Los Angeles Marathon

It's been three months since running the Los Angeles Marathon.  When I was growing up I never thought I would run long distances.  Fast forward to me being an adult and I'm running marathons for fun.  I initially had a pacing gig in Stillwater and it got canceled due to low registration but also the race could not finish on the field due to football season.  I was initially disappointed in the cancellation but it opened a door to run another marathon.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to run another marathon after OKCMM but I felt like I had the physical health to beat my PR in the Marathon.  I had put the training in and wanted to see what I could do even if it doesn't end well.  

 

After waiting a little closer to race day because I didn't know if it would get canceled I registered for the Los Angeles Marathon. The last few weeks of training were difficult because I had just run a marathon so my body and mind were exhausted.  I took it easy with the long runs and saved it for race day.  I headed to California on Friday because of my work schedule but also didn't want to put too much energy into traveling and hanging out before race day.  I got there around 1 pm but decided to save money so I took an Uber to another location for the car rental which ended up great financially but because it was a small location it took an hour to get my car.  I ended up in traffic because of rush hour and closures.  I made it to the expo around 5 pm and picked up my 5K and Marathon packets. I was excited to experience a bigger expo (which ended up being a little smaller than normal due to COVID but still fun).  I got my packet and headed to my Airbnb.

I decided to run the 5K with a childhood friend and it was so much fun.  I wasn't worried about pace because of my marathon the next day.  It was great to be able to catch up and get some miles in during the race.  We ended around an 11:45 min mile pace which was kind of what I wanted for the marathon.  I had three goals for my marathon Goal A - Sub 5:15, Goal B - Sub 5:30, and Goal C - Sub 5:40.  It had been about three years since I raced a marathon so I didn't know what would go down.  I was excited to be able to race in my city and participate in a race where the majority of people are running the marathon.  There were a few that were running 13.1 with the charity group. 

The morning was very early I believe I got up at around 2:30 am knowing that I would have to drive an hour to the finish line to park my car but also have to get ready.  I left around 3:45 am and headed to Century City.  I arrived about 4:30 am, unfortunately, we weren't given directions on how to get to the parking lot with all the road closures.  I freaked out a little bit but I was resourceful and used google to find another entrance.  Luckily it worked out and was able to get into the structure about 4:45 am.  If I would have waited to pay I would have saved $7 but oh well.  I grabbed my hydration pack and headed to the buses.  There were a ton of buses ready to go so I was happy I didn't have to stress about finding it and getting to the start line in time.  We made our way to Dodger Stadium but ended up getting lost.  I wasn't mad because I got there early and was able to stay warm on the bus.  We got to the stadium around 6 am and had one hour before the race started.  I did some stretches and stayed warm before the race started.

It was go time.  I was so excited I didn't know what to do with myself.  I planned to negative split the marathon but sometimes that doesn't go as planned.  The first part of the race was downhill so I knew that it would be a fast few miles but also that if I did intervals that I would run into people.  I decided to take it easy on the downhill and before I knew it we were at two miles.  I decided I would not run intervals til I needed it. I was not sure if that would blow up in my face but figured I would give it a try. I would walk water stations to make sure I was hydrated and not running too fast. 

I took everything in and could not stop smiling.  It was fun to see all the iconic spots in LA but also reminisce on my memories of the city.  I made sure to try and find all the photographers since I paid for the package in advance.  The weather was perfect, it did get a little cold around mile 15 but luckily I had my gloves in my pocket so I put them back on.  

  

Nothing beats the experience of running a marathon in a major city and at home.  I felt strong most of the race.  Around halfway I ran up on one of the pace groups.  I can't remember which one it was I think it was 5:15 but all of the pace groups weren't in order so when I was passing them it got confusing.  I figured I would stick to my training.  I wasn't excited about the new course as you passed the finish line around mile 18 and you can see it.  Once I had passed 18 I was feeling it, I ended up running/walking when I needed it.  The temperature was getting warmer so I made sure to stop by every water stop and take my salt tablets. 

This section was hard, about 8 miles with four miles there and back.  As I passed runners coming back I was not in a good headspace.  I just didn't know how I could do it.  My pace had slowed a little bit.  I was running around 11:15 per mile and was around 11:30-12.  I just kept going and taking my nutrition.  Once I hit the turn around I was so happy.  The finish line was four miles and I can do it.  During this part of the race, I was mathing to see which goal I could hit.  I knew I was under 5:15 but knew I couldn't get under 5 but I was okay with that.  I was enjoying each mile.  The last 1.2 miles was hard, you went up a hill then down and back up.  I had taken more walk breaks but kept my pace up so that it wouldn't hurt my time.  The last .5 miles were awesome, there were so many people cheering you on that it helps me get to the finish.  We turned the corner and about .1 miles we were done.  I finished my fourth marathon and it was amazing.  

This was the best marathon experience I ever had.  I was sad that I couldn't celebrate it with anybody because I went by myself but it was still an accomplishment and I finished with my fastest marathon at 5:04:26 which was about 52 mins off of my previous PR which was 5:56:33 at Route 66 Marathon.  It was a reminder that I can do anything I put my mind to and that if you put the work in you will see the rewards. 

Mount Rushmore - Vacation Races

First off this has been a bucket list race since I heard about it.  I heard it was the last year and wanted to do it.  I was hoping to get a pacing spot and was lucky to get one as a 3-hour pacer with my favorite pacing buddy Heather.  Like Pikes Peak, I didn't know what I was signing up for (other than it is one of the hardest Vacation Races in their series) but once I got closer and looked at the course I was like omg it's going to be like Pikes Peak. I noticed there was an 1800 ft elevation gain.  The difference is that was over almost 8 miles and not two.  In addition, it is not as high as Pikes Peak.  

It was a long drive there, like no joke.  The longest I have driven to a race but with the current situation with Covid and the expense, it was cheaper to drive.  It was about 13 hours to Keystone not including stops.  We arrived early Friday morning.  We decided to take a quick nap then breakfast.  As we wait for the expo to open we went to Mount Rushmore park which was amazing.  It was all done by hand and explosive. It was crazy that they could do it back then without the technology we have.  We spent an hour or so walking around the park and taking in the view.  We headed to the expo and decided to drive the course from Keystone to the start line knowing that we will run it in reverse the next day.  It was a beautiful drive, there were so many hills and trees, very different than Oklahoma.  As we drive the winding roads we know that this won't be an easy pacing gig.  The top was a little over 7.5 miles so we will need to adjust our pacing due to the course.  We had talked about strategies and options while we drove.  We got to the expo which was at the start line to grab our bibs.  It was exciting to see a lot of runners and get back to some normalness.  We didn't stay long as we wanted to go back and get some rest. 3:30 am came very quickly.  We had to catch the first bus at 4:30 to the start line because we had to meet up with the other pacers.   Luckily when we went downstairs we noticed one of the pacers in our lobby.  I looked out and there were buses.  We got very lucky and instead of walking .5 miles to the bus, we had to walk across the parking lot.  My legs were thankful.

We drove about 30 minutes to the start line.  I don't like point-to-point races but this was made sense.  We got there a little after 5 and hung out until we did a pacer picture and started to line up.  The race kicked off at 6:30 am and with 2800 it was a little difficult to get a good pace going.  We decided on using the course-specific pacing to help all of our runners.  During the first three-ish miles we were doing 60/30 run-walk and a lot of people enjoyed that.  We had a decent group going up the mountain and when it got steeper we flipped the run/walk and did 30/60.  This worked perfectly as some of the miles on our pacing chart was 17 min and 18 min mile.  While on the course there are several tunnels and when you look carefully in the tunnel you will see Rushmore, which was a cool experience.  We made sure to get a selfie.

Once we hit the top we flipped back to 60/30 and took it a little faster than the 13:44 average pace due to losing some time going up the mountain.  It was a nice and easy run down and tried to take in all the views.  We made sure to take all the pictures as this will be a one and done as we check off South Dakota from the 50 states. While we were pacing it felt great to have a good group and to be able to help them. In some of the smaller races we race we generally don't have many with us so it was great to have a lot of them that we help going up and down the mountain.  Our average was around 12 min mile going down and it felt very easy.  My quads didn't like it the next day but felt good at the moment. 

Once we hit the main road we knew we had less than a mile so that was key.  We are supposed to be within one minute of our time so we had to calculate and be smart.  We ended up finishing 2:59:05 according to my Garmin and with a clock time of 2:59:03. We had initially thought the course would be longer due to hitting the miles very early going up and down the mountain.  I was happy with our finish time since it was within the minute but we had some time just in case the course was long.

 

Overall it was a great race and hope it comes back for other runners.  It was one of the most challenging road races I have done and glad I didn't have to race it. This was the best way to see Mount Rushmore.