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

LA Marathon Recap: Part 1

What a busy weekend! I knew there would be a lot to do but I'm still amazed at how quickly it flew by! For fear of writing the world's longest post, I'm going to try and do this in segments.

First up, the LA Big 5K!

When I heard about the Big 5K, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for a shakeout run before the marathon, and also something that Derek could enjoy with me, so we both signed up. We opted for day-of packet pickup so we wouldn't have to go downtown to the LA Marathon Expo Friday night, since we planned on being around the Convention Center most of the day on Saturday for the Olympic Trials and #WeRunSocial meetup.

The drive from our apartment at 7am on Saturday morning only took about 20 minutes, so we were there with plenty of time to grab our bibs, toss our shirts in the car, stretch out, and head to the start line. We snapped a pre-race selfie and off we went!

The race is a pretty big deal for charities that participate in the marathon weekend, so it was pretty crowded with groups of walkers and first time racers. It took some weaving to get out of the crowd, but we were able to do it and get into a groove. The race was pretty, running out Dodger Stadium, through Elysian Park, and back into the stadium to finish. Overall we had a pretty good time and felt good throughout the whole run (even if it was really warm!). On another note, the swag bags were pretty good. We got a nice tech shirt, medal, and a full size Cliff Bar, a packet of 2 strips of KT tape, and a Big 5 hat. Not bad for the $40 registration.

Originally we had planned on going straight over to the marathon Expo and Olympic Trials, but after how warm it had been during the race and how clear traffic was, we opted to drive home for a quick shower and clean clothes, then head back to downtown. *Side note* Usually we would take the Metro Expo line downtown, rather than drive, but we had to pick my best friend up from LAX immediately following a meetup at the expo and wouldn't have time to go home and get the car.

US Olympic Marathon Trials and LA Marathon Health and Fitness Expo

As someone who is still fairly new to running, the Olympic Marathon Trials were my first foray into following elite runners. And since the trials were right here in LA, I knew I couldn't miss them. Since Derek and I went home to shower after the 5k, we didn't make it to the trials in time to watch the start, but we still got to see the runners a few times. We staked out a spot near the start/finish area so we had prime views for each lap (for those of you who don't know, the race was comprised of 4 large loops that ran from the convention center to USC, around the Coliseum, and back to the convention center.

Meb in the middle of the leaders, repping his (and my) alma mater, UCLA

I was absolutely amazed at how easy the frontrunners make a marathon look. Their form is amazing and it looks like they're exerting almost no energy.

In between laps during the middle of the trials race, Derek and I moseyed into the Health and Fitness Expo to pick up my bib and swag bag for the race the next day and wandered around the vendor area, where I  treated myself to a fun LA Marathon shirt, a new Sparkly Soul headband for the race, and some yummy samples. We made sure not to stay too long, since we really wanted to watched the end of the race to see in person who made the Olympic team (although when we got back outside we couldn't see much of the finish line due to the cameras and officials). We stuck around to see both the top men and women finish (and Meb Keflezighi qualify for his 4th Olympic Games at age 40! Wow!).

After the trials, it was time for what I had been looking forward to the most all day! The #WeRunSocial meetup!

I've been a lurker on the #WeRunSocial hashtag for awhile. I wasn't totally sure if you could just pop in and become part of them, or how it worked. Turned out they are the most fantastically supportive and inclusive group! It's a wonderful movement that started a year ago at the Phoenix Marathon and is described as "A circle of runners that mostly interacted through social media (and many meeting for the first time) coming together around an event, high-fiving, becoming besties, and wanting to keep that feeling alive".

I finally got to experience this wonderful community in person at the meetup and it was everything I had hoped for and more. I met some super awesome people, took a ton of pictures, and received a lot of well-wishes on my first marathon. I even got to chat with Andrea Barber (aka Full House's own Kimmy Gibbler). She was running the marathon the next day then walking the red carpet for Fuller House two days later. She's not only super sweet, but also a total rockstar!

We finished out our busy day with a trip to the airport to pick up the bestie, then dinner with my parents, who had also come down to cheer me on the next day!

Next up, raceday...

Running Reflection

Running was fully on my mind this weekend. Maybe because I've been talking to friends about joining my Ragnar team, or because I got some fun running gear in the mail this week, or most likely, because my FIRST MARATHON is in less than a week (and I'm tapering so I'm really not running as much as I wish I was). Regardless of the reason, I've been looking back at everything that has gotten me where I am today, which is  6 days away from toeing the start line of the LA Marathon.

Let me preface this story by saying that I HATED running growing up. Not just disliked it, but hated running with the fire of a thousand suns. I played softball, which required very little running, and on top of that, I was a pitcher so if I got on base, someone would be put in to pinch run for me. Laps around the field before practice were painful for me. Extra laps were the ultimate punishment and sure to ruin my whole day.

And then something changed. A friend of mine did the Disneyland Half Marathon. The medal was pretty and it was Disney so I WANTED IT (even if it meant running). My husband and I signed up for the 2014 Disneyland 10k because I wasn't about to jump straight into 13.1 miles. To prepare for the 10k, we did a few 5ks leading up to it. Our first 5k was brutal. It was hot and I got a stitch in my side less than a mile in. But we pushed on.

The LA Galazy 5k, Our first race!

My training runs went from 1 mile to 1.5 to 2 and beyond. When we crossed the finish line of the Disneyland 10k (exhausted but smiling), I was officially hooked. I wanted to run more, farther. I saw people with Dumbo Double Dare challenge bibs (10k Saturday and Half Marathon Sunday) and thought "If they can do it, I can do it". The next day I signed up for the Pixie Dust Challenge to do the 10k and Half Marathon at Disneyland the following May, which was to be my first half marathon.

Ultimately, I ended up running my first half just two months later because I got impatient, and I've done six more since then, along with dozens of other 5ks and 10ks. Derek and I ever did a 10k in England on our honeymoon (nothing says romance like running 6 miles in sub-freezing temperatures, right?)

The freezing weather at the Wimbledon 10k was a new challenge for these Californians

Running still isn't easy, and there are days when I wake up at 5am seriously questioning my sanity for voluntarily running 20 miles when I could be, you know, doing anything but that.  But the feeling of accomplishment that I get from finishing a race is unmatched by anything else. I've learned to roll with the hard days and enjoy the early mornings and solitary long runs.

This year I'm continuing to push myself. I want to run more and improve my times. I'm also jumping outside my comfort zone to not only complete my first full marathon (which I swore I would never do), but also participate in my first overnight relay race, the So.Cal Ragnar. I also plan on revisiting some races that I did last year, and hoping setting some new personal records!

Hello, World

I've toyed with the idea of writing a blog for a long time now. There are so many wonderful blogs out there that I follow religiously, for a myriad of reasons. The big thing that has held me back is the question of what I want my blog to be. So many wonderful blogs focus on one aspect of a person's life, whatever they are most passionate about or spend the most time doing. That's a challenging thing for me because I like to dabble in a little bit of everything. So that's what this blog is going to be: a little bit of everything! Hopefully anyone who reads my blog will bear with me when I'm talking about things that aren't "their thing".

But first, an introduction:

I'm Kelsey, born and raised in a small town in Northern California on six acres, where I spent more sitting in a tree with my nose in a book than doing anything else. I now reside in a city that I swore I hated and would never move to (Los Angeles), and I like to think of it as my adopted home.

I'm the Archivist for Special Collections and University Archives at Pepperdine University (we really like long titles here). I made a mad dash through my schooling, jumping straight into grad school after undergrad, and somehow crash landed into a job that I absolutely love.

I'm married to a guy that I had a crush on in college for years, but never dated until we both ended up in Southern California. We have two cats, Santi Catzorla (named after one of my favorite soccer players) and Yzma. They're obnoxious 75% of the time but we love them none the less.

As I previously stated, I like to dabble:

• I've been an avid Disney history nerd for years. If you need to know anything about early Disney company or Disneyland history, I'm your gal.
• For someone who only really follows two sports, I support a whopping 7 teams. But my foremost love is for the Arsenal.
• After hating running my entire life, I surprisingly fell in love with a little over a year ago. In that time I've run (12) 5ks, (7) 10ks, and (7) half marathons. I'm running my first marathon (the LA Marathon) on Valentine's Day!
• I've recently gotten into Marvel Comics and started playing around a tiny bit with costuming during races. The two collide for the Avengers Half Marathon weekend, for which I plan on spending a good portion of the year working on costumes.

So there you have it, a little crash course in me. Hopefully something struck your fancy and you'll stick around to see what's in store next!