What a first marathon for me! So glad I finished. Torrential rain and wind and c-o-l-d-. I heard mention of hail, but I didn't notice any.
Here's my novice marathoner recap.
I stayed up a bit late getting all mine and my wife's gear ready.
Still woke before the alarm. After a fast drive to Santa Monica, we got on the shuttle. Unlike last year, this time, the shuttles were perfect! Excellent traffic flow, exit ramps for buses only. In no time, we were in Dodger stadium! That was pretty cool. Next thing, it was time for wife to go to her "B" Corral. I told her she belonged up there, and that she was better than all those runners. Quick kiss good luck, and she was off. I went back in to Dodger Stadium, and I found my coach, @SpeedySasquatch, (http://www.TeamSasquatch.com) there.
Race started great for me. I enjoyed the vibe at the back of the corrals. There were 2,780 SRLA (Students Run LA) runners. I liked this kids poster...
I did not really feel all that nervous for some reason, and just got my iPod going and stayed loose and relaxed. No rain yet, and I was thinking of ditching my long sleeve compression shirt my wife forced me to wear.
I scored some hospital gowns at work that were great for keeping us covered and warm, and dry. Lots of people wearing ponchos and garbage bags. It really did not feel that cold, and I was thinking of ditching all the extra clothes, and decided against looking for a garbage bag to wear. I figured I would remove the long-sleeve compression shirt once I'm "warmed-up". Like almost all her advice about running marathons, my wife was spot-on right about this, and I'm glad she made me wear it. The horn sounded and we were off. 90 seconds later, I felt the first fat juicy drops of rain land on my head. It was pretty much a non-stop rain and wind soak-fest after that. I just stayed positive and told myself how much fun this was going to be. Tried to focus on my run/walk strategy, and my hydration/fuel plan.
My only really long training run was several weeks before race day, and it ended with me bonking hard at 19.75mi, only 100yds from home. Determined to hydrate and fuel better this time, I drank at every station, and took GU Gel every 50min w/ 2 Endurolyte caps. I think I actually overhydrated. I had no way to judge sweating or losing salt. No gritty salt on my brow in a downpour! I ended up stopping to pee FOUR times during the race!!
Felt good almost the entire first 15 miles, probably wasted a tiny bit of time & energy shouting thanks and high-5'ing cheering fans.
As usual in a race like this, there was a cast of crazy characters. I didn't take too many pictures, but I did catch some video of this guy, running with a watermelon balanced on his head. Somebody needs to introduce him to the concept of a fuel belt and GU Gels!
Here is one of the few orange Mile Markers that wasn't knocked down by the rain and wind.
There were some awesome fans out there. My wife said that the fans, bands, and support was way down compared to last year, but the fans that were out there were amazing! I slowed to take a picture of this line of fans with umbrellas, cheering during one particularly harsh gusting downpour.
In addition to the plentiful waterstations and orange slices, I was amazed at the outpouring of kindness from the citizens of LA. People offered me garbage bag ponchos, (which I stupidly declined). There was a father and daughter on a corner with a case of Gatorade bottles and a large metal bowl of CANDY BARS! How terrific are these LA fans?
Everyone mentions the Taiko drummers and the Mile 4 hill.. they were pretty cool. But later, I was starting to feel my legs, running on an overpass (over the 101 maybe?). There was this ONE elderly lady standing alone in the rain, beating out a perfect rhythm on a pot with a kitchen spoon. That beat really got my legs pumping. I yelled thank you and waved to her, wish I had gotten a picture of her.
Mile 16, the water stations started looking kind of pathetic, and deteriorating. I started to worry about my water in the later miles. Refilled my 18oz Amphipod. At one point, strong winds/rain were blowing us sideways, and 3 road block horses went flying/skidding across our paths. The few runners around me, we looked at each other and just laughed. What an adventure!
Mile 18.. SoleRunner tent! Just awesome. I stopped for a few minutes to chat, to wolf down some of Mary's Famous Salted Potatoes, a Red Vine, and get my legs sprayed with Kool Fit. I also picked up SoleRunner buddy, Mary F. (http://www.therunninggreengirl.com) to run me to the finish. She was perfect.
Mile 20, saw Nadine E. at the Clif tent and she joined us for a bit.. always SOO positive and inspiring! The VA.. sucked. Part of the route flooded and we had to detour over the muddy grass "trail" for awhile. Right before the VA, I decided to ditch my wife's girly fuchsia knit gloves I had been wearing. Up to that point, I had been wringing the water out every time I GU'd. I started to think that the soaked gloves were weighing my arms down. I ditched them.. big mistake. My hands froze, and everything else soon followed. I even briefly thought of going back for them at one point. I started to struggle mightily here. I saw a few medic carts zip by, some with a few pale and very young-looking SRLA kids on gurneys.. sad. Last few miles, there were some runners that looked way worse than me, some that I thought might need an ambulance or help. Definitely lots of hypothermia and cramping legs out there. Sadly, I couldn't help because I was probably not much better. Finally, the turn onto Ocean. The wind was really howling and heavy rain was blowing sideways.
Supposedly, this was the worst weather in LA Marathon history. Here's a well-circulated YouTube video taken on somebody's phone, showing how fierce the winds and rain were!
I was really cold and getting slower now. The slower I ran/walked, the colder I got. At some point, I was probably just doing a dead man's shuffle. On Ocean, I sensed the end was near, and could barely see the orange speck that was the finish area. I picked up my feet some. Here a really brief video of me coming down the home stretch. Thanks Mary for taking the video and encouraging me!
So, 7 grueling hours later, after all that... what do I do? I totally missed the FINISH LINE of my first-ever marathon!
All of the Mile Markers were these orange blow-up structures you run through. Coming up Ocean, I saw this rectangular orange structure in the rainy distance, and thought it was the Mile 26 Marker. I remember thinking, "don't stop now.. just get to that orange Mile 26 sign, and then, only 352 more yards to the finish line!" I must have been cold and delirious.. it took me a second to realize that I had already crossed the FINISH, and that I was DONE.
Here's a picture of me going sideways across the finish line. No finish line VICTORY, or fist-pumping, .. just me thinking that I'm navigating race traffic and that I still have another 0.2 miles to run. Ha... at least it's not a picture of me fiddling with my Garmin watch!
I think I finished strong. It seemed to be a long, wet, cold, shuffle from finish to medals to where? No warming tents, coffee, shuttles, barely any volunteers by that time. Tables were unattended, with full bags of bagels, and crates of water bottles.
I grabbed a few bags-o-bagels and snacks, and shuffled onward to get my AWESOME 2011 LA Marathon medal.
My super wife smoked this 2011 LA Marathon, hitting a new overall PR, beating her 2010 LA Marathon time by around 30 minutes, and coming up just 4 minutes short of Boston Qualifying.. in a freezing monsoon. I am SO proud of her! My finish time was considerably slower, but I completed my first marathon and felt pretty good at the end. I am really happy that honestly, at NO TIME, did I have any cramps or severe debilitating pains, or think that I had to ever quit or stop. That was amazing for me.
First marathons are always going to be memorable. For me, I am glad I did the 2011 LA Marathon as my first marathon, especially with these tough conditions. We definitely plan on this being a permanent event on our race calendar. I really have to thank some people who helped me this year, in no particular order..
- Sole Runners and Coach Steve Mackel for his awesome Chi-Running Workshop
- My DailyMile, Twitter, Facebook and Blog friends for all their encouragement and advice
- The LA Marathon organizers. Lots of really silly, petty criticisms on Facebook and Twitter just prove that you can not please all the people, all the time. I think overall, the marathon was very well run, given the scope, participants, the city, the point-to-point course, shuttles, Dodger Stadium, and finally, the weather. All things considered, it was all great! Great Job, see you next year!!
- The citizens of LA... awesome. That's it.
- Coach SpeedySasquatch, for taking on Mission Impossible. He broke down my derailed training plan SO late in the game. He got rid of my weekly 20+ mile long runs, in favor of a customized Hanson's Training Program, with more frequent medium to med-long runs throughout the week. While this freaked me out some, he kept me calm and uninjured. I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to finish under these conditions without his help.
- My wife.. super-wife, super-marathoner.. thank you thank you thank you.. just for everything.
And finally, the icing on the
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| It's Like A Marathon, with a Cherry on Top! |
