Los Angeles Marathon XXV - RunMarathon

Because of my competing priorities of not blowing up the sciatica AND wanting to BQ, I had a plan for deciding on how hard to go. I knew the first 10K included almost all the steepest climbs on the course and that those would be the real test for the injury. BQ pace would be just under 8:15/mile. I decided that if I could hold 8:30-8:40 on the early climbs without stressing the injury, I'd go for it. Otherwise, I'd stick to my estimated "safe" pace of a 3:45 finish.

There ended up being 10,000 more runners this year and, even though I was in the sub-4 corral, you could tell the difference. There are always some slower people who wind up in front, despite the seeded corrals (I suspect they're charity participants) and there are always fast people--or people who think they're fast--pressing up from the back. This year there were a lot more of both.

You'd think 1.25 miles in a stadium parking lot would be flat, but uh-uh...significant uphill right off the bat and we did it twice before flying down the exit from Dodger Stadium to Sunset and then down to Chinatown. Knew there would be a ton of downhill in miles 2 & 3 and was determined not to repeat my mistake of my first marathon and go out too fast. (Still probably did, though.)

Spent a lot of time in the first 10K running by a barechested barefoot runner with big frizzy hair and stars-and-stripes shorts. He got a lot of love from the crowd.

Wondered why the taiko drummers had moved from their usual inspirational spot at mile 25 to mile 4...then I figured it out. That was the steepest climb of the course and they were a huge help.

Made it through 10K comfortably at around 8:00/mile, so I decided to go for the BQ. Having already banked time and knowing the last three miles of the course would be all downhill, I tried to settle into a pace just sub-BQ. Felt pretty good through the next four miles and stayed just below 8:00.

Shocked, though, when the 3:40 Clif Bar Pace Group came up on me at mile 10. WTF!?! I'm holding a sub-3:30 pace!? What are these guys doing here? Asked the leader when he actually figured on crossing the line and he said "3:39". Not good enough...I needed 3:35:59 for Boston, so I decided to separate from them.

Hit the half in 1:46-1:47, so that meant I had about 2.5 minutes banked for the second half, with a lot of downhills to go. But I was definitely in unexplored territory, pace-wise, especially having been undertrained all winter.

Some tough long, shallow, grades through the Sunset Strip were taxing, but I was still on target. I was religiously drinking water at the even miles and sports drink (with a sip of water to chase it) at the odd miles. Gels every 45 minutes (usually I do every 50, but decided to be cautious, given the pace). I was looking forward to the huge downhill south off the Strip around mile 14 and it didn't disappoint: Flew down it at a very relaxed 7:15-ish pace.

Then the bloom started to come off the rose...

After that downhill, we were into an endless string of flats and false flats through West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Century City and Westwood. The gay community was out in force in WeHo...the aid station there was probably the highlight of the whole course: A bunch of drag queens in cheerleader uniforms and a ton of AIDS Marathoner group volunteers. That gave me an inspirational boost. Gave a big shout of "Good morning, Beverly Hills" to the spectators when we crossed the city limits that got them fired up, but then things mostly got monotonous...and painful.

There was a pretty steep grade down the Rodeo Drive shopping district to Wilshire, but coming off that, my left quad was finally cooked. At mile 17, I still had 45 seconds cushion on a BQ, but my pace was dropping. By mile 18, it was 5 seconds...and the 3:40 Clif pace group caught me again...and dropped me.

Doing the math...and judging by my quad...I knew a BQ was out of the question and probably also a PR (3:42). Santa Monica Blvd through Century City and Westwood was a slog and I knew we had a short uphill once we left that for the Veterans Administration grounds. I was still managing about 9:15/mile at that point, but I'd full on hit the wall and my pace was dropping through the floor.

Coming out of the VA, I saw DoloresM2 cheering me on, but it was hard to be inspired...right quad decided to join in the reindeer games and now it was survival mode...only goal was not to walk and there were three miles to go to the downhill stretch.

Dozens of spectators would say "Looking good, Todd" (reading my name on my bib) and I tried to respond to all of them with a "thanks" or at least a thumbs up. But I really just wanted to focus on form and on not walking. People would say "Downhill is right up ahead"...but they were lying. The false flat going west on San Vicente was absolute torture. Worst pain I've been through since my first marathon. The difference this time was that I knew I wouldn't let myself walk. My splits for miles 23 and 24 were brutal (about 10:09 for each), but I finally got to the true downhill at the beginning of mile 25.

Figured the 3:50 pace group had to be somewhere in the vicinity and, sure enough, as I finally got to the bottom of San Vicente and turned onto Ocean and the last 1.25 miles, they came up behind me. I thought I was still on track for something just under 3:50, so I tried to hang with the pace group leader.

Something to remember: The marathon is never done til it's done. With half a mile to go, my left calf started to cramp up. Eff me... Main goal of the race--more than the BQ--was to not get injured. So there I was, half a mile from the finish, trying to stay with the 3:50 pacer and trying not to injure my calf.

Finally got close enough to push the pace and passed the Clif Bar pacer with about .2 mile to go. Hoped I might still squeak in under 3:50, but no chance. Crossed in 3:50:21 by my watch.

Back off a bit early. I felt comfortable at just over 8:00/mile through the first third of the race, but the reality is that I might have hung on longer if I'd settled in at more like 8:10-8:12. But the bottom line is that I lost not only volume, but a lot of planned speed and hill work due to injury in December and late February/early March. I was basically trying to gut my way to a BQ that I wasn't really prepared for and I knew that inside.

Bottom line, though, is that I proved to myself that even undertrained and injured, I can still put up a solid sub-4 and once again didn't walk a single step of 26.2 miles, which means a lot to me.

Post-race was more interesting than the race. It was chilly at the Santa Monica pier where the finish was. I was pretty drained after the race and my quads were absolutely in knots. Hard to even sit on a curb, so I mostly just kept moving around while waiting for Liz to finish.

I had a couple cups of Powerade after the finish. Then grazed on the carb-heavy foods they had: half a bagel, some animal crackers, half a banana, about 30 oz. of water (gradually), and eventually some dried pineapple.

The finish line party was hella far away and down a lot of stairs, so I decided not to go down there, since I'd want to come back up to meet Liz. Found a couple friends from Disney Tri Team who had even crappier races than I'd had and hung out in the cooldown area (on the ground) with them.

Liz came in with a rockin' 4:50, PR'ing by 35 minutes and blowing away her goal of just under 5 hours. She found the rest of us and we sat around for awhile.

I got up at one point...well over an hour after finishing...and felt queasy and very light-headed. Decided to lay back down on the pavement. Shortly thereafter, the bunch of us started to make a move for the finish line party down below. Before I even got up, I knew I still wasn't right. Got up and immediately was nauseated and dizzy. Told Liz I was probably going to pass out. She told me I had no color and tried to get me to sit on the grass nearby...I told her I didn't think I could make it that far and leaned on a fence to try to get some blood in my head.

Next thing I know I was coming to in the gutter with a cop and Liz hovering over me and a couple paramedics coming into view. Yup, I'd passed out into the gutter. Good times. Started checking myself for head and neck injuries...nope. One foot was up on the curb, so I figured I'd put the other one up there, too...elevating the feet for shock and so forth.

Eventually got taken by the paramedics to the med trailer where I got to get an IV and watch the growing parade of folks with the same symptoms as me come in. Liz got pretty upset trying to retrieve the car and to get it where I could walk to it safely, but by the time she'd gotten it, I was feeling fine from the IV. I'd say something--the pineapple? who knows?--was preventing the water and Powerade I'd had post-race from being absorbed, leading to dehydration and BP crash (was 107/73 by the time the I was already coming around and the paramedics were attending me, so must have been lower than that). No ill effects...but we never did make it down to the party.


Injuries, leading to undertraining. This felt pretty much like my first marathon--for which I was ridiculously undertrained. The difference is that after three previous finishes, I know how long a marathon is and how to fight through the worst low points.


There was a lot of hype about the new "Stadium to the Sea" course and as a LA Marathon supporter I was glad to see the big turnout. Logistics weren't always great, though. Lots of complaints about the lack of access to the party (and gear bag claim). And the net downhill was a bit lost on everyone I talked to because of all the severe hills in the first 7 miles: People's quads--like, for instance, mine--were pretty trashed before the late miles. But the race has definitely come up in the world under its new ownership and the course at least gives a better taste of more of the different sights and communities of L.A.