I got ready for my early morning drive out to Burbank. I left the house at about 5:15 am. If I recall correctly, the last time that I had flown out of Burbank Airport was way back in college long before 9/11/01. Flying in general was definitely much different back then! I pulled up to the Burbank Airport Economy Lot C at just after 6 am. The driver in the van in front of me was pretty clueless. He entered a credit card at the gate and was just waiting for something to come out. If you want a ticket, then just press the button instead of entering a card. Then he just sat there for a minute or so before finally entering the parking lot. The lot was pretty full, but I was able to find a vacant spot at the eastern end of the lot. I then grabbed my bags and walked over to the airport.
Crossing the street to Burbank Airport
Similar to Long Beach Airport, we boarded the plane from the tarmac. We could board from both the front and rear doors of the airplane. I saw that there was a backup at the front door, so I headed for the rear door. I was able to find a vacant window seat. A big dude ended up sitting in the middle seat. From having a brief conversation, it would turn out that he worked on the show, The Masked Singer and American Idol. The show he was working on was in Nashville this weekend, followed by Hollywood and Hawaii. He told me that he would be retiring and going back to his original home in Pennsylvania. The airplane seat was way too small for him. He said that he was a former football player and it was bothering his knees. He was very apologetic to me and the girl in the aisle seat for the inconvenience. He offered to buy us drinks or food. I don't drink anymore, so I politely declined.
Boarding from the tarmac
Boarding from the rear door
During the flight, I finally caught Inside Out 2. New emotions were introduced: Embarrassment, Ennui (boredom), Envy, and Anxiety. I thought it was a good continuation of the first movie. Having majored in psychology, it was interesting and fun to see the growth inside Riley's head as she went through puberty. For a sequel, I thought Disney did a solid job with this one.
Inside Out 2
After finishing that movie, I went on to catch the EPL match between Leicester City and Nottingham Forest. As a Spurs fan, I didn't care much about either team. I only had the match on because Chris Wood was on my FPL team.
Leicester City v. Forest
Jamie Vardy
After landing at Nashville Airport, I used the restroom and walked over to terminal D for my connecting flight. At first, I thought about getting food at Burger King or some place quick, but I opted for some healthier snacks and water at the District News store that was near my gate. I ended up signing up for Club Avolta to earn some reward points. Might as well when I have to buy expensive airport food. It has been a while since I've been to this airport, but it looked really modern as if it had been remodeled recently. There ended up being about an hour delay. Once onboard the plane, I got a window seat near the front of the plane. I mostly watched the World Series pre-game show. Since it was a news feed from NY, all of the reporters were heavily biased for the Yankees to win it all.
Healthier option to Burger King
Flight delayed by about an hour
World Series LAD vs. NYY
The Winter Village at Bryant Park
Dad is a Dodger fan and his 2 sons are not
Great aerial view of Dodger Stadium
"My dawg!"
The plane landed at Reagan Washington National Airport at about 7:30 am. After getting off of the plane and using the restroom, I made the long walk over to Terminal 2 to catch the Metro train. From the Reagan Washington National Airport Metro Station, I took the first train down to the King St-Old Town Metro Station. I checked in at Club Wyndham Old Town Alexandria and was assigned unit 110. This time I stuck to my guns and did not agree to another useless waste-of-my-time owner update when I visited the concierge desk. It also helped that the person that gave me the food and travel recommendations was a trainee. The trainer that was training her attempted to get me to change my mind. Sorry lady, I already said no. While I definitely had the time on Monday after I check out, there's absolutely no way that I'm giving you guys an hour plus of my time!
Reagan Washington National Airport Station
Club Wyndham Old Town Alexandria
Shortly after dropping off my stuff in my room, I headed back out to get dinner at Bob & Edith's Diner. I ordered a coffee and their meatloaf with potato salad and vegetable medley as my 2 sides. I was hungry, but that food was a bit pathetic as I could see the cook just popping everything into the microwave and taking the potato salad out of the fridge. While I was there, I saw the staff having to deal with some rather pesky homeless people.
Meatloaf dinner
The Dodgers vs. Yankees game was rather intense for game 1! It was mostly a pitchers' duel between Gerrit Cole and Jack Flaherty. The Yankees were on the verge of winning when Freddie f'n Freeman hits a walk off grand slam at the bottom of the 10th inning to win with a score of 6-3. After taking a shower, it took a while for me to fall asleep!
Freddie f'n Freeman!
Saturday 10/26
I slept in and woke at about 8 am. Before heading to the race expo, I walked over to the nearby Whole Foods Market to buy some snacks and drinks. In addition to the usual water and chips, I decided to get a half gallon of chocolate milk. After using self checkout, I used my drawstring bag to carry everything back to my room.
View from my room
Snacks and drinks from Whole Foods
After dropping my stuff off at my room, I took the first yellow train down to the Eisenhower Ave Metro Station to catch a bus ride over to the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center for the race expo. One of the more prolific Marathon Maniacs, Angela Tortorice (MM2543), ended up sitting in the empty seat next to me. Up until now, I knew of her and her incredible accomplishments, but never once met her at a race!
King St-Old Town
Once we got off of the bus, everyone pretty much just followed the person in front of them down to the
race expo. There were directional signs all over the venue in case anyone got lost. When we got to the convention hall, I showed my QR code and I was told which booth to go to for my race packet. In addition to my race bib, I got another cool Marine Corps Marathon patch. After that I got my long sleeve race shirt. Instead of the usual mock turtle neck, they went back to the quarter zip.
Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
Long sleeve quarter zip race shirt
Back of race shirt
I then started going through each of the rows to check out each booth. I stopped by the OAR charity booth to say hi. Then I bumped in JC and his family. It looked like they had their 2 daughters pacing as well! I think it's great that they had made marathon running a family affair. Before heading out, I got in a long line for some expo freebies that were just emptied onto several tables. I only took what I would eventually use. Next to that was a BMW booth. They were giving out a pair of gloves in exchange for you filling out a survey and giving them your contact info.
Jeanette
JC
Expo haul
As I was exiting the convention center, I noticed that there was a huge line of people going inside for the race expo. I was glad that I came early. I walked over to the National Harbor to eat lunch. I stopped inside Mason's Famous Lobster Rolls as they were participating in the AAdvantage Dining Program. I ordered a classic lobster roll and a cup of clam chowder. While the lobster roll was decent, the chowder was barely lukewarm. Overall it was okay, but I probably won't be coming back. If I do, I'll know to stick to just the lobster roll and skip on the chowder.
American Way Outdoor Park
Classic lobster roll and clam chowder
I went back to the Gaylord and caught a bus ride back to the Eisenhower Ave Metro Station. The queue just for people trying to get into the race expo grew even longer! I was definitely glad that I got here earlier than these folks! From Eisenhower, I caught a train back to the King St-Old Town Metro Station and walked back to my room. After going through my race packet and expo haul, I went through the bag of chips and drank some chocolate milk while watching the Everton v. Fulham match. I also laid out my flat runner to make sure that I had packed everything that I needed for tomorrow's marathon.
Flat runner
I ended up talking a nap before heading back out for an early dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant, Casa Tequila Bar & Grill. I got there at about a quarter to 6, so the place was pretty empty. There were 2 other parties at the bar. I believe they were both doing a little pre-Halloween party drinking as they were dressed up in costumes. After looking over their menu, I ordered their Steak Veracruz. While I waited for my food, the bartender gave me water as well as some chips and salsa. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much, but that was a pretty good steak with shrimp and scallops. I always love a good surf and turf.
Chips and salsa
Steak Veracruz
After finishing my dinner, I hurried back to my room to catch game 2 of the World Series. I ended up staying up way past my usual pre-race bedtime to watch my Dodgers win! The Dodgers got great pitching from Yamamoto and the usual relievers. However, Blake Treinen ran into a bit of trouble and ended up loading up the bases. Thankfully, Alex Vesia came in to save the game! They're halfway there. Only 2 more wins to win it all!
Dodgers lead series 2-0
Sunday 10/27
I got ready and left my room at about 5:30 am. I caught a train over to the Pentagon Metro Station. I had to pee pretty badly, so I had to walk briskly over to the runner village to use a porta potty. I then waited for my friends to show up. After I met up with my friend and her husband, I left them to take a pre race photo with my fellow Marathon Maniacs. Shortly after that I bumped into Heather who was pacing the 5 hour group.
Runners Village in North Pentagon Parking Lot
Mary and husband
Marathon Maniacs pre-race photo
Heather
I spoke briefly with the solo pacer for the 4:25 group. Honestly, I didn't want to go out too fast so I went over to the 4:30 corral sign on the left as it wasn't as crowded. However, several Marines came by and told us to get into the right side of the road as the 10k runners would be coming through that lane. That meant I was now in about the 3:40 corral area.
Start corral
Osprey flyover
This was my 5th consecutive weekend of racing. The first 3 weekends were marathons. Thankfully, last weekend was "only" a half marathon! Needless to say, my legs were coming into this race feeling not-too-fresh. I made sure not to go out too fast as the first 3 miles had some decent climbs. At about mile 4.5, we crossed over the Potomac River via the Francis Scott Key Bridge. At about mile 6, we hopped onto the Rock Creek and Potomac Pkwy for an out-and-back section. This section was nice for seeing those ahead of you as well as those behind you. It was also a bit congested during this section of the course. I was trying not to overdo it during the downhill portions, so I felt like I was getting in the way of those that were attacking those downhills. A little past mile 10, we ran around the back side of the Lincoln Memorial and headed down to the East Potomac Golf Links. There was a bunch of construction taking place, so the course got altered a bit this year around the National Mall area. While the Wear Blue: Run to Remember Mile was in the same Hains Point location, mileage-wise it came later in the course this year. I reached the halfway point in 2:02:25.
For the second half, I made sure to maintain an easy even pace through the National Mall area. This section was where I usually fall apart. Just after mile 19 as I ran past the Smithsonian Castle, I was tired, but still feeling pretty good. I knew that I just needed to get over the 14th St Bridge and would only have about 10k left to go. I kind of hit the wall as I made my way into the Crystal City out and back section. With all of the construction, the course got quite narrow at certain points. I just wanted to be done. I was definitely struggling by mile 25 as it was my slowest mile. Thankfully, I was able to rally a bit in that last mile and had enough in the legs to power up that last hill! I completed the second half in 2:19:21.
Finish: 4:21:46
Click here for my Garmin data.
Even though I ended up with a positive split, I was pretty content with my pacing and finishing time as this was my best time here in 5 attempts (2009, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024) at the marathon distance. My time today was good enough to beat Oprah's time (4:29:20) from way back in 1994. I took a break from the marathon and ran the inaugural 50k back in 2019. Prior to today, I had come to believe that I would always do poorly at this particular race.
Finish line
Shortly after crossing the finish line, I bumped into a runner wearing the Yondaime Hokage robe. I got a pic for my fellow Naruto loving friend and chatted a bit with him as we made our way over to where the medals were being distributed. Since he had run the 50k, he had to get into a separate line for his medal.
Yondaime Hokage!
Per the usual, the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor finisher medal was gorgeous. There wasn't any color this time and it was very reflective. I had to take it at such an angle to not have it reflect either the phone or stuff on the ceiling. When you opened up the medal, the inside was pretty cool!
On the left side it read: "Molly Marine serves as a symbol of pride for the women past and present, who have served the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor."
On the right side it read: "Celebrating Women in Services. Run with purpose, finish with pride!"I took the obligatory finish line medal selfie with the US Marine Corps War Memorial in the background. Then I took a picture of the memorial from the back as there weren't as many people on that side. I then started heading for the exit. We were given a bottle of water, a banana, and a snack box along the way out. However, this year we were not given a throwaway hoodie jacket.
Finisher medal
Inside the finisher medal
US Marine Corps War Memorial with my medal
Post race snack box
Snack box contents
The exit was super crowded with friends and family members all waiting for their loved ones to come out. I just wanted to get out and get some breathing room! Instead of hanging out in the finisher area or heading to the closer Rosslyn Metro Station, I started heading for the Arlington Cemetery Metro Station to catch a blue line train back to my hotel. It's a longer walk, but the station isn't extremely packed with people. Along the way, I saw my friend, Sabrina, pacing the 4:50 group during the last mile. I shouted her name and waved. She looked in my direction. However, I wasn't sure if she saw me. As I got to the train platform, I almost missed the train that had just arrived. I was moving as fast as I could and barely squeezed into one of the cars right as the door was shutting! I ended up having a good conversation with a fellow runner named Tyler and his dad. He was originally from Glendale, CA. He now lives in Virginia Beach. It was his first marathon and he was able to finish in under 4 hours.
Post race stairs
Back at my room, I drank the rest of the chocolate milk and vegged out a bit before hitting the showers. I caught the rest of the Arsenal v. Liverpool match where it ended with a 2-2 draw on a pretty late equalizer from Salah. Per the usual on a Sunday, I then watched a bunch of the History Channel's That Built America episodes. I made sure to stay awake long enough to get checked into my Southwest flight before taking a nap.
I woke up from my nap to go eat dinner. After staying in Old Town for the past couple of years, I finally made the walk out to the waterfront. I decided to check out the Union Street Public House. Since I was by myself, I found a seat at the bar. An older lady at the bar took interest in the amount of marathons that I had completed. Her name was Tamara. She told me about her ex also being a marathon runner. She was a local and kind of indirectly suggested that I should eat dinner some place else. I stuck to my decision since this restaurant was participating in the AAdvantage Dining Program. I ordered their New York Strip Steak. It was a decent. Nothing spectacular, but definitely hit the spot. We talked a little bit about politics. She was a big Kamala Harris supporter. She was quite worried that Trump would win a second term. I told her that I would return and buy her a drink next year if Trump actually wins next week.
Union Street Public House
New York Strip Steak
After I finished my dinner and settled my bill, I walked over to the waterfront to check it out before making the walk back to my hotel. It was pretty scenic during the twilight hours. I did bump into a few of my fellow marathon finishers while I was there. I was pretty tired, so I didn't hang around very long.
Waterfront Public Art Installation
Old Town Alexandria Waterfront
Monday 10/28
I woke up at about 7 am to start getting ready to check out of my unit. I checked out at about a quarter before 10 am. I walked over to Bob & Edith's Diner to get some breakfast. The place was packed! I was able to find a small open table near the counter next to a table of cops. It was interesting to eavesdrop on part of their conversation. I ordered coffee and their 2 eggs & corned beef hash with grits and white toast. Their breakfast was definitely better.
2 eggs & corned beef hash with grits, white toast, and coffee
After I finished my breakfast and paid my bill, I decided to go back to the timeshare to hang out and use their WiFi. I had thought about heading out to the National Mall and hit the usual tourist spots, but I was just plain pooped and didn't want to do too much walking! Eventually, I walked over to the King St-Old Town Metro Station to catch a train over to the airport. After reaching the entrance to the TSA screening for terminal 1, I found a nearby seat to pass some time. Ultimately, I decided to go through screening and wait by my gate. Also, I wanted to see if I could get something to eat. Nothing was really appealing and snacks were super expensive, so I just bought a bottle of water and ate the snacks from the post race snack box.
My flight home was an interesting one. There were 2 layovers, but no plane changes. The first leg was from DCA to OKC Airport. One of the flight attendants reminded me of Cindy Crawford. She was a pretty tall brunette and easily could be a model. Unfortunately, the WiFi was not working for this plane. I was hoping to catch game 3 of the World Series the entire way home!
Layover #1: OKC
The second leg was from OKC to PHX Airport. There was a crew change for the third and final leg of my trip into BUR Airport. Before we took off, I was able to check the score for the baseball game. The Dodgers had a 4-0 lead with 1 inning to go before I had to turn on airplane mode. Thankfully, when we landed in Burbank, I saw that the Dodgers had won 4-2, taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the series. Just 1 more win to go!
Layover #2: PHX
Checked on the score for game 3 of the World Series
