I hate making excuses especially when I do not run well but after yesterday’s marathon I am not sure what I can say but I did complete another Los Angeles Marathon giving me a total of 9 straight LA marathon completions. I am all about finishing and I am all about the accomplishment but finishing is not always the sole goal. I took plenty of steps last year to ensure that I would come into this marathon not just in shape but in marathon shape because in previous years, I felt like I always took a break from running around December and really did not start my marathon training until mid January and no matter what, I felt like my overall fitness for the race was just not there so I changed that and trained a lot in December. I was primarily running trails, building up my legs and working on my endurance. I started off the year by running the Boney Mountain 21k trail race and I really felt like I had my marathon plan in gear so what happened? A hip injury three weeks ago on a simple run which lead me to sit out for three weeks and my first day of running was yesterday at the marathon and boy did it show.
I felt great overall in the morning. I felt like I hydrated well, my shoes felt good, and I even felt like my hip was all healed up. Of course I can never do anything easy so I stuck to the idea that I would run in a costume but instead of a costume I ran in a Michael Jackson wig which may or may not have played a part in my demise during the race. It seemed like the race started before I was even ready but I felt like I had stretched well and there really was not much to do but jump in the crowd.
I started off with a nice moderate pace but about two miles in, I felt like my legs were a little tight but I thought nothing of it. I made a stop at a porta pottie and stopped here in there to take some crowd pictures and then I put the camera away and tried to focus on the race but I just could not get into a groove. Around mile 7 I felt like I just did not have the right energy and my legs felt way too sluggish. The weather was perfect but the sun was started to shine and I was sweating a lot more than normal, especially with the wig under my hat. That should have been a sign for me to lose the wig but I was committed to the idea that I would wear it to the end and that is what I did.
Around mile 9, I decided to pick up the pace and turn on the ipod and I really started to get it going and I felt invincible but as we ran downhill into the 14 mile mark area, I felt that all two familiar twinge that you do not want to feel in my left quad so I immediately pulled to the side and tried to stretch and when I did, my calve began to cramp up. This is where the mental part of the marathon starts. I knew that I would have more trouble as the race progressed but I tried putting it out of my mind and keep running. The faster I tried to run the more the cramps came so I slowed more and more and before we hit rodeo I knew I would have to struggle to the finish line.
As we came up Santa Monica Blvd and mile 18 and 19 I felt like I could still make a push and finish with 4:20 but slowly but surely I was at a snails pace. Talk about a collapse. I had about 5 miles to go and at least 50 minutes left to at least come in around 4:30 and I could not overcome the cramping and fatigue. I know I should be happy to finish in 4:50 but for some reason I am really disappointed and makes the after race recovery seem that much harder but don’t count me out just yet. This race only drives me to come back again next year to correct the mistakes I made this time around. What lies ahead for the rest of the year is uncertain but for now, I will be living in the bathtub and spending more money on Epsom salt than food…
Marathoning really hurts..
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