Race Report: LA Marathon - March 21, 2010

The  LA Marathon. 

Or as I like to think of it, a lovely 26.2 mile training run 

through some of the best parts of Los Angeles with 24,999 of my running buddies!

Someone once said that you race the race that you trained for and on this day, that actually came true. My goal for my first marathon was to finish between 4:20-4:30, with a smile and feeling good. I finished in 4:27:23, I actually have photo proof that I was smiling, and well, good is not quite the right word...but I did feel strong. My last 2 miles were my fastest and crossing that finish line was simply unexplainable. I also had a separate goal of raising over $3000 for the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer and I can happily announce that goal was exceeded and money is still coming in!! Add all this to the facts that this course ROCKED, the entire city seemed to come out to either run or play with the runners, the weather was perfect, and the support and volunteers were nothing short of absolutely amazing, well...my first marathon was a success and I could not be happier that I chose to do it at home on the inaugural "Stadium to Sea" course. 

The success did not come easy, though. There were highs, there were lows, and a little of everything in between. And if that's all you needed to know, great! If you are intrigued to read more, please continue but make sure that you have about 20 minutes and a comfy chair because this report is about as long as the marathon itself. You have been warned.


So, let's start at the start, shall we?

Transition: Motivations

January 17th, 2010 was going to be my first run that is longer than 13.1 miles. With each long run, I seem to compose a new blog post in my head. When someone comes up with the technology to translate my stream of thoughts directly to an eBlogger post, I will be forever grateful (and slightly worried) because I have fallen into this lovely habit of typing in my thoughts and notes directly into a draft post as soon as I am done running with every intention of writing a full post as soon as I stretch, shower and eat. Yeah, that clearly has worked out REALLY well since this particular post was drafted on January 17th and I'm now writing it on February 20th. I am still dating it Jan. 17th and I'm probably breaking some major law of the blogdom world by doing so. Oh well.


So I almost didn't do this run. My right leg was really sore in a particular spot for the first time during all of my training. And because this kind of training is new to me, I wasn't sure if my soreness was "normal" or an alarm. I am terrified of injury and very aware that most injuries could be prevented if the warning signs were listened too. So was this a warning sign?

Transition: Non-Runner > Runner (almost)

I used to love the phrase "I only run when chased". Well, I do still get a kick out of it. But it doesn't describe how I feel about running anymore. I am still wary of calling myself a "runner" (after all, I have not run a marathon (yet), my first 13.1 that wasn't attached to a triathlon was just this past weekend, and my speed is, well...not fast). But I no longer think of running as an escape in a bad situation. Its finally an escape to a good place.

Transition: Healthy > Having a cold > Getting healthy again

Years ago, I didn't mind getting sick. I would eventually be sent home from work, which meant everyone knew I wasn't "faking it".  I still got paid and I could then spend the day(s) in bed, curled up with a good book, movies, and tender, love and care from my husband (then boyfriend). It was forced break from work that I never took on my own, and boy, did I know how to take care of myself when I was sick. (I should also mention that I wasn't really a fan of my job, either).

Then I started cycling, swimming and running on a regular basis. And for some reason it seemed like I got sick even more, even though I was living a "healthier" lifestyle. Or perhaps it just felt like it because now when I got sick, I got PISSED. How dare my body turn on me and keep me from pounding the pavement or spinning my wheels? I feed it healthy foods (most of the time), give it plenty of rest (most of the time), exercise regularly (um, that I do...to a fault), and yet at least a few times a year I'm still treated to some sort of illness.

Transition: 149 to 130

This is the last topic I expected to write about as one of my first topics but since losing 19 pounds in one year without dieting sounds like a bad infomercial (well, not as bad as those new Taco-Bell Drive Through Diet Ads), it seemed like as good a topic as any to start off the year and the blog.

DISCLAIMER:
I am not a nutritionist. I am not a dietician. I am not a doctor. I am not an expert in weight loss, diets, or medicine. (chocolate, football, & twitter, however, are another story…)

I am, however, a 5’4”, 38-year-old woman who always felt like I could lose 5 pounds. Well, it was 5 pounds until about 5 years ago, when it became 10 pounds. Ok, then at my physical last January when I weighed in at 149, it became 15 pounds…at least. 

Sound familiar?

Transition: Non-blogger to blogger

I've always been a little behind the technology times. During my senior year of college, Apple introduced its first color computer and I still preferred to use the the original, tiny, black and white screen version. Something about those little machines was comforting. A few years later, when cell phones finally started to become mainstream, I held onto my pager. (I liked dialing numbers to it that spelled funny little words. Go figure that I'm a text-a-holic now).  Several years ago, my husband worked at DirecTv and brought home one of the first TiVo units. After a day, I made him take it back, citing that we didn't need to watch more TV. (Of course, now I am a devout TiVo follower.) I can proudly say I have avoided Facebook, though I'm sure that, too, will change. So, its really no surprise that years after the blogger-explosion, I am finally starting my own. Ok, that isn't entirely true...I did keep a blog during our 2008 California Coast Classic Ride. But writing a regular, daily basis, about the life-and-times-of-Nina type blog...well, this is new territory.