Long Beach International Marathon - RunMarathon

The race began with a clean start and I quickly fell in with a group of folks who appeared to be running at about my target pace. (~7:30 Mile) The first couple of miles were a bit slow but we quickly fell into a very consistent rhythm and clocked off 10 miles at the target pace. At about that point, most of my pace partners peeled away and took off toward the finish. (They were all Half Marathoners)

Now I was alone and the course started to roll a bit. Over the next 6 miles I felt good and ran mostly on RPE and my pace fluctuated a up and down a bit. As I approached mile 16, I was feeling good and did not have too many turns left in the race. (Course Knowledge from last year was very useful here)

Just as I turned the corner at mile 16, it hit pretty suddenly: I started to have trouble breathing. It felt like my airway was constricting fairly high up. It definitely was not deep in my lungs like Asthma but more like Bronchitis. I read some stuff from Campeona that describes it pretty well.

With my friend's Chicago Race Report Ringing in my Ears, (HE ended up in Hospital after the race) I decided to jog up to the Med-Tent and get checked out. They took my vitals and listened to my chest and everything checked out OK. The medic cleared me to continue but strongly suggested that I either take a ride in or take it easy walk to the finish.

I agreed to take it easy as I did not like the idea of a DNF and felt OK to run/walk to the finish. So, that is what I did. At about the 20 mile mark, I hooked up with the 4:15 Pace group leader who was ahead of schedule and paced in with him. My legs felt fresh through the whole race but if I cranked up the intensity beyond a recovery pace, I started to have problems breathing and had to slow down.

Finish time was 4:13:07. It was not a personal Worst and I was happy to have finished.


I was more than a bit frustrated for several reasons. I had no clue what had happened out there, and that my one and only marathon this season was done and I was not satisfied with the results.

So, after a bit of moping, stomping and acceptance, I came up with a plan. I decided to run an 8k the following weekend and use the results as a proper measure of my fitness and then do the Santa clarita Marathon 3 weeks out from LBM.

The 8k Went very well and seemed to confirm that I had the fitness to run another marathon at something close to my BQ Pace.

So, I signed up for Santa clarita with the primary goal of running a strong race to end my abbreviated season with. I focused on keeping my volume relatively low but maintaining the intensity I had found during taper for LBM. A BQ would definitely be a secondary goal.

Sat on the grass and had some water and a bit of food before walking back to my car and crashing for about 30 minutes. Very sick to my stomach.


From what I have learned, the problem I experienced is caused by my vocal chords. They normally retract during breathing, but if they fail to do so for some reason, it will result in a pretty severe constriction of the airway.

In my case, it was likely the result of swelling of the throat caused by dehydration, an irritiation of some sort (Pollution, Auto Exhaust) or possibly an indetected illness. (The only other time this happened to me I was sick)


This is the second year I have done this race and I think the organization has gotten a lot better. The course is still quite urban and industrial, but hey, this is Long Beach after all.

I will be back next year for sure and may even do it as a double with Santa Clarita again.