LA Marathon
I just started this marathon blog so I'm backtracking a little so I'll start with the LA marathon.
My friends and I had talked about going to Japan in the Spring of 2019 and I didn't realize how serious we were until I had already signed up for the LA marathon. Fortunately, the only time one of my four friends could go was after the marathon so I flew down to LA, ran it, flew back home and left the next day for Japan.
I should have known any marathon in LA late March would be warm. It hovered in the high 70's which is great for walking around but not so much for running 26.2 miles. I stayed at my brother's house which was wonderful because it gave me time to catch up with his family and eat lots of delicious food. He was so kind to drive me to the start of the marathon and pick me up afterwards. I appreciate the drive in but we probably should have let me take the metro back closer to his place since the traffic was insane (as usual). It took him 3 hours to get from his house in Arcadia to Santa Monica Pier where the marathon ended. There is a metro stop near the finish and they gave us free 1 day metro passes so I really should have taken advantage of that. I suggested that to my brother but he was interested in seeing the end of the marathon; alas he couldn't even get close to the end because the traffic was so bad.
The beginning of the marathon was chaotic with runners being dropped off in the dark (it's a point to point race which does have parking but many chose to be dropped off). I registered up with a expected time to finish so I was allowed to go into a corral. Those who did not take this step ended up in the cattle section in the back. Do make an effort to secure a corral lest you get stuck in the very back section. There was also a live band playing which I've never seen at the beginning of any marathon (even the Rock n Roll ones) so I thought I was in for a treat music-wise....not so much. You would think someplace like LA would have lots of bands lining up to provide free music just for the exposure to spectators and the 25,000 runners but I don't recall a single band playing on the route.
We ran through lots of distinct areas like Chinatown and Silver Lake plus we got to see the Hollywood sign, Stars Walk of Fame and ran right by the Grauman's Chinese theatre (now called TLC) so I spent a lot of time taking pictures and being a tourist which did not help my time at all. There was also some surprising hills since this was supposed to be "flat". (We ran up Hill St....it was a big hill.) I was way too warm and had to stop a few times just to lower my heart rate. I also went to the bathroom which is never good for securing a PR (bathroom breaks with no wait time will take 2 min.), there was always a line for the porta-potties.
The spectators were lined up everywhere except Rodeo Drive (which wasn't really that impressive these days with high end stores even in Indianapolis). There were the usual fun volunteer performers like cheer squads and high school bands but no garage bands.
The last 3 miles is actually downhill and heading straight to the Ocean so it's really nice. I made it across in 4:39, which is a mediocre run for me but not as bad as I thought considering how many times I stopped to take selfies, chat with people and catch my breath. I also had a limited training period since I had clavicle surgery only 5 months before and couldn't run until 3 months before the marathon. So I can't complain about my time but this made me get serious about my next marathon in 3 months.
My friends and I had talked about going to Japan in the Spring of 2019 and I didn't realize how serious we were until I had already signed up for the LA marathon. Fortunately, the only time one of my four friends could go was after the marathon so I flew down to LA, ran it, flew back home and left the next day for Japan.
I should have known any marathon in LA late March would be warm. It hovered in the high 70's which is great for walking around but not so much for running 26.2 miles. I stayed at my brother's house which was wonderful because it gave me time to catch up with his family and eat lots of delicious food. He was so kind to drive me to the start of the marathon and pick me up afterwards. I appreciate the drive in but we probably should have let me take the metro back closer to his place since the traffic was insane (as usual). It took him 3 hours to get from his house in Arcadia to Santa Monica Pier where the marathon ended. There is a metro stop near the finish and they gave us free 1 day metro passes so I really should have taken advantage of that. I suggested that to my brother but he was interested in seeing the end of the marathon; alas he couldn't even get close to the end because the traffic was so bad.
The beginning of the marathon was chaotic with runners being dropped off in the dark (it's a point to point race which does have parking but many chose to be dropped off). I registered up with a expected time to finish so I was allowed to go into a corral. Those who did not take this step ended up in the cattle section in the back. Do make an effort to secure a corral lest you get stuck in the very back section. There was also a live band playing which I've never seen at the beginning of any marathon (even the Rock n Roll ones) so I thought I was in for a treat music-wise....not so much. You would think someplace like LA would have lots of bands lining up to provide free music just for the exposure to spectators and the 25,000 runners but I don't recall a single band playing on the route.
We ran through lots of distinct areas like Chinatown and Silver Lake plus we got to see the Hollywood sign, Stars Walk of Fame and ran right by the Grauman's Chinese theatre (now called TLC) so I spent a lot of time taking pictures and being a tourist which did not help my time at all. There was also some surprising hills since this was supposed to be "flat". (We ran up Hill St....it was a big hill.) I was way too warm and had to stop a few times just to lower my heart rate. I also went to the bathroom which is never good for securing a PR (bathroom breaks with no wait time will take 2 min.), there was always a line for the porta-potties.
The spectators were lined up everywhere except Rodeo Drive (which wasn't really that impressive these days with high end stores even in Indianapolis). There were the usual fun volunteer performers like cheer squads and high school bands but no garage bands.
The last 3 miles is actually downhill and heading straight to the Ocean so it's really nice. I made it across in 4:39, which is a mediocre run for me but not as bad as I thought considering how many times I stopped to take selfies, chat with people and catch my breath. I also had a limited training period since I had clavicle surgery only 5 months before and couldn't run until 3 months before the marathon. So I can't complain about my time but this made me get serious about my next marathon in 3 months.
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