LA Marathon Recap: Part 2

For the first time ever, February 14th was not Valentines Day (I mean it was, but more importantly)... it was MARATHON DAY! Which, of course I had to reflect in my outfit choice.

Loved my heart skirt and Los Angeles Shwings

Since we already live in LA and I had no desire to spend a bunch of money on a hotel room, I slept at home the night before the marathon. When I registered, I chose the option of taking a shuttle from Union Station to Dodger Stadium at 5:30am, and since there was an Arsenal match on at 4am, Derek was already up and willing to drive me. The whole shuttle process was pretty seamless. They were doing bag checks as we boarded, and the trip up to Dodger Stadium went smoothly. When I arrived, I had plenty of time to wander around, use the bathroom (porta-potties), and stretch out. I didn't want to deal with bag check, so other than my hydration pack and snacks, I brought a mylar blanket to keep me warm, which I could discard before the race.

Really excited for my first marathon

The open corral (for those of us who had not submitted a previous marathon time for a seeded corral) was overflowing, so I waited on the sidelines until the race was underway and I was able to smush into the 11:00/mile pace area. The start was fairly organized, and it only took 8 minutes once the elite men took off for me to cross the start line.

We were off! The race exited Dodger Stadium through the Sunset gate and wound down into downtown Los Angeles. The city was beautiful in the early morning light as we ran toward Chinatown, in through the Dragon Gate, before curving around, down Olvera Street (Hi Pico House!) to Little Tokyo. My family was waiting in Little Toyko to cheer me on and it was nice to get a little boost from them before heading directly up the worst hill of the course. I ran my way up the 1st street hill, knowing that my favorite building in the city (the Walt Disney Concert Hall) was my reward for making it to the top. At the top, we turned a corner and I promptly ran into the lovely Jen of Fueled by Frosting, who wasn't running the marathon but was just out on a training run (she's training for Boston and is such an inspiration!). She hopped in and chatted with me for a few minutes and we snapped a selfie before we parted ways. Things became pretty uneventful for the next few miles. The initial excitement of running through LA was wearing off and I was suddenly realizing that I still had 20 miles in front of me.

Chinatown Dragon Gate

Things picked back up around Hollywood, when my family popped up again and I stopped momentarily for hugs and sunscreen reapplication. I got stupidly excited about the Hamilton banners on the Pantages, which gave me a little boost. Around mile 10 I ran into another friend, Courtney, and we hung together down the Walk of Fame. It was then that I was starting to feel the aches in my legs, which was unusual for me that early into a long run. I started to worry that I hadn't broken in my new shoes enough, and called for backup.

Derek was waiting for me in West Hollywood with my other running shoes, right after the fabulous West Hollywood cheerleaders (who were probably my favorite spectators on the course)! Between Derek and I, we were able to get my shoes off, throw my inserts into my old shoes, and get me back on the course within 30 seconds. I felt like I was at a NASCAR pit stop. While the new (old?) shoes gave me some instant relief by working different muscles, I realized just how worn they were and how little bounce they had left in them.

One of the West Hollywood Cheerleaders

Back into the grind, but moving closer toward my side of town, I realized that there was no way that I was going to hit my goal time of 5 hours. I unfortunately let that drag me down through a lot of West LA, when I was hurting again and getting really discouraged with myself. After what felt like forever, I made it to my parents and Derek and Cami right before Sepulveda, where I promptly changed shoes AGAIN and limped on. Molly (my best running buddy and former roommate) was waiting for me at the Sepulveda turn and I absolutely lost it, crying about how I just wanted to quit while she gave me a big hug and said how proud she was of me.

Miles 20-22 were a miserable blur as I just tried to focus on putting one foot in front of the other through Westwood and up to San Vicente. I also realized at that point that I had completely lost track of fuel intake and that was probably why I was hurting so badly. I ate a Gu and focused on how few miles were left. Mile 22 consisted of the constantly mantra of "This is the longest f*#$ing mile ever and why the @&%$ did I think a marathon was a good idea?" At mile 23 my mantra became a constantly "3 more miles, 3 more miles, 3 more miles" which continued to count down until I hit about 24.5 and the temperature dropped, giving me a renewed energy that was compounded by the turn onto Ocean Ave in Santa Monica and the amazing crowd energy. I flew through my last mile, and was grinning ear to ear, the pain forgotten, as I crossed the finish line.

With my best friend, Cami after the race

Overall, it was a hard race, but I did it and without any injuries and had a lot of fun. Even though I knew that I shouldn't have high expectations for my first marathon, I was still disappointed that I didn't meet my time goal. But I learned a lot, and realized that a lack of fuel and starting too fast ended up hurting me in the end, which are both things that are easily fixed for my next marathon (yes, my next marathon. I have to redeem myself for my crappy time!).

Despite my own rough run, this race is fantastic and a must if you love Los Angeles (and putting your body through the stress of running 26.1 miles). You get to see so many amazing parts of the city, and the spectators are phenomenal. There were people out on the course was spray bottles, food, water, beer (yes, beer), cold towels, everything you could hope for during a marathon. There were very few parts of the course that didn't have at least a few people with signs.

Ultimately, it was a day I will never forget and I couldn't have done any of it without my amazing support system. My parents drove down and my best friend flew in from San Francisco. My husband was there every step of the way and did an amazing job planning out where they could catch me on the course (which ended up being in 6 different places, I believe). After a long race, it was amazing to get to spend time with all of the people I care about, on a day that is all about LOVE!

I saw this on an electrical box during the run and thought it was the perfect mantra