October 28,2012 Marine Corps Marathon I realize I haven’t written a blog on over two months, but what better way to get back on track then with the Marine Corps Marathon. In route to the airport I had the Spirit of the Marathon cameras filming this. Fun! I knew this trip was going to be a great success because how cool is it that I arrive at the airport to gate 77, boarding group 7 and flying on a Boeing Triple 7? This had to be good, too bad I wasn’t in Vegas. I landed late Saturday afternoon, just in time to pick up my bib at the expo. I met Jonathan there. Jonathan contacted me on facebook. His father passed away from Pancreatic Cancer on April 9^th this year. It is so unfortunate but I was grateful and honored to run in his father’s honor. Jonathan ran his first marathon today he was on track to run sub 4 and guess what… he did it, 3:59. Woo Hoo. Go Jonathan. I know his father is so proud and may have had something to do with that sub4. The feeling I get is his father was a kind gentle man, just like his son and knew the importance of life. So whatever time he ran today he is so proud, remembering that it’s not about the time on the clock, it’s about the time spent in your heart. I know that both of our fathers were smiling down on us today and they always have the best seats in the house, our hearts. <3                     For the carbo load dinner I met my roomie there Dawn who was also running her first marathon and coach Gary who I met at the Kona Marathon and we of course we had to sit at table 52. I even saw my buddy Bart Yasso there. Love him. It was an awesome dinner. There were drill sergeants came around and whipped us into shape. Seriously they were coming around the tables yelling and shouting and telling us how we are not to give up, how we are to stay strong and finish the marathon in a timely manner. Oh and they were yelling at us to sit up straight. It was great.           With hurricane Sandy looming about we knew this was going to be an interesting marathon. The dark skies race morning were not a pretty sight to wake up to and I knew I had about two hours till hurricane Sandy caught me. I’ll tell you what was beautiful, the Military fly over and then the gun goes off soon after. It took us about 20 minutes to get to the start line. It was nice to see my friend Dawn off to her first marathon. She is a Rockstar. There was great energy in the air and we are off.              

No hurricane could stop these runners. Oorah!!

    For the first half of the marathon it was a little hilly but beautiful tree lined streets with the colors of the leaves in full fall effect. However for me, well let’s just say when you get to mile 1 and you have to walk, you know it can’t be good. Well that is what happened. I have been so grateful for my strong healthy knees and last week my left knee decided to go on strike. Not a long strike, I’m hoping that it will last less than a week and I will be good to go by next Sunday. Next week we have New York and 21 marathons to go. It’s all good I have the best sports physician in the world that will fix me right up. Seriously, it’s may be just an LCL sprain and had I listened to my Doctor last week and not ran on Friday for a photo op I would have been fine today. This was an incredible marathon. By far one of my favorites even if I had to walk half of it.             Running around the pentagon and the National Mall was priceless. I even stopped for a picture in front of the Capitol building and the National Monument. (picture coming) I saw and was told I inspired many friends along the way. There were people who recognized me from Facebook, it was really quite amazing. I made new friends and even ran into Dave Mari who just recently graced his presence on the cover of Runners World and it was his birthday. Happy Birthday Dave! More pictures coming, but here is Dave on the cover for Runners World and yes its real.                               As we ran through the National Mall they had pictures of fallen soldiers killed in action and American flags lining the street. It was so sad. I ran with my right hand over my heart pledging allegiance to the flags and giving thanks to every one of these young soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom. I was in tears. At mile 19 the Marines were handing out sports beans. I don’t know what was in those beans, but they were magic beans. Really they were. They must have had caffeine in them because I picked up my pace, I didn’t feel my knee anymore and I was on fire. Hooting and hollering yelling “We got this” about a billion times. I felt a little sorry for the crowd because my iPod broke and I was singing. Yep, I was singing the “final count down”. I feel like miles 19-26 my spirit just comes alive. It was an awesome finish and the medal is beautiful. I couldn’t wait to get it! This could be one of my most favorite marathons so far.                 Although I walked a lot and had some pain, my over all experience at the Marine Corps Marathon was incredible. We beat hurricane Sandy. We had a 90% chance of rain, but we dodged it. She never showed up during the marathon.However 90% of the flights coming out of DC were cancelled, but I was so fortunate mine was still on schedule. Sending prayers to the East Coast. xo               I made my plane and I am homebound. The plane is filled with a bunch of marathoners doing the marathon waddle down the isle. We were having a yoga class in the kitchen, ok not really but we were all in there stretching and rolling out our quads and calves. While on the plane I just finished watching the movie called “To Rome with Love”. Reminding me of where this journey began, the Rome Marathon. Well, they say all roads lead to Rome, well mine certainly began there. Now with 31 marathons under my belt, sponsors like Asics and others are coming aboard. I am very thankful that with this campaign I have been able to touch so many lives and hopefully will even be able to save lives with the money and awareness I am raising. I’ll attempt to get caught up with my blogs. I owe you about 18, at least. Tomorrow it’s back to work, then next up the New York marathon for number 32 and I will see you there. Sending love from 37,000 feet somewhere between Ohio and LA. We got this! Love, Julie To donate please go to www.marathongoddess.com. There is “Donate Now” button and all donations go directly to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Even just sharing my website and telling your friends about my journey would be awesome. You never know whom you might touch. xoxoxoo