I found this in my drafts and obviously never posted it. So here it is... a little late.
Year 2 for running the LA Marathon. Dave and I both ran it again this year. The race has changed organizations so it was a new date and a new course. I liked the course but I think I'd like it better in March where it was last year...although I do have to say the weather cooperated and was actually tolerable. So here is how it went down:
We didn't have as much time this year to hang out in LA as we did last year because Dave had to work so we actually drove down to the expo on Saturday and picked up our stuff and then had dinner at Craft - a restaurant owned by Tom Colicchio from Top Chef. It was really yummy!.. Side note: We saw one of the actors from Lost eating at the same restaurant at the same time. We are big Lost fans so we recognized him but looked like everyone pretty much left him alone. It was the guy who plays Richard from "the others". I don't know the actors name which I feel bad about but it was neat to see him while we were eating..anyways. We then drove home and then had to head back to LA on Sunday after Dave got off of work. On the way down on Sunday we stopped in Pasadena and ate at Gale's Italian. Good food - no actors in sight. We checked into our hotel - the Millenium Biltmore LA...which was surprisingly blah. The lobby is big and nice and the name is grand; but the rooms are actually not nice at all! Especially for what the hotel charges and we even got a discount from the marathon! So, we wouldn't stay there again. Basically we checked in, unpacked and went to bed. Monday morning (Marathon day) we woke up about 5:45 to get ready. This just involves eating, dressing and hopefully using the restroom :)... probably more than you want to know but a big deal if you are about to run 26.2 miles. This year the start and finish are right near each other so not having to take public transit to the start..just walking about 1/2 block... was nice. Its crowded but not too terrible. Dave and I separated as he was going to start in the seeded corrals and I was back in 'the pack'. Turns out he was supposed to get some kind of wristband to get through to the front but never got one so I ended up seeing him in the pack making his way as far forward as possible. If you've ever run a race this large you'll understand why he's trying to get to the front since his pace is actually a good one! If not, he'll be stuck weaving through walkers and slow runners for at least a couple miles. Me, I'm content to start mid-pack.
Finally the gun goes off and we start ambling to get over the start line. Next to me is a loud excited clapper who is really annoying.. I know I should be 'amped' because its the marathon and there are a ton of people but its 7:20 and I'm having a hard time getting excited. So the fact that she is clapping super loud and yelling louder is annoying. I try to ignore her and hopefully separate as soon as there is some room. We get started and so far so good. I'm just trying to find my comfortable pace which is difficult in the beginning because its early and my legs are still tired and because the pack is so big you can't really get a normal pace without running into someone. So eventually I weave and pass people and then get passed and end up settling into my zone. This race is interesting because you get to see a lot of great areas of L.A., some interesting areas of L.A. and some areas you'd probably never see on your own. The great thing is that everyone on the sidelines is so supportive. Random people take time out of their day to come cheer you on and some even hand out snacks they bought themselves. Like I said earlier, the weather was nice and a lot less hot than I thought it would be so that was a great surprise. This year I didn't have any incidents with tripping so it was fairly straight forward. I ran, I talked to myself in my head, I critiqued peoples running outfits, I looked for fat butts to pass and nice asses to hope to attain someday. I ran all the way until about 13 miles. Then I started my off and on running because my knee was giving me issues. I think I did a pretty good job of walking / running till maybe closer to 20 when I think I mostly walked. I had my cell phone with me in my little spibelt which was great, so I had signed up for text alerts of Dave's times so I knew exactly when he finished....which was WAY before I did. I called him once and texted him a few times to let him know my progress. He had time to shower and check out of the hotel (we had to be out about the time I finished...so now shower for me). So I finally finished in 5 hours something...about 1 hour off of last years time which I'm actually very happy about. Then I walked back to the hotel... did a quick clean-up and change in the bathroom and we headed out. Our plan was to grab a bite to eat in L.A. so we headed to Santa Monica and ate at The Reel Inn. Then we headed home. So in summary Dave did it in 3:25:34 and I did it in 5:27:03. Next year I'm shooting for an hour less than this year...around 4:30. Lets see if I can do it!!
