When I finished the LA Marathon last Sunday, I went directly from the finish line on Ocean Blvd. in Santa Monica to the Renaissance Resort in Indian Wells. This had been one of my goals for year’s. Specifically to go be in the spa at the Renaissance after the race because it has one of the very few spas I love and with the drop of my bags and right back out the door to the spa, the dream was complete. For 3 hours, I was heaven and there was nothing more thrilling and rewarding than that moment but less than a few hours before that moment, I had to go through the usual hell to get to this moment of bliss. One of my proudest accomplishments was finishing one marathon but to have this be my fifteenth consecutive was just an insane feat to think about it because I could never actually see myself running one. This year was special as they all are but this year the race introduced a new program called LA loyal to recognize those who have braved the streets of LA in a few categories. Those who completed the race two years in a row received something special, those who completed at least five consecutive races received a little more recognition and items and then there were those who completed at least ten consecutive LA marathons received a different race bib, a special designed LA loyal shirt and hoodie and a special medal which resembled the medal given at the inaugural race in 1986.
As humble as I may appear for two minutes, this is something that truly excited me because I always felt like the race should do something to recognize those outside of the legacy runner’s for their commitment to the race and the city. Once I ran my second LA marathon, I said I would make it a mission to run every single race until I am unable to do it. I unable to be a legacy runner because I have not run every single race since its inception but I figured I could start my own streak and create my own legacy and that is what I set out to do. According to the LA marathon stats, there were only about 500 runners who are in this group of having completed 10 plus consecutive LA marathons which would then include the 144 legacy runners so that would mean I should be pretty impressed considering that is 500 out of twenty-four thousand runners each year.
To get to that spa and to my 15th completion, I had to go deep into my mental banks and find a way to get through this race. I struggled right away. I went out way to fast and around mile 4, my legs were already feeling heavy and sluggish. I probably shouldn’t have jammed and jumped around at mile 8 with the band that was jamming on the course but I felt the energy and the groove and minutes later I thought I hit the wall of the race but I have been here before. It sucks but you have to decide if you are going to pack in or are you ready to get down and dirty and go to your dark place to summon a different person. I threw on the headphones, Dr. Dre kicked in and I started to get in that groove and though it wasn’t smooth, I punched my way through miles 9, 10, 11 and 12 and then at mile 13, I had to search again for something to carry me. There is a voice that says “you have been here before, so don’t be surprised, just step up to the challenge”.
I hit miles 14 and 15 and by 16 when I saw my friends, I felt a bit emotionally spent but encouraged and my real wall came at miles 17, 18 and 19 but I knew if I just kept my head up then there would be a bright spot and at mile 20, I had a small cup of beer and that euphoria kicked in and my feet crawled with steps and though they were slow and I needed the occasional walk break, I was moving. My friend Cristina jumped on the course at mile 21 and helped me run two more miles and then I knew it was not a matter of finishing, it was how I wanted to finish and I may have run my best miles at 24 and 25 because I was truly flying or maybe it was the numbness in my feet that made it feel like flying because I couldn’t feel anything. As soon as you cross that finish line, you are trying to recap what happened the last 4-5 hours and it feels like you have had an out of body experience which would explain the pain, the emotion you feel and the joy. I finally decided to give myself permission to just do nothing until now which is why I am finally reflecting on everything. It feels good to finish the race but a runner’s mind skips to the next race but until I can walk again without pain, I will continue working on relaxing!
Pain is inevitable but the rewards will last a lifetime…..
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