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Los Angeles Marathon - Run


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Los Angeles, California
United States
Conqur
54F / 12C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 19m 35s
Overall Rank = 10138/20015
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 863/1326
Pre-race routine:

Set alarm at 4:20am and got up a few minutes after. Brushed teeth and took in Kion Aminos and Flex. Applied NewSkin and let that dry. Got dressed and applied SportSlick on nipples, between all toes, crotch and buttocks where I have a history of getting hotspots and chafing. It was almost 5am when I finished dressing up.

I prefilled my Infinit Run formula with caffeine the night before so all I had to do was fill the bottles with water in the morning. I decided 2 with liquid and a 3rd for refilling to keep myself balanced. Made a single toastie with an eggie which I ate and another with almond butter and honey to eat 30-40 minutes before race start. Also mixed a watered down Gatorade to sip to keep my hydrated.

Tried to poop at 5:15am but couldn't. I just farted a bit and left for the Dodger Stadium at 5:25am.
Event warmup:

Got to race site just before 6am and immediately walked to a porta potty and pooped there. Then walked into the waiting area and hung out near the tent where the special care was. I noticed mats and foam rollers there.

Ate my prerace toastie and drank the rest of my Gatorade at about 6:30am and did my dynamic warmup routine then walked to a porta potty nearby. Took almost 10 minutes to get in and pee. As I walked to the open corral, it was super crowded and I had no way to make it through to the 11:00 pace group so I hung out with the crowd close to the 13:00 at about 6:55am.

Next time I'll try getting there at 6:40? After the gun, it didn't matter. It was really crowded anyway and I crossed the starting line at around 7:12am.
Run
  • 5h 19m 35s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 12m 12s  min/mile
Comments:

Aimed to pace myself at 11:00/mi but HR was not cooperating so slowed down to compensate in the early miles. From miles 1 to 6 once I saw my HR climb to mid Z3 I walked to get back down to low to mid Z2. Early hills were done and were mostly gentle moving on but HR kept climbing despite the 11:30ish pace I was going at then being forced to walk to keep HR as low and controlled as possible. At this point plan A was gone and plan B was on it's way to failing me. HR and RPE were lining up so I knew I'd have a bad finish if I kept my HR in high Z3 and low Z4 in the teen miles. My left big toe started feeling some discomfort, like my left shoe's too small but it wasn't so bad that I ended up ignoring it.

Plan C, figure this shit out and go with it. It was basically go with feel and best guess pace to not blow up and hit the wall. Miles 19-22 were mentally tough to get through. The heat and humidity must have compounded my dehydrated state race morning. I slept well all week and locked in my nutrition and hydration. At 9pm before the race I developed bad bloat and sour stomach. Tums helped aid the discomfort but I peed almost every hour from 11pm to 3pm. I also farted all night, hehehe!

I got 1 REM cycle in but didn't think to drink water to replenish the lost fluid. And drinking too much race morning will only make pee more the early miles of the race so I was stuck in a dilemma. I decided to stick with just 1 full glass of water and sip about 8oz of watered down Gatorade before the race.

So the miles in the teens were putting me in high Z3/low Z4 average HR and my RPE breathing matched. I was so baffled by this. All the 400m hills and 800m Yassos and lotsa easy runs (with some at race pace during peak) should have prepared me well for the course profile here but nothing was lining up. I was pacing myself at my LSD run pace yet at near 10k effort HR and RPE!

My legs started feeling tired close to mile 20 and worsened to 22 and at this point, my HR was hitting Z5 forcing me to walk longer to calm it down. I told myself to go all in after 22 and I did. I ran until my legs shook so bad I had to walk then run again until the final stretch about half a mile away. I could almost see the finish chute and I kept telling myself, "It'll be over soon, just keep going!" I caught some runners who passed me at mile 22-24 which gave me more confidence to make it to the finish chute strong and I made it! I did not hit the wall!


What would you do differently?:

More rolling hills training???
Post race
Warm down:

Walked slowly and carefully to the massage tent while drinking water and eating a banana.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

85% humidity at the start. 70° temps in the later hours of the race. Not much rolling hills training???

Event comments:

There were more spectators this year than last. I did lotsa runs with music but I forgot it and ended up not needing it. The race itself is well organized. Volunteers were great. Course is not to be taken lightly.




Last updated: 2019-03-25 12:00 AM
Running
05:19:35 | 26.2 miles | 12m 12s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/1326
Overall: 0/20015
Performance: Average
Z5: 33:19 Z4: 1:07 Z3: 2:27 Z2: 1:10
Course: Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica. Hilly course by way of gentle ascents and descents after the harder ones before mile 6.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2019-03-26 7:31 PM

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Master
2759
20005001001002525
Los Angeles, CA
Subject: Los Angeles Marathon


2019-03-28 3:40 PM
in reply to: #5257094

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Master
2479
2000100100100100252525
Atlanta, Georgia
Gold member
Subject: RE: Los Angeles Marathon
Way to muscle through some adversity. Personally, I already know i'm in for a long day if it's hot/humid even a little bit.

Congrats on your day.
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