to deal with my own pain. The mantra of the day for me was: “I am doing my best. I release the rest.”

I saw Laurie again, pacing the 4:30 group. I tried to catch up to her, but I wasn’t able to. I still finished strong at 4:36 compared to last year’s 5:35. I was greeted by Victor at the finish line and other finishers from the FRC group. Tricia came in at 4:58 again. Pretty awesome for her second marathon, second weekend in a row!

Luckily for us, Victor had his car on post so he drove us back to my car. We reminisced about our finish last year and how we sprinted against each other to the finish line. Today started at 37 degrees and ended up being 70 degrees. Tricia treated Victor and me to a vegan pizza at Mellow Mushroom. It was delicious, but I got a little hangry during the wait for it. Normally I crush like 4 post-race bananas but this time I only ate one. I even started to eat the salt from the salt shaker while Tricia was trying to translate Victor’s miming gestures. I have weird friends. 🙃

I’m calling this month my March Marathon Madness because now I have done a marathon every weekend. It wasn’t an official one during the first weekend, but I ran 31 miles from Fayetteville to Southern Pines, so that should count! Now I am officially in taper mode for UMSTEAD 100!!!