LA Marathon

The weekend did not start off well with the weather. The storm did in fact roll in Friday night, and brought a lot of rain, cold temps and wind.

When we got to the Expo- in the Dodger stadium parking lot yesterday, it was so cold we couldn't even enjoy the expo. We found a running store in Costa Mesa instead. I highly recommend RoadRunner Sports stores for all your running needs. For fun (cause that's what runners do for fun) we got refitted for shoes and tried a bunch on. Then I found a hat and rain jacket. We had an exciting dinner at Mimi's Cafe with the senior citizen crowd and went to bed early. Let me tell you, we are wold women when we go on these trips! (this is a picture of my name on the Marathon car and the other was my meal AFTER the race. )

Saturday morning we took a 5:45am shuttle from our downtown hotel to the start- Dodger Stadium. It was cold at the stadium, and we had about a 2 hr wait until race start. I was very impressed with how organized everything was. It just went so smoothly from start to finish!

We started about 7:45 and boy was it hard to stay at our pace. We were excited, people were going fast, and I wanted to go faster. We really started out too fast for the first 10 miles. The first 5 miles flew by. Then the next 5 went by fast also- minus the steep hill at mile 7. Mile 10 was our bathroom stop and time to eat my banana- which was good because I had been hungry since mile 6 and had been eating orange slices like crazy. The amount

of aid stations was unbelievable. Around every corner, someone was offering you something! I was also amazed at all the people who came out to give out food and water on their own- not a part of the race.

I was STILL feeling great at mile 15. I mean I was excited! We had just finished our exciting run through Hollywood and were getting ready to enter Beverly Hills and Rodeo Dr. This was the part of the race I was most excited to run! It was awesome but ended way too fast. I usually hit
"the wall" between mile 17-20 but by 20 I have my second wind and feel great. Well, mile 20 came and went and I was still hurting. I kept thinking just make it to mile 24 and you can walk one last time before your finish. Brenda, my running partner, was getting sick, so we walked at mile 23 instead.

I am so glad we did because from there, I got my second wind and felt great to finish. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that we ran downhill the last 2.5 miles. So, I finished really strong! I can not describe the feeling when the finish line comes into view- or the feeling as you realize that the finish line isn't getting closer fast enough.

It was a great race, and the sun was out the whole day. It was a cold start and a very windy finish, but no rain at all! And we made it home without any problems! And... I finished 15 minutes earlier than my first and only marathon time. I finished in 4:59! I was shooting for 5 hours, and we did it. I know that is slow in marathon terms, but I am really happy with that time for me! I don't have the time to invest in fully training for a marathon.

I am so thankful for all your kind encouraging words! I am also thankful for Brenda, my running partner, who talked me into another marathon. (she says we're done with 26 miles- I give her a week before she changes her mind!) And most of all, I am so thankful for my wonderful husband who allows me to run and go on trips to run races a couple of times a year, and who stays home and watches Madeline, so I can do this! Feel very blessed. It is still not real that I actually ran 26.2 miles today!

Now I think I have a brownie with ice cream calling my name and then an early bedtime!