It is hard to believe that it has been a week since I lost my "marathon virginity". In the last week I have had time to reflect on my marathon experience and what went right and what went wrong. All in all, it was a good experience, but there were a few speed bumps along the way.
Let's start with what went right:
I started and finished the LA Marathon.
I followed my race plan pretty closely, but had to modify a bit on the fly.
I saw parts of the city, I have never been to in all the years living here.
The volunteers and spectators were awesome.
Now...what went wrong:
I started the race too fast and got sucked in with the crowd.
I followed my race plan pretty closely, but had to modify a bit on the fly
I had an electrolyte issue again even though I was using Salt Stick, Cytomax and Gatorade. I had this same problem at the SRLA 18 mile race a month earlier. This is something I need to get figured out.
I had a constant pain in my right foot from mile 5 on. I loosened my shoes, I tightened my shoes, nothing seemed to alleviate this pain. Again, this is something I need to get figured out.
I didn't look around enough and enjoy all of the sights.
I have time to fix the problems that went wrong as I won't run another full marathon until the LA Marathon next year, but some of those things can help me with the half marathons I have coming later this year.
So what is next for me? I will continue to train and will not be a slacker. I still plan on swimming 2 days a week, running 3 days a week and biking 1-2 times per week. I am taking the next 2 months off of racing and won't do another race until the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon Relay with my team..."Need for Speed". This will be my first foray into a relay team and should be fun, although I have been told by my team captain that we will be going sub 4 hour for this race. Yikes...gotta start doing some speed work. Over the summer, I plan to do at least 3, possibly 4 triathlons culminating with the Los Angeles Tri in October. Later that month I will run the Inaugural RnR Los Angeles Half Marathon.
The last couple of days I have reading some great race reports from this years LA Marathon, here are a few of the good ones. Toky Photography, The Running Fat Guy (check out the video) and Nina's Race Report. I will give you some of the highlights and lowlights from my first marathon experience.
The Expo: It was a pretty good expo, with lots of vendors selling product or handing out samples, although, I feel the Disney World Marathon expo was better. Bib pick up went smoothly, got my t-shirt (disappointing) and goodie bag (disappointing) and wandered around. I saw Sarah Reinertsen was sitting there signing copies of her book, "In a Single Bound", so I walked up started chatting with her and bought a book which she personalized for me. She is truly inspirational...if you don't know about her, she is the first above the knee amputee to complete an Ironman triathlon, which she did in 2005. If you get a chance to see the 2005 Ironman replay, she is featured quite a bit in it. I have not been able to put down this book, I am about half way through it and will review it here on the blog in the coming weeks.
Saturday I was invited to the Mt Gleason Runners (SRLA), end of year luncheon, where we ate a nice lunch, watched a great video recap of the year and awards were handed out. You could tell that these kids really enjoyed the program and Coach Moss. Thanks again for letting me be a part of that.
Race Day: I got up at 3am and headed to Santa Monica at 3:45am. Got parked right away and onto one of many waiting busses. I was at Dodger Stadium by 4:45am. The parking/shuttle situation concerned me the most, but I had no problems at all, although I heard that later busses were stuck in traffic. I wandered into the stadium and sat down and ate some breakfast. At 6:30am I decided ti hit the restrooms and head to the starting corral, much to my surprise...the bathrooms in the stadium were jammed with huge lines. Plan B - head out to the porta potty's in the parking lot. As I wandered out there I ran into Chris and we stood in line for about 30 minutes. While waiting, we noticed people going up the hill behind the porta potty's and going in the bushes...at one point it was both men and women using the bushes...quite a funny site.
I made my way to the corrals and was looking for the 5 hour pace group and they were about 100 feet ahead, but there was no way I was going to get up there. Just stayed where I was and the race started, took me about 10 minutes to cross the starting line. The first few miles, I was trying to find my pace and settle into it. From downtown (mile 3) to Hollywood (mile 8) was a constant incline and I think that zapped a lot out of me.
I also developed an issue about mile 5 with a shooting pain between #2 and #3 toes on my right foot. It felt as if I was being injected with a needle between the toes every step I took and that continued until the end.
Miles 9-15 were pretty uneventful but by mile 18, I was starting to cramp in my calves. I took a few salt tablets and some gatorade and walked for most of that mile. I ran/walked mile 19 until I saw my friend Derek walking towards me with a gatorade and we walked and filled my bottles until we met my running partner, Melissa, at mile 20. I felt some renewed energy seeing a friendly face in a crowd of strangers. Derek and Melissa ran the last 6 miles with me, they stayed out in front of me a bit and I was trying to keep up. It felt like we were running a 9:00/mile pace, but it was more like 11:00-11:30 pace. In my head I was calling them a few choice names, none of which I will repeat, but in the end, it meant finishing at 5:14:15 instead of 5:30:00 or later as I would have tried to walk much of the last 6 miles. After crosing the finishline, I took my picture and met them and walked down on the pier. It was so crowded that we turned around and headed back up the pier and decided to go elsewhere for lunch. We had a great celebratory lunch including my first beer in 2-1/2 months...tasted good!
Highlights: Meeting Sarah Reinertsen at the expo, parking/shuttle, the course, the volunteers, the spectators, seeing Melissa and Derek at mile 20 and having them run the last 6 miles with me, seeing several of the Mt Gleason Runners kids out on the course, finishing my first marathon, the LA Marathon.
Lowlights: Porta potty situation (need 2-3 times more), the course (mile 3 -8 were tough), the jackass that knocked my garmin off my wrist at mile 5 and I had to go back about 30 feet to find it and grab it with all these runners coming towards me!, went out a bit too fast, miles 18 and 19 were brutal, finish line area needs to be rethought, pier was too crowded, traffic on the 10 after race.
Derek , Me and Melissa
I have a new found respect for the city of Los Angeles and the people who live here. I will be back to run this race next year.
For years I played baseball and adult co-ed softball and I enjoyed being on a team. After a few years, I realized that the team is only as good as the weakest player. I was on a softball team that was more social than competitive, it was at that point I decided to stop playing all together.
I always thought running was a great individual sport, after all, who can you blame for failure, but yourself. Over the last 6 months or so, and throughout my training for the LA Marathon, I found that running really is a team sport. The friends I have made in the running/endurance sports communities are some of the best and most supportive people around.
Now that I have completed my first marathon (3/21/2010 5:14:14), I want to acknowledge the many people on my team...whether you knew you were or not. Without you, this would've not been possible.
My Wife: she is the person that got me into exercising when I was lazy and fat, it was she that wanted to do the Disneyland Half Marathon in 2007 and when her friends flaked on her, she convinced me to do it with her. We will be doing Disneyland Half marathon #4 in September, going for our "Coast to Coast Challenge" medal. She has supported me in everything I have done and will continue to do in the future including a possible Ironman triathlon.
My Family and Friends (West Coast, East Coast and Texas) - they have been very supportive and my cheerleaders, even through tough times (injuries, my no drinking/cigar smoking until the marathon policy) you stood by me.
To Everyone at the ARC Run Club - my "dysfunctional running family", you make Thursday, the best day of the week.
My Twitter Peeps: There are so many but, these few are very special to me...Glenn - Thanks for all your words of wisdom!, Linda - Thank you for the pep talks and the support. Chris - You're an inspiration. Craig and the MT Gleason Runners - You and the kids are a great inspiration, thank you for letting be a part of the group and for all of your advice and support.
Last, but definitely not least...
My Friend and Running Partner Melissa - You believed in me when no one else did! I always wanted to use that line after hearing it at the Academy Awards for so many years. :) Seriously, you have been an amazing friend and running partner, you have been a cheerleader and supporter and I have enjoyed the miles we have logged together and look forward to all of our future miles. You met at mile 20 of the LA Marathon, you ran with me and pushed me through the finish, even though I was calling you a few choice words in my head! In the end, it was all worth it, and I thank you!
Woke up at 3am, drove to Santa Monica by 4:15am, got on shuttle to Dodger Stadium, sat at Dodger Stadium for 3 hours, stood in line at the porta potty's for 30 minutes, got an interesting show above the porta potty's (funny), ran 26.52 miles, finished the LA Marathon and had a celebratory lunch and beer with good friends. Sat in traffic on the way home, had sushi with my wife and crashed until this morning.
Official time: 5:14:14
I'll write a more detailed report in the next few days.
In less than 12 hours I will be crossing the starting line of the LA Marathon. I am still a bit nervous, but very excited. I spent a few hours at the expo on Friday and got to meet and chat with Sarah Reinertsen, who is truly inspirational. Today, I went to the MT Gleason Runners (SRLA) end of year carbo loading luncheon. We had a nice lunch, watched their end of year video presentation and awards ceremony, it was truly a great time.
I have spent sometime today and this evening on the phone with several friends and family members offering their advice and well wishes. I have gone through my check lists several times and have set two alarms for 3am. At this point, the training is done, the mental plan is laid out and now it is time to go lay it down on the streets of Los Angeles. I was reminded of this saying today and I think it sums it up..."Pain is temporary, finishing the LA Marathon is forever!"
So much for my plans of getting a little extra sleep each night this week before the big day. I was prepared not to get much sleep the night before the race, but waking up at 3am (incidentally the time I will wake up on Sunday) everyday this week is getting ridiculous. I lay there thinking about the race itself, getting to the race, hydration, nutrition, etc. and I cant get back to sleep. I hear that this is normal before a big race, but I have never experienced it like this before. I want my sleep! Hopefully, I can break this cycle for the next few nights.
This week has been pretty lackluster in terms of runs, I skipped Monday's 30 min spin on the bike and yesterday's 5 miler. My legs are feeling a bit heavy and tired. I got in 30 minutes on the bike tonight and then 3 or 5 miles Thursday night with the group from ARC. Friday afternoon I will head to Dodger Stadium for the expo and Saturday I will be attending the Mt Gleason Runner's luncheon and trying to rest and stay off my feet as much as possible.
I have made my checklist for Pre-Race, Race, and Post-Race and now will gather everything together and check and re-check it several times before leaving the house at 4am Sunday morning.
As I sit here writing this, one week from now, I will be about 3 hours into my first marathon. I am sitting here thinking, where did the last 18 weeks go? It seems like yesterday that Glenn sent me the marathon training plan that I would follow, boy time sure flies.
Yesterday, before my last long run with Coach Craig and the SRLA kids, I told him, I couldn't wait to get the marathon over with and move on with my life. He told me I was approaching it the wrong way and that I should enjoy my first marathon. After thinking about it for a while...he's right, I want to enjoy all of the aspects of this marathon from the expo, lining up in the "mosh pit" as Chris put it, all of the sights along the way and particularly...crossing the finish line! I have worked hard for this, I have overcome a serious injury and now I need to focus and enjoy this experience.
This week's schedule has just a few runs of a couple of miles and some rest days. I will focus on preparing mentally for the race this week. I will put together a nutrition strategy for the race as well as my pre-race plans on race morning. I will try and get extra rest each night and start to add extra carbs to each meal this week.
Yesterday, we did an 8 mile run, which I made a tempo run (1:13:39/ 9:12 mi) out of it. Today, I did an easy 4 mile run with the first 2 miles at my marathon starting pace (12:00 mi) and the last 2 miles at a bit faster pace (11:00 mi). Physically and mentally, I think I am prepared for this task...we'll find out in 7 days.
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