I have now had the time to reflect on the LA Marathon and I'm proud to say that I finished! I completed the course in 5:16 and am feeling pretty good. The over/under on the number of toenails that I'm going to lose currently stands at 3 but its worth it to know that I am now an LA Marathon finisher!
PRE-RACE
My race started the day before by attending the runner's expo. Wow, what a show! There were so many booths to visit and things to see. My girlfriend and I have been to many expos before, but this one is so above & beyond what you usually see at races! We did our usual rounds of sampling new health foods and also picked up some good coupons since we routinely buy some of the featured products. The coolest thing was that some of the flagship sponsors had specials just for runners. For example, Gatorade had 38oz bottles of Endurance for only $1 - they're usually $3 in stores, so this was quite a deal.
We spent an hour at the expo and then headed out the door. On the way out, we ran into a friend from the Las Vegas Marathon board and it reminded me how much I miss that community and made a commitment to myself to get back to it.
START - MILE 8
Had an early morning with a 5AM wake-up call but this worked out great because it let us beat the crowds to the start area. We used the free parking lots at the Metro station and only had to ride for one stop. So, we made it to the start area with plenty of time to spare, which is good because I'm usually a nervous wreck. The morning was quite warm and I didn't even have to wear my gloves; I could tell that it was going to be a good day for a long run!
I find that any time I run for more than 10 miles, there comes a point where you have to "tune out" and just move without thinking about it. This usually happens to me later in races, but for some reason, this happened to me very early on during the Marathon. I honestly didn't start paying attention to the course until about 7 miles into it. I was so caught up in the moment and enjoying the atmosphere that I hardly noticed when I passed the 7 mile marker. This worked to my advantage because it felt like a much shorter run than it actually was.
MILE 9 - MILE 20
At this point in the race it was quite warm and I was running with my shirt off. Residents and firefighters alike had their water houses out and it felt good to run underneath the water. There was one street in particular that had people spraying water from both sides. So, I feel sorry for runners that may have wanted to avoid getting wet, but then again, it was so hot that I can't imagine someone not wanting the cooling water on their body.
The halfway point of the Marathon was near the LA Coliseum and running through the grounds was pretty cool. However, shortly after leaving that section, the course enters a very industrial area and the crowds die down considerably. I hit both a physical and mental "dead" spot at this point. I remember that miles 15 & 16 were not very fun - the scenery was bland and the crowds were not very dense. It felt more like a long run than the usual party atmosphere. But it's at this point that I usually put on my iPod and listen to music to help me focus. I listen to things like "Push It" by Garbage and "The Jump Off" by Lil' Kim and that usually gets me moving again. I took a restroom break at around 17 miles and used that as a time to refresh a little bit.
My saving grace was that I had arranged for my girlfriend to meet me at about the 20 mile mark near Staples Center. The crowds were so dense that I ran right by her but she managed to spot me and ran up to catch me. I walked with her while sipping an energy drink she brought for me. I use energy drinks (like Rock Star) to help me calm my stomach and just get a different taste in my mouth on these long runs. It felt good to take a brief walking break and she massaged my shoulders for a little bit. That was just enough to get me going again and feeling great! I was mentally re-awakened because I knew that I only had about a 10K left to the finish.
MILE 21 - FINISH
The Marathon organizers made an interesting selection for the last few miles of the course. For the first time ever, the LA Marathon ventured into East LA and brought you into downtown via the LA River Bridges. It's a good idea, but there's two significant downsides. First of all, there is a massive hill during Mile 22 and that was not fun! I think that for most people that were on their last legs, that hill comes at just the right time to cause many, many DNFs. Second, this part of the course once again becomes very industrial and the crowds are non-existent and the scenery is uninspiring at best. The final bridge into downtown does provide a nice view but by then you're so ready to finish that it just sits as a blur in my memory.
I can usually power through the last 6 miles of a Marathon but I decided to break it up into two sets of three miles. At around the 23rd mile marker, I decided to take one more bathroom break and refresh my mind a bit. I put my shirt back on and adjusted all of my gear (hat, sunglasses, belt, race number, iPod, etx) and started out again on the last 5K. Its funny how things like how your running belt sits on your hips can feel so different after 20+ miles. So, taking the time to simply re-adjust everything really helps you feel like you're starting over again and mentally prepares you to start running again.
The finish in downtown was fantastic and I was so happy to see the crowd out there. When you turn on 6th street, the crowds line-up both sides of the road and you can see the 26th mile marker off in the distance . . . it's pretty damn cool! I felt pretty good during this stretch and tired to open up my stride a bit. At this point, many, many people were walking but I still felt good enough to run and had a great time with the final mile.
Once I crossed the finish line, I had to fight back some tears. When I was fat, I would always see the advertisements for the Marathon but always knew that I was too overweight to participate. So, finally having that medal around my neck was quite overwhelming and I still can't believe that I did it!
POST-RACE
Overall, the LA Marathon was a very well run event. My only complaint with it was that the finish area was not very well organized. Instead of the typical mylar blanket they had plastic wraps that were just not very good. This was evidenced by the fact that the finish line was littered with them because runners were deciding to forgo them. Also, there was little mention of the family reunion area and I had a heck of a time finding my girlfriend. There was hardly any staff to direct you or tell you what was going on. It was such a disorganized ending to an otherwise excellent event.
When we finally got in the car after the race, we headed to my girlfriend's brother's house and had a great barbeque. Protein makes for a great recovery meal, so the meat and chicken there were ideal for a post-race meal.
I sat at the table with my medal around my neck, incredibly proud of the fact that I had finished!
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